I followed the lonely sound of a glockenspiel coming from the main showroom of the Sacred Root Kava Bar to find a standing crowd of people with their eyes fixed on Red Sled Choir, who was seated with a microphone and a jumble of instruments. The glockenspiel was soon joined by an elaborate ensemble, creating an intoxicating sound that got the crowd’s bodies swaying and heads bumping. It was pure live-looping mastery.
Red Sled Choir, the bearded Ithacan man in glasses whose real name is Matt Gordon, remained wordless throughout his performance, speaking only for the very brief introductions he made to his songs. He was humble and imaginative, and his music perfectly captured that. His performance had no extravagant sounds or excess of strong emotions but was nuanced, mature, and introspective. With the droning sounds of the Electribe synthesizer, the graceful chords on the keyboard, and the passionate beating of the drums, Red Sled Choir had a demanding presence on the stage. But his performance was youthful as well, in part because he played his instruments in unconventional ways; for example, he didn’t just strum his banjo, but played it with a violin bow to get a tremolo effect. All of this created a unique combination of ambient, folk, and experimental music. But these words fail at capturing Red Sled Choir’s sonic character, as it needs a category of its own.
The next in the lineup was Izzy True, a rock-and-roll musician from Ithaca. Although she usually has a band with her during live shows, Izzy came on stage by herself with her guitar strapped on her shoulder. She delivered a stunning performance. Just like in her recordings, Izzy strummed every string with vigor, decisiveness, and virtuosity. The tone of her voice was bold yet heartfelt, and worked seamlessly with the guitar riffs, proving that she doesn’t need a band behind her to dominate the stage.
In between songs, Izzy would tell tongue-in-cheek personal anecdotes that were obscure on the surface, but really relatable. She was awkward, funny, and so refreshing in the way she talked. One time, she opened herself to questions from the audience about relationships and responded with the vaguest dating advice, adding a touch of humor. She was hilarious in her own way, which made it that much more enjoyable to stand in the audience.
The mic was handed off to Sammus (Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo), an Ithacan rapper, producer, and Ph.D. student at Cornell University. In recent years, Sammus has released several best-selling albums on Bandcamp such as Prime and Another M, both of which I highly recommend not only because the production is excellent, but also because she brings a unique voice to modern hip hop. Sammus is vocal about political issues and her production is heavily inspired by her love for videogames, as her Metroid-inspired name suggests.
Her performance couldn’t have been more exhilarating. Out of the four artists that performed that night, Sammus was by far the most involved with the audience. She would get into call-and-response sequences with the audience and even walk into the audience in the middle of a song. On stage, she would close her eyes and wave her hands while spitting endless streams of lines and rhymes. The instrumentals shook the room and rattled the bones of those standing in the audience. It was a breathtaking performance.