The Day After Christmas Concert will be held at Johnny D’s this coming Friday.

By Sanjeev Selvarajah

Johnny D’s will be holding its 7th Annual Day After Christmas Concert this coming Friday at 7:45 p.m., at which time Hello Echo, Nighttime Sunshine, Grimis, and Four Legged Faithful will be performing.

Once the kids have had their fun on Christmas Eve and Day, venture into Johnny D’s for this seasonal, 21 years and older special event, not only to celebrate gift-giving and good food but also to prepare for New Year’s.

Hello Echo presides over the event. Consisting of Mike Silva, Sean Aylward, Mike Sarno, the indie rock band writes on their Facebook page, “We make big sounds with itty bitty red guitars.”

Hello Echo’s interests include laserbeams, drinking, and surfing. “There should be something for everyone,” says Sean Aylward, about the musical line-up. “I used to live around here, near Alewife. Davis is awesome. My dad was born and raised in Somerville. I hung out with my girlfriend of 6 years for the first time here in Davis Square. So I like it! I live in California so it’s always great to be back in this neighborhood.”

Hello Echo’s music, spiritual to a T, stops traffic and lifts you heavenward. If you want goose bumps they’re the place to start. It is not a stretch to say that Hello Echo is what Coldplay should be if the latter wanted to respect the origins of the genre, and if those pop stars wanted folk or blues in their life.

“I am playing the Christmas show because Sean Aylward is one of my best friends in the world and he asked me to perform, and I said sure,” said Jesse Gallagher of Nighttime Sunshine. Gallagher’s music is in the vein of Pink Floyd and Radiohead, during the latter’s Kid A and Amnesiac years. Jesse is playing as Nighttime Sunshine, but he is also performing as DJ Nighttime Gallagher during a later set. Gallagher lives in Inman Square and runs the venue “the lilypad.” He’s starting a weekly residency at Johnny D’s in January.

Four Legged Faithful has been together for five years. “Our practices usually involve warming up with a few older songs that need the rust knocked off of them, followed by one of us teaching the other three his new song. We all write our own songs so we are constantly working on new songs,” says Jon Kaplan. Four Legged Faithful is always busy. You might even catch them in one of Somerville’s street corners playing for the public. Their influences, including Grateful Dead, are very down to earth and specific, almost rare, while also humble.

These groups do not just play music, they also live, eat, and breathe it. Dave Tanklefsky of Grimis expresses his enthusiasm for the Somerville scene very poignantly, richly and emotionally: “Living in the area, I try to get out at least once or twice a week to see local music if I can. It’s nice to just play in the area and feel part of that local community.”