I instantly connected with On the Water’s barebones recordings/demos – a gorgeously achy folk side project from Da Comrade!’s Fletcher Van Vliet. What you find are beautiful melodies and timeless lyrics sung with an earnest rasp of a man that doesn’t sing for you or me. He sings to ease his own soul. But luckily, he is also willing to share it with us. I had a chance to catch an impressive set by a stripped-down version of On the Water that consisted of five or six familiar faces from the local music scene, and I was told by Vliet that the full band reaches ten. It was the first time they had ever performed with mics which made it a stressful situation for some of the members, especially in a fairly large-sized venue like The Blockley. But they better get used to it because this is a project that belongs to be on bigger stages in front of larger audiences. Well, until that day comes (fingers crossed), it’s nice to know that we can see an up-and-coming band of this caliber on a Tuesday night at Danger Danger Gallery and most likely without the need for mics creating those rare, intimate moments that few get to experience. Be one of them. Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., 8pm, $5 – $10 donation, All Ages (Photo by Aubrey Michelle) – Q.D. Tran