Mercury Salad Sandwich are an Ypsi-based quartet that charmingly refresh expectations of acoustic folk music, adding a bit of jangle and soul to their resplendently melodic arrangements.
They released their debut album, Volume 1, last October, a collection of cool tunes that demonstrates a sharp sensibility for fusing dynamic riffs of rock and funk, spooling and twangy solos Americana and country, and vocals that bridge reedy bluegrass warbles to poignant soulful balladry.
Take a listen
Mercury Salad Sandwich perform this Friday night at Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti. (7pm-9pm)
76 N Huron St
More info
Brooke Ratliff (lead vocals/guitar) and Kurt Bonnell (guitar) wrote the songs for Mercury Salad Sandwich. Billy LaLonde provides percussion and Ozzie Andrews plays the acoustic stand-up bass.
Each composition gives enough space for each instrumental element to blossom, be it a guitar or vocal. It recalls, for this listener, the kind of cool and copacetic jams you’d want soundtracking an easy Sunday morning sunrise or a wanderlust-wrapped road-trip.
When you hear “Cowboy Boots” or “Forlorn For Long,” you can hear the care that went into the craft, because they feel instantly nostalgic and yet contemporary at the same time – as though they were made to already be modern day classics. But that’s intrinsic to Mercury Salad Sandwich’s spirit–create a music that an audience can connect to…
People might think of “folk” or predominantly-acoustic music and imagine it in coffeehouses; a quiet or melancholic kind of downbeat and delicate thing… No. Not with Mercury Salad Sandwich. This album, and their live performances, ignites the genre with so much energy, a swagger, a boot-stomp, a sly wink, an exuberant embrace. There’s no better genre categorization I could come up with than the one they’ve already provided: “acoustafunk!” ….with a bit of bluegrass thrown in…
Mercury Salad Sandwich are at the Riverside Arts Center this Friday.
Jeff covers music for Current, posting weekly show previews and highlighting new bands in the area.
