When you hear the name Cafe Acoustic, Eyelit is the band you picture in your head. The Cafe Acoustic in St. Joseph, Missouri by no means exclusive to this type of band however. The Cafe regularly gets hard rock and metal bands to play so it is far from acoustic. They reserve Thursday nights as “Acoustic Night” and this is when bands like St. Joseph’s own Eyelit get a chance to shine.

Eyelit is composed of Austin and Dansare Marks, a mellow husband and wife duo. They have a simple and stripped down group of acoustic songs in their catalog. They have a smooth sound with a ton of concentration on the lyrics reminiscent of Iron & Wine and since they are a guy/girl duo; of course could also be compared to The Swell Season. Many of the night’s songs would be from their recently released full length album The Woe Dies. The instrumentation is stripped down with each song being composed by just an acoustic guitar or ukulele along with their blend of gentle vocals.

Eyelit performing at the Cafe Acoustic in St. Joseph, MO on 11/15/12.

The two would take the stage to a very respectful and attentive crowd of about 15-20 people who would listen for the duration of their hour long set. The vast majority of their songs would be Eyelit originals as well as a couple well chosen covers that fit the band very well. The first of which being an interesting take on Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” The majority of the songs would be sang by Austin, who would also play all acoustic guitar and ukulele on the songs. Dansare would take lead vocals on a few songs like a cover of “Sea of Love” and “High” from The Woe Dies. She would also provide an essential piece to all Eyelit songs with her subtle background vocals.

They were selling their album The Woe Dies for the slim price of a $5 donation to the tip bucket. The CD is in a digipak case and is very well done. It not only looks professional but contains a booklet with full lyrics. It contains many of the best songs from their setlist as well like “She Holds His Hand Tight” and the slow, brooding “I Wish You The Best.” They would announce their final songs as a new one before receiving a good enough ovation from the crowd for a genuinely deserved encore for which they would perform another song from the record “Rolling Road.”