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Martin Courtney Live @ DC9

Ben Begas
February 9, 2016

Backstory: Seeing live performances have been a big part of my time here in DC. I went to my first show back in October not really having been exposed to many different kinds of live music. I saw Saintseneca perform at Black Cat that night. Their music was a hybrid between sweet sounding folk and alternative rock. Their set was unlike anything I had ever seen. The band used instruments that I never even knew existed before that night, including a bouzouki and dulcimer. Before leaving the venue, I decided to talk with some of the bandmates. Although I didn’t have any meaningful conversations with them, I still enjoyed speaking with them. One of the guitarists was actually part of another band that would soon touring through DC. Soon after that, I started seeing bands perform on a weekly basis.

Courtesy of Saintseneca

This week I saw Martin Courtney perform live at DC9. Courtney, originally part of the jangle pop, indie rock band Real Estate, decided to go solo for couple of years to work on an album. His solo debut album features just ten songs, so not only did he play his entire LP, he included a couple of Neil Young covers. Every single song’s rhythm is simple, yet really melodic and mesmerizing. One of his songs, “Foto,” has a simple guitar riff that makes me want to stop whatever I’m doing and just focus in on the chords. This was not music to dance to but definitely suitable for head nodding. When ending some of his songs, Courtney would start using his “shoegazey” pedals, turning those sweet rhythms into what I could only describe as a wall of sound. He occasionally talked with the audience, but for the most part just thanked us for listening.

New York City Based, EZTV opened that night for Martin Courtney. Lead singer, Ezra Tenenbaum has a very distinct style, some even compare it to The Beatles. Similar to Courtney, They have a jangle power pop sound that resembles acts like Shoes and Emitt Rhodes. Their debut LP, Calling Out, was produced by Jarvis Taveniere, who also produced Martin Courtney’s debut album, Many Moons. Their best song that night had to be “Trampoline.” That song had the whole crowd collectively bobbing their heads. EZTV – “Trampoline”