How many acoustic guitar players—let alone Black women guitar players—pick up the instrument because of the video game Guitar Hero II? Yasmin Williams did. The NoVA musician has been at it for roughly 15 years now, carving out a singularly playful and intentional style that pulls from disparate approaches. Unflinchingly instrumental, as reflected in her two full-lengths, 2018’s Unwind and 2021’s Urban Driftwood, Williams will sometimes put the guitar across her lap with its neck to the sky and use both hands across the frets like a pianist. Other times she’ll fingerpick with dexterity, keeping the body propped upright in its traditional position. She’s also known to poke at the strings with a dulcimer hammer, attach a kalimba to its front, and wear tap shoes for rhythmic accompaniment. The results are atmospheric in a way you could ascribe to ambient music: Her compositions don’t demand your attention as much as they slowly surround you on all sides, buoy you up, and carry you on an undulating ride downstream.
If acoustically driven, painfully earnest songs that don’t attempt to hide their political alignment are your thing, Conor & The Wild Hunt opens the evening with its soft focus Americana. Odds are high for the inclusion of harmonica, mandolin, and/or fiddle.—CM Gorey