Review: The Felice Brothers and You Are Plural play the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco

Reprinted with permission from The Deli SF

You Are Plural—duo Jen Grady on cello and Ephriam Nagler on Wurlitzer—opened for The Felice Brothers at a packed Great American Music Hall show last Thursday night. The San Francisco-based pair also joined the New York folk-rockers Felice Brothers in Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake City.

The band returned to Grady’s home-base of Washington to record Hand It Over, their seven song debut EP, which is sold at shows and on Bandcamp. Grady and Nagler’s music is both dramatic and calming. They harmonize together on many of the songs quite beautifully, while Grady confidently steps into lead vocals on other songs. Nagler adds piano to their classical yet highly experimental sound. He has played in bands such as Marin-based Oddbird and with Tim Kasher of Cursive, while Grady plays cello with Emily Jane White and Garrett Pierce. She also played bass on Two Gallants front man Adam Hayworth Stephens’ solo tour last fall. 

This is the first time that these talented musicians are leading their own project, and the audience took well to their innovative sound. The ornate interior of the Great American Music Hall was a great place to enjoy their rich and complex sounds. The show was then taken in a rocking direction with The Felice Brothers, whose fourth album Celebration, Florida (Team Love Records) will be released next week. Their folk songs are filled with fascinating personal narratives, enhanced by accordion and violin among the usual rock instruments. Their new songs feature unexpected rave beats, which got the audience really going, as did older songs which were shouted along to by a dancing crowd.