Folkadelphia Session: Dolfish

I don’t immediately spring for musicians that opt for the humorous over the serious. I might be in the minority here, but musicians that sing about the weighty questions in life, the BIG questions, always tend to catch my ear quicker. But truly it’s a balancing act; you can only appreciate the darkness with the light, the heavy with the insubstantial.

That’s why Cleveland/Columbus, OH’s Dolfish (aka Max Sollisch) and his quirky sort-of brash songs and attitude mean a lot to me. He’s just so damned refreshingly honest in his approach to songwriting and playing that his record I’d Rather Disappear Than Stay The Same has not left my computer’s CD drive (yeah, I don’t have a  real CD player, sue me). He creates these clever little worlds in song form. They’re unobtrusive and intimate in scope – qualities that draw you in – but also universal for anyone caught up in the Age of the Internet. His tongue-in-cheek lyrics about Dashboard Confessional or PDA (public displays of affection) have a joke quality to them, but he’s singing about loneliness, isolation, separation, and not knowing who you are or who you should be. I feel it; it’s relatable, realistic, and adventurous in a way that makes me think that Sollisch is writing the folk songs of the 21^st Century. Let’s stay tuned in.

Dolfish stopped by the WXPN Studio before his concert in Philadelphia at Elena’s Soul (RIP) on November 10^th, 2012. He quickly laid down some tracks for us to share with you. We know that we’ll see him soon and we’re looking forward to it.