The continued it Fourth Friday concert series this weekend with an appearance by the Cape Cod-based quartet Tripping Lily at its Lindenhurst location, the BACCA Arts Center.
The evening included an open mic featuring Eli Maniscalco, Dave Settecucati, Becca Hasselbrook and the duo of .
They were all there to entertain Lindenhurst and Babylon Town residents who gathered to hear one of the many and BACCA presents throughout the month at its center in Lindy and across the town, including .
The evening was hosted by President Shawn Cullinane, who excused the formality of his appearance in button down shirt and tie, explaining that he’d come from a formal gathering down the street at the Lindenhurst Village Museum, where the arts organization is hosted a juried art exhibition.
However, there was no need to have been concerned about the tie – for all its informality, the band for the evening was pretty button down, too.
Tripping Lily is a string band, fronted by brothers Demetrius and Alex Becrelis, of Massachusetts; and Monica Rizzio, originally from New York. The 20-something-year-old trio is supported by bassist Laird Boles, a phlegmatic older fellow who nevertheless beams with the pleasure of performing with as young and attractive a trio as this one.
With roots in a variety of musical genre – Laird claims Demetrius was once a heavy metal performer, and the group’s literature asserts a groundwork of pop-rock cross-fertilized with folk music – the group is decidedly in the folk/bluegrass vein. It formed after Demetrius met Monica while performing in Nashville.
The two began collaborating on songs soon afterward, and their distinctive sound emerged – a delicate, polished product relying on immaculate harmonic integration of voices, supported by an acoustic interweaving of guitar, mandolin, ukulele and banjo-ukulele.
And it’s neither a retro nor a hard driven Flatt and Scruggs sound. Tripping Lily conveys the human side of song. As demonstrated at BACCA on June 24, it offers an engaging experience akin to dropping in on the living room of good friends while they’re jamming on their folk instruments.
A genial, meandering stage badinage is central to their show, as is the easy way in which one by one, Demetrius, Alex and Monica step to the front to sing.
Demetrius Becrelis’ stage presence is palpable, putting the complex rhythm of his entire body into his guitar work. Rizzio charms, reaching fullest vocal expressive power during the cameo portion of the show in which she sings jazzy American pop standards -- in this show, her rendering of Blue Skies was impossibly good.
Next up in the series is New York Funk Exchange on July 22 and Cathy Kreger on September 23. And running until 5 p.m. today is the Third Sunday Song Swap at the center. For details e-mail or call BACCA at 631-587-3696.
