CMJ Official Showcase: Aabaraki, Wyatt, Zachary Cale, Brett Saxon, Vita and The Woolf, Johnny Lewis, Native Harrow

"Reduction. Stutter. Funk. Reducing the music to its bare essentials, deconstructing each facet, till it is but a dull and throbbing shell of its former self" is how four piece Aabaraki describe their delicious Alt-Soul sound that not only pays homage to the founders of funk, but also modernizes the genre. In a trend heavy musical climate, Aabaraki opts for sophisticated minimalism, operating as a single unit in producing, writing, singing, and creating all of it's music.

Though the boys come from different but accomplished musical backgrounds, their collective sound comes naturally. Guitarist Brian Forbes is a co-owner of Brooklyn's The Gallery Recording Studio, and has toured with hip-hop rock band The Nillaz, playing on Warped Tour 2005 and at Madison Square Garden. Akie Bermiss, a self- taught jazz keyboardist who has opened for George Clinton brings with him raw and sexy vocals that fall somewhere in between D'Angelo and Stevie Wonder. Aaron Steele, one of New York's most sought after session drummers has toured Europe opening for Jamiroquai and bassist Ari Folman-Cohen comes from a jazz heavy background and has shared the stage with Avante Jazz great Bobby Previte and opened for Patti Smith.

After playing together for two years the band is currently sitting on an extremely polished EP, completely written, produced, and cooked up from scratch by the four accomplished musicians. Songs range from human and heart-wrenching like their single "Happy Ending" to lascivious and carnal like their live show favorite, 'Karate'.

Currently playing gigs in New York City and Brooklyn, the band is anticipating their album release.


New York, NY (September 17, 2014) – Maddy Wyatt will never have wisdom teeth. Her dentist told her it's because she's so highly evolved, but he probably says that to all the girls. Nonetheless, she believes in change as a constant. Especially for the better and most especially when it comes to music. WYATT will release the new EP, Here Comes Everybody on November 11, 2014.

WYATT's music is born out of the Colorado calm and NYC craze that have molded Maddy as a writer. It continues on the folk/pop path they've forged, but this time it's infused with bits of psychedelia, California dreaming and French revolution.

Maddy, Paul, and Alex Wyatt grew up outside Denver, right where the mountains start and WYATT's music is influenced by the space, peace and grandeur that Colorado exudes. Coming from French Canadian stock on their dad's side, and having been taught songs in French from a very early age, it was fairly inevitable that Maddy would start writing songs in French. She embraces the inherent beauty and flow of the language, and enjoys the challenge of writing in a second language, as it forces her to keep things simple and efficient as she puts the pen to paper.

The album title came about through a late night dinner on Christmas Eve. The topic was religion. The three kids had gone their own ways, but their dad (a music director for the Catholic church) threw out this moniker from the 70's, drawn from James Joyce - "Here Comes Everybody." It struck a chord with Maddy -- spiritually perhaps, but more importantly as a call to arms for the band itself.

Here Comes Everybody kicks off with the layered synth and electric guitar lines of "Palacyum", leading to the Francophone ode-to-summer, "L'été", the first song Maddy ever wrote entirely in French. "Up & Up", the agitated rocker in 13/8 time follows until things take another turn back to French with "4 & 20". Not completely though, as the second verse is a direct English translation of the first, and builds to a reminder of embracing the moments in life when everything feels just about perfect ("I understood today how beautiful life can be / I swear to never forget / I'll hold each moment to me / Vow to keep my eyes open").

This final song on the EP encapsulates all the themes of the previous songs, and puts a sheen of acceptance and love on top. It is so titled ("Walking Down 6th Avenue In The Sun") because the lyric poured quickly out of Maddy's head as she was walking to the train in her Brooklyn neighborhood, feeling slightly overwhelmed by life, but also knowing she could handle it. Musically, it is the simplest and most straightforward, and builds to a final verse that lays out Maddy's overriding philosophy: "Be a light to the people / They are God / Lift them up inside you / Everyone on their way / Off getting through the day / But in a moment / Love will come back to you."

Here Comes Everybody is produced by Matthew Maroulakos (Waking Lights) and Grant Zubritsky (Alex Winston, Nina Persson) at The Den Studios in Woodland Park, NJ. It was mixed by Dave Robertson (Dangly Studios) in Brooklyn, NY and mastered by Hans DeKline (Sound Bites Dog) in Los Angeles, CA.

WYATT will be on the road through the Fall in support of the Here Comes Everybody.


Zachary Cale is a NYC based songwriter/musician originally hailing from the small southern town of Enon, Louisiana. His music ranges from lyrically driven balladry over American Primitive inspired guitar playing to Cosmic Country music and cerebral folk rock to darker torch songs with Western themes.

His first album Outlander Sessions was released by New World Of Sound records in 2005. Recorded with a borrowed acoustic guitar on a 4 track cassette machine.

For the past decade Cale has been releasing records through his own imprint All Hands Electric among other small labels. In 2008 Cale's second solo album Walking Papers was released, an album that fuses highly poetic imagery across stark balladry. Marking a huge step forward from his debut Walking Papers displays Cale's progression from lo-fi acoustic busker to a songwriter of visionary scope. It was recorded by Kevin McMahon (Titus Andronicus, Swans) at Jett Studio previously known as the historic Bearsville Sound Studio where albums by The Band, Bobby Charles, NRBQ and Muddy Waters were recorded. Upon it's release Cale was described by New Jersey's, WFMU as a "songwriter's songwriter" with a writing style comparable to the greats like Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and Leonard Cohen.

Before it's release Cale started a rock band called Illuminations. All Hands Electric issued their debut album See-Saw the same year that Walking Papers was released. The straight ahead power pop inspired rock n roll band showcased a different side of Cale's songwriting. Cale began using electric guitars, adopting a style and delivery that aligns itself to roots inspired rock bands such as Big Star, VU and Crazy Horse.

2011 saw the release of Cale's first critically acclaimed album Noise Of Welcome. Upon it's release Pop Matters proclaimed Cale as "the best singer songwriter working today. Period.". The album is a perfect blend of Cale's penchant for cosmic American rock styles that he used in his work with Illuminations and the dark mystic balladry of his solo albums. That year Cale toured the U.S. with a full band, and in solo performances across Europe.

Blue Rider was released in 2013 to great fan fare. Praised by Pitchfork, Spin, American Songwriter, NY Magazine, and Pop Matters the album features a stripped down acoustic sound implementing country blues tunings adopted from guitar legends Skip James and John Fahey, coupled with Cale's haunting vocal delivery and enigmatic lyrics. With the addition of ethereal synth lines and electric textures over it's acoustic foundation the album exudes an atmosphere that is otherworldly yet traditionally grounded. Upon it's release Cale became a member of the NYC based Crystal Stilts, joining the band as their second guitarist as well as supporting them on a cross country US tour.

On stage Cale performs both solo and with an full electric band. In concert his melodically complex guitar playing has been compared to Neil Young and Bert Jansch with nods to pre-war Piedmont and Ragtime players such as Blind Willie McTell and Mississippi John Hurt. In a full band setting Cale has been known to strap on an electric, adopting a style and delivery that flies closer to country-tinged rock songwriters such as Alex Chilton, Ray Davies and Tom Petty. The intensity of his solo sets hold crowds spellbound, while the electric band sets veer into a mild psychedelia that's equally captivating.

Cale has played hundreds of shows traversing both the US and EU sharing stages with Sharon Van Etten, Robyn Hitchcock, Neko Case, Six Organs of Admittance, Deer Tick, Ryley Walker, Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Pratt, The Black Swans, War on Drugs, Steve Gunn, Villagers, Hiss Golden Messenger, Foxygen, Wooden Wand, Michael Chapman, William Tyler, Chris Forsyth, Angel Olsen, Dan Melchior, and many others.

Duskland is Cale's 5th album under his own name, an album that employs full band arrangements and western motifs to further chronicle Cale's haunted vision of Americana. The album will be released August 7th 2015 via No Quarter.


"Brett Saxon is a Brooklyn-based songwriter. Wielding an acoustic guitar and a tight backing band, Brett sings his way through tales of longing, loneliness, and social politics. His is a particularly moody take on the folk and country traditions, pulled into the modern day bars of Brooklyn." - BreakThru Radio

The music of Brooklyn's Brett Saxon is built on a long tradition of guitar storytelling. In his moody, complex songs he weaves together themes of longing, loneliness, and social politics with agility and grace.

His songs are not just good – they're what you need to keep from becoming cynical.


Vita and the Woolf is the brain child of Jennifer Pague. It is an electronic soul pop musical group from Philadelphia. The haunting harmonies and vocal layering combined with crazy instrumentation and simple drumming produce a sound that reflects R&B, soul, jazz, and powerful choral ballads. The current lineup includes Jennifer Pague on vocals and synths and Adam Shumski on percussion.

They released their debut EP Fang Song in September 2014 and are currently finishing up recording their follow up album entitled Tunnels.


Johnny Lewis melds the north-country sound of acoustic guitars with progressive Americana, unique lyrics and electronic ambiance, replanting the poetic verse into a timeless songwriting style for a new generation of listeners. He releases his self-titled debut album on Sept 23, 2014.

Johnny Lewis' musical background is not that of the ordinary Folk Artist. Stemming from Minneapolis, MN, Johnny moved to Colorado in 2008 to pursue electronic production for a number of touring acts including The Larva Ink, Lizzo, Bokonon and many more. Accepted into the festival community, Lewis opened extensively for national acts such as The Flaming Lips and EOTO, but after tirelessly working in the electronic world, Lewis came to terms with his obsession for acoustic music. This in turn, drove him away from production and into his passion - writing songs.

Johnny grew up listening to music from a world he didn't belong to. His uncles would listen to the crackling records of Charley Patton, Chet Baker, Johnny Hartman and Bob Dylan, which drew Johnny to the acoustic guitar at the age of twelve and played songs by legends all the way through high school.

After his stints in Colorado and Minneapolis, Johnny began slowly moving away from the electronically oriented acts he had formed and the scene he had engrained himself in and moved to New York City to start his music career over. He wrote dozens of songs in a short amount of time and decided it was time to release his first solo record.

Johnny Lewis' self titled debut is a is a gorgeous fusion of dream-folk, Americana and meticulously layered production, combining all spectrums of Lewis' passions. Lewis now resides in New York City.


The Native Harrow // A Native American grandfather talking to his young grandson tells the boy he has two wolves inside of him struggling with each other. The first is the wolf of peace, love and kindness. The other wolf is fear, greed and hatred. 'Which wolf will win, grandfather?', asks the young boy, 'Whichever one you feed', is the reply.

Native Harrow formed one day when multi-instrumentalist and composer Stephen Harms met native Pennsylvanian songwriter and maker of music, Devin Tuel in a tour van that was leaving Brooklyn. The pair immediately connected and made plans to begin creating together. Tuel had released her debut EP, Heavy Soul, in 2013 while Harms was leading and collaborating on projects spanning from avant-garde to americana. Tuel's southern ancestry and love for traditional folk and Appalachian music are a large part of the musical styles that influence her songwriting and what initially intrigued Harms to play with her. Together the two are working on creating and blending the different music they are most passionate about; writing, singing, touring, and recording together as a duo.