By Adam McGrath
Vikesh Kapoor takes an honest approach to American folk music, rooting his songs in the traditional working-class tropes that have long characterized the genre. As a first-generation American, though, Kapoor interprets ideas of work, ambition, and family through a new cultural lens.
Friday night at World Café Live, Kapoor played songs from his debut album, The Ballad of Willy Robbins (Mama Bird), to a congenial post-dinner crowd. Scheduled to open for Eleni Mandell, Kapoor fell victim to the horrors of I-95 South at rush hour, forcing a set flip where Mandell took the stage first. While Kapoor battled idling autos, Mandell was fighting a case of laryngitis, gamely gulping a mug of tea and thanking the gracious audience for their support.
Luckily, all distractions fell away as Kapoor kicked off his set with “I Never Knew What I Saw in You,” a sweet tune featuring a falsetto chorus. Lanky and soft-spoken, with rolled-up sleeves and Cosmo Kramer hair, Kapoor cuts a figure straight out of the pages of Life magazine. A connection to the roots of American folk music is apparent in Kapoor’s music, something that goes beyond his Dylanesque voice and the harmonica worn around his neck. Second selection “Down by the River” borrowed the “Fare thee well, my honey” chorus of Pete Seeger’s “Dink’s Song,” and Kapoor took the required moment to remember the folk icon’s recent passing.
The title tack of Kapoor’s album references a fictional character who was inspired by a real newspaper article the songwriter came across while working as a mason’s apprentice in Boston. “The Ballad of Willy Robbins” reaches beyond a laborer’s struggles and touches on the challenges felt by anyone being ground down by the world around them.
“I Dreamt Blues” stays in the same thematic vein, but the sharpest tool in Kapoor’s shed has to be “Carry Me, Home,” an uptempo yet mournful song that recreates the yawning loneliness Kapoor felt in his rural Pennsylvania hometown. This song is at the vanguard of contemporary folk music and should not be missed.
Kapoor rounded out his set with “Blue-Eyed Baby,” “Ode To My Hometown,” and “Sherene, Don’t Be Alone.” In addition to the compelling subject matter of his lyrics, Kapoor’s guitar playing and singing equate to a complete and well-polished package. Go out to see him as he tours the next two months, and enjoy the continuing legacy of American folk music.
