Portland’s Family Mansion bring their tight folk-pop to Lighthouse Smokehouse.

In 2017, Family Mansion entered a video into NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. The increasingly popular contest involves recording a performance behind a tiny desk of any kind and submitting to a panel of judges that includes the likes of Phish’s Trey Anastasio. The Portland duo, featuring Matt Combs (guitar, drums, keys, vocals) and Laura Sullivan (guitar, cello, violin, vocals), submitted “Solitary Art,” the opener on their forthcoming debut EP Tiny House, due out any day now.

Shot behind an appropriately small desk at the duo’s house, the sound quality of the video is somewhat rough, but it doesn’t matter. Sullivan plucks out a graceful guitar melody alongside Combs, who heads up keys and an impressive, vice-tight percussive rhythm on drums, using mostly jazz brushes. Their vocals harmonize with a gritty Americana vibe, a la Shovels & Rope. Combs’ and Sullivan’s songwriting chops and affinity for playing together are easy to pick up on, even if you’re just listening without seeing the affectionate glances. It adds up to a satisfying and nuanced musical experience.

Family Mansion was one of three Pacific Northwest bands selected to go out on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest 2017 Tour. “We have a lot of fun supporting each other’s creativity,” Sullivan says. “We want [the music] to be an expression of our souls, and our souls are certainly childlike, happy people.”

Their band’s exposure leapt when they moved from Maryland to Portland. “We were in a tiny town, and we needed a bigger audience,” Sullivan says. Family Mansion was accepted into a tight-knit music scene that’s well-connected.

Kong kicks off the show with jungle-rock soundscapes straight out of the City of Angels.

FAMILY MANSION with KONG
7:30pm Friday, Aug. 11.
Bon Ton L’Roy’s Lighthouse Smokehouse, 794 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey.
No cover. 375-6958.