Folkadelphia Session: Vikesh Kapoor

Vikesh revealed to me that although he grew up in Pennsylvania, he had never played a show in Philadelphia. Now based in Portland and returning to the area, the songwriter made up for lost time, performing a total of four sets in a single day (including a “secret” SoFar Sounds Philly show) as part of Philadelphia’s first (and hopefully annual) Make Music Philly day, an initiative to create and share music throughout the city, at any location and by anyone on the summer soltice, the longest day of the year.

Vikesh Kapoor also carved out time on his short Philly stint to visit WXPN and track a session of solo acoustic songs – just a man, a guitar, his voice, and a harmonica. In our set, a bit road weary and all by himself, Vikesh gives off an eremetic impression, isolated by design, but with a powerful latent devotion and energy. This is used to great effect in conveying the emotional and narrative content and spirit of his storytelling. And of his playing and singing, they are reminiscent of a young Bob Dylan or some of the other traveling troubadours of the ’60s era folk revival, sometimes so much so that you might think you’re listening to a lost gem from the Newport Folk Festival.

In fact, Vikesh is currently preparing his debut album entitled The Ballad of Willy Robbins, an ambitious first record that American Songwriter discusses is about “a working class man as he loses everything.” You’ll soon be able to hear the record in full when it is released on October 15th via Mama Bird Recording Co..