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An Intimate ETV Showcase

For the longest time, I can remember thinking about how cool it would be that the closeness and homeyness inherent in local access television could be such a conducive setting for showcasing relatively unknown musical talent. I recall seeing on YouTube performances by the B.H. Surfers and an early incarnation of the Beastie Boys that were in a similar set-up, and thinking, “That’s really cool.”

On Sept. 18, East Haven Television (ETV) presented its fall-themed Harvest Moon Songwriter Showcase, which established the perfect environment and introduction for the new season.

The artists that performed, Jess Jones, Luke Malino, and Astor Rhys, made up what was a completely solo acoustic line-up of three talented finger pickers and poets, the most suitable kind of roster of performers providing a soundtrack for the introspective and cozy autumnal time of the year.

That feeling was shared by the event’s organizer and ETV’s community coordinator, Noelle Veillette. Looking for the right time, Veillette decided the night of the first full moon of autumn was in line with the folk music spirit.

“I looked up what the next full moon was, and I realized it was the harvest moon. Of course, the Neil Young song is very famous - ‘Harvest Moon’ - he’s such a famous singer-songwriter. I think the Harvest Moon feeling sets the tone for the feeling that we want to create at this show.”

All three performers performed personal songs that inspired a small yet attentive audience with a message of hope, love, and yearning for a better life either out of personal struggles or ennui, the most universal kind of message best delivered through folk.

Jones, who is from Atlanta, enjoys the inward quality of being a solo performer rather than in a band setting, the latter in which she expresses outwardly in her group Kaduza Queen.

“I think that it also feels very vulnerable, moreso than being in a band,” she said. “Songwriting can feel like a mirror, sometimes in a way that I like…I do think that there is an intimacy in singer-songwriting. I think coming to it at this moment, there’s kind of the acknowledgment of who I am from, from myself, that is important.”

Rhys, the final performer of the evening, shared a similar sentiment, paying attention to the “space in between” that creates a “harmony with the music itself.” This is best realized with a live audience, she said.

“I’ve done music video stuff before, and you’re bringing it, but you don’t have the feedback of people, and it’s really to look like, ‘Oh, hello,’ and have this relationship through the music,” she said. “That’s why I always like to share the background of the song and here’s where it’s coming from.”

Rhys cites some of her musical inspirations as Basia Bulat, Regina Spektor, and especially Ani DiFranco.

She said of the latter, “I was just entranced by her vulnerability and the poetry of her lyrics. I’ve always been a dense lyric person, and I write poetry, I do creative short fiction, and so the songwriting process for me, there’s always a story, and there’s always a theme, and if you pull back the layers of the lyrics, another kind of three things to explore.”

Rhys, who can be followed @Asterrhys_music, will be releasing an EP in October.

However, it was not just the music that contributed to the presentation but also the work of the ETV production crew with their new rigs. That element was integral to the showcase so as to demonstrate to the viewing audience the unique atmosphere the ETV space can provide for musicians and listeners.

The ETV crew utilized a total of eight cameras and several new production techniques and hardware, including the red curtains that hung at the back side of the stage, three Marshall cameras, and a lipstick camera that captured close shots of the performers. This was supported greatly by a brand new donor-funded PA system acquired by the crew. ETV head Jay Miles said the selection of new hardware opens up possibilities as a director.”

Watching the broadcast of the event on a small screen on the lower right side of the stage, the shots were clearly carefully chosen to bring warmth to the performance, making a viewer think they were in the room with everyone else. That brings me to one of the more interesting conversational points I’ve come across.

Excuse me for a second while I steal a compelling thought I read in a 1972 review of Led Zeppelin by Robert Christgau since it seems like a fitting perspective for the showcase.

It often feels like the purity and almost ancient-like quality of a lot of acoustic music is best to not be compromised by the opposing field of technology. What other kind of music is best to preserve the humanity of the most accessible instrumentally without the need for pedals, loopers, and sequencers?

But technology can still be used to realize another person’s humanity and their connection between themselves and an audience. With or without cameras, a connection needs to come across for the sake of all of humanity, said Jones.

“This isn’t just some video or Instagram reel. It’s something present that we’re all in,” she said. “The more we can connect with the humanness of each other, the better. The more you can see that we’re all just people and that we can come together and be in these moments and share them with each other is important. The fact that there’s a live audience here, I think, is really special.”

For Miles, the showcase was a victory for ETV and the crew, calling it our best event to date,” he said. “They brought so much talent into this building. Noelle put the whole thing together, and I think it should launch us into what hopefully would be a regular thing.”

The showcase’s organizer, Veillette, feels similarly.

“We want people to come back to these events and anticipate this special feeling that we’ve curated, and with the high-quality sound and the experience of being in a studio audience.”

Find out more about ETV at www.easthaven.tv.