Nature Documentary, Brian Dolphin, Keepsake1Million
Upstairs at Abyssinia
229 S 45th St.
Philadelphia
Jan. 29, 2026
Checked this show out purely on the recommendation of a trusted friend with great taste (and cozy in the knowledge that Abyssinia almost always brings the goods) and man, was I not disappointed. I didn’t listen to anyone in advance, and, sure, I recently moved like three blocks away, so not a big deal, but as a rule I’d encourage anyone reading this to go about show-going this way more often. Go to the gig without doing any research! Resist the urge to know in advance! Find out on the fly! Spontaneity or bust, we ride at dusk! I ran into a friend (local songwriter Daphne Ellen, whose 2025 album Good Gold includes me playing banjo on a couple tunes) and we were discussing this in reference to the great folk musician and guitarist Jake Xerxes Fussell (I intend to cover his Ardmore show in a few months, stay tuned) who we both love, and the fact that I first heard him as the opener for Bill Callahan at World Cafe Live way back in 2019. I went for Callahan but vividly remember losing it, beaming, wide-and-wild-eyed with joy over how extremely my shit Fussell’s music was. Last night at Abyssinia came close to that. And even better, these were all local musicians.
First up was Nature Documentary, apparently playing their first full-band show. After slowly getting situated with their equipment (“Who out there is good at de-tangling things?” front guy Noah Kossowsky shouted out, to whoever is good), the power trio launched into a set that was something like a Sebadoh and Gin Blossoms hybrid fronted by a genial Will Sheff. Though the band was definitely unrefined (dynamically was either “regular” or “too loud”), the looseness worked, and Kossowsky has a winning energy and amiability – he clearly loves what he does – and the songs were all super tuneful.
Next was Brian Dolphin, a local legend who brought a summoning-of-all-hands-on-deck energy to the proceedings. Dolphin is behind an ongoing project called The 6-Hour Album. Now in its sixth year, its singular goal (as described by Dolphin) is “creating and sustainably releasing more beautiful, original, and non-commercial music into the world.” What he does is “get a bunch of talented people together every month for six to 12 hours straight and spontaneously teach, arrange, and record each other's songs right then and there.” I love this approach – DIY and community in action, baby – and the feel and flavor of his set was totally in concert with that vision: by the final song, “And We Go To School," we’d all been cajoled into cahoots, singing along to its wordy chorus: “And we go to school but we don’t care about our homework / We just get high on your mom’s rooftop / And we go to school but we don’t care about our grades / We just care about getting laid!” (The final chorus repeated “laid” maybe five thousand times. So sick.) Dolphin was joined by singers and a drummer whose names I didn’t catch, all great – the drummer in particular was inventive, dexterous and facile, playing cool polyrhythms but always in service of the song – and Dolphin is a wonderful singer and performer, with a jazz singer’s command of trills, runs and vibrato, and a fun guitar style incorporating absurd string bending and a right hand so floppy I immediately clocked him as a clawhammer banjo player.
Last up was keepsake1million, a seven-piece band also made up of people whose names I didn’t catch, the live iteration of what, in recorded form, is basically a solo home-recording project. They were radiantly fun and jaunty, a quirked-up crew that swerved between straight-up New Orleans jazz moments (banjo and bass clarinet will get you there) and jammy, loose-as-fuck indie rock, with catchy melodies and a great sense of humor (I loved “Encore”’s lines about refusing to give you your money back because “we played a bad set,” and it turns out the song was written with Abyssinia in mind! You know I love my meta moments) and rapid, rabidly-contagious energy. The whole room felt it. They’re playing again tonight – or maybe just the guy who wrote the songs? – at The Last Drop in Center City. Go. Just pretend you didn’t do your research.
