by Petyr Campos

New York-based singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins performed at the Rickshaw Stop Sunday night. She comes from a musical family with her parents playing cruise ships and folk music at festivals, in addition to, her older sister, Reid Jenkins playing in the band Morningsiders. Cassandra is currently touring and promoting her already critically acclaimed third full-length album “My Light, My Destroyer”.

Cassandra Jenkins sound has an Americana-tinged indie style to it, but she also incorporates elements of ambient soft-rock, and guitar driven pop grunge. She started her performance playing Devotion, the first song off her latest album. Later in her set Cassandra performed “Aurora, IL which she wrote while quarantined with COVID at a hotel in Aurora, Illinois.  Multiple songs incorporated interstitial instrumentals and collaged field recordings in the background, adding a quirky vibe to them.  Cassandra Jenkins put on a heart-felt and memorable performance. I look forward to seeing again when she visits the Bay Area. 

Olivia Kaplan is an LA-based musician.  Her songs speak to the secret bonds between grief and time, slowness and memory, sadness and sleep. Her sound has elements that are reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies, Sheryl Crow, Adrianne Lenker, and Cat Power. She comes from a musical family growing up hearing the stories and voices of American folk and jazz music. She pursued a formal musical education through high school and college, and starting her recording career in Los Angeles while finishing her degree in ethnomusicology at UCLA.

Olivia gave a touching and intimate solo performance. Her rich and silky voice lends itself well to the melancholy themes of her songs.