Funck, flare and anti-folk at Cat's Cradle this Friday

Bob Funck isn't just bringing the funk to Cat's Cradle — he's bringing the lyrics too. The musician is hosting the North Carolina Songsmith Showcase this Friday. 

“The whole idea is to highlight the songwriting — we’re going to have a seated audience in an intimate listening environment,” Funck said. “It’s something that I set up because there’s so much great music in this area.”

Funck created the event years ago as a way to feature some of North Carolinia’s talented singer-songwriters. This year, Fucnk has tapped Eric-Scott Guthrie and Charles Latham to join him on stage and perform. 

“All three of us are very lyrical,” said Funck. “I think that will do well in this kind of environment.”

Both Latham and Guthrie will be first-timers at the event, and are excited for the chance to perform in such a unique setting.

“Bob has built up a nice little community of songwriters in the Triangle region, and I’m honored to be part of the event to be perfectly honest,” Guthrie said.

Funck said this event is unique because of the intimacy between the artists and the audience. 

“It’s intimate in the sense that people are right there and have better access to the musicians because you can hear the lyrics really well and absorb the whole message — the raw, unembellished version of the songs,” said Funck. 

Latham, who will be performing songs from his upcoming album at the Songsmith Showcase, connected with Funck over the idea of showcasing songwriters in an intimate environment.

“The songs I’ll be playing are all full band songs on the record so it’ll be nice to do them stripped down and maybe get to talk about them a little,” Latham said.

All three artists are considered singer-songwriters, and each brings their own unique flair. 

“My style is a little more aggressive — you might call it punk folk or something — I have a little bit more of a high energy thing,” Funck said. “Eric Scott has a little bit of a pop flair to his music and Charles Latham is folk but he’s also quirky with humor in his music.”

That ‘quirky’ folk descriptor for Charles Latham has been labeled by many as “anti-folk.” 

“To me, anti-folk is a less traditional approach to songwriting,” Latham said. “Some of the songs have a lot of dark humor, I think that’s something that unites a lot of the anti-folk people.”

Latham describes the genre as a modern take on traditional bluegrass or Americana, and cites its inclusion in the Triangle music scene as what drew him back to the area. 

“I was in Philly and in Tennessee for a while, but I never found anything quite the same as what’s going on here. This area, that’s part of what brought me back — the diversity of the music. I think there’s an audience for basically any kind of sound here,” Latham said.

Guthrie said he believes the showcase is a great way for people to see the songwriting talent that's located in their own community. 

“I think there is such a wealth of songwriters in the area,” he said. “Folks, get out there and give it a chance — you’d be surprised at how good your neighbors are.”

arts@dailytarheel.com