The Loom and Sea of Bees played Sycamore’s basement room on Saturday night. I’ve heard Loom at the Cortelyou Road bar, flower shop and performance space before, and enjoyed them immensely tonight with their new singer and keyboardist, Sarah Renfro, with her her huge glasses, long stringy hair and calm vocal facility.

A mash-up of Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band and The National, The Loom has great drumming, the talented Lis Rubard on trumpet and french horn, and stirring shared vocals by Renfro and songwriter John Fanning. The electric guitars, banjo and sometimes ukulele conspire to create a propulsive foundation as the group mesmerizes with its hypnotic drone-like vocals and exciting arrangements. In the two years since I first heard them, their music and cohesiveness as a band have evolved enormously as they convey a prairie-like stillness with echoes of timeless American and English balladeers.

The evening’s surprise and great discovery was Sea of Bees, a band encompassing the strange—and very appealing—presence of lead singer and songwriter Julie Baenziger, who is, make no mistake about it, the real and original deal when it comes to singing, songwriting and performing.

Dressed in a man’s shirt and tie, Baenziger’s visual is one of gender ambiguity but her voice is uber-feminine evoking Joanna Newsom and Jane Siberry with its easy and almost otherworldly soprano swoops and flourishes. And she’s got original pop songwriting chops all her own with gorgeous flights of melody and harmony with a vague tinge of another Northern Californian, Chris Isaks. Her cool yet emotive songs with names like Gnomes, sure to be a radio fave Wizbot, Marmalade, and the exquisite Sidepain, are riveting performed live.

Sea of Bees includes a wonderful electric guitarist and back-up singer,  female drummer and a male bassist.

From Sacramento, California, Baenziger and her delightfully effusive guitarist/back-up singer, have been touring in Europe for the last few months and her album, Songs for Ravens, is definitely gathering buzz (no pun intended) as revealed by a quick peek at the Internet.

But it’s Baenziger’s effortless stage presence that is, ultimately, so compelling. She is utterly unselfconscious about projecting her fetchingly strange and vulnerable inner self to the audience between songs with humor and no small measure of oddity that is utterly charming coupled with such real talent.

This girl is, I tell you, the real deal. That’s why Sea of Bees has me buzzing. They’ll be in New York all week. Check out their website and go to the show at the Rock Shop in Park Slope on Sunday night April 25th at 7PM.