The Current presents

Annie DiRusso

with Daffo

Doors 7:30 p.m. | Show 8:30 p.m. | 18+

INFORMATION | TICKETS

Annie DiRusso

Annie DiRusso is a Nashville based indie-rock artist born in NYC, who wears the influence of both of these cities on her sleeve. Blending buzzing garage rock guitars and high-energy performances with a pop-infused flair, the magic she creates in her hooks and melodies is apparent in her previously released singles and debut EP. She has quickly turned casual listeners into hardcore fans with V Magazine noting she’s “single handedly bringing back that raging rock sound” and Alt Press stating, “she’s set to skyrocket.”

Annie has made quite a mark on the touring world since the launch of her career amidst the pandemic, supporting artists like HAIM, Samia, Declan McKenna, beabadoobee, Djo, Peach Pit and more as well as selling out headline shows at venues such as New York’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, Nashville’s Basement East and Boston’s The Sinclair. She’s currently gearing up to release here first ever full length project Super Pedestrian in March, where her searing guitar riffs and self-deprecating yet heart-rending lyrics infuse the project with a spirit of joy. In NYLON’s words, “she continues to put out some of the most catchy indie rock in the game.”

Daffo

An essential new voice on the indie-rock scene, 20-year-old singer/songwriter Daffo brings an unexpected beauty to the most uncomfortable of feelings. With a poetic specificity that cuts right to the heart, the Brooklyn-based artist speaks an unfiltered truth about all that sets them apart from the wider world, exploring everything from shame and self-loathing to misplaced affection and the chaos of living with an overactive brain. As a kid growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, the musician otherwise known as Gabi Gamberg first started writing songs after taking up guitar at age 9, then later shaped their intimate yet frenetic sound by playing countless DIY shows in backyards and basements. Recently signed to Concord Records, Daffo is now set to share a new body of work revealing the full depth and power of their strangely poignant songwriting.

Daffo’s debut release for Concord, a reimagined rendition of their breakout hit “Poor Madeline” finds Portland-based folk artist Searows joining in for a more elaborately arranged take on the track. In creating the new version, Daffo worked with producer Philip Weinrobe (Adrianne Lenker, Deerhoof) and musicians like guitarist Adam Brisbin (Buck Meek, Jolie Holland), adding a lovely intensity to their lived-in reflection on feeling hopelessly adrift. “I wrote ‘Poor Madeline’ when I was 17 and having a tough time with my mental health,” says Gamberg, who penned the song as a student at Idyllwild Arts Academy (a residential arts high school in Southern California). “I was also dealing with all these stomach problems and kept thinking about the part in the children’s book Madeline where Madeline’s appendix bursts, so I decided to use her name in the lyrics.” Mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Sufjan Stevens) and mainly recorded live at Weinrobe’s Brooklyn studio, the update of “Poor Madeline” unfolds in luminous lap-steel tones, spellbinding violin melodies, delicate piano work, and an aching cascade of harmonies from Daffo and Searows—ultimately making for an exquisite new addition to Daffo’s catalog.

Meanwhile, their single “Get a Life” laments the all-too-familiar struggle to live in the present amidst the chaos of a cluttered mind. “I feel like I spend a lot of time knowing I should be present, I should be enjoying the things in front of me, but I can’t,” says Gamberg. “It’s a lot of knowing what you should be doing but not being able to do it.” The track, produced by veteran producer Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck, Cat Power), is the product of thoughtful, leisurely recording sessions that encouraged Gamberg to lean into their own artistry. “It’s a very different vibe than I’ve ever experienced with recording,” they say. “We sit around, we talk a lot, we goof off. I like that nothing is forced, and [Rob] sort of pushes me to really put my twist on things. It makes me feel like there’s more of me in these songs.” Daffo called on Phil Weinrobe again for “Winter Hat,” a darkly organic “anti-holiday song” recorded live in one take in Weinrobe’s Brooklyn studio. “I’ve never heard a Christmas song that really resonates with me, so I thought it would be cool to have a holiday song that’s true to my music and true to me and how I actually feel during this time of the year,” says Gamberg. Gamberg has been vocal about their struggles with seasonal depression, and the song turns several classic holiday motifs on their head as it remarks on the loneliness and disappointment that so often accompany the winter holidays.

With their artist name taken from the swath of daffodils that grew in the yard of their childhood home, Gamberg started playing violin at age six and underwent classical training for nearly a decade, but immediately felt a much stronger affinity for guitar. “As soon as I picked up a guitar, I was constantly writing songs, mostly because I didn’t feel like playing other people’s music,” says Gamberg, a largely self-taught guitarist. At the age of 15, they took part in a five-week summer program at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where they quickly crossed paths with Hudson Pollock—a fellow student who soon introduced Gamberg to the DIY community in northern New Jersey, including allages spaces like Serendipity Café (a student-run nonprofit venue that’s hosted likeminded artists such as Pinegrove and Alex G). “I started going up to New Jersey almost every weekend to record or play shows, and after a while I felt like I needed to get out my town altogether,” Gamberg says.

Following a failed attempt at persuading their parents to let them drop out of high school, Gamberg headed to Idyllwild just after Covid hit. “I spent a lot of my time at Idyllwild secluded in the mountains, writing and recording and going to classes on Zoom,” they recall. “At first I had a hard time with songwriting classes; I didn’t like the idea of following any kind of formula or rules. But eventually I learned a lot about what makes a song effective, and how to convey things in a way that really gets through to somebody.”