“Have you seen Back to the Future?” asks Mei Semones, back in her Brooklyn apartment after a recent sold-out Camden Assembly show. “That scene where Michael J. Fox is playing the Chuck Berry song? That made me want to play guitar.”
Two decades ago, when she was four years old, the thoughtful and intricate indie musician who’s rooted in the jazz era began playing an upright given by her grandmother in Yokosuka, Japan. But as Semones reached double digits, she became conscious of a conflict with the instrument.
