Admirable is the musician who uses an uncommon instrument to conjure a wholly original sound and reimagine how it can engage a listener.

A captivating harpist of growing stature, Mikaela Davis dazzles with the hulking stringed apparatus and pairs with it a luscious voice — the combination, along with her gift for songwriting, makers her shine in the studio and on the stage as a rare talent.

In a June 20 appearance at Songbyrd Music House in the nation’s capital, Davis and her extraordinary band, Southern Star, astonished through a varied set of music that showcased the skills of everyone on the stage and gave promise for what this group has ahead.

This posse had seen its last scheduled visit to the District thwarted a few months back by an untimely power outage at Songbyrd — good sports, Mikaela and her crew made the most of it with an impromptu jam in the dark.

This time around, they impressed a full room of eager, redemption-seeking music goers who grooved along with them from start to finish as Mikaela shared songs from her growing catalogue and mesmerized with her prismatic plucking style and enduringly sweet vocals.

Listen to Mikaela Davis’ recent single, “Promise,” via Spotify:

Southern Star is made up of brothers Cian and Shane McCarthy on electric guitar and bass, respectively, Kurt Johnson on pedal and lap steel, and Alex Coté on drums. It’s a group that’s been touring together since way back before the pandemic, though Mikaela reminded the room that this was her first chance to finally play the “new” Songbyrd, with her last appearance being back in 2019 when it was still a basement stage over in Adams Morgan.

The band originated in Rochester, New York, where most of the members still live. Though Mikaela herself recently moved to the Hudson Valley, she and Southern Star are tight-knit, and it shows in any given performance. A hard-working, seasoned unit, Davis’ band melded different styles of music across these jams and even within some of the ambitious individual tracks themselves.

Last Tuesday’s show opened with “Get Gone,” recorded on 2018’s Delivery, Mikaela’s first full-length album. But a good slice of the set would treat Songbyrd attendees to tunes from Davis’ forthcoming album, Mikaela Davis and Southern Star, set for release in early August on Kill Rock Star records.

Some of those tracks — like “Cinderella” and “The Pearl” — are only to be heard in the live setting or on the band’s 2022 Relix Sessions double vinyl, which just got a colorful new pressing. Regardless, fans boogied along in DC like they’d been hearing these songs for years.

A delightful, zesty piece, “Promise” was released as a single in May and is on the track list for the new record. At Songbyrd, it was a fabulous display of Mikaela’s allure, her band’s synergy and its punch, with Cian and Kurt complementing each other to create the catching dual guitar melody that helps define this lasting tune.

While she’s collaborated with a range of artists — teaming up with the likes of Töth and Spaceface — Mikaela’s particularly well-known and respected in the jam scene, having performed with Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Circles Around the Sun.

With their own propensity to improvise, Davis and her band segued into the next track more than once at Songbyrd, including spinning a cover of Jerry Garcia’s “The Wheel” into “Pure Divine Love,” the drifting, illusory closing track from her first album.

Watch the official music video for Mikaela Davis’ newest single, “Home In The Country,” via the artist’s official YouTube channel:

“Home In The Country,” Mikaela’s pensive newest single, showed off the beautiful longing in her voice, and by last Tuesday night, some of her listeners had evidently already memorized the words to this winning cut.

To Mikaela’s right, Cian and Kurt were focused in their dynamism — McCarthy pulled up the saxophone after using the guitar or the eye-popping double-neck in numerous songs, and Johnson rotated from the pedal and lap steel to the electric guitar throughout the set. Meanwhile, in the back and to the left, Shane McCarthy and Cote — who’s played with Mikaela for years — were inspirited in managing the tempo, beats and funk, clearly enjoying the process of creating this enticing music.

Southern Star’s instrumentation lends itself to a dreamy blend of pop and folk, but with jams that venture so sonically far and playfully wide, the music becomes sophisticated and offers a greater appeal, with Mikaela braiding majesty into each composition.

A flowing presentation with numerous seamless transitions, the set was gratifying for those in the room who shared in their relief to be back at Songbyrd — with the lights on — to see this fascinating outfit led by a one-of-a-kind artist.

Setlist

Get Gone
Cinderella
The Pearl
Far From You
Leave It Alone>
Promise
The Wheel>
Pure Divine Love
Home In The Country
Don’t Stop Now>
Southern Star

Encore
Other Lover

Here are 35mm home-developed photos of Mikaela Davis and Southern Star along with the night’s opening act, Raina Mullen, performing at Songbyrd Music House in Washington DC the night of June 20, 2023. All images copyright and courtesy of Casey Vock.

Raina Mullen