Meet Shallow Alcove: The MIC Mag's May 2026 Musician of the Month!
- Stefani M.C. Janelli
- May 5
- 3 min read
Meet Shallow Alcove:
Some bands are built in a rehearsal space. Shallow Alcove was built in bedrooms and basements, between people who actually love each other. Fronted by Grace Krichbaum and Dan Harris, alongside Peter Groppe, Jack Harrington, and Noah Dardaris, the band makes music that sounds exactly like what it is: friends telling the truth, set to stacked harmonies and guitar riffs that refuse to leave your head. Their songs are rooted in DIY folk and colored with the kind of details only someone paying close attention would notice: the ache of a season changing, a bad haircut, the slow, tender weirdness of growing up. The addresses have shifted from Upstate New York to the apartments and studios of New York City and Philadelphia, but the impulse behind every song remains the same: storytelling with the people you love.
This month, The MIC Mag is celebrating Shallow Alcove as our Musicians of the Month!
Genre: Nostalgia Folk Pop
Members:
Grace (she/her)
Dan (he/him)
Jack (he/him)
Peter (he/him)
Noah (he/him)
Fun Facts:
Grace almost died at birth and was technically not supposed to live, but she DID, and that's why her parents named her "Grace" :) If my traumatic birth hadn't happened, my dad might have gotten away with naming me "Lexi", and no disrespect to the Lexis of the world, it just would've changed my entire personality, I think.
Jack can name the year, make, and model of every single car on the road, no matter how fancy or mundane. He was also an extra on the "Naked Brothers Band."
Peter was born without a labrum in his shoulder, which causes his shoulder to dislocate at random times. He learned this by falling out of a golf cart. He also can probably tell you what Paul McCartney was doing on each day of his life.
Noah spends 70% of each day bouncing on a trampoline. No exaggeration. He has a mini trampoline in every place he frequents, and he bounces on it while he thinks, talks, watches TV, plays guitar, eats, etc.
Dan can do a trick where he makes smoke come out of his mouth without using any external objects. He can also do a backflip (although it's been a couple of years...)
What makes Shallow Alcove stand out?
"I think our ability to play music not only as a band but as a group of friends who know each other so well makes us stand out. I'm the singer of the band and not much of an instrumentalist, but when I watch the boys play together, it feels like watching them communicate in a secret code. They are so anticipatory of what the other is going to do, so well versed in each other's tendencies, and it always feels to me like they're weaving an invisible magic quilt together that wraps us all up when we play."
What is Shallow Alcove most known for?
"I think we might be known most for our harmonies. I believe harmonies sound better when they're sung by a group of people who know and love each other deeply. We also hope to be known for making people feel at home when they hear our music or come to our shows. Online and at our shows, we talk very candidly about what our songs are about: our anxieties, our most fanciful hopes, our deepest fears. Our lyrics are also very diaristic, telling you who we are in every line. I hope that what people take away from our music is that they can come as they are, and through our extreme honesty, they see themselves in the mirror."
What has Shallow Alcove been working on?
Doggy Paddle
"Doggy Paddle is a scrapbook of a bunch of feelings we endured in our early 20’s. It feels like a fractured mosaic of the frenzy that is trying to figure out who you are and what you want during such a fledgling time of your young life."
"It can be easy to stress out and take this shit too seriously. Something we try to do is laugh about whatever we can. In the grand scheme of things, this is the most special and impossible job in the world, and we get to do it. If we’re not relishing in the wonders of it, it’s being lost on us. Getting to make music with your friends is a privilege!" - Shallow Alcove