Tylan: SECOND SHOW ADDED!
Tickets: $15 advance, $18 at the door.
The 7PM show has sold out – however, due to popular demand we’ve added a 9PM show! Grab tickets now to ensure a seat.
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After five studio albums and ten years on the road with the internationally acclaimed folk-pop quartet Girlyman, Tylan is returning to her roots with a debut solo CD, One True Thing. “Playing with Girlyman for so long has really spoiled me,” says Tylan Greenstein, who’s decided to drop her last name for her new solo venture. Founded in 2001, the four members of Girlyman went from playing for tips in coffeehouses to headlining (and selling out) 400-500 seat venues across the country; they also toured internationally, graced festival main stages, and opened extensively for such folk luminaries as Indigo Girls and Dar Williams.
“I couldn’t ask for a more talented group of musicians, or for a more successful career,” says Tylan. “All those instruments and arrangements in Girlyman have really supported my songs. At the same time, there’s something about the raw, lyric-driven acoustic experience that has always appealed to me. I like the idea of there being very little between the song and the listener. That’s where I come from.”
Tylan is in good hands, working with producer Michael Connolly at the renowned Empty Sea Studios in Seattle to create this stripped-down sound – using guitar, piano, Hammond organ, upright bass, cello, and the drums of fellow Girlyman member JJ Jones. “Michael is very good at creating an orchestra with just a few instruments and leaving lots of space for the song to come through. I’m excited to see what we create together.”
Tylan is already off to an auspicious start. Her Kickstarter campaign for One True Thing created a tremendous buzz and raised nearly $47,000 from 760 backers in 30 days – the second highest grossing Kickstarter campaign ever in the Folk/Country category. Watch for One True Thing in early 2013, with CD release tours to follow nationwide in the spring.
“Tylan’s practice of extending metaphors out toward a precipice keeps an unpredictable edge to [her] songs. Most writers would stop at the easy close. Ty jumps, leaving much to imagination, to powerful effect. Ty’s expressive alto brings quiet energy to her introspective ballads, nursing a negotiation of life from pain to acceptance, if not peace.” – Americana Gazette
“’Amaze Me,’ ‘Somewhere Different Now,’ ‘Young James Dean,’ and lots more evoked names like Janis Ian and Willie Nelson, emotional outsiders with their hearts on their sleeves. Folksy Americana and urban literacy sit comfortably together in [her] songs.” – Whisperinandhollerin.com
Spaciousness and heartbreak: Q&A With Tylan
Tonight’s CD release shows with Girlyman alum Tylan are particularly special for us here at Empty Sea – since June of 2012, Michael, Jordan and the gang worked their butts off alongside Ty to create her solo album debut, One True Thing. After many long hours in the studio, the album is complete and ready to release to the world! We can’t wait to check it out in person.
Tylan was gracious enough to answer a few questions in advance of tonight’s show.
For maximum effect while you read the Q&A, check out the first single from the disc, “Already Fine” featuring the Indigo Girl’s Amy Ray:
How did you first start playing music? Why did you decide to focus on the kind of music you’ve played?
Cover art for One True Thing
I started playing guitar when I was 10. My dad is an upright bass player now playing with the Chad Mitchell Trio and Tom Paxton – he taught me my first chords and introduced me to folk music and specifically harmony groups. That led to my time in Girlyman, where our signature was tight, inventive 3-part harmonies. I also learned a lot about songwriting and the importance of lyrics through that mentoring.
10 years together on the road with Girlyman must have left you with a lot of stories. What’s your favorite?
Oh, there’s too many to name. We laughed our asses off a lot of the time simply because we found ourselves in absurd and absurdly exhausting situations over and over again. Driving to some tiny town in Europe on a road that barely fit our van in the middle of the night to play for a pub with no one there. From that to playing to 7000 people when we opened for Indigo Girls. It was an amazing decade. I feel very lucky to have experienced so much with those guys.
Describe your new album One True Thing and your decision to make a debut solo album:
I’ve written a lot more songs over the years than I was able to fit onto Girlyman albums, and this is a collection of some of my favorites, plus new stuff I wrote over the past year or so. I decided to make a solo album mostly because after so much intense collaboration with one group of people I was really interesting in knowing who I was musically apart from Girlyman. I think what I’ve discovered is that I do have a different voice than the overall band sound. One True Thing is very orchestral and lush and relaxed sounding, I think. And the songs are really lyric-oriented and metaphorically layered – I spent a lot of money making 12-page booklets for the CDs with all the lyrics! I know no one does that anymore but lyrics are really important to me, I guess. Also, Girlyman’s albums were usually recorded to a click track and Michael and I hardly used the click at all. So right from the beginning there was a different kind of spaciousness.
What are you most excited about with the new album?
I’m excited to perform these songs live and give them a whole new life on the stage. And I’m really excited for people to hear this record. I’m very proud of what Michael and I made – we just laid it all out there. Very raw and exposed, a bunch of heartbreaking metaphors on a bed of lush strings. Apparently that’s who I am apart from Girlyman!
The Kora Band: Concert & Live Webcast
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
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Band members are Andrew Oliver (piano and keyboard), Kane Mathis (kora and guitar), Chad McCullough (trumpet), Brady Millard-Kish (acoustic and electric bass) and Mark DiFlorio (drums and percussion).
“…blends the swing and intellect of American Jazz with the divine poetry of West African Music.”
– The Oregonian
Pianist, composer, and bandleader Andrew Oliver is a rising young musician on the Northwest jazz scene, directing a number of diverse groups in Portland and Seattle. After growing up in Portland, he relocated to New Orleans to study jazz, but was flooded out by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and returned home. He began playing with New Orleans native saxophonist Devin Phillips and long-time New Orleans drummer Mark DiFlorio, who had also relocated to Portland after the storm. In 2007 Devin’s quartet featuring Andrew and Mark was one of ten groups selected from a pool of 200 bands to participate in the U.S. State Department’s Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program. They toured five West African countries performing, teaching workshops, and working with local musicians as cultural ambassadors of the U.S.
After this unique experience, Andrew was inspired to dive deeper into the relationship between jazz and West African music. His exploration eventually led to the founding of the Kora Band, featuring atypical instrumentation that highlights Kane Mathis on the 21-string Kora, a traditional harp from West Africa. Kane is one of the most accomplished American Kora players, having studied with the famous Jobarteh (Diabate) family in Gambia, in the same compound that produced three generations of the country’s most famous musicians. This study resulted in diplomas and certificates of recognition from Malamini Jobarteh, The Gambian minister of culture, and the President of the Gambia.
In 2009 the ensemble released their debut album “Just 4 U”, which Portland’s Willamette Week called “a gorgeous, moving record” and which the Seattle Weekly said was “one of the better world-music releases to come out of the Northwest all year.” They released their second album, “Cascades,” on Origin Records in September of 2010, which has reached #22 on the JazzWeek Radio Charts. On this new album, the group covers a wide range of traditional Mandinka pieces from across West Africa, modern repertoire from Congo and Cameroon, and new originals by Oliver and Mathis, providing uplifting and unique music that reflects the increasing globalization of today’s world.
Lucy Kaplansky: CD Release Show
Sorry, this show is completely sold out! No tickets will be released at the door.
She started out singing in Chicago bars. Then, barely out of high school, Lucy Kaplansky took off for New York City. There she found a fertile community of songwriters and performers—Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Bill Morrissey, Cliff Eberhardt, and others—where she fit right in. With a beautiful flair for harmony, Lucy was everyone’s favorite singing partner, but most often she found herself singing as a duo with Shawn Colvin. People envisioned big things for them; in fact, The New York Times said it was “easy to predict stardom for her.” Lucy tempo- rarily left the musical fast track to pursue a doctorate in Psychology and open her own private practice, although she continued to sing. Lucy was often pulled back into the studio by her friends (who now had contracts with record labels), wanting her to sing on their albums.
Now, after returning to recording and performing full-time, Kaplansky’s voice continues to remain in high demand by her peers. She harmonized on Colvin’s Grammy-winning Steady On, on Nanci Griffith’s Lone Star State of Mind and Little Love Affairs, and on four of John Gorka’s albums. She also landed soundtrack credits, singing with Suzanne Vega on Pretty in Pink and with Griffith on The Firm, and several commercial credits as well—including “The Heartbeat of America” for Chevrolet. She can also be heard on the Greg Brown tribute album Going Driftless (also featuring: Ani DiFranco, Iris Dement, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Gillian Welch, Eliza Gilkyson, and others). She teamed with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell to form the supergroup Cry Cry Cry, the three choosing to celebrate the amazing revitaliza- tion in contemporary songwriting. The resulting album, Cry Cry Cry (which The New Yorker dubbed “a collection of lovely harmonizing and pure emotion,” and to which Entertainment Weekly gave an “A” rating), has been an astonishing success in stores and on radio. A national tour of sold-out concerts by the trio served to introduce Lucy’s luminous voice to a new expanse of eager listeners.
Lucy’s The Red Thread followed the commercial and critical hit “Every Single Day” (released on 9/11/2001) and marked Lucy’s tenth year (and fifth album) on Red House Records. The Red Thread’s beautiful production was made evident with harmony vocals by Jonatha Brooke, Richard Shindell, Eliza Gilkyson and John Gorka, production and drums by Ben Wittman (The Story), guitarists Duke Levine (Mary Cha- pin Carpenter) and Jon Herington (Steely Dan), bass player Zev Katz (Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Rosanne Cash), and others. In 2005, Red House re-released her debut album The Tide, re-mastered and with two previously unreleased tracks—Jesse Winchester’s “Everybody Knows But Me” and The Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen a Face.”
Lucy’s rising popularity has led to appearances on the CBS Morning Show, NPR’s Weekend and Morning Editions, Mountain Stage, West Coast Live, Acoustic Cafe, and Vin Scelsa’s Idiot’s Delight. Lucy also contributed her story to a unique new book, SOLO: Women Singer- Songwriters in Their Own Words, which includes some of the best known women on the music scene today including Ani DiFranco, Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and Sarah McLachlan. She was also featured in Lipshtick, a collection of essays by NPR commentator Gwen Macsai.
Released in 2007, Lucy’s album Over the Hills is a collection of songs that explore love and the dark, winding road that leads us there. Her new life as a mother has not hindered her musical life but has enhanced it, deepening the emotional depth of her songwriting. Lucy continues to tour extensively across North America, reminding audiences why she has been hailed as “a truly gifted performer…full of enchanting songs” (The New Yorker).
Nuala Kennedy
Tickets: $20 advance, $24 at the door.
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Nuala Kennedy is a celebrated traditional Irish musician and internationally acclaimed flute player and singer. Touted as “spellbinding” and “a delight,” by the Irish Times, her live performances over the last few years inspired her return to the studio to record Noble Stranger (Compass, avail Aug. 28), a road-tested collection of innovative originals and traditional songs recorded with her touring band. Kennedy uses her traditional music background as a springboard for the new album which offers a 12 song set on which her adventurous instrumentation and progressive instrumentation shine.
Noble Stranger was recorded over a week in the beautiful rolling hills near Biggar, a little town nestled between Edinburgh and Glasgow by Kennedy, her percussionist Donald Hay, 10-string mandolinist Iain Macleod, guitarist Mike Bryan and guest vocalist AJ Roach. Their stage camaraderie translated seamlessly to the studio and this third album is a natural byproduct of their energetic and spontaneous live shows. “The tracks were laid down live, all together, with generally sparse overdubs. The band has been touring together for so long that there’s no other way I could imagine having made Noble Stranger,” comments Kennedy. “The whole album is a real reflection of our live sound.”
Accompanied by the spirited interplay between Bryan’s guitar and Macleod’s mandolin and supported by the tasteful percussion of Hays, tracks on the album intimately connect Kennedy’s own interests in traditional music and her neo-folk composition style. “Spending time in America has given me a greater appreciation of my own traditional musical heritage, and this renewed appreciation is reflected in the choices of some of the older material on the album. Classic traditional songs such as “My Bonny Labouring Boy” and the bonus track “Matt Hyland” are songs I have known for a long time and they seemed to re-emerge as a natural part of this record.” Not all is tradition here, a vintage Casio keyboard given to Kennedy by Norman Blake of the Glasgow band Teenage Fanclub inspired several album tracks, including the light and groovy album opening “Gabriel Sings.” “I was immediately drawn to the simplicity and transportability of the instrument and it strongly influenced the direction of the arrangements.”
Kennedy has recently been calling New York City a home-away-from-home, absorbing and contributing to the City’s growing neo-folk scene. She was raised playing and singing traditional music on the East coast of Ireland – an artistic area steeped in mythology with long historical ties to Scotland. Captivated by the traditional Irish and Scottish repertoire, she went on to study at the Edinburgh College of Art, mentored under fellow Irish expatriate Cathal McConnell and formed her first trio with guitarist Kris Drever and fiddler Anna-Wendy Stevenson and released two critically acclaimed albums. Her first two solo albums, The New Shoes and Tune In, were released through Nashville-based roots music company Compass Records Group and were universally well received. She has performed and recorded with Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Norwegian musicians Frode Haltli and Vegar Vårdal as well as the late Canadian composer Oliver Schroer. Kennedy is also a member of the traditional music group Oirialla performing music of her native North-East area of Ireland alongside Gerry ‘fiddle’ O’ Connor and Martin Quinn and she holds a Masters Degree in Music Performance and Composition from Newcastle University.
“Noble Stranger, you have ventured to me from the land of your fathers,” sings Kennedy on Noble Stranger‘s final track “Napoleon’s Dream,” a sentiment that reflects the underlying theme of the album. In joining the burgeoning New York folk music scene, she has also imported her distinct virtuosity and strong sense of traditional Irish identity—an identity that, inspired by her many influences, continues to evolve and define new boundaries for her tradition.
Ryan Ayers w/ The Long Straws
Tickets: $15 advance, $18 at the door.
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Ryan Ayers began playing guitar at the age of thirteen. He attended Loyola Marymount University and graduated with degrees in classical guitar performance and recording arts. It was there that he began his studies with classical guitarist Martha Masters.
Patrick Dethlefs & Cahalen Morrison
Tickets: $10 advance, $14 at the door.
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Patrick Dethlefs’ songwriting crests like a humble Townes Van Zandt, innocent of his own haunting melodies and lyricism. Dethlefs’ new release Fall and Rise offers folk Americana with effortless sincerity at a time when many acts strive purposefully to revive the stripped-down feel of a musical history long past.
Now only in his early 20s, Patrick won the Best Teen Songwriter Award (2009) at Swallow Hill Music—one of the largest non-profit organizations in the U.S. dedicated to developing folk and acoustic music.Patrick also received Best Song and Best Performance. Perhaps the innate nostalgia embedded in Patrick’s music takes root in the age at which he began playing. Inspired by his father who he lost when he was young, Patrick first picked up a guitar when he was 12. Also a musician, Patrick’s father leaves a crescendoing legacy through his son who is not only humble, but humbling, through his unassuming creative presence.
He has opened several engagements for Nathaniel Rateliff, played and recorded with members of Paper Bird. Patrick has also shared the stage with notables Gregory Alan Isakov, Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band), Sarah Anderson (Paper Bird), Mountain Man, and Horse Feathers. Fall and Rise follows impressive reception of 2010′s Stays the Same and Patrick’s split release with the Eye and the Arrow: “Dethlefs’ songs show maturity beyond his years ” (Matt Pusatory, Onion A/V Club Denver-Boulder).
“Most of us players should be humbled by Cahalen Morrison, the 24 year-old Seattle-based guitarist, singer, blues and old-timey interpreter, and multi-instrumentalist (six-string fingerstyle, claw-hammer banjo, mandolin, and lap slide guitar for starters). If not humbled, we are curious; how did the former New Mexico resident attain this kind of musical maturity at twenty-four?” -John O’Hara, (Call It Folk).
Born and raised in the high desert of northern New Mexico, Cahalen Morrison has traveled a windy road to finding a home in today’s acoustic music scene. Starting on guitar at the age of 9, Cahalen’s interests in bluegrass, old-time and Celtic music were peaked by his father, a carpenter by trade, and talented guitar and fiddle player.
After spending several years touring nationally with several bands, Cahalen settled in Seattle, where he joined forces with Seattle guitarist Eli West. Soon after their meeting, Eli joined Cahalen on tours of the Northeast and Southwest. In the summer of 2010, they went into Swingfingers Studio in Fort Collins, Colorado, employing world-renowned mandolin and banjo player, Matt Flinner on producing, mandolin, bouzouki and tenor guitar, Ryan Drickey on fiddle, Eric Thorin on bass, and Aaron Youngberg on engineering and 5 string banjo. The Holy Coming of The Storm, consisting of ten originals from Cahalen, one co-written by Cahalen and Eli, and two traditional tunes, has taken the acoustic music world by storm, garnering praise from musicians and fans from both sides of the Atlantic. “Cahalen and Eli are making music that the world needs.” -Tim O’Brien. “Eli and Cahalen sing about all of it. No note is left unreflected upon. They understand that when it comes to music, we are all on the receiving side, even when we are the ones playing it.” -Dirk Powell. “This is quite extraordinary!” – Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2.
Since the album’s debut, Cahalen and Eli have shared the stage with acts like Darrell Scott, Dirk Powell, Sarah Jarosz, Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers, Sam Amidon, Crooked Still, The Wilders, Della Mae, Martha Scanlan, The Deadly Gentlemen, and have played the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Czech Republic, have played festivals like Glasgow’s Celtic Connections, Washington’s Wintergrass, and Oregon’s Pickathon among countless others.
TAARKA: Concert & Live Webcast
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
David and Enion Pelta-Tiller met in New York City in the spring of 2001. Big changes were waiting in the wings that spring, for the world at large, and for the world of music. Spheres of influence collided, and the unique brand of music called gypsy chamber-grass was born, in the subways and on the streets of the big apple.
Wielding powerful and lightning quick mandolins and fiddles, the pair sallied forth, westward, to carry their brave new sound to the pacific side of the country. There they planted the seeds and grew the dominion of Taarka, there they transplanted the flowering vine, Thamusemeant, and there they wrote scores of beautiful and strange melodies, ensconcing all the fruits of their labors on compact discs for all the world to share. The florid outgrowth of intrepid David and Enion’s oeuvre was fed and watered with the rich nutrients of history:
They’ve performed with members of the Grateful Dead, Phish, and String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, Darol Anger, Joe Craven, ALO, Keller Williams, Mike Marshall, Danny Barnes, Leftover Salmon, Steve Kimock, Garaj Mahal, Colonel Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit, Kaki King, Drew Emmit Band, Rob Wasserman, Tony Furtado, The Slip, The Motet, Dan Bern, The Everyone Orchestra to name a few and have been Mark O’Connor fiddle camp performers and instructors.
They’ve performed festival stages and concert rooms throughout North America over their 11 year journey. In time they yearned for higher climes, and packed up the old caravan to trundle along to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and a little town that rang out day and night with tuneful noise, Lyons. The trip passed more quickly with a song and sing they did, adding voices to the formidable arsenal of furious stringed instruments. Their latest album, Adventures In Vagabondia, to be released this fall, features an impressive cast of characters such as Darol Anger, others from the David Grisman Quintet and many other stringed instrument greats.
Wahid
Tickets: $15 advance, $20 at the door.
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Wahid is a dialogue between Chris Wabich on frame drums and Dimitris Mahlis on oud, bringing genre-defying approaches to composition and improvisation. Both in his compositions and playing, Greek-born Mahlis skillfully draws from Greek, Persian, Carnatic, and Western jazz traditions; in his hands, the oud deftly transforms into a multi-dimensional stringed instrument echoing these traditions. Three-time Grammy nominee Chris Wabich created the world’s first bass frame drum set specifically for Wahid. His unique setup conveys an extraordinary undercurrent of rhythm and harmonic function allowing the duo to create new sonic potential. Together as Wahid, they create a sensitive language conveying the full-spectrum of human emotion and experience.
Dimitris Mahlis is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in the Los Angeles area. Since coming to LA, Dimitris’ skills on oud, guitar and other stringed instruments have led him into a rich variety of performing and recording experiences.Dimitris has had the good fortune to receive training in both Western and Eastern musical stystems. his style is known as both soulful and original. he currently studies with oudist Ustad Necati Celik from Istanbul, Turkey.Some recent recording credits include: lal meri – “lal meri”, “O Samanos” Dionisis Savopoulo-Thanasis Papakonstantinou, “Huun Huur Tu” with Carmen Rizzo, “Vino” with Robi Draco Rosa, and “Jostejoo” with Mamak Khadem. Dimitris also contributed music to Michael Apted’s documentary “The Power of the Game” and is featured on the soundtrack of the film “Clash of the Titans 2″Dimitris has performed and toured throughout the world with artists such as A.R.Rahman, Axiom of Choice, Dionisis Savopoulos, Freddie Hubbard, Thanasis Papakonstantinou,Kevyn Lettau,Russell Ferrante, Mamak Khadem, and others.He composes most of the music for his original projects including 3 albums with Wahid, “Prana” with the trio, Prana and “Aphrodite Moves On” with his electric quartet, Babaghanoush.
Chris Wabich is known around LA as a versatile and original percussive voice. Chris played Frank Zappa’s “Joe’s Garage”, a stage production of the album, produced by Gail Zappa. He was music director for “both,” a production of Beatles music, and “the existents” by Ty Taylor (rock star INXS). He founded the group, “sketchy black dog” based in NYC, who has headlined at the blue note, iridium, zinc bar, birdland, scullers, and toured russia. His recent projects include, discs with leonard cohen, margo rey, bernard woma, and jazz legend mark murphy.Chris has recorded with: Ludacris, Sting, Stanley Jordan, Brian Bromberg, Jimmy Johnson, jimmy haslip, Lalo Shfrin, Sheila E., Mark Murphy, Alex Acuna, Larry Koonse, Bad Haggis, Turkish superstar Omar Faruk, Mamak Khadem, Boogsie Sharpe, and with Prog Rock legends Kevin Ayers (Soft Machine), Mike Hoffman (Tony Williams Lifetime), Richard Sinclair (Caravan)his recording credits also include TV shows “Malcolm in the Middle”, “American Idol” and “Better Homes and Gardens” and films “Wild California”, Sting’s “Dolphins”, and Lalo Shifrin’s “After the Sunset”. Chris is sponsored by TURKISH cymbals, CADESON drums, VIC FIRTH sticks and AQUARIAN drumheads.
Dudu Maia’s “Trio Brasileiro”: Live Concert / Webcast
Sorry, this show is completely sold out! No more tickets will be released. However, we’re webcasting the show live in HD video – click the box to the right to learn more!
Formed in 2011, Trio Brasileiro has already made a name for itself as an ensemble worthy of international attention. Their stunning virtuosity matched with a deep devotion to the language of early jazz from Brazil achieves a compelling sound ranging from subtle beauty to sultry grooves. The trio delivers fresh interpretations of some of Brazil’s most famous composers providing a unique blend of European-influenced melodies and Afro-Brazilian rhythms
Trio Brasileiro includes Douglas Lora, member of the award-winning Brasil Guitar Duo; one of Brazil’s finest mandolin virtuosos, Dudu Maia; and the amazing percussionist Alexandre Lora.
Opening the show are Portland choro trio The Brazillionaires ft. Zak Borden-mandolin, Peter Fung – Guitar and Simon Lucas – percussion.
Douglas Lora, Guitar
Composer and guitarist Douglas Lora moves with versatility between classical and popular music, has established himself as one of the most prominent Brazilian guitarists of his generation. A member of the Brasil Guitar Duo (with Joao Luiz) for more than fifteen years, and seven-string guitarist of the choro and samba band Caraivana, Douglas Lora has a full touring schedule worldwide, and has collaborated with artists including Paquito d’Rivera, Marco Pereira, Jovino Santos Neto, Ney Rosauro, Marina Piccinini, and many others. In 2011 he joined his brother, percussionist Alexandre Lora, and mandolin virtuoso, Dudu Maia, to form an ensemble dedicated to Brazilian traditional music, Trio Brasileiro.
Lora has performed as a soloist with the Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Orquesta Metropolitana of Sao Paolo, and the Orchestra of the Americas. Critics and audiences around the world have praised his recordings with the Brasil Guitar Duo, and distinguished artists and chamber ensembles have recorded his compositions.
Douglas Lora studied composition and classical guitar at Faculdade de Artes Alcantara Machado in Sao Paolo and received a Master’s Degree in Performance from the University of Miami. Lora was a winner of the Concerts Artists Guild Award in 2006 with the Brasil Guitar Duo, and has eight recordings and five original film soundtracks to his credit.
Dudu Maia, Mandolin
A virtuoso of the mandolin Dudu Maia served for five years as the bandolim (Brazilian mandolin) professor of Brazil’s most respected Choro school, the Escola Brasileira de Choro Raphael Rabello in the nation’s capital, Brasília. Considered to be one of Brazil’s top mandolin players, Dudu brings to his work a lifetime of research and study of Brazil’s greatest musical traditions. For the past four years, Dudu has worked as the Brazilian mandolin instructor at David Grisman & Mike Marshall’s Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz, California. During the symposium, which features some of the most important mandolin players in the world, Dudu teaches the particular aspects of Choro harmony and its vocabulary and history. In 2010 Dudu went to Savona, Italy, spreading the word of Brazilian culture at Carlo Aonzo’s Accademia Internazionale di Mandolino Italiano, a European version of the mandolin camp in California. In 2011 and 2012 Dudu led the annual Choro Workshop at Centrum in Port Townsend, WA.
His discography includes “Dudu Maia”(2006) his first solo CD; “Bandolim Brasileiro”(2007) with AQuattro, performing compositions of Luperce Miranda, a legendary Brazilian mandolinist; ” Caraivana” (2009) and “Ser Feliz” with the Brazilian ensemble, Caraivana, which was produced by Daniel Vangarde, and featuring musicians from various regions of Brazil; and his latest album “Grande Circular”, which will be released in 2012, also on DVD.
Alexandre Lora, Pandeiro (Percussion)
Alexandre Lora moves easily among different styles of Brazilian popular music, performing as both drummer and percussionist. He has recently been recognized internationally for his work as a choro and samba pandeiro player as a member of the choro ensemble, Caraivana. Lora also acts as drummer in the instrumental music trio Zera Reza. He has performed with Martin Fondse and Ramon Valle (XLJazz Orchestra- Netherlands), Ney Rosauro, Seu Jorge, Mariana Aydar, Baiao Brazil (Spain), and the Brasil Guitar Duo. Lora completed his Master’s Degree in Musicology and Music Education at the UAB (Autonomous University of Barcelona – 2009), and bachelor’s degree in instrument (drums) at the FAAM (Faculty of Arts Alcantara Machado 2002).
The Blackberry Bushes: Concert and Live Webcast
Tickets: $9 advance, $12 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
The Blackberry Bushes are a Sister Sirens Alt-Folk Stringband from the rain-drenched forests of Olympia, Washington. They take a bluegrass instrumentation, draw from the deep roots of American folk music and add influences from Bluegrass, Appalachian old-time, Indie Rock, jazz, and pop. Virtuosic musicianship, compelling arrangements, quick wit, flying tempos, and heavy heel boot dancing are all elements of a live show that is joyous and vibrant with an intention to move the audience in their hearts and out of their seats. The poetic delivery of hypnotizing vocal harmonies and fresh songwriting sets The Blackberry Bushes Stringband apart. Acoustic Americana lovers are continually surprised and delighted by this new bouquet of players on the festival stage.
“Their blend of traditional Bluegrass and Folk elements with more contemporary sounds has an appeal not seen since Nickel Creek or The Be Good Tanyas.” (Joseph Kyle The Big Takeover)
The Bushes’ debut studio album, “Little Bit of Grace” released in 2010, spent more than 6 weeks on the Roots Radio Report International Bluegrass Chart for Independent Radio, topping out at #19, and was one of the only self released albums to appear on that chart during that time. KVMR Nevada City DJ Che Greenwood had this to say about it: “I’m enchanted! Harmony as sweet as Uncle Earl, and destined for my top 5 albums of the year”.
Jes Raymond first started singing in a church children’s choir in her hometown of White River Junction, Vermont. She played the trumpet in her high school marching band, and yes, she went to band camp. Her parents were avid bluegrass fans, but it was in North Carolina where she was a music major at UNC that she found her own love for the “mountain sound”. She picked up a used guitar, and has followed it wherever it has led. She is the recipient of the Jackstraw Productions Recording Award and the Seattle City Artist Award.
Kendl Winter comes from Central Arkansas. Both of her parents are professional musicians; her mother plays the cello; her father plays the trombone. Her own musical passion arose with the underground punk scene in Arkansas, and she followed that connection to Olympia, WA, which has long been a center for punk and alternative music. She is a recording artist on Olympia’s Indie label: K Records. Kendl began playing the banjo almost the same week that she met Jes. The Blackberry Bushes was born and became a canvas for their experimentations and learning.
Jakob Breitbach first learned to play the fiddle when he was 3 years old with a paperback copy of “The Hobbit” and a wooden spoon. When he was eight years old he was called on stage to play with the grandfather of bluegrass, Bill Monroe. He earned his degree in Jazz Violin from Cornish College of the Arts and continues to study with his mentor Paul Anastasio. He has toured with The Asylum Street Spankers out of Austin, TX, and in an orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma.
Middlemarch
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
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In the Studio with Kaylee Losawyer
Earlier this summer, Oklahoman singer-songwriter Kaylee Losawyer came out to Seattle to work on an EP here at Empty Sea. It was an unusual and exciting project for a number of reasons – the first being the extremely tight timeframe of 4 days to complete a 6-song EP, and the second being that Kaylee is just seventeen years old — and financing the project completely independently.
We put together a short video chronicling the production process – take a look!
Dick Hensold
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Workshop: Dick Hensold also will be presenting a workshop at Dusty Strings at 1.30 PM. Click here for more information.
Dick Hensold is a full-time freelance musician specializing in early music; traditional music of Scotland, Ireland and Northumberland; Nordic folk music, and Cambodian traditional music. He performs on the Northumbrian smallpipes (a quiet bagpipe from Northeast England), Swedish bagpipes (säckpipa), Medieval greatpipes, Scottish Highland pipes, recorder, seljefløyte (Norwegian willow flute), low whistle and traditional Cambodian reed instruments. He has taught Northumbrian smallpipes at workshops in the United States, Canada, and Northumberland.
He played in the band Way Up North from 1993-7 (self-released CD in 1995) and has been principal composer and arranger for the bagpipe-oriented quartet, Piper’s Crow, since 1998 (released CD in 2006), as well making numerous solo and duo appearances. He released his solo CD, Big Music for Northumbrian Smallpipes, in August 2007.
A recorder and early music major at Oberlin Conservatory, he has appeared as recorder soloist with the Twin Cities-based baroque orchestra Lyra Concert since 1986, and also appeared with the Chicago Early Music Consort, Ex Machina, Circle of Sound, and the Minnesota Orchestra. His research interest in early Scottish music resulted in a lecture and concert appearance at the 1997 Lowland and Border Piper’s Society collogue in Peebles, Scotland. The proceedings of this conference, along with Hensold’s two other related papers, were published as “Out of the Flames” in 2004.
Colleen Raney Band: Live Concert Recording
Watch this space — full information will be posted shortly.
