Patrick Coman and the Lo-Fi Angels take flight at Arts at the Armory's Spring Ramble this Friday night. – Photo by Jack Hirschorn

By Max Sullivan

The first ever Spring Ramble will be flying “lo” this Friday night at the Armory as the event’s roots rock headliners, Patrick Coman and the Lo-Fi Angels, will be celebrating the release of their first EP, Let It Ring.

The Spring Ramble, Arts at the Armory’s second in their new series of seasonal fundraisers, will be an evening of food, drink, carnival games and, of course, music. Four bands will take the stage, in honor of the four seasons: Autumn Hollow, The Pennies, Meg Smallidge and the Wednesdays, and the headlining Coman and the Lo-Fi Angels. Coman, who’s been running a monthly music series at the Armory’s café called “For the Sake of the Song”, said that he is enthralled to release his EP in conjunction with the venue’s fundraiser.

“We’re really excited about releasing the new album, Let It Ring,” said Coman, “And being able to do it at the Armory is a real honor and a real privilege. I’ve had a great opportunity to work with them over the past couple years, so it’s nice to be able to take part in this event.”

The local band’s debut EP is a rich exhibition of traditional Americana done right. Coman claimed that he’s gone through a “musical education” studying his heroes: Ryan Adams, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan and the like. The EP varies in tone from song to song, from the upbeat opener Boston City Blues to the sobering closer, Streets of Berlin. This range demonstrates Coman’s maturity as a songwriter and the attention he’s paid to the detail in his heroes’ recordings. On top of this, he’s surrounded himself with an impressive cast of players. Backup vocalist Michelle Vanas and fiddler Aaron Cross stand out as sonically lush complements to Coman’s songs, and drummer Bob Laing and Tim Moynihan form a rhythm section as tight as any.

Let It Ring was recorded “live” in the studio, meaning that the band played each song together rather than recording each part in separate layers. This allowed the band to communicate while playing as they would at any live gig, giving the songs a lively feel.

“We felt we had these songs really fine tuned,” said Coman, “And more important than that pristine clarity (that often comes with over production)… we wanted that energy that you get from a live performance of getting to feed off each other.”

Coman, an Oklahoma native, has spent the last decade traveling the world. After graduating from college in North Carolina, he moved to Nashville in 2006 to get the “big city” music experience. He spent two years writing songs for a publishing company while waiting tables. In 2008, his travels took him across the Atlantic to Berlin before he finally made his way to the Boston area in 2010.

Having spent a couple years in Boston now, Coman has found the local music scene to be a warm and welcoming community, unlike the cut throat nature of bigger music towns like his former home in Nashville.

“It’s also really collaborating and welcoming, where as those other cities can be more competitive, so I’ve really enjoyed just getting to know people in a way that I don’t think you get to do in other cities.”

Coman is known for his prowess as a live performer, so his songs will translate well to the Armory stage Friday night.

“Patrick is this great, eclectic musician,” said Jennifer Lawrence, who manages events at the Armory and is very familiar with Coman’s live performances. “He’s really a fun musician to listen to.”

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at the Armory. You can buy tickets for the Spring Ramble online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/.