I had heard that The Ballroom Thieves are a good rock band disguised as a folk band, which proved to be an accurate description of them.

They are a young, Boston-based band with a CD and an EP under their belts and I was excited to see them at The Sinclair, a small-ish venue I enjoy. They play an unusual combination of instruments – percussion, guitar and cello. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that exact combination, but it works.

Because I wasn’t familiar with their music, this show was an introduction to a band that I suspect I will see again. Their harmonies are excellent as is their playing. The percussionist, Devin Mauch, has especially good rapport with the audience. Martin Earley on guitar and vocals and Calin Peters on cello and vocals are the other members of the band.

Devin Mauch

Martin Earley

Calin Peters

Calin coaxed some particularly interesting sounds from her cello. I suspect this band will be at the Newport Folk Festival in the near future.

There were two openers for the evening; that usually translates into one terrible opened first, followed by a decent opener. This show was different because both were good.

Caroline Rose, from Burlington, Vermont, usually has a partner playing with her. Her sound didn’t fill the venue as well as it might have had her partner been there, and the audience was loudly talking through her set. She has a good voice and I’d be interested in seeing her again in a smaller venue.

Caroline Rose

The next act was Tales of Olde, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Their style is also Americana, a genre I particularly enjoy.

Tales of Olde

Their sound was full and rich; they got the crowd moving. They even got the audience to quiet down a bit. I would have enjoyed seeing them do an encore with The Ballroom Thieves – maybe next time.