It was the first Friday night of the new year and I decided to head off to Zebulon. My first music night of 2025. The decision to go out came down to the fact that I didn't know any of the two bands on the bill. In fact, I learned that the band closing out the night (Respira Raus) was playing their first set ever and I don't believe they even have a social media presence. If you've followed my music adventures throughout the years, you know I love heading out to catch new music. How else am I able to come up with my annual list of favorite new bands and artists?
Was it a good decision or just a blah decision? The first band up, noworriesLMK, charmed me so it was an excellent decision.
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| noworriesLMK at Zebulon |
I got to Zebulon at 7:50 p.m. and there wasn't much of a crowd inside. The line-up was supposed to start at 8 p.m. and so I spent my first few minutes there deleting photos from my camera's memory cards from my previous night out (obviously already loaded up onto my computer). Then I waited around for a few minutes longer as the music didn't start until 8:20 p.m. The venue was still relatively empty. That all quickly changed.
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| noworriesLMK at Zebulon |
It was an interesting moment when the clock struck 8:20 p.m. A large crowd began flowing into the venue from the patio. How did they know exactly when the music was going to begin? Did noworriesLMK announce that they were going on stage? As I didn't know anything about the band nor the band members, I have no clue who was at the front of that crowd, but I'm just going to imagine that at the front of that crowd were the band members walking to the stage and everyone was following them indoors.
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| noworriesLMK at Zebulon |
The band describes their music as a "genre-fluid jazz quartet." The quartet is made up of Mikaela Elson on vocals, Kevin Terrell Madison on keys and flute, Wes Nelson on bass, and Lucas Lenny on drums. The band does seem to enjoy each other's company. Before the set began, Elson and Nelson shared some laughs. It was also a birthday celebration for both Elson and Lenny.
Elson vocals had me thinking of Diana Krall as she smoothly sang the lyrics and at times showed her lung power by lingering on certain words. Madison plays the keys with a soft touch and his facial impressions indicate that he was one with his Nord Piano. People loved it when he switched to the flute for a few brief moments. At the end of the set, someone in the crowd yelled out, "I love the flute." Nelson's bass notes often matched perfectly with Elson's singing. Lenny hits those jazz drum beat tempos, striking at just the right moments to counter Nelson's bass notes. When their set ended, the band had the largest smiles.
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| noworriesLMK at Zebulon |
The band only has two songs out on Spotify. They played both during their set. I'd say my favorite of the two is "Trying for u." I love the chord playing on the keys. The chords repeat with each growing just slightly more climatic before resolving into a peaceful moment that allows the drums to take the lead. Elson's vocals float above in a tender manner.
Say you love me, but don't know how to love meI've tried, and I'm still here.
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