The brief story

Consisting of singer/guitarist Bodary, percussionist and musical director/arranger Dan Seibert, and keyboardist Jack Doran, Hello Emerson has been crafting subtle, earnest, and expansive ornamental Americana songs since 2015.

Drawing on the midwestern songwriting tradition of acclaimed acts like Bright Eyes and The Mountain Goats, Bodary’s erudite yet homespun lyrics are bolstered by the group’s increasingly baroque arrangements. A collaborative act inspired by the local artistic community of their home base of Columbus, Ohio — the trio has released three full length albums detailed below.

To Keep Him Here was released on March 29th, 2024

The latest effort, To Keep Him Here, further develops and focuses Hello Emerson’s style, while applying it to a set of darker themes. A concept album, the record delves into the chaos and confusion that followed a serious accident suffered by Bodary’s father which landed him in the ICU for nine days. Across the record, Bodary uses his measured yet honest lyrical voice to articulate and sort through the terror of the experience, and the strength which pulled him and his family through. Tracked live in his godfather’s home, the band’s physical proximity lends an added layer of intimacy to the tracks, all while maintaining Seibert’s subtle yet sweeping arrangements. The result is the band’s strongest effort yet; a record of hope and fear, To Keep Him Here finds beauty in the kind of compassion which can only arise from disorder.

“The Roundtable” on WAMC NPR - compositions that unwind with vivid imagery and responsive empathetic sentiment.

Rosy Overdrive - I hear more than a little bit of a more Midwestern Jason Isbell in Bodary’s delivery and writing

Columbus Monthly - Bodary’s masterful songwriting uses small details to reveal big ideas and deep emotions…[To Keep Him Here is] a gorgeous, remarkably vulnerable new album.

The Big Takeover - Honest and unflinching

Dusted - Music, love, and family come together beautifully in 'To Keep Him Here' and remind us to pay attention now and always.

The Marinade - It is an examination of family and mortality in a way that makes both and their attendant themes seem more manageable than they might in practice. 'To Keep Him Here' is a stunning record

American Pancake - [To Keep Him Here], with a potent lyrical arc and a special musical narrative that is punctuated with lovely, lovely musical orchestrations, searing touching lead guitar work and the moments of nothingness in between relatively sparse production is wonderfully moving

We All Want Someone to Shout For - a raw and honest blend of baroque folk, with some powerful storytelling that delivers a swift and meaningful emotional blow.

The Wild is Calling - With a rambunctious generation trying to grapple with the limitations of old age, “Church” is a reminder that you likely won’t change as much as you think, if you don’t want to… A song for everyone to sing, and a program where everyone’s important.

The Wild is Calling - A relaxing Sunday morning keepsake, 'To Keep Him Here' helps to recollect how you got there and what’s left to take care. It’s a coming of age sad song for the heavy hearts.

Postcards from the Underground - it's a stunner...I'll be playing more tracks from that album because I do love that one

One Chord to Another - What a beauty of a song and the music video is also very special. Absolutely love everything about it

Inebriart Podcast - full podcast interview.

How to Cook Everything was released in 2020.

The 2020 sophomore effort, How to Cook Everything, solidified Hello Emerson’s reputation as an earnest, humble, and insistent voice in indie-folk singer-songwriting. With contributions from 50 local musicians, it crystallized life in a big town/small city amidst personal and political tensions – confirming, denying, and otherwise complicating midwestern stereotypes within song’s narrative. DPA compared them to Andy Shauf, going “far beyond normal folk pop standards,” while MDR Kultur christened them, “among the best indie bands in the USA.” Stateside, they were humbled with a hometown award for the best local release of 2020.

DPA (Deutsche Presse-Agentur / German Associated Press) - As with Andy Shauf, it is the fabulous band arrangements and a great voice that lift the album by Hello Emerson, released by Dresden’s small K&F Records, far beyond normal folk pop standards….After Hello Emerson’s already promising debut Above The Floorboards (2018), Bodary has once again succeeded in creating a very beautiful, rich album.

MDR KULTUR Spezial Musik: New Album Recommendations - We count them among the best indie bands in the USA…. His greatest strength is finding the true depth of everyday stories without making a fuss. (Radio feature on 2/10/2020)

Columbus Alive - 2020 local record of the year. (Additional profile here)

Sounds and Books - There's no getting around the Americana indie folk rock band Hello Emerson… The comparisons with Conor Oberst or Ryan Adams are still justified, and Sam Bodary could hardly wish for better references. With "How To Cook Everything" he once again succeeds in a varied and multi-layered Americana indie folk rock album… "How To Cook Everything" has become a huge successor to "Above The Floorboards", establishing Bodary as a brilliant songwriter. You can't avoid Hello Emerson.

Plattentests - The great "Edges and corners" beckons you towards The Mountain Goats in a dream-like security, while two songs later "We lost" bursts into the room and exhorts everyone to dance - of course, without appearing out of place in any way… When "Seat 16B" finally offers all the drama available, the trade fair has long been read and people have long been convinced by "How to Cook Everything". It just tastes good here!

Like HiFi - Press reviews outdo each other with praise for the young songwriter Samuel Emerson Bodary…. Simply fantastic sound with crystal-clear, finely delineated instruments... Intimate American folk and blues that Samuel Emerson Bodary's sonorous voice could not accompany more vividly. 

SoundKartell: Interview - He delivers everything here: one-course menu, four-course menu and of course a sweet dessert.

Mark Bittman, author of bestselling cookbook How to Cook Everything - Love it! Can’t wait to see you all live.

Above the Floorboards was released in 2017.

With comparisons to John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), Andrew Bird, Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), and Sufjan Stevens – the debut record was heralded as “a find for the genre” and “the sublime intersection of the best American indie-folk bands.” Following a re-release via Germany’s K&F Records, the midwestern songwriting resonates internationally with recognition from Rolling Stone Germany, DPA, and Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Rolling Stone Germany (print edition) - Idiosyncratic folk and bluegrass songs once as a rampant stream-of-consciousness text flood, once in the form of a short story... Conor Oberst and John Darnielle say hello. (3/5 stars)

MDR Kultur - Rarely have debut of the current singer-songwriter generation such a sense of catchy songs, original instrumentation and imaginative texts.

DPA (Deutsche Presse-Agentur / German Associated Press) - Bodary resembles – both vocally and musically – intellectual overflights such as Conor O’Brien (Villagers), Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird or Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes)…. consistently very pretty arranged, highly melodious, yet unobtrusive song gems.

Glitterhouse - Amazingly mature debut of a young, literary American: Sam Bodary is just 23, but Hello Emerson sounds like the sublime intersection of the best American indie folk bands. 

Luserlounge - It is hard to believe that Sam Bodary is only 23 years young. The arrangements of the tracks and the overall picture sound so round, clever and grown-up that he could easily be fifteen years older.

Columbus Alive - Though the pristinely recorded, fingerpicked folk songs are now filled out with piano, pedal steel, percussion, string sections and horn sections, Bodary … is still focused on the little things, no matter how big the song arrangements have become.

Sounds and Books - A find for the genre.

Columbus Dispatch - On “Above the Floorboards,” more than 20 companions contributed to the debut’s recordings, adding layers both complex and unforeseen in most folk albums.

The Indie Sound - Hello Emerson feels singular, like something I want to be preserved.

Music in Motion - The best music will paint the most beautiful pictures in your mind and in your heart. And, Sam Emerson Bodary is just the artist to do so.

Plattentests - More than enough fun until the next blow.

Videos

Photos

live show history

2022

11/26 in Columbus, OH @ The Rambling House w/ Patty PerShayla & Lisa Gain
11/5 in Columbus, OH @ The Rambling House w/ Caitlin Kraus & Natural Sway
9/30 in Westerville, OH @ Inniswood Gardens
9/22 in Columbus, OH @ Lover’s Lane w/ Sweet Petunia
8/17 in Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe w/ Lee Bains & Loamlands
7/22 in Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe w/ Tall Heights
5/13 in Columbus, OH @ The Rambling House for John Prine Tribute Show
4/27 in Newark, OH @ Thirty One West w/ Humbird
2/5 in Columbus, OH @ Kafe Kerouac w/ Carr and Company & Regan Noelle Smith

2021

9/19 in Columbus, OH @ Frank Fetch Park
9/11 in Columbus, OH @ 934 Fest
7/30 in Dublin, OH @ The Ohio Creatives Festival
7/28 in Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe w/ Small Songs
2/6 in Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups #SaveOurStages Livestream

2020

2/21 in Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups w/ Small Songs & Ruth Awad (LP2 Release Show)
2/9 in Langenberg, Germany @ KulturGüterBahnhof w/ Christina Martin
2/8 in Berlin, Germany @ ick koof mir Dave Lombardo wenn ick reich bin
2/7 in Hamburg, Germany @ Elbdeich e.V. w/ Falke Collective & Kammerflimmern
2/5 in Oldenburg, Germany @ Kulturetage w/ Lilly Among Clouds
2/4 in Kiel, Germany @ Die Pumpe w/ Lilly Among Clouds
2/2 in Münster, Germany @ Pension Schmidt w/ Lilly Among Clouds
2/1 in Braunschweig, Germany @ Eulenglück w/ Lilly Among Clouds
1/31 in Essen, Germany @ Weststadthalle Essen w/ Lilly Among Clouds
1/30 in Nürnberg, Germany @ MUZclub w/ Julia Laura
1/30 in Nürnberg, Germany @ BTM Guitars
1/29 in Vienna, Austria @ Clash
1/28 in Dresden, Germany @ Blue Note Dresden
1/27 in Chemnitz, Germany @ INSPIRE Chemnitz
1/26 in Offenbach, Germany @ Hafen 2 w/ Mark Peters & The Dark Band
1/25 in Karlsruhe, Germany @ NUN Kulturraum
1/24 in Köln, Germany @ Weltempfänger Backpacker Hostel & Cafe
1/9 in Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe w/ Megan Taylor, Trying, & Golightly

2019

10/13 in Worthington, OH @ McConnell Arts Center w/ WYD
10/5 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ Lindsay Jordan & Corey Landis
8/12 in Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe w/ Her Crooked Heart
7/19 in Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups w/ The Roof Dogs, Slimfit, & Steven King
6/14 in Newark, OH @ 31 West w/ Bombadil
5/10 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ Small Songs, Stems, & October Ember
2/11 in Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe w/ The Western Den

2018

12/1 in Cincinnati, OH @ The Listing Loon w/ Palamara
11/30 in Dayton, OH @ House Concert
10/28 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ Lowlights & Small Songs
9/29 in Columbus, OH @ Big Room Bar w/ Barry Johnson & Field Sleeper
9/16 in Darmstadt, Germany @ Centralstation Darmstadt w/ Lilly Among Clouds
9/15 in Osnabrück, Germany @ Kleine Freiheit w/ Lilly Among Clouds
9/14 in Hanover, Germany @ Bang & Olufson w/ Lilly Among Clouds
9/13 in Halle (Salle) @ Objekt 5 w/ Lilly Among Clouds
9/12 in Potsdam, Germany @ Lindenpark Potsdam w/ Lilly Among Clouds
9/10 in Münster, Germany @ Pension Schmidt
9/9 in Halle (Salle), Germany @ Hof
9/8 in Mitte, Germany @ Swamp w/ Wayne Graham
9/7 in Karlsruhe, Germany @ NUN Kulturraum w/ Wayne Graham
9/6 in Düsseldorf, Germany @ Zakk
9/5 in Marburg, Germany @ Cafe Q
9/4 in Bayreuth, Germany @ Sübkültür
9/2 in Dresden, Germany @ Sound of Bronkow Music Festival
9/1 in Annaberg-Buchholz, Germany @ Alte Brauerei
8/30 in Berlin, Germany @ ART Stalker w/ Wayne Graham
8/29 in Berlin, Germany @ Ä Bar
8/28 in Hamburg, Germany @ Freundlich + Kompetent w/ Anin Rose
8/27 in Chemnitz, Germany @ INSPIRE Chemnitz
8/26 in Offenbach, Germany @ Hafen 2
8/25 in Lübeck, Germany @ Tonfink w/ Wayne Graham
8/24 in Copenhagen, Denmark @ DROP INN w/ Wayne Graham
7/20 in Columbus, OH @ Hellmouth w/ Rat Dreams, Barry Johnson, and BXTCH
6/12 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ Her Crooked Heart & Humbird
5/13 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ Joy Ike
2/11 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ Hayley Sabella & WYD

2017

10/19 in Columbus, OH @ CD 102.5 Big Room Bar w/ Barry Johnson
10/15 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ Souther and Fables
10/7 in Newark, OH @ Thirty One West for Thirty One Fest
10/6 in Columbus, OH @ The Idea Foundry
9/5 in Hamburg, Germany @ Freundlich + Kompetent w/ Hannah Ashcroft
9/4 in Köln, Germany @ Weltemfänger Backpacker Hostel & Cafe w/ The Lion and the Wolf
9/2 in Dresden, Germany @ Sound of Bronkow Music Festival
8/25 in Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe w/ Ruth Awad & Sam Craighead (LP1 Release Show)
8/14 in Columbus, OH @ Kafe Kerouac w/ Really Big Pinecone, Sweet Lil
7/23 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ The Western Den and Honeysuckle
5/23 in Columbus, OH @ House Concert w/ Friendship
4/29 in Columbus, OH @ The Shrunken Head w/ Whirlybirds
4/23 in Columbus, OH @ Neighborhood Services
4/20 in Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
4/15 in Columbus, OH @ The Rambling House
3/11 in Columbus, OH @ Tree Bar w/ Matt Monta, Ezra,& Rebekah Jean
2/22 in Newark, OH @ Thirty One West w/ Frontier Ruckus
2/18 in Columbus, OH @ The Shrunken Head
1/11 in Columbus, OH @ Big Room Bar

2016

12/15 in Newark, OH @ Thirty One West w/ Field Sleeper
11/17 in Columbus, OH @ The House with No Name
11/4 in Columbus, OH @ The Basement
10/26 in Columbus, OH @ Spacebar
6/11 in Columbus, OH @ The Columbus Arts Festival
5/28 in Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe w/ Sedgewick & Young Heirlooms
4/15 in Columbus, OH @ The Rambling House
4/4 in Columbus, OH @ The House with No Name w/ Friendship, Field Sleeper, & Roof Doctor
3/10 in Columbus, OH @ Brothers Drake Meadery w/ Counterfeit Madison & Maria Levitov
2/28 in Detroit, MI @ Bernard Ginsberg House w/ Emily Rose, Carmel Liburdi, Field Sleeper, & Marie Corbo
2/27 in Kalamazoo, MI @ w/ Vida Eterna, Overly Polite Tornadoes, Mountain Thrum, & Field Sleeper
10/27 in Columbus, OH @ Kafe Kerouac w/ Field Sleeper (Tape Release Show)
10/20 in Columbus, OH @ The Basement w/ Jeremy Loops & Brick + Mortar