Mikaela Davis brings country-Americana-psych harp rock to Free At Noon

Harpists are typically seen only in classical music settings. But Rochester native Mikaela Davis is doing things with her harp that buck that trend, and to an incredible degree.

Davis and her band came through WXPN Friday for a Free At Noon performance ahead of their show at Johnny Brenda’s. Despite Philadelphia’s air quality being so unhealthy that breathing it was the equivalent of smoking nine cigarettes, a slew of fans turned out for the nearly hourlong, genre-bending set.

She opened the set with the lead track, “(Looking Through) Rose Colored Glasses,” from her latest album Graceland Way.

Davis’ harp towered over her, but she commanded the instrument with deft fingers, all while delivering both powerful and wispy vocals.

The band played “The Wrong Way” next, also from the new record. The track is a more straightforward county-style bop with jaunty instrumentations, including a crunchy tone on Davis’ harp. Her backing guitarist ripped on a lap steel guitar to close out the song.

Her most popular song, “In My Groove,” saw her sitting at a keyboard with twangy guitars adding to the folk and Americana vibes of the song she wrote more than 10 years ago. “It still rings true to this day,” she said of the song.

She played “Nothin’s On The Radio” from the new album next. Ironically, she was performing it on the radio. This song featured both her guitarists sharing lead licks.

Her band exited the stage for “Mizmoon,” also off Graceland Way, leaving just Davis and her harp under the lights. They slowly rejoined her, building up to an eerie and moody full-band closeout of the song, which had her crooning a haunting melody that was bolstered by cacophonous effect pedal-induced noise and careless swipes of her harp’s many strings.

They transitioned without a break into “11:11,” an ethereal track from Graceland that features a heavily modulated harp tone from Davis. That’s the kind of mold-breaking harp playing you read about at the beginning of this recap. Nearly unrecognizable from its raw sound, Davis’ harp sang like both a synthesizer and an overdriven guitar. It was truly something to behold.

The band’s penultimate song of the night was “Wild Flower.” Before diving into the laid-back, dreamy song, Davis said Graceland was recorded in Glendale, California, and that the song is an ode to California, as well as the crowd who came out to support her.

Once again, her harp took on a new sonic identity thanks to her effect pedals. You have to hear it (which you can do above), as words will never do justice to the aural psychedelic trip she and the band embarked on as an extended jam of “Wild Flower.”

To end the show, Davis and the band played a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Only over You.” Call it blasphemy, but this rendition hit harder than the 1982 original from Mirage. That’s not a dig on Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, and Lindsey Buckingham; it’s a send-up of Davis and her compatriots, who truly put on an incredible midday show.