Hearing Marah for the First Time

Last night I was lucky to finally hear Marah live, a band I’ve enjoyed on record since 2000 when they released a great album, “Kids in Philly.” In those days, they were a 4- and 5-piece outfit, but now they’re a 2-piece with founding member Dave Bielanko (acoustic guitar, bass, banjo, vocals) joined by Christine Smith (piano, accordion, vocals). I had the chance to meet Dave, and tell him that I learned to dig his music from Vin Scelsa, host of the long-running NYC free-form radio program “Idiot’s Delight on WFUV.” He gave early play to “Kids in Philly,” and riffed on “Round Eye Blues,” a driving song with a post-Vietnam War-era lyric.