Yuri Gohen strums his resonator guitar and Anthony Carlson plays his violin, squeezing their eyes shut and leaning passionately into their instruments and song, beating their shoes against the ground and nodding along. As you watch, you can wonder where the music, carrying itself into every corner of the front room of Mini Mega Electric Gallery and out onto Doylestown’s Main street, is taking them. “I’m going home,” Gohen sings out. 

When you take your eyes away for a moment and look around into the audience, you find that they too are tapping their shoes onto the floor and bobbing their heads to the song. Gohen sings again, almost shouting this time, that he is going home; from the looks of the crowd, he has taken the room right home with him. 

The show, the third in a series of Tiny Couch Sessions hosted by Mini Mega Electric Gallery and inspired by NPR’s own Tiny Desk Concerts, was what Gohen called “an easy start to the day” at 10:00 in the morning in Doylestown. “It’s about as close to religion as an irreligious person can get,” he added before jumping into song. That show was not just for fans of folk music; it was for fans of community, which was incredibly present in the room as Gohen encouraged the audience to sing and clap along as he played.

Not only were Gohen and Carlson doing this together, but they were doing it with the space provided by Mini Mega Electric Gallery. The vision for the Tiny Couch Sessions came to life when Meg Burke, a former North Penn English teacher and 1994 alum, was inspired by her own classroom couch that “hosted impromptu acoustic sets with students during study halls and homeroom,” she explained.

“The Tiny Couch Sessions offer stripped-down acoustic performances that reconnect audiences to the raw, emotional core of music. These aren’t just shows; they’re community experiences, powered by partners like Siren Records, The Record Shop, Evolution Candy, and Rivot Magazine,” Burke said further. 

Gohen and Carlson played not only with the raw and emotional intensity that Burke describes, but also with purpose. The list of songs played- a combination of covers of classic folk songs and Gohen’s own from his latest album- included songs of protest, Gohen proclaiming that “it’s the responsibility of a folk singer to speak out,” before launching back into his music. 

“The focus has definitely been on writing topical music. It’s driven by current events; we’re seein

g a lot of things happen that are just unconscionable in every way. A lot of people are hurting. It’s brutal out there, and it’s an obvious thing for us to do at this time,” he said. 

With the idea behind the series of Tiny Couch Sessions being “one couch, one artist, one cause,” as fliers for the event read, Gohen’s sentiments around activism through music are incredibly relevant in the setting. The door fees collected for each show are not for a profit and instead go towards a cause of the artist’s choosing; the proceeds of Gohen’s show will go towards memorializing victims of the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia through author and MOVE Legacy Director Mike Africa Jr. 

Gohen and Carlson also took listeners into the sounds of Gohen’s newly released album, “Who Killed Cock Robin?” The album is inspired by classic sounds of folk with Gohen’s own added lyrics and choices, crafting his message meaningfully through his songs. Through taking pieces of older melodies as well as floating verses, “phrases or lines that are present in many different songs,” he explains, Gohen curates a skillful spin on classic folk songs for his own album.

Prior to the album’s release, Gohen had been taking on shows with his brother accompanying him on guitar. Taking the songs that they played live, they sat down to record them all, taking a weekend to dedicate themselves to their work.

“We went into a friend’s room that he had set up and we just spent a weekend and we laid down all of the stuff that I had been playing live. He had an interface and everything set up in there, but we had to move some things out of the way and get it set up how we wanted it. Then we just closed the door and stayed in that room for the weekend,” Gohen described.

“I had the pleasure of singing at a rally in April, which was the Hands-off rally, and I led 1500 people in ‘This Land is Your Land.’ That’s quite a high. I’ve never played for that many people in my life. I was late and had to get through a crowd of about a thousand with my banjo just to get up there, but it was really something special. After that experience is when I started writing some of my own lyrics to some of the old songs, starting to get really topical and specific,” added Gohen. 

The lyrics of the album are purposefully constructed in a way that can be open for different interpretations across listeners, allowing for more connection to his music, Gohen explains. 

“You can do whatever you like with it. We’re just happy to get it out. I intentionally write in a way that can be taken by someone else and mean whatever you want it to mean,” Gohen noted.

“We want them to feel what we’re feeling,” Carlson added.

As the audience was moving to the music, singing along what they knew, and clapping to the choruses, and as passer-by on Main Street curiously gaped through the open windows and door that carried on the breeze songs that invited them in like a homely welcome mat, there was no doubt that the pair’s goal was accomplished; everybody was, unequivocally, able to feel what they were feeling.

“Something about working with another person brings out your best. Doing this together, and you’re watching our interaction and our chemistry, just brings so much more to our performance, especially when we do want people to sing along or dance if they want to. It’s a very powerful thing when people are singing along. You can get that in other genres of music, but this is the original sing-along music,” Gohen said.

Burke encourages an audience for the next Tiny Couch Session on June 8, where Tucked In the Band will take the couch, raising funds to benefit Better Days Ahead, a non-profit group that distributes food, clothing, and survival gear to area houseless and at-risk individuals in Southeastern Pennsylvania. 

“This special session is sponsored by Curt Reichwein, former Technology and Engineering teacher who proudly served the North Penn School District for 24 years before retiring in 2022. After decades of inspiring students, Curt followed his dream of owning a record store, a dream he made real post-pandemic when he purchased The Record Shop in Phoenixville, PA,” Burke said. 

Reichwein and Burke’s longtime friendship. born from their days as colleagues at North Penn and bonded by their shared love for vinyl, live music, and building community, will come full circle at the next Tiny Couch Session. Burke is planning a heartfelt surprise for Reichwein by gathering as many former North Penn students and colleagues as possible for the show. 

“It’s more than a concert. It’s a reunion, a tribute, and a joyful reminder that music connects us across time and space,” Burke concluded.