Karen Ponzio Photos.
Sarah Dunn and Kelly Kancyr.
On Saturday evening, four singer-songwriters — Sarah Dunn, Kelly Kancyr, Lisa Roberts, and Lys Guillorn — made Gather, the cozy coffee shop on State Street where just about anything and everything can happen, even cozier. They filled the eclectic space with their songs, stories, and a heavy dose of camaraderie and joy, each bringing their own unique sound and occasionally getting a little help from a friend.
Buttons provided by Lisa Roberts.
Dunn, who organized the show, came up to the stage excited to introduce her friend Roberts, who announced that it was her first time playing in front of people. She had offered attendees buttons she had made that said ‘Beautiful People” on them; her first song elaborated on that theme with such lyrics as “beautiful people, you’ll never have to be alone / because there will always be people with the same buttons as you / so if you take care of me, I’ll take care of you.”
She received warm cheers and applause from the audience for that song as well as her next two, both covers but from different ends of the musical spectrum: Jewel’s “You Were Meant For Me” and Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Her voice and ukulele melded to make each one elicit a number of smile-inducing moments that started the show on a most lovely note.
Dunn came to the stage next with Kancyr (the two friends also play guitar and drums, respectively, in the band Corpse Flower) accompanying her on bongos, except for a cover of “9 Crimes” by Damien Rice, which saw Roberts joining her on ukulele and vocals. Her set also included a cover of “Great Expectations” by the Gaslight Anthem. But mostly she sang originals, including selections from her EP Thank You, released in June of this year: “Whiskey Summer Nights,” “Mad At Chachi,” and “Let Her Go,” which she called a “deeply personal” song. She also mentioned with a big smile that she had made a video for it with Elle Morrison, in which she appeared in her “undergarments.”
“If I’m not a cautionary tale then what am I?” she said with a laugh, and received laughs from the crowd as well. The song’s folksy musical and lyrical sweetness aptly displayed Dunn’s skill at sharing tales that touch the listener and linger on.
Dunn introduced Kancyr as “someone who has been supporting everyone else tonight” since she had been monitoring the sound board during the first two sets and accompanying Dunn on percussion. This set saw Kancyr accompanied by Rick Landino on guitar for a seven-song set. The two got bluesy on a couple originals, as well as adding sizeable doses of folk and rock; “he’s a little bit country, I’m a little bit rock and roll,” she told the crowd about Landino. They added an array of covers, from the White Stripes’ “We’re Going to Be Friends” to Joni Mitchell’s “River” and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” which she dedicated to her friend Molly “because you love this song.” It was another warm moment in an already joyful atmosphere.
The last set of the evening belonged to Lys Guillorn, who chatted with the crowd between selections from their vast catalogue of introspective and revelatory songs, whether it was telling them stories about how each one came to fruition or asking them “how far down” they wanted to go in terms of tone and mood with their selections. The crowd ate up everything Guillorn offered, from the joyful “Sassafras” to the poignant “Dolores and I” and the crowd favorite “Sunny Side Down.”
Guillorn also spoke of how their dreams have affected their songwriting over the past few years. The song “Cartwheels” came about after a dream in which they were “much more fun than I am in real life,” they said, and “Wisdom Teeth,” which was influenced by a “pandemic hair dream,” of which they said they had many.
“Pin Oak” spoke of time in the woods connecting with nature, with Guillorn adding “my therapist is every trail I hike on,” a sentiment many nodded in agreement with. “Hand To Heart,” Guillorn said, was a “love song to absent friends” they wrote when they “felt bad about not going out to see friends” last year. Though it was not the final song of the set, it seemed to strengthen the already obvious and ever growing connections between both old and new friends in the room as they sang the final lines: “just keep dancing, just keep laughing, just keep singing.”
