Thursday, Feb 5th:

Singer-songwriters. Three of them. Caffeine, please. Zach Comtois opened the show with some quirky ditties and a kind of Weezer geek charm, and closed out the set teasing “Ava, Ava Hello,” from the Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye,” and was well received by everyone in attendance.

New Jersey Native Ryan Schmidt played second, and had plenty of footnotes for each song. Songs about Facebook bumper stickers, Kimmy from Full House, and losing his license from speeding, as well as a super casual relationship from the audience may have lost him some professionalism points, but he had everyone laughing and listening throughout his 45 minute set. His voice has an adolescent rasp that lent itself well to the tunes, even to the snippets of covers from O-Town, Howie Day, and even Taylor Swift. “We’re going to rock out like Clay Aiken,” he announced on his last number. 

Alexis Babini. Photo by Zac Taylor

Headliner Alexis Babini graduated from Berklee last year, and was the only full band act of the night. All the hooks of the tunes fell where they should, with Babini’s semi charming nasal boy-bandish tenor with a Howie Day flair.  His backing band consisted entirely of current Berklee students and made the simple songs sparkle. The stickers for sale read “Alexis Babini Loves You,” and this proved very true towards the people that stayed for his set after two solo acoustic singer-songwriters. 

Friday, Feb 6th: 

For the second night in a row, Café 939 had a bill of three consecutive singer-songwriters, which can be hazardous, especially on a Friday night. But February 6 hosted three stellar artists, kicking off with Johnny Nicholson. Singing eloquent tunes and accompanying himself on guitar, mandolin, and accordion, Nicholson had the cross-legged listeners eating out of his hand. Jordan Tarrant sat in on guitar for a sultry cover of “Long Black Veil,” and Nathan Reich lent his jazzy lead chops for a few numbers as well. The three singer-songwriters are used to riffing together at the weekly Monkey Rock Writing Circle, and their onstage chemistry is irresistible. 

Fresh off of his stunning performance at the Berklee Performance Center, Nathan Reich once again had a room full of open ears, supported by the “fascinating” Tommy Bohlen on pedal steel and the “beautiful” Alex Spalding on cello, as he introduced them. The mix between the cello’s low end, Reich’s fluttering and elegant fingerpicking, and Bohlen’s atmospheric pedal swells created a gorgeous soundscape, as listeners seemed to stay perfectly still as to not disrupt the songs’ world.

Charleston, SC native Steven Fiore took the stage last, and what he lacked in height, he made up for in wit and stellar songwriting. With most of the crowd sticking around, Fiore capitalized on his lack of stage tuner and expressed his discomfort of being under the scrutiny of music students. He took requests, told anecdotes, and riffed with a crowd like a stand up comedian. Fiore can expect to play for a bigger crowd for his next visit. Zac Taylor