Riccio, Palmyra continue the high

Jobi Riccio and Palmyra would not have been blamed if they suffered a letdown at this show. After all, on Sunday, they were playing before big crowds at the iconic Newport Folk Festival. On this night, they were playing before a sold-out crowd of just over 100 people in a small, jam-packed room (and one with a lot of history).

No matter as both acts seemed to be riding the high of Newport as Ricco and Palmyra turned in enjoyable and most satisfying performances.

While Riccio got the show rolling with an all-too-short set of nine songs in just under 50 minutes, the fact of the matter was either act could have headlined without any opener of note. This night was two for the price of one.

Performing solo acoustic, Riccio had the songs and personality to easily carry her part of the night. Riccio won the John Prine Songwriter Fellowship Award winner at Newport last year, and it's easy to see why. There was a lot of depth to the songs about her youth, relationships and self-assessment of personality (the closing anthemic "Sweet," where she admits that she's not even if she does desire a relationship). In fact, one could have imagined the late great Prine singing some of these songs.

Riccio switched it up when it came to pacing and styles. On many of the songs, she was a straight ahead country performer. On others, more of a singer/songwriter bent.

Riccio also was a very comfortable, connecting performer, and it was easy to understand why as she was on terra firma. The Berklee College of Music graduate related how she used to be a server at the club, which offers dinner. For some reason, she gave that up to pursue her music.

That's obviously a good thing because after an excellent outing at Newport, Riccio kept the momentum going. Riccio clearly showed she has a fruitful career ahead.

Palmyra was not only riding the Newport high, but they had some other great news to share. The Richmond, Va.-based band announced on Sunday that they had signed with Oh Boy Records, the creation of Prine with their last EP, "Belladonna," released today and new music coming in 2025.

Palmyra is said to be musically sympatico with The Avett Brothers, but that was rarely the case as Palmyra did not get particularly raucous during their stint. If you have to label them, Americana fits just fine.

That's not to say the musical intensity wasn't there though as there was a plenty of that to go round. Sacha Landon shared vocals with banjo/(mainly acoustic) guitarist Teddy Chipouras, and both were up to the task.

For the tall and lean Landon, the songs were intensely personal with a number of them dealing with their gender, including about how they weren't the child their parents thought they were.

The trio (Manoa Bell handled the upright bass, using a bow on a number of songs) was aided by most competent, but never flashy drummer Samira Talaware. In fact, he was behind the skins for one song that he had never even played before and was up to the task.

For a bill like this, it was only felt entirely appropriate that Riccio come back on stage. The performers offered a good reading of The Band's "Ophelia" with Riccio taking a few stanzas.

There was no inkling of a letdown on this night. After all, Riccio and Palmyra had a lot to celebrate, and both made the most of it.