Now You See Them

"We love the girl groups, The Supremes, The Shirelles," says percussionist Jason Mencer of the folk-pop trio Now You See Them. "If it has a 'The' in front of it, and then some sort of girl's name after, we're usually fans."

They didn't know it at the time, but the members of Now You See Them were glued to the same radio station as kids in Pennsylvania — WWWS from Pittsburg. "A great oldies station," says Mencer. "We all grew up listening to that station. I was forced to listen to my dad's old 45s, so I had a big '50s and '60s influence. And as it turns out, so do Dulci and Shane."

Shane Conerty began immersing himself in the guitar at age 13. Dulci Ellenberger's parents are both music teachers. She studied classical voice and musical theatre, and has taught herself to play keyboards, melodica and guitar. For Mencer it was less formal. "When I learned how to drive, I learned how to drum on the steering wheel," the percussionist says. Mencer played drum set in high school, but it wasn't until he and Conerty became roommates in New York City that he took up hand drums. "I bought a djembe, because if I was going to be living with a guitar player I wanted a drum."

The percussionist's rig has come together one piece at a time, beginning with the djembe. "I wanted to have my feet free, so I got a stand for the djembe, and then I got a hi hat," he explains. "Then one day I walked into a club and thought I heard this drum kit, but it was some guy playing the cajon. I said, 'I need one of those.' I love the way it sounds. So I ended up trying to put those three pieces together — the djembe, hi hat and the cajon."

Conerty and Mencer met Ellenberger, another Pennsylvanian, in New York. The three began hanging out, jamming, and then traveling together, all quite coincidentally. "We're all from western Pennsylvania but met in New York City, and the band started as we were traveling in Australia, kind of as a side note," Mencer recalls. "We thought, 'We all have instruments, we know how to play them. Shane knows a million tunes, and Dulci can sing harmonies with the refrigerator, so we might as well make a little bit of money and get some free beer.' We did that, and we were called Now You See Them because we had no intention of staying together long term."

While traveling, Mencer kept hearing good reports about Asheville. So after he and Ellenberger were deported from Australia back to the US, they planned a visit to western North Carolina. "We came down four years ago and loved it. We said, 'Let's go there, meet some musicians, form a band, and do it for real.'


"The day we signed a lease on a place, Shane called. He was being deported from Australia, and said, 'Let's get the band back together.' So we did. We ended up busking in Asheville daily to pay our rent. We were committed to not having anything to tie us down. If we had wanted that we would have stayed in Brooklyn, worked six jobs and tried to form a band that way."

The group won WNC Magazine's Last Band Standing contest in 2009, earning the trio name recognition, an opportunity to record, and enough money to go on the road.

Now You See Them is preparing a new album for spring 2012 release, recorded in Nashville by Eric Willson (Kentucky Thunder), and featuring several guests on strings and horns. "We're constantly expanding. Shane's playing bass, I'm learning to play the drum kit, Dulci will probably be playing steel string guitar," reports Mencer. "We're all trying new things – as a three piece we want the fullest sound possible."

The group started out playing oldies and some lesser- and more-known indie rock songs. They are fans of modern groups like Dr. Dog, Bright Eyes, Brooklyn's Pearl And The Beard, Greensboro's Holy Ghost Tent Revival, and Asheville's Uncle Mountain.

"I don't think there's any one band that we sound like or strive to be," Mencer says. "But just moving to Asheville, the Appalachian tinge of bluegrass and old time and ragtime has been sneaking its way into our music. The mountains just do that. There are guitar harmonies that Shane does with himself and guests, a couple triplets in there that remind us of Dr. Dog, and different influences here and there. It's a fun time to be a musician."

Ellenberger and Conerty pen most of the band's tunes. "I'm fortunate to have two great songwriters to play with," Mencer says. "Their songs are so different, and yet you can put them back to back and they make sense together.

"I think for all of us, so long as we're playing onstage it doesn't matter what else is going on. Almost every show to us is a good one, and we always walk away feeling like this is what we should be doing."

To earn spending money when the band isn't working, Mencer hosts Quizzo, the Monday night trivia event at Asheville's Jack Of The Wood. "That's just me and a microphone and nothing to hide behind, no drums or anything, so doing that in front of 200 people a week has helped alleviate all stage fright," says the affable drummer. "And we play 170 shows a year, so that also helps to make one comfortable onstage."

Now You See Them joins Kovacs & The Polar Bear, Holiday Childress, Night's Bright Colors and others to perform The Magnetic Fields' complete 69 Love Songs album at The Grey Eagle on Saturday, February 11. "Last year it was super exciting and fun," Mencer recalls. "Everybody gets assigned a block of songs, and then we try to get all 69 of them off as quickly and smoothly as possible." - The Bold Life

The three-piece Asheville-based band Now You See Them has completed its first full-length album and eagerly waits its CD-release party at The Grey Eagle on April 20. The band isn't resting, though. It's staying busy with regular performances, including a local show March 24 at the Reuters Center on the campus of UNC Asheville.

The band consists of Shane Conerty (percussion), Dulci Ellenberger (guitar, keys, vocals), and Jason Mencer (guitar, vocals). The three play a brand of indie pop that leans toward folk and put on a lively and humorous concert. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Dulci, who agreed to talk with us about the band and its new album, What We Want.

You, Jason, and Shane are all from Pennsylvania but met in Manhattan. How did you end up in Asheville?

The three of us decided to travel together for a while, buying one-way tickets from New York City to Hawaii, Hawaii to Australia, etc. Mostly on a whim, we just packed up and left! We were only toying with the idea of playing music together at the time, but when we did, it was almost inevitable that someone listening would approach us and say that our sound "belongs in Asheville." After traveling for longer than a year, the thought of "belonging" was really appealing! So, we came to visit in March of 2007, and we lived in Asheville by June of 2008.

When you first arrived in Asheville, you guys were often busking on the streets. What did that experience do for you as a band—and do you ever still perform on the streets?

Shane Conerty has been a professional busker for years. He's played on the streets of New York City, Sydney, Australia, Vancouver, B.C., and many others between. When we all moved to Asheville together, we decided that it was time to fully commit to being a band. To us, that meant quitting our day jobs (we all worked restaurant jobs throughout our travels) and working diligently toward becoming full-time musicians. The idea of busking was mostly to be a part of Asheville; for people to recognize us as a band, and to make enough money to pay our rent (we lived in a one-bedroom cottage on stilts), provide our gas and groceries, and hopefully lead to bigger and better opportunities. It's great practice! You get to see which songs people really react to, and you're basically trained to handle any situation that may arise. It helped us learn to communicate, it forced us to practice and get better, and it greatly expanded our repertoire. Shane still busks every chance he gets, and I'll occasionally go out by myself.

Now You See Them is just about to release its first full-length album, What We Want. How did this all come about from Kickstarter project to a completed album? (Kickstarter, by the way, is the world's largest funding platform for creative projects where fans are the funders.)

In 2009, we were extremely fortunate to win the WNC Last Band Standing competition, which allowed us the privilege of opening that year's Bele Chere festival. It was a huge opportunity for us, and we did not take it lightly. We worked tirelessly on the porch of that one-bedroom cottage to prepare. We asked our friends to join us to make the show as big as we could, and we had an awesome turnout. There were close to 300 people at that show, and one of them was our producer, Eric Willson.

After our set, we spoke with Eric about the possibility of recording an album, and it was decided: We would make two. Eric produced our EP, Things Change in a Day and our full-length album, What We Want. He's been incredibly patient, and he has a superhuman ear.

The Kickstarter project has given us the incredible chance to put to practice the business we've been learning for the past four years. It's provided us with truly stunning album art by our friend, Pen Williamson, fantastic mixing by Dan Shearin and Eric Willson, mastering by The Kitchen in Carrboro, North Carolina, a street team for promoting our album release, beautiful new merchandise, and the plans for an awesome CD release party on April 20th at The Grey Eagle with Uncle Mountain and DJ Kipper Schauer. The feeling that comes with knowing that enough people believe in you, in us, to help us raise $10,000 for our dreams is invaluable, surreal, and very humbling.

For those who have not seen you perform, what can they expect from a live show?

They can expect a really good time. They can expect to have a song stuck in their head when they leave, and they can expect a truly unique musical experience. We're three very different people with three really strong perspectives … add a little booze, powerful lyrics and harmonies, and the end result is NYST! Our music is dance-able but thoughtful, popish but folksy, sometimes silly, but always honest.

And finally, with the album just about to release, what are your best reasons why people should buy What We Want?

Wow! Well, I'd say that a person would want to own a copy of What We Want for the following reasons:
1. Our music is different than everything I've heard recently. The lyrics are current, but the harmonies are nostalgic. This album features horns (tuba, trumpet, trombone), accordion, piano, cello, and gorgeous background vocals. I think many people can relate to the subjects of our songs and hopefully find some kind of comfort in that.
2. The album itself is stunningly beautiful. Our friend, Pen created the imagery based on what he heard in the music. He completely captured the essence of the album, and the detail on each of the six panels of the case are enough to make a person mesmerized.
3. Your kids will like it! People tell us all the time that their kids love our EP, and that's only about half an hour long. This one's more like an hour! It's great in the car. And finally …
4. By purchasing a copy of What We Want, you're directly supporting the dream of three starving artists. It's so boho-chic! But wait!
5. I'd suggest coming to the CD release party on April 20th at The Grey Eagle. then, you can decide if you even want to support the dream of three starving artists. Also, it's going to be a magical night.

For more information about Now You See Them, visit them online at onesheet.com/nowyouseethem or facebook.com/nowyouseethem. - The Laurel of Asheville

The three-piece Asheville-based band Now You See Them has completed its first full-length album and eagerly waits its CD-release party at The Grey Eagle on April 20. The band isn't resting, though. It's staying busy with regular performances, including a local show March 24 at the Reuters Center on the campus of UNC Asheville.

The band consists of Shane Conerty (percussion), Dulci Ellenberger (guitar, keys, vocals), and Jason Mencer (guitar, vocals). The three play a brand of indie pop that leans toward folk and put on a lively and humorous concert. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Dulci, who agreed to talk with us about the band and its new album, What We Want.

You, Jason, and Shane are all from Pennsylvania but met in Manhattan. How did you end up in Asheville?

The three of us decided to travel together for a while, buying one-way tickets from New York City to Hawaii, Hawaii to Australia, etc. Mostly on a whim, we just packed up and left! We were only toying with the idea of playing music together at the time, but when we did, it was almost inevitable that someone listening would approach us and say that our sound "belongs in Asheville." After traveling for longer than a year, the thought of "belonging" was really appealing! So, we came to visit in March of 2007, and we lived in Asheville by June of 2008.

When you first arrived in Asheville, you guys were often busking on the streets. What did that experience do for you as a band—and do you ever still perform on the streets?

Shane Conerty has been a professional busker for years. He's played on the streets of New York City, Sydney, Australia, Vancouver, B.C., and many others between. When we all moved to Asheville together, we decided that it was time to fully commit to being a band. To us, that meant quitting our day jobs (we all worked restaurant jobs throughout our travels) and working diligently toward becoming full-time musicians. The idea of busking was mostly to be a part of Asheville; for people to recognize us as a band, and to make enough money to pay our rent (we lived in a one-bedroom cottage on stilts), provide our gas and groceries, and hopefully lead to bigger and better opportunities. It's great practice! You get to see which songs people really react to, and you're basically trained to handle any situation that may arise. It helped us learn to communicate, it forced us to practice and get better, and it greatly expanded our repertoire. Shane still busks every chance he gets, and I'll occasionally go out by myself.

Now You See Them is just about to release its first full-length album, What We Want. How did this all come about from Kickstarter project to a completed album? (Kickstarter, by the way, is the world's largest funding platform for creative projects where fans are the funders.)

In 2009, we were extremely fortunate to win the WNC Last Band Standing competition, which allowed us the privilege of opening that year's Bele Chere festival. It was a huge opportunity for us, and we did not take it lightly. We worked tirelessly on the porch of that one-bedroom cottage to prepare. We asked our friends to join us to make the show as big as we could, and we had an awesome turnout. There were close to 300 people at that show, and one of them was our producer, Eric Willson.

After our set, we spoke with Eric about the possibility of recording an album, and it was decided: We would make two. Eric produced our EP, Things Change in a Day and our full-length album, What We Want. He's been incredibly patient, and he has a superhuman ear.

The Kickstarter project has given us the incredible chance to put to practice the business we've been learning for the past four years. It's provided us with truly stunning album art by our friend, Pen Williamson, fantastic mixing by Dan Shearin and Eric Willson, mastering by The Kitchen in Carrboro, North Carolina, a street team for promoting our album release, beautiful new merchandise, and the plans for an awesome CD release party on April 20th at The Grey Eagle with Uncle Mountain and DJ Kipper Schauer. The feeling that comes with knowing that enough people believe in you, in us, to help us raise $10,000 for our dreams is invaluable, surreal, and very humbling.

For those who have not seen you perform, what can they expect from a live show?

They can expect a really good time. They can expect to have a song stuck in their head when they leave, and they can expect a truly unique musical experience. We're three very different people with three really strong perspectives … add a little booze, powerful lyrics and harmonies, and the end result is NYST! Our music is dance-able but thoughtful, popish but folksy, sometimes silly, but always honest.

And finally, with the album just about to release, what are your best reasons why people should buy What We Want?

Wow! Well, I'd say that a person would want to own a copy of What We Want for the following reasons:
1. Our music is different than everything I've heard recently. The lyrics are current, but the harmonies are nostalgic. This album features horns (tuba, trumpet, trombone), accordion, piano, cello, and gorgeous background vocals. I think many people can relate to the subjects of our songs and hopefully find some kind of comfort in that.
2. The album itself is stunningly beautiful. Our friend, Pen created the imagery based on what he heard in the music. He completely captured the essence of the album, and the detail on each of the six panels of the case are enough to make a person mesmerized.
3. Your kids will like it! People tell us all the time that their kids love our EP, and that's only about half an hour long. This one's more like an hour! It's great in the car. And finally …
4. By purchasing a copy of What We Want, you're directly supporting the dream of three starving artists. It's so boho-chic! But wait!
5. I'd suggest coming to the CD release party on April 20th at The Grey Eagle. then, you can decide if you even want to support the dream of three starving artists. Also, it's going to be a magical night.

For more information about Now You See Them, visit them online at onesheet.com/nowyouseethem or facebook.com/nowyouseethem. - The Laurel of Asheville

Lovable folksies Now You See Them tell a truth-is-weirder-than-fiction story

In the beginning the name Now You See Them was the inside joke of a band that never intended to be a band. As in “Now you see them, now you don’t.” As in, they rarely played in the same town twice. The irony is, these days Now You See Them is oft-seen on Asheville’s streets and increasingly in its clubs. Despite the tentative name, this band claims to be in it for the long haul.
Dialed-in: Now You See Them share a convoluted past, a tiny car and some sweet harmonies. Photo by Jonathan Welch.

“Our goal in Asheville was to make a home base,” says multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Shane Conerty. The trio, including guitarist/vocalist Dulci and percussionist Jason Mencer, has accomplished that in the past year—enough so that their dream of making a living as a band (albeit a meager one: “When we shop it’s sale meat,” Mencer jokes) has become a reality. There’s no turning back, Mercer insists. “I could go back to video production,” he muses (that was the drummer’s previous field), “but this is too much fun.”

Mencer adds, “Asheville is fantastic because [busking] pays pretty well and the shows are starting to pay.”

NYST, regularly on the Pack Square sidewalk, is foremost a street act. “We can transplant the street show into a bar setting,” Conerty explains. “What you see on the street is what you see in the bar.” A lot of that flexibility comes from the group’s acoustic setup. Conerty plays guitar and ukulele, Dulci plays guitar and melodica, Mencer plays a drum kit fashioned from a djembe and a tambourine. Necessity is the mother of invention, and from low-fi instrumentation sprung NYST’s folk-pop sound.

“I don’t think we’ll be changing anything soon,” Mencer admits. “I wouldn’t play a kit; Shane wouldn’t play an electric guitar. We’re not afraid to grow with instruments, but we drive a Volkswagen Cabrio.” Like a clown car stunt, the three pack themselves and their gear into the diminutive vehicle.

“If we wanted a fiddle,” Mencer quips, “it wouldn’t fit.”

But NYST is used to making due. The three musicians (who all grew up within 30 minutes of each other in Pennsylvania but didn’t meet until later) came together by chance in New York City. Dulci was just out of college pursuing a career in musical theater, Conerty was just out of high school and Mencer hoped to work in video production. They pooled their savings for a move to Hawaii, but dead-end jobs and tatty digs soon had them searching for cheap plane tickets to anywhere. Turned out $300 each got them as far as Australia.

While living down under, NYST busked and played clubs sporadically. Mencer and Dulci ran a bed and breakfast in Melbourne, making occasional international jaunts for the purposes of renewing their visas. It was one of those trips that raised red flags with immigrations officers: The musicians found themselves unceremoniously kicked out of the country.

“At the time, it was pretty bad,” remembers Conerty, who was detained in a minimum-security prison and deported a few months after his friends. “But we wouldn’t be here otherwise. The day I got deported was the day Jason and Dulci signed their lease in Asheville.”

Finding himself at loose ends, Conerty joined his friends in N.C. and the three decided to make a serious go of the band—but it wasn’t a completely arbitrary decision.

“Everywhere we traveled, people said, ‘Your music belongs in Asheville,’” Mencer recalls. That, and the trio all seem to share (along with a car and a one-bedroom rental) a belief that “All of it happens for a reason” (says Conerty), “We’ve had ridiculous obstacles but the end result is when we get back together, we’re stronger” (says Dulci), and—as Mencer puts it—“I go with the flow.”

If the NYST backstory seems like a Wes Anderson-directed film, their quirky, subversive pop would make a suitable soundtrack. Themes touch on travel and social commentary, but always with a darkly humorous spin belied by bubbly harmonies and pleasantly bombastic rhythms. There’s a sense that (though the musicians claim to get sick of each other) this 24/7 dedication to cultivating the band is paying off. NYST’s members finish each other’s sentences, balance each other’s musical aesthetics and seamlessly blend their singular talents to build a whole larger than the sum of its parts.

Now, if the universe that threw them together would just deliver enough studio time to record a demo and a van to carry them around the eastern seaboard ... all things considered, that actually seems pretty likely.

by Alli Marshall in Vol. 15 / Iss. 39 on 04/22/2009
Share or bookmarkShare - The Mountain Xpress

"I think it's really funny how the context of our band name has changed over the past two years," says Shane Conerty. "It went from Now You See Them, now you don't — a temporary thing — to Now You See Them everywhere you go."

The band has just finished a set at the Mountain Sports Festival, their second Asheville gig in three days, and his observation rings especially true at this moment. What started as busking for cash in Hawaii and drunken bar gigs in Australia – the now-you-don't era – has turned into a full-time gig, and if you haven't seen them yet, you haven't been going to shows in Asheville. Now You See Them is everywhere.

But after two years of charming crowds of loyal fans and becoming a staple of the local scene, Now You See Them has finally finished a proper recording, and you no longer have to see them to hear what it's all about.

Things Change In a Day is essentially a cleaned up studio version of their endlessly entertaining live show, and it perfectly captures the charisma, energy and quirky charm that is the essence of the band. There are no unfamiliar instruments, no gratuitous studio wizardry and no attempts to make the songs anything other than the simple, heartfelt anthems they have always been. It's classic Now You See Them from start to finish, a refreshingly straightforward showcase of the cheerful harmonies, punchy acoustic strings, and uplifting lyrics that fans have come to know and love.

"It's the three of us playing music with enthusiasm," says drummer Jason Mencer. "That's what is on our EP, because that's what we wanted, and that's where we came from. We didn't want to jump right into a 10-piece band. We're a three-piece busking band."

For now, anyway. With their EP freshly pressed and still days away from official release, the band – one of the hardest working and most ambitious in town – is already looking ahead. This summer, they'll be heading back into the studio to begin work on the next evolution of Now You See Them. And it's going to be big.

"I think that we're going to try to get every Asheville musician who we love in on our CD," says Mencer. "Any musician who we've run into who we love, we'll toss them on the album. Because there is so much you can do with a chorus of people."

"We dream of that," adds singer/guitarist Dulci Ellenberger. "We want huge arrangements. As many instruments, and as full and as big as we can get it."

That vision is more than just a dream. They've already begun incorporating bass and electric guitar into their live show, and members of the band have become regular fixtures onstage with other local acts. Surprisingly, Conerty says that after five years of playing together all over the world, it was recording the EP that cemented their musical chemistry and allowed them to begin realizing their vision of an expansive lineup.

"It's taken a while," Conerty reflects, "but we've come into a very comfortable place with each other. We can have anybody come play with us now because we're more comfortable with ourselves and the music. Now we can keep expanding.

"We played at the Emerald Lounge recently," he continues, "and on our last song we had a drum kit and a trombone and a violin and a keyboard, and that's how I envision the songs to be, this speakeasy, jazzy, drunken thing. And it sounded like that, which just gets me excited for a recording where we have the capability to do that, and make these songs bigger than we've ever imagined them to be. And with all our friends, not studio musicians. People who we know and love, who have helped us out and we've helped them out. It will be a family-type record with a lot of love in it. And I think that's the general idea that we want to have come across in the songs."

But don't expect things to change in a day. The band is still adamant about moving at a comfortable pace.

"We've never wanted to skip steps," Conerty says. "There have been things that we thought we were ready for, but in retrospect we really weren't. It's all happening on a gradual slope, which we're really happy with."

That being said, it's been a big year for Now You Seem Them, and they're showing no signs of slowing down.

"It's so amazing," Mencer points out, "because in our last Xpress interview, in the last line we were saying that the two things we needed were a van and a professionally produced CD. And within a month of that, my parents wrecked their van and said we could have what was left of it, and [producer] Eric Wilson approached us and said, 'I'd love to record you guys, and it won't cost you anything up front.'

"Now we want a tour bus and Bonnaroo," he adds with a laugh. "Is everybody OK with a tour bus and Bonnaroo?"

[Dane Smith can be reached at rocknrolldane@gmail.com.]

who: Now You See Them, with Holy Ghost Tent Revival and the Armadillos
what: CD release for Things Change in a Day
where: The Grey Eagle (Saturday, June 12. 9 p.m. $6/$8. thegreyeagle.com) - The Mountain Xpress

Take gorgeous, searing harmonies, combine them with dark yet uplifting lyrics, a steady backbeat and a whirlwind touring schedule, and you have Asheviille’s hottest new band, Now You See Them. The group has been on a steady rise and received a nice boost this summer when it won the right to open Asheville’s Bele chere music festival.
Sometimes a trio, sometimes more, the three core members, Shane Conerty (guitar, vocals), Dulci Ellenberger (vocals, guitar, melodica) and Jason Mencer (percussion), will perform Thursday at the Emerald Lounge with Holy Ghost Tent Revival. Mencer spoke recently about the band’s popularity and some of its upcoming shows.
Question: How did you three come upon the name Now You See Them?

Answer: When we first started the band, we were moving from Hawaii to Australia. We’re all originally from western Pennsylvania, but didn’t meet until we were each living in New York City. At the time, we were just trying to come up with a band name we could all agree on; it really just started as a part-time thing. I had a drum, Dulci had a voice and a guitar, and Shane had a voice and a guitar. We had no intention of really staying together for any amount of time, or really rehearsing, for that matter. The idea was that we’d call ourselves Now You See Them (Now You Don’t).

Q: It seems like that’s changed, though.

A: Well, fate intervened and we each got deported (from Australia, at different times). We realized that we just had to move to Asheville and literally the day Dulci and I signed on our apartment in Asheville, Shane called and said he’d been deported, too. So we decided at that point to give it a go and put the band back together. So the idea (behind the name) has changed. Now it’s more about, yeah, we’re in front of your face because we love what we’re doing and we love our band and our community.

Q: Your biographical information on the Web talks about the wave of coming change in culture and music, and your part in it. How does the band perceive this change?

A: We’re not a political band. What we’d like to accomplish through our music is to get people thinking. Our lyrics try to push people, not like what is normally being played on Top 40 or MTV nowadays, which is pretty trashy. There’s an overall message in all of our songs that is “appreciate today and take time to realize that it is a gift.”

Q: It’s been said you are able to get a big sound out of just three people. What do you attribute this to?

A: Having established ourselves as a street-busking band has helped. We’ve had to compete with motorcycles, trucks, other buskers down the block – you name it. We’ve learned to be specific with what we want to build. If we want to get the sound down to a whisper, it has to be an audible whisper. You still have to be loud at loud times, even if you’re playing acoustic. Dulci and Shane have such great harmonies, too, so that really adds to the building effect.

Q: What can a listener who has never heard you before expect to get out of a Now You See Them show?

A: A good time; my favorite compliment about the band is that people tell us “it looked like that three of you were having so much fun.” We’re having fun the whole time we’re up there, and that definitely translates to the audience.

By Laura Blackley
- The Asheville Citizen-Times

A band of travelers finds its niche in Asheville.

For a band who never thought they’d be in it for the long haul, Now You See Them has surprised even themselves. The trio stepped onto Asheville’s music scene last year, busking and playing in clubs. Their quirky, folk-meets-pop sound landed them a performance at The Orange Peel where they won WNC magazine’s Last Band Standing contest. The group features Pennsylvania natives Shane Conerty on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dulci Ellenberger on melodica and vocals, and Jason Mencer on djembe and tambourine. “We tell our struggle through music, and our struggle, though it’s our own, relates to everyone else’s trouble,” says Mencer. It’s that we’re-all-in-it-together attitude that’s kept the band going and captured a growing audience.

By Caleb Beissert - WNC Magazine

Now You See Them, a talented trio of indie-folk musicians from western Pennsylvania, includes Shane Conerty (guitar/ukulele/vocals), Dulci Ellenberger (guitar/melodica/vocals), and Jason Mencer (percussion). As their travels took them to exotic locales like Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii – all the wile writing, performing , and earning their room and board with their music – the group finally decided to join Asheville, N.C.’s lively music scene in 2008 after countless recommendations from friends and strangers.
“Someone would inevitably approach us and tell us that our sound belonged in Asheville,” says Mencer.
On their most recent album, the self-released Live From Asheville, Vol. 4, band members show off their accomplished skills as both live performers and songwriters. NYST songs are free of endless guitar solos and meandering jams. They are filled with hook-laden sweet choruses and acoustically driven songs.
“Firetrucks” is an admirable illustration about playing out in the streets. In “Don’t Give Up On Me,” Conerty and Ellenberger sing, “And we’ll mark this day / like a crucifix on the highway / the day you almost gave up.”
NYST’s forte lies in perfect harmonies, quirky instrumentation, original arrangement, and thoughtful lyrics that are neither abstract nor plaintive, but ultimately uplifting without the portentous arrogance that is commonly used by naïve songwriters.
With plans to record a full-length studio album this winter, Now You See Them is a rising star in western North Carolina. As the band moves from street corners to nationally recognized festivals like Bele Chere and the Flat rock Music Festival, it’s a sure bet you’ll see them on stage near you.

By Joe Hooten
- Smoky Mountain Living

Asheville, N.C.-based band Now You See Them (NYST) returns to Savannah to perform at the Sentient Bean on Friday, March 5, at 8 p.m. This acoustic indie/folk pop trio has captivated audiences with their onstage ingenuity and their incorporation of nontraditional instruments.

“Our instrumentation is really unique. Shane [Conerty] plays a ukulele, Jason [Mencer] plays a hand percussion instead of a full drum set, and I play a melodica,” said band member Dulci Ellenberger. “Even our vocal blending is really not traditional. We take people by surprise and our music tends to make them feel really good, whether they want to or not.”

Through a combination of beautiful harmonies and burning lyrics, NYST creates a truly unique sound that has been described as a “breath of fresh air.”

“A lot of music being made today kind of all falls into the same genre, and I think we are just different and that’s why people say that about us,” Mencer said. “Our two-part harmonies combine with the instruments to form a really cool sound.”

The band was originally formed in Sydney, Australia. After meeting in New York, Ellenberger, Conerty and Mencer decided they wanted to travel the world together. Hawaii came first, followed four months later by Sydney, Australia.

“We were working odd jobs and playing music at bars and clubs in Sydney to kind of get by and save up travel money,” Ellenberger said. “Then immigration discovered us making money without the proper papers and we all got deported.”

After reconvening in Asheville, NYST ventured out with a much stronger commitment to the band.

“We have been really serious about it since we moved to Asheville, which was about two years ago,” Ellenberger said. “The year we played in Australia we hadn’t really figured it out yet, we didn’t know each other well enough, and we just weren’t ready for the commitment.”

With a newfound dedication, NYST began fine-tuning their sound and making strides to become one of Asheville’s hottest bands.

“We try to get the crowd singing and dancing, just getting into the show. Once people see us they are engaged, and they have a really good time,” Mencer said. “We are getting fans in the right way now; people are walking away from shows smiling.”

By combining somber lyrics with seemingly happy chord progressions and melodies, NYST hopes to convey a message.

“We really try to combine dark and light aspects into our songs, and we do that to show that there is still hope that things can change,” Mencer said. “Lots of the songs are travel journals of experiences we have had, and we portray them in a way that helps people look at how great things turned out, despite some horrible experiences.”

Fans can look forward to NYST’s first ever professionally recorded EP in the not too distant future. The band also plans to work on their first full-length album while touring with the EP.

Friday night attendees at the Sentient Bean will get more than coffee and pastries for their $3 cover charge. - The Inkwell

Now You See Them, a quirk-pop trio often seen on Asheville’s street corners, manages to always look as though they’re in the middle of a video. A cool video from the short-lived-yet-golden-age of MTV: One in which they stand on a ratty piece of Oriental carpet and play their hearts out in real time while scenes from the street and farmer’s market and smoky hipster club flash by in fast-motion.

In reality, the band is pretty low-tech. They play acoustic instruments (Shane Conerty on vocals, guitar and ukulele; Jason Mencer on a makeshift drum kit consisting of a djembe and tambourine played with brushes; Dulci on vocals, guitar and melodica) that can be amped but produce more or less the same sounds in the great outdoors as within the confines of a club. And Now You See Them sounds pretty much the same in either location, which is to say, wherever they go, they sound like themselves.

They also sound a little bit like the Moldy Peaches (albeit an upbeat, Wellbutrin-bolstered version). And the comparisons keep coming: Intended or not, Now You See Them is aligned with current indie-darlings Ingrid Michaelson and Colbie Caillat (which means they’re tapped into trends) as well as ‘80s post-New Wave alternative groups (they bust out a savvy cover of the Violent Femmes “American Music”). They’re cute and offbeat; their lyrics (both covers and originals) dexterously balance between self-depreciation and humor.

At a recent Fred’s Speakeasy show, Conerty announced to the crowd, “We’ve got a lot of stuff to play so we’ll just get right to it.” Getting right to it involves a lot of flinging of Conerty’s red mane, a lot of jumping, and a lot of trading vocal duties. The Now You See Them style—and yes, they’ve developed a signature style—is characterized by contagious zeal as much as by Conerty’s red guitar, Dulci’s miniskirts and Mencer’s apt Roger Miller tribute (“King of the Road”). The latter, by the way, transformed the PBR-sipping, chain-smoking Fred’s crowd from noncommittal observers to candid enthusiasts.

Outside, it’s easier to hear how Conerty and Dulci harmonize (he tends to take the high parts); indoors Conerty leaps into falsetto to catapult his voice over the hum of the crowd. Inside, it’s clear that Now You See Them is a seasoned act dedicated to careful arrangements and complex time signatures, key and even instrument changes (their hyper-paced, well-constructed original song, “Leona,” has Conerty trading guitar for uke mid-stream). But that talent is tempered with wit (cheeky original, “It Could Be Worse,” offers up the sage advice that “There’s somebody who’s got it worse than you ‘cause you could be dead. Or stupid.”).

Indoors or out, they look like they’re just jamming in their collective basement (in an arty ‘80s music video sort of way, of course), but Now You See Them is as serious about their musicianship as they are about having a good time. - The Mountain Xpress