Date/Time
Date(s) - Saturday, October 21, 2017
8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Location
McNemar House
Categories
Merry and the Melancholics is a three piece band based in North Central West Virginia. Sister and brother Hilry Gordon (songwriting, guitar, vocal, mandolin, harmonica) and Spencer Gordon(keyboard,songwriting) have been making music since they were teens, with Autumn Long (lead vocal, percussion) joining the band in recent years. Their music is a blend of styles from early jazz/swing to country blues and alt country with mostly original songs and a few choice blues covers.
Within the “newish and blue-ish” repertoire the lyrics are often a wry and or/humorful commentary on the conundrums of life, presented in danceable rhythms and appealing harmonies.
Spencer’s piano is a blues and honky-tonk inflected sound, his main influences being Deanna Bogart, Ann Rabson, Reese Wynans, and Ethel Caffie-Austin (WV’s First Lady of Gospel!). Autumn’s powerful vocals and musical sensibility have been compared to Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive. She rocks the house! Hilry’s steady rhythm guitar and picking style are reminiscent of Leon Redbone and Big Bill Broonzy. The lyrics to their songs will make you laugh and cry in their rendering of love and life- much as John Prine’s do.
Listen to Merry and the Meloncholics HERE.