Emerging Music Festival: Benét, Dougie Poole, and Daneshevskaya

Emerging Music Festival returns for the first time since 2019 on June 24-25 with thousands of music lovers packing the Bryant Park lawn for New York's best new music. Six up-and-coming bands curated by AdHoc perform on one of the biggest stages of their up-an-coming careers.

Benét (Benét Nutall) is a singer-songwriter based in Richmond, VA. Raised in a musically inclined family, Benét‘s ear for melody is finely tuned. “My mom would always say ‘Don’t sing my part’” Benét says. “I had to come up with another line when singing together.” Being challenged vocally, Benét’s writing formed an incredible sense of harmony out of necessity. Beyond clear vocal talent, Benét’s vulnerable lyrics continue to pursue the audience long after the first play. From a young age, Benét was drawn to creative means of expression, immersing themselves in their local scene and dipping their toes in mediums across the board. Fast forward to 21-years-old, Benét is acutely aware of the ways their upbringing, both in Virginia and on the Internet have impacted their music. Social media has not only informed the way they create, but who they create with. Connecting with artists online has allowed them to expand their musical bounds, and make friends along the way. Previous releases from Benét include “Stan Account,” a double single released last year with Richmond-imprint, Citrus City.

Brooklyn's Dougie Poole puts his eccentric stamp on country music, melding eerie D.I.Y. bedroom pop textures with a love for classic honky tonk and lonesome, earthy songwriting. His self-released, home-recorded debut, Wideass Highway, earned him a contract with Wharf Cat Records, which issued his more expansive follow-up, The Freelancer's Blues, in 2020. Originally based in Providence, Rhode Island, Poole moved to Brooklyn and immersed himself in New York's indie underground, pairing his old-school country influences with synth pop and experimental music. Crooning in a low baritone over drum machines, steel guitar, and ambient synths, he established a sort of bedroom country vibe with his 2016 Olneyville System Special EP, then doubled down on the atmospheric approach for his 2017 debut, Wideass Highway. Earning plaudits for crafting modern country music for a young genre-averse urban crowd, Poole shared shows with eclectic acts like Jerry Paper, Bong Wish, and Drugdealer, guesting on the latter's 2019's album Raw Honey. After signing with New York indie Wharf Cat, he recorded his 2020 sophomore album, The Freelancer's Blues, which featured a full band and tonally leaned more toward the organic side of country music.

Under her alias Daneshevskaya, Anna Beckerman writes tough-minded, tender-hearted songs about saying fond farewells. These aren’t necessarily breakup anthems. Some might be addressed to a lover, but most are about friends and acquaintances, those people whose lives intersect briefly with yours before they follow their own paths elsewhere. Bury Your Horses, her debut EP, locates meaning in these absences and finds hard-won contentment with dwindling memories left behind. “Thank you for leaving, you have no idea how much fun it’s been,” she sings on “Right About It,” her voice mournful but forceful as an acoustic guitar subtly mimics the rhythm of a racing heart.