[Concerts] Cross-Pollinating a Singer with a Fool (Matt Singer/The Fools)

Photograph by Tara McNally

Cross-pollination show 124: January 9 at Piano's

What do you get when you cross-pollinate a singer and a fool? One hell of a night that would make even the birds and the bees jealous.

Matt Singer's (myspace.com/mattsingermusic) lyrics are the cat's pajamas. *Meow* don't let his wholesome, boy-next-door façade fool you. Once he picks up his guitar and opens his mouth, no scandalous or political figure is safe, including the White House idiot or the carnal abuses of the Catholic Church.

Delivered like a rapping storyteller, his sardonic, side-spilting, politically-infused lyrics - thinly veiled in catchy melodic, folksy hooks - make you ask, "did he really just say that?;" usually followed by an uncontrollable, belly-aching laugh. Plus, he can whistle like a piping hot tea kettle. How coolio is that?

Matt plays Bar Four (Brooklyn) January 19; Joe's Pub (with The Undisputed Heavyweights - yeah!) January 25; Freddy's (Brooklyn) January 28; February 11 (Sidewalk's Antifolk Festival - yeah!) February 11; and Makor February 20.

The Fools (myspace.com/thefools_lostandfound) are the symbolic motivation as to why I started a blog (myspace.com/mymusicalcrush); to spread the word about unknown, amazing musicians.

They are unequivocally one of those buried treasures that have yet to be fully unearthed. How do i know this? A: have you ever heard of them?; And B: their MySpace profile views are considerably lacking, which i find mind-numbing. So, grab your shovels and dig in.

Lead singer Jenn Tobin's voice, supported by bassist Uchenna Bright, is so incredibly rich and captivating that it unnoticeably consumes you with little effort.

The highlight of the evening was when Matt, Jen and Uchenna shared the stage to deliver a cover of Nirvana's 'Dumb' that would have even moved Courtney in ways she never knew.

The Fools play Sidewalk Cafe January 20; Mopitkins January 30; Sidewalk Cafe (Antifolk - Festival - yeah!) February 16; and Laila Lounge (brooklyn) March 14.

Pics from the show can be found at flickr.com/photos/mymusicalcrush

What the heck is cross-pollination?

For those of you who are 'cross-pollination' virgins, it is one of those rare, magical, music treats that hasn't seeped out so much so that the atmosphere is more like Madison Square Garden than sitting in your living room listening to your friends play. Every Tuesday evening on the lower east side, with a few exceptions, two talented singer/songwriters are invited to play together acoustically, who haven't necessarily done so before. Both of them play one set solo and then for the third they 'cross-pollinate' with each other. Yeah, it's f***ing brilliant and provides a venue for local artists to perform and stretch musically with other like-minds. Kudos to Wes (myspace.com/wesverhoeve) and Jay (myspace.com/jaymankind) for keeping it strong 123 shows and counting.

xo,
mymusicalcrush