Few things in life are more fun than a pickin’ circle – a group of musicians sitting around a campfire or on a porch somewhere with guitars, banjos, fiddles. It’s always an informal affair, this practice of getting together in an open jam. Not being a musician myself, I can only imagine that actually playing is more fun than sitting on the outside listening, but the listening part suits me just fine.

One of those few things in life more fun than a pickin’ circle is an old-fashioned camp-out bluegrass festival like the Cherokee Farms Fiddler’s Convention that was held in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains near Lafayette, GA July 10^th -11^th of this summer. And this makes perfect sense as an old-fashioned bluegrass festival is essentially the mother of all pickin’ circles. The lineup featured no small amount of serious bluegrass and roots-Americana talent. Friday night Columbus’ own Bibb City Ramblers played the big stage followed by The Virginia Dare Devils from Asheville, NC. Those acts were followed up by festie veterans and national touring act, The Snake Oil Medicine Show.

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Atlanta-based Ben Deignan has been playing regular dates here in Columbus over the past year. His self-titled debut cd was released in January of this year. He will be bringing his funky, poppy party vibe back to The Loft on Saturday, September 5^th. I got the chance to spend about an hour talking to him recently.

Q: What initially brought you to Columbus and The Loft?

A: We’ve played the Loft several times. I really like Columbus. I love downtown. Actually, I adore it, really dig it. And I love the Loft. It always sounds great in there.

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Andrew McMahon, front man of Jack’s Mannequin, knows what a pop song ought to be. Perhaps the use of orchestration, synthesizers, and the occasional glockenspiel mixed into one nearly homogeneous wall of sound might be a turn off for some but in this writer’s opinion, rather than sounding over produced, the effect comes off as being lush. Radio-friendly anthems like the opening track ‘Crashin’ and the last track ‘Miss California’ feature jangly guitars and bright snare-driven rhythms reminiscent of the beginnings of the Indypop movement in the early-mid 90’s. McMahon’s earnest and angst-ridden vocals on slower tracks like ‘Swim’ and ‘Annie Use Your Telescope’ bring a heartfelt warmth layered over these instrumentals that creates a sound so rich you can nearly dive into it. (Particularly appropriate for a song entitled ‘Swim’, yes?)

I feel much more hip and with-it just for having listened to ‘The Glass Passenger.’ (Do we still say ‘hip’ and ‘with-it’?) ‘Passenger’ would serve well as the soundtrack to some neon-soaked Indy flick following the escapades of trendy yet quirky, unrealistically intelligent yet gorgeous young adults surviving in the Big City. The general feel of this collection of songs makes me a bit nostalgic for the inherent drama of that just-post-adolescent age. (Not that I’d realistically ever want to revisit being 19 again, seriously.) Fortunately, giving this record a checking-out won’t actually cause you to travel back in time.

Stephanie Morgan of Asheville-based Stephanie’s Id stands on stage at the Loft, the teeny-weeny package that is her body dressed in a wife beater, a tutu, and plaid Chuck Taylors. Dark brown curls cascade over her face yet are not able to hide her zillion-kilowatt smile. How can I be expected to take someone this impossibly cute seriously as an artist? Turns out, the task becomes far less daunting the moment the band strikes up and she opens her mouth to sing.

Stephanie’s Id is not your average girly-band. Actually, Stephanie’s Id is not your average anything. Stephanie has a baby doll voice that sounds like something between Macy Gray and Bjork with a bit of the edge and quirky unexpectedness of Ani DiFranco. Tracks on the 2007 album, ‘Grus Americanus’ layer these delightful vocal tones over a stylistic versatility that keeps the listener engaged while at the same time maintaining a consistent groove that eases the transition from song to song. The sound is by turns subtly sultry with ambient synth-sounds that create a trance-like feel on tracks like ‘Cold Cold’. At other times the vibe is overtly soulful and funky with smooth gospel-inspired harmonies like those used in the song ‘Hey Hey Hey (It’s Gonna Be Okay)’. In the middle, tracks like the Go-Gos-esque ‘Unmistakably Love’ present a gleeful celebration of cheesy 80’s pop vibe.

Stephanie’s Id is getting attention from the (almost) main-stream press. In a review of ‘Grus Americanus’, the NPR show ‘Second Stage’ described the band’s style as “a beguiling mix of sounds with unexpected sonic turns as hushed, serene songs erupt suddenly into dark, explosive jams.” And they played right here in Columbus! How cool is that? I remain consistently impressed, if not even amazed, by the amount of talent offered to Columbus residents on stages like those at The Loft and Soho’s. If we want to insure that performers of this caliber keep returning to our local venues we need make sure they consistently have a lively audience when they step on stage. In the meantime, I recommend checking out the MySpace page for Stephanie’s Id and giving ‘Grus Americanus’ a listen.