BOSTON, MA—September 30, 2005 - Sometimes subtext and context fuse—that perfect combination of environment and undercurrent. Instead of merely being in the right place at the right time, this can also mean creating something out of the ordinary or at least unexpected in a particular site or situation. Ryanhood’s showcase set at Boston’s NEMO Music Conference and Festival on Friday, September 30, is a case in point.

The annual NEMO Festival and Conference is dedicated to giving back to the music community of New England. Its goal is to provide information and opportunities to indie/alternative musicians through showcasing slots and various seminars on a myriad of music industry-related topics which can help them advance their careers. Just the networking possibilities alone are priceless.

The venue for this year’s NEMO Conference and showcases was the Boston Center for the Arts, located in a section of the city known as the South End. Ryanhood performed in the main space of the BCA, known as the Cyclorama. It has undergone a number of renovations and changes in ownership since it was built in 1884. Originally created to house a single panoramic painting that depicted "The Battle of Gettysburg," it drew crowds from all over New England to what many consider one of the first real experiential art exhibits in Boston history. When the exhibit closed the Cyclorama's future was turbulent before finally becoming the headquarters for the Boston Flower Exchange in 1923. Forty-seven years later the city, under the banner of Urban Renewal, forced the Flower Exchange to relocate to an area abutting the Southeast Expressway and transformed the Cyclorama into the feature space of the Boston Center for the Arts. It’s a fascinating structure.

Showcases occurred in two locations; an Outdoor Plaza Stage in front of the main BCA building and an Indoor Acoustic Stage which was adjacent to the registration area. It was readily apparent that the amplified practitioners of the diverse spectrum we categorize as indie rock and/or alternative music were placed on the Outside Plaza to entice the young and in-the-know passer-bys to check out the conference inside. The Indoor Stage was occupied mainly by very talented but also very conventional folk and blues/folk solo performers, who served little more than to provide the few wanderers something to listen to between panel discussions and presentations… until Ryanhood occupied that very same space.

Ryanhood really didn’t belong on that particular stage; their musical presentation would have been far better suited on the plaza. Ryanhood are only folk in the loosest sense of the term. They’re really acoustic rockers. Or perhaps acoustic rock with intelligent pop overtones and other various musical elements mixed in. Whatever; Ryanhood are certainly NOT modern beatniks. And they can compete on a level with the craftiest alternative/indie acts and come out on top. This turned out to be their shock factor; and, boy, did they surprise a lot of people!

The set list Cameron so graciously shared with me just prior to their appearance called for six songs in this order: “Gardens and the Graves,” “Stopless,” the “Mrs. Robinson/Ms. Jackson” medley, “Welcome You Into My Head,” “Sad and Happiness,” and “Alright.” Their showcase indeed began with spirited versions of both “Gardens...” and “Stopless.” Most of the seats in the Indoor Stage area immediately filled and, in addition, many other people began gathering around this general section of the building to check out what this duo was all about—including the registration area personnel.

Ryanhood abandoned the “Mrs. Robinson...” medley and extemporaneously replaced it with what had to be the best choices they could have made given the indie/alternative atmosphere they were performing within. Ryanhood instead played another medley which began with The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” segueing into Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle.” They did a breathtaking and mesmerizing version of both, and this sealed the deal for them a propos anyone else on this floor of the building who wasn’t enthralled to this point. More people flocked to the Indoor Stage area to witness this very unusual “acoustic” act perform. Well, they certainly don’t LOOK like folkies, do they?

The NEMO Conference and Festival is for the radically musically chic and sophisticated. I’m talking about highly discerning ears and tastes. In the light of Death Cab for Cutie’s brand new major label debut release and its sudden quantum leap up the Billboard charts, anything smacking of Ben Gibbard (he all things DCFC) was nothing short of sacrosanct to this crowd. Oh, and did I mention what a FANTASTIC job Ryanhood did covering this song? Same goes for “The Middle.”

“Welcome You Into My Head” on this occasion experienced its all-too-often trials and tribulations. Cameron’s guitar experienced some man-made technical difficulties—broken string—right before the middle section’s instrumental passage (read: Ryan’s brilliant solo segment). Cameron inquired if anyone had a spare acoustic guitar he could utilize—to no avail. Ryan, being the ultimate musical trooper, rearranged the passage on the spot; he began with Cameron’s rhythmic backing parts and then filled out the section with the fastest lightning leads I’ve ever seen him play—electric or acoustic. The audience was dumbfounded and amazed. Cameron then proceeded to grab his mic stand, guitar-less, in pure Rock God stance. After the song he quipped that we had “a whole building full of musicians and still only two guitars in the entire place.”

Presumably neither Ryan nor Cameron desired to attempt “Sad and Happiness” with one guitar, so Ryan surrendered his classic red guitar to Cameron and played the role of Art Garfunkel to sing along with Cameron on “Alright,” until at one point he picked up Cameron’s now five-string instrument and used that. It/he sounded damn good.

Triumphant as this 25-minute set was, I suspect that if they had been able to play their full-length set then they would have attracted even more people (probably the whole building) to the first-floor Indoor Acoustic stage. As I made my way, post-Ryanhood set, to the panel discussion on the “New Challenges in the Music Industry” I overheard two NEMO organizers discussing how those two guys (Ryanhood) should have been performing outside on the Plaza. As much as I appreciate their notion, I’m glad they played inside. The sound inside was superb, deftly handled by two adept soundmen.

As I took my place at the aforementioned panel discussion (I registered as a representative of The Washington Post Co.’s Kaplan Inc. Interactive Division) I held up the brand new Ryanhood CD and proudly proclaimed that “I just saw the most incredible duo on the showcase stage downstairs…”

David D

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