Hello Emerson - Above the Floorboards (2017)

Sam Bodaryis the head behind Hello Emerson. He is 23 years of age and recently got a BA in literature at Ohio State University. His final thesis is concerned with the creative work of and the parallels between David Foster Wallaceand J.D. Salinger. To be more precise, he states that Wallace’s short story “Good Old Neon” was his take, one might say even a correspondence with, Salinger’s Glass Family Saga. Actual author, implied author, figural narrator, meta levels, correspondences,….

This seems like a lot to take in on the field of literature, however, the information is vital to get the full sense of Bodary’s music and his alter ego Hello Emerson. His debut album “Above The Floorboards”is filled with meticulously detailed narratives – equally youthfully naïve, humanist, and boasting with wisdom. And speaking of correspondences, “Ohio”, the first single by Hello Emerson, is also a correspondence of sorts among two songwriters, which somehow stumbles into New Orleans style-Big Band soundtowards its end. With so much emphasis on the lyrics, his divine, effortlessly melodic guitar playingshould not go unmentioned, as well as the incredible dynamics in most of his songs. Then, there is his voice, reminiscent of a young Conor Oberst or M.Ward. If you want to investigate the musical affiliations any further, think of Sufjan Stevens and Okkervil River, The Mountain Goats or Andrew Bird.

Bodary was born in Pontiac, Michigan and raised in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. After two rather austere and joyless terms studying music business at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, he decided to drop out, return to his home state Ohio, and study literature at The Ohio State University. This was the point when he got more and more into experimenting with his own songs. Then, his niece Emerson was born and named after his middle name, so he decided on Hello Emerson as a stage name. Hello, Emerson! Welcome to this peculiar world! He enjoys correspondences.