Make Music Philly Spotlight: Sylvia Platypus

If the name alone wasn’t enough to pique your curiosity, then the bagpipes will. Philly’s own six-piece “psycho-celtic glam-blues band” Sylvia Platypus will be performing this Friday, June 21st, for a free, Make Music Philly show at the Historic Headhouse Square Shambles, and they certainly have a lot to offer – for starters, they are the only artist (to the best of my knowledge) categorized as a “psycho-celtic glam-blues band.” When they’re not covering classic Stones tunes like “Paint In Black”, or riffing on old, traditional folk songs like “Raggle Taggle Gypsy”, they’re busy spinning their own web of unique, bagpipe-infused rock. Lead singer Janet Bressler,graces the stage with a mysterious, yet commanding presence. Fit to sing at a funeral, she’s often decked out in a black lace veil, and black everything else (the above photo captures her on a rare dressed-in-white day). Her voice, believed by most to be inspired from singers like Edith Piaf all the way to John Lee Hooker, has a unique style and tone – a certain soulfulness, equally matched by soulful guitar playing of Bill Barone. Check them out for yourself by watching them rehearse their track “Dead City” at Junction Music, below, and once again, catch them this Friday at the Historic Headhouse Square Shambles at noon, for their Make Music Philly Performance.