Roots Music in the Music Room: Darlingside (with opener, Lula Wiles)

Roots Music in the Music Room returns this spring to continue infusing the historic Rosen House with the sights and sounds of a uniquely American tradition.

Darlingside (Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji, Harris Paseltiner, and David Senft) are a Massachusetts-based ensemble whose sound is an eclectic blend of 60s folk, clever wry wit, classical arrangements, soaring harmonies, and a modern indie-rock sensibility. The four vocalists and multi-instrumentalists construct every piece collaboratively, pooling ideas so that each song bears the imprint of four different writing voices. Playful vocal permutations swing from four-part unison to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young-inspired group harmonies, underpinned by rich, carefully crafted soundscapes.

The band’s penchant for merging electronic sounds with traditional acoustic textures–often bowed or plucked strings on a bed of ambient guitar swells and self-oscillating delays–shines on stage. Their music threads the collective memory of the four songwriters, nodding to the folk influences of their parents’ generation while establishing a sound that is all their own.

Lula Wiles opens for Darlingside, returning to Caramoor after capturing hearts at the 2016 American Roots Music Festival. This Boston by way of Maine band features closely woven harmonies, the chemistry of good friends, and musical prowess. All proficient multi-instrumentalists, the three women of Lula Wiles are each uniquely powerful in their own right, but combined, they are a force on the rise in the Roots Music scene.