She leads with a powerful voice that does indeed bring to mind Joanna Newsom with its fluttering, kite-like quality, though with less creepy flower-maiden squeakage. She's like a time-warped Billie Holiday channeling some old candlelit cabaret show of . . . Irish folk tunes. For the moment, she's settled into a reliable rogues' gallery of local back-up musicians who include Faces on Film's Mike Fiore and Hallelujah the Hills' Elio DeLuca and Brian Rutledge, all contributing to the hodge-podge feel of her guitars and accordions with keyboards, drums, banjos, and horns — though the real contribution seems to be more of a psychological confidence boost. "It's easy to lose track of whether anything you're writing is any good or not. Having them be so eager to work on things is very reassuring."
In the meantime, Emmet has moved from her grungy old Allston digs to Hyde Park, where she enjoys her own attic art studio and has found a brand new coffee shop for employment, some neighbors for whom she's a nanny, even a couple of new kittens. There might be some hope for those critter tunes yet.
MR. SISTER + RYAN LEE CROSBY + M.G. LEDERMAN + THE TONY THE BOOKIE ORCHESTRA | P.A.'s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville | December 6 @ 9 pm | 18+ | $8-$11 | 617.776.1557 orwww.paslounge.com
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