A widely published poet, Allen Shadow incorporates lo-fi folk-rock into his art to create what is at once literary music and performance poetry.

The New York writer, who has published two books with Quick Books of Pueblo, CO, first dabbled in music in the mid-'80s with the doo-wop group the Phantoms. The collaboration consisted of a series of shows based on Shadow's street-wise chapbook "Harlem River Baby." Shadow then spent nearly a decade in Nashville honing his songwriting skills.

King Kong Serenade, his first album, is the four-year culmination of what began as songs for an off-off-Broadway multimedia show. The record is a gritty portrait of New York that captures both the city's grand themes and personal struggles.