Benny Sidelinger & Stripmall Ballads
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Benny Sidelinger has always had a wanderlust. This was the catalyst for a trip to Buenos Aires that would shape the course of his life. Studying the art of Guitar Building with master Luthier Rodolfo Cuculelli sparked a flame that would take Benny on a journey of a lifetime. While building his custom acoustic guitars in Western Massachusetts, Sidelinger found himself playing locally with a group of musicians that included Phill Saylor Wisor. When Phill and Benny found they both had ambitions to tour, The Shiftless Rounders was born. Together they scoured the Appalachian byways absorbing anything that felt true, from the music of traditionalists in the hill-towns of West Virginia, to the gritty sounds of east Tennessee rock and roll. At a small festival in Oregon, the Shiftless Rounder crossed paths with Po’ Girl, and a few years later Benny found himself crossing the Atlantic with the Western Canadian based band. Working as an arranger and accompanist gave Sidelinger the opportunity to dig deeper into the craft refining the raw material of songs into thoughtful and tasteful music.
After extensive international touring with The Shiftless Rounders and Po’ Girl, Benny Sidelinger has set out on his own. Singing, playing guitar or banjo and playing drums all at the same time may be impressive, but it’s the songs that drive the music. That’s why he’s coined the term “Don’t call it a one man band”. The focus of this act is not on the novelty of multi-instrumentalism, but on raw American roots music. Vivid and gritty songs are delivered with an honesty that only comes from true mastery. There is nothing in this sound that mimics the sounds and textures of traditional Appalachian music. Rather, Sidelinger has dug so deeply into American roots styles that the music oozes out of him effortlessly. This gives Benny the unique appeal of possessing all the elements of tradition while remaining refreshingly relevant. Blending original songs with artistically arranged traditional material, Sidelinger has crafted an original sound that is as much at home in the mountains of West Virginia as it is in the Streets of Greenwich Village.
Washington, DC-based Stripmall Ballads is the recording and performance moniker for Phillips Saylor. Employing his guitar and banjo with creative recording techniques, ambitious conceptual performances and the knack of a gifted story-teller, Stripmall Ballads has staged operas, performed at The Smithsonian Museum of American Art, published “ballad comic books” and has released three albums.
“Hauntingly gorgeous, melding Appalachian roots with intimate, Beat poet-esque lyrical ruminations.” – Seven Days (Burlington, VT)
Matt The Electrician w/ John Elliott
Tickets: $15 advance, $18 at the door.
Sorry, this show is completely sold out! No tickets will be released at the door.
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Matt Sever. He lived in Austin, TX, and he worked as a journeyman electrician. Every morning, when it was still dark outside, he would go to work, and wire houses all day long in the blistering Texas heat. When he would come home, again, it was dark outside. And then, sometimes, with no time to shower or change his clothes, he would go straight to the bars and nightclubs of Austin to play his songs for whomever would listen. And he would apologize for his appearance, and explain to the audience that he was an electrician, and he found a certain nobility in this, even if no one wanted to sit too close to the stage. So they called him Matt The Electrician, and he did not mind this, for he was proud of himself, for there is no shame in a hard days work.
But eventually, he quit his job as an electrician, to spend more time writing and playing songs, and the name stuck with him, because everyone needs an electrician sometimes. And there are some who say, that when the moon is full, and Jupiter is aligned with Mars, you can often hear Matt The Electrician in the distance, wiring a house, and whistling softly to himself.
Born and raised in Minnesota and now living in California, John Elliott has been releasing albums and performing in every type of venue you can imagine since 2006. His Honda Civic currently has 241,722 miles on it and is named Glen. His songs have been prominently heard on “Grey’s Anatomy,” “One Tree Hill,” and “Californication.” He has been featured in PASTE Magazine, on NPR and on Neil Young’s “Living With War” website. His music has a cult-like international following and artists worldwide cover his songs. You can hear his music anywhere and everywhere if you’re in the right place at the right time: on the radio, TV, and Internet; in cars and around campfires. John remains an independent, unsigned and unaffiliated artist and he is proud of that fact. He continues to make a living and build a dedicated following the old fashioned way: one new believer at a time.
Jesca Hoop w/ Jesse Harris
Sorry, this show is completely sold out! No tickets will be released at the door.
Jesca Hoop has lived all over the map, and her rich life experience is reflected in her distinctive voice and natural gift for inventive song craft. Hoop learned to sing at an early age, harmonizing with her musical Mormon family in northern California. She began writing highly idiosyncratic songs at the age of 14 to keep her company on her long walks to school. At 16, Hoop broke away from her strict upbringing and began what she calls her ‘life as a raccoon’, off the grid & close to nature. Rambling through the high mountain deserts of the Southwest and along the coastlines of the Northwest, she worked as a wilderness survival guide and chalked up skills in farming, surveying, and carpentry. Her songwriting continued throughout, shared on porches, in deep river canyons and around campfires.
In 2004 the desire to share these songs on a broader scale set in. She settled in Los Angeles, where she honed her songwriting craft and developed a reputation as a unique and beguiling live performer of real substance. Though she now resides in Manchester, England, Hoop returned to Los Angeles to record her third album, The House That Jack Built. Jesca has quite the growing collection of fans in high places: Tom Waits described her music as being “like a four sided coin. She is an old soul, like a black pearl, a good witch or red moon. Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night”. Peter Gabriel took her to South America to sing with him, and in recent years she has been hand picked to play as support on tour for Eels, Andrew Bird, Punch Brothers and Elbow: Elbow’s Guy Garvey even had her do a stint as guest presenter on his BBC radio show in early 2012, to great reception. The follow up to 2009’s critically acclaimed Hunting My Dress, this new record displays a striking duality: light and dark, head and heart, it juxtaposes the macabre and visceral with a disarmingly candid intimacy. The resulting combination is powerfully evocative, with overarching themes of biology, nature and humanity – Hoop’s stone-turning observations are mired in the equal beauty and violence of a nature that, for her, is clearly red in tooth and claw.
Jesse Harris is an accomplished singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer. Best known for having written and played guitar on Norah Jones’ breakout hit “Don’t Know Why” (for which he won the 2003 Grammy Award for Song Of The Year), he has also had his songs recorded by numerous other artists, including Smokey Robinson, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, Solomon Burke, and Emmylou Harris. As a solo artist, Jesse has released over 10 albums, including his forthcoming release, titled Sub Rosa.
“Music is to Brazil what food is to Italy – something they just do better than a lot of other countries,” says Jesse Harris. “At times I’ve been obsessed with it, particularly the recordings of the 60s and 70s.”
Harris waxes rhapsodic about Brazil because it’s the center of his new album, Sub Rosa. Predominantly recorded and mixed in Rio de Janeiro with a cast of local luminaries, it’s Harris’ 11th record of his own material – and it shines the spotlight (and bright tropical sun) on an artist who people are more used to expect to find hiding in the shadows. What started as an invitation from friends to spend a month in Rio eventually evolved into a stellar album that deftly weaves Brazilian-influenced arrangements into Harris’ understated folk-pop. After years of trips and tours there, never spending more than a week or two at a time, Harris decamped to Rio for January of 2011, delving into the city’s rich music scene and beginning friendships and collaborations with musicians like Dadi, Maria Gadu and Vinicius Cantuaria.
For Harris, Sub Rosa is the fruition of a remarkable career, as well as the start of a new chapter where the spotlight is firmly on him. “I worked harder on this recording than on any other before,” he states. “In the past, I’ve been a bit diffident about my own albums, almost excusing them for some reason, even though deep down I felt strongly about them. Subsequently, I wasn’t 100% driven to get behind them and tour, but now all I feel like doing is my own thing.” One listen to Sub Rosa, and you’ll champion Harris’ decision. Smart, wistful, and confident, it’s immediately charming and subtly complex. With the help of Brazil’s sympathetic sunshine and a little help from his friends, there are no more shadows left to hide in.
Bruce Molsky w/ Jim Miller
Sorry, this show is completely sold out! No tickets will be released at the door.
However, seating is unlimited for our multi-camera HD webcast! Purchase access at the link below before showtime to tune in.
http://www.emptysea.com/television
Bruce Molsky stands today as one of the premier old-time fiddlers in the world, a defining virtuoso of Appalachia’s timeless folk music traditions. That must feel odd for a former engineer from the Bronx, who didn’t begin a music career until he was forty. But folded into those strange facts is the secret to his unique genius.
In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting supergroups, like the Grammy-nominated Fiddlers Four, and Mozaik, with Hungarian Nikola Parov, and Celtic giant Donal Lunny. He was on Nickel Creek’s farewell tour, and performs in a trio with Scottish fiddler Aly Bain and Sweden’s great Ale Moller.
“Playing in these kinds of groups is an important part of what I do,” Molsky says. “Regionalism was one of the hallmarks of traditional music in the old days; now we’re in the Information Age, and I don’t think that’s what folk music does anymore. But the more cultures I discover, the more I realize that folk music performs the same function for everybody; and therefore is the same thing everywhere – just spoken with different accents.”
Molsky was born in the Bronx in 1955, and fell in love with old-time music as a teenager. He moved to Virginia in the ’70s, learning directly from old masters like Tommy Jarrell, and seeing how the music fit into people’s lives.
“It was only the older people, of Tommy’s generation, who still had the music as part of their everyday existence,” Molsky says. “At first, I wanted to live like that; but then I realized I didn’t want to claim the culture as my own – I just loved the music.”
That personal authenticity deeply informs his music. Whether performing an ancient reel from Virginia, a Swedish waltz, or a loping cowboy ballad, Molsky presents himself as exactly who he is. Rob Simons, executive director of the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, says that’s the key to Molsky’s enormous appeal as a live performer: “He’s that unique blend of virtuoso and humble, nice guy that is irresistible to audiences.”
Perhaps that’s how he discovered the real secret to the humble genius of traditional music: that it’s real people’s music; the honest expression of life as we all live it. You don’t master that by imitating others, nor by trying to live in other people’s worlds. You master it by being yourself; and at that profoundly simple and profoundly difficult musical art, Molsky is truly old-time’s master craftsman.
“I’m still a social musician,” he says, “in the sense that I talk to an audience the way I talk to people in my house; and I play for them just like we’re all in the living room together. I want to present myself as who I am; and this music as what it is. The biggest lesson from changing careers at mid-life is that you discover the strength is not in what you do; it’s in who you are.”
Jim Miller has been performing traditional and country music for decades (he and Bruce played in a band together in 1975), but his recording career dates back even further! At 8 years old Jim sang soprano and toured the Canadian Prairies with the Saskatoon Boys Choir. Thirty years later he co-founded the roots-based band Donna the Buffalo. He toured with that band for 15 years, performing across the US at festivals such a Bonnaroo, Rhythm & Roots, and Telluride. In addition to five CDs with DTB, Jim has recorded with Tim O’Brien, Jim Lauderdale, Ginny Hawker, Carol Elizabeth Jones, Dirk Powell, and Tara Nevins. He also writes books about moths and butterflies, and played electric guitar with Louisiana legend Preston Frank as a member of Big Daddy Zydeco.
Ali Marcus CD Release Show w/ special guests Elk & Boar
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Ali Marcus is a Seattle-based songwriter who tours the country singing songs for people. She has had the great pleasure of sharing bills with internationally renowned artists, such as Tom Paxton, Dar Williams, Jolie Holland, Catie Curtis, Danny Barnes, Ruthie Foster, Chatham County Line, and many other wonderful acts. Her music spans a variety of audiences, from straight-up 60′s folk, to contemporary singer-songwriter, and the burgeoning Americana movement that radiates out from the Pacific Northwest like moonlight on a foggy night. Her smart, melodic songs have been featured on NPR, XM, in the New York Times and venues all around America, with a box full of harmonicas that bring a dose of bluesy country to the act.
Turtle Rock Records is proud to announce the release of Ali Marcus’ 7th album, Americana Hotel. This new collection of songs represents a huge step forward in Ali’s writing and recording style. It showcases a belief in the power of our stories – the remarkable way in which individual experiences can actually be quite universal despite the specificity of the tale. The tracks include “The Ballad of Helen and Bernie,” the true story of Ali’s grandparents’ elopement during the Great Depression, “Of Homes and Loved Ones,” a meditation on the reason WHY?, and “California,” an imaginary tale of a journey across America looking for the great unknown. Also in there is “American Soil,” a topical song inspired by the Tea Party but generally addressing the popular sentiment and guilt in American politics, “Alcatraz,” a love song from the eyes of an inmate, “Talkin’ Nashville Tornado Blues,” a mixture of music industry and weather-related antagonism, and “I Haven’t Heard a Song,” about the death of a loved one.
www.alimarcus.com
“Their voices wrap together like velvet and burnished wood. Quality songwriters, Elk and Boar are up-and-comers precisely because they sound like they’ve been doing this for decades.”
- Paul Constant (The Stranger)
Elk and Boar is Kirsten Wenlock and Travis Barker, two individual artists who joined up in 2010 to create music that celebrates their vocal polarity and common loves. Their first full length CD Room To Start released March of 2011, is a soulful collection of emotional songs that hope and lament.
Since combining their talents, the two have kept busy playing locally with many of their favorite NW artists, traveled twice to Austin for SXSW and to the East Coast for 1band 1brand to play the 138 Listening Lounge with Kopecky Family Band. They played Doe Bay Fest 2011 and appeared recently at Folklife Festival. This summer they will began recording a batch of newly concocted songs a few of which they will share for the first time at Empty Sea Studios.
Nelson Wright and Friends: CD Release Show
Tickets: $7 advance, $10 at the door.
Click here for advance tickets.
Nelson Wright came of age in the Northeast, in the shadow of the first great folk scare. Now in the maelstrom of Seattle’s exploding acoustic roots thrash, what goes around is coming around, and on his new album he circles his songwriting back to his roots.
His songs tap into the great traditions of indigenous American music–expressing deep and sophisticated human connections using the simplest words and music. Think of Jimmie Rodgers’ TB Blues, John Hurt’s Louis Collins, Memphis Slim’s Mother Earth, or the Louvin Brothers’ Lorene and you’ll have an idea of what Nelson’s about. His new album Still Burning contains ten original songs that mine this vein, telling stories with a common theme of love–good, bad, new and old. The album is graced with the support of some of the Northwest’s premier roots musicians, including Orville Johnson, Grant Dermody, and Michael Connolly.
Nelson claims to be the only folksinger whose picture is on the Woodstock album and whose inventions are in the Smithsonian. Who knew? Visit Nelson’s website at www.nelsonwright.org.
Bill Evans’ Banjo in America
Tickets: $15 advance, $18 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Bill Evans is an internationally known five-string banjo life force. As a performer, teacher, writer, scholar and composer, he brings a deep knowledge, intense virtuosity and contagious passion to all things banjo, with thousands of music fans and banjo students from all over the world in a career that spans over thirty-five years.
Tracing the banjo from its West African roots to the New World, Evans performs musical examples from the 1700’s to the present day on a variety of vintage instruments, ranging from an African ekonting to a mid-19th century minstrel banjo, a modern bluegrass banjo and even an electric banjo. From an 18th century African dance tune to the music of the Civil War, and from early 20th century ragtime to folk and bluegrass banjo styles to Bill’s own incredible original music, Bill’s performances illuminate as well as entertain, exposing audiences to over 200 years of American music.
Bill is the author of Banjo For Dummies, the most popular banjo book in the world and has been a Banjo Newsletter columnist for over fifteen years. He has performed with acoustic luminaries David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Tony Trischka and Maria Muldaur, among many others. His recordings Native and Fine and Bill Evans Plays Banjo highlight innovative compositions which blend jazz, classical, folk and world music influences. His 2012 CD In Good Company features over 26 musicians, including the Infamous Stringdusters, Tim O’Brien, and Joy Kills Sorrow.
Evans has presented The Banjo In America at Kobe Shoin Women’s University, Kobe, Japan; the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH; Carleton College, Northfield, MN; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; Clarion Music Center, San Francisco, CA; Border Folk Festival, El Paso, TX; Columbia Gorge Mixed Bag Music Festival, Stevenson, WA; the Maryland Banjo Academy, Buckeystown, MD; South Plains College, Levelland, TX; the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Gettysburg, PA; the Mid-Winter Bluegrass Festival, Denver, CO and Wintergrass, Tacoma, WA. The Banjo in America was developed with the support of a grant from the Kentucky Humanities Council.
Bill has a Master’s Degree in Music from the University of California, Berkeley with a specialization in American music history and he has been a scholar/artist in residence at many universities across the United States. He has served as a consultant to the National Endowment for the Arts and is the former Associate Director of the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owenboro, Kentucky.
You can learn more about Bill by visiting www.billevansbanjo.com. Watch video performances from The Banjo in America by linking to Bill’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BillEvansBanjo.
Namoli Brennet
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Tucson-based songwriter Namoli Brennet has been touring the country with her own brand of moody and inspiring folk since releasing her first CD in 2002. Since then she’s played over 900 shows and logged over 250,000 miles on her still-running 87 Volvo station wagon. Touching on often poignant themes, her music and lyrics ultimately paint a vivid and redemptive portrait; she’s a breathtaking and moving performer, and her sweet, road-weary voice is as quick to deliver her wit and humor as it is a turn of phrase. She’s been described as a cross between Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin and Sheryl Crow, and Zocalo magazine called her music, “Gorgeous and introspective.” Namoli is currently touring nationally in support of her latest CD, We Were Born to Rise.
Brennet was given her first guitar at age 8, and after picking it up quickly the ADD songstress started playing drums, piano and saxophone. By the time she graduated from college with a degree in music composition she was waiting tables while writing songs on the side and playing in bar bands. She didn’t start singing until her 20s, because, as she says, “I was surrounded by golden-throated sisters and wasn’t really considered the singer in my family. My voice was always…different.”
A 4-time Outmusic award nominee, Namoli has also won the Tucson Folk Festival Songwriting Award and was a finalist in the ISC songwriting competition. Her release Black Crow garnered critical acclaim and was named one of KXCI FM’s top albums of 2010. Her music has been featured on NPR, PBS and in films including the Emmy-award winning documentary “Out in the Silence”, which details the struggle of a gay teen growing up in rural Pennsylvania. You’ll often find this prodigious musician in the studio dividing her time between engineering, producing and playing most if not all of the instruments on her recordings. She’s also recorded and produced CDs for other artists, most notably Eric Himan’s 2011 release, Supposed Unknown, which is currently being featured on Sirius XM radio.
Grant Dermody & Orville Johnson
Tickets: $20 advance, $24 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Grant Dermody (DER-muh-dee) is a harmonica player, singer, songwriter, and teacher from Seattle, Washington. Described as “an understated harmonica virtuoso and a vocalist of subtlety and warmth” by Don McLeese of No Depression magazine, Grant is a highly versatile musician. A lifelong student of the harmonica and acoustic blues, Grant’s latest release is the masterful Lay Down My Burden. Grant’s musical travels have seen him playing with many of America’s most beloved acoustic musicians. In 2010, he embarked on a successful international tour with guitarist Eric Bibb. Previous explorations saw him performing in a trio with Orville Johnson and John Miller, live and on their 2006 release Deceiving Blues. In addition, Dermody has performed with blues legends Leon Bib, Honeyboy Edwards, Robert Lowery, Big Joe Duskin, John Dee Holeman, and Cephas & Wiggins. Beyond the blues, Grant is passionate about old-time music. As a member of The Improbabillies, whose 1998 self-titled CD made a serious splash in the old-time world, Grant brought a unique blues sensibility and an innovative harmonica style to that genre.
An excellent accompanist, Grant uses his instrument to add just the right shade, feel or energy to a player, piece or project. He has played on several of Seattle based singer/songwriter Jim Page’s recordings, and was a guest artist on Dan Crary’s, Rennaissance of the Steel String Guitar. Dan described Grant’s playing on “Reedy’s Blues,” as “powerful and beautiful,” and referred to him as, “One of the best studio musicians I have ever worked with.” Ask other harmonica players about Grant’s style, and they all point to his big, warm, wide-open tone, his ability to bring his own voice to a wide variety of musical styles, and his subtle, un-hurried approach. Though Grant spends most of his musical time playing acoustic music, he never hesitates to plug in and lay down some Chicago Blues. In performances, recordings, and teaching engagements, Grant’s soulful sound shines through, inspiring listeners and fellow musicians.
Orville Johnson was born and raised in the southern Illinois heartland. He acquired his love of singing as a youth in the fundamentalist Pentecostal church he attended and, when he later began playing guitar and dobro, responded to the roots music that surrounded him by learning to play the blues, bluegrass, rockabilly, and country music that are all part of the mosaic that characterizes his own mongrel music.
He is a singer, instrumentalist, record producer, songwriter, session player, teacher, the top dobro player on the West Coast of America and, above all, an instinctive and sensitive musician. As his entry in the Encyclopedia of Northwest Music (Sasquatch Press 1999) states, he has become a vital figure on the NW music scene in the thirty-some years he’s lived there, appearing on over 400 CDs, movie and video soundtracks, commercials, producing 22 CDs for other artists, hosting a roots music radio show, and appearing in the 1997 film Georgia with Jennifer Jason-Leigh and Mare Winningham, on the Prairie Home Companion radio show and on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show.
Orville is also known as a patient and insightful teacher of music and has taught often at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop as well as the International Guitar Seminar, Pt. Townsend Blues Workshop, Euro-Blues Workshop, B.C. Bluegrass Workshop and others. He has several teaching videos and DVDs and CDs of his own music available.
Kane Mathis
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Kane Mathis began his musical career at age 16 playing blues and jazz clubs in Chicago and performing with legends such as Barrelhouse Chuck and Harmonica Todd for 5 years. He performed everywhere from festivals to roadhouses before going to The Lawrence Conservatory to study Jazz and Classical guitar. Simultaneously Kane began making trips to The Gambia, Africa to live with a family of hereditary musicians, which he has done for the past 14 years. Kane holds a diploma from The Tiramang Traditional music school in The Gambia and has performed for the President of The Gambia, the American Ambassador to The Gambia, and he has appeared on Gambian National Radio and Television. Kane’s first album was on daily rotation on Gambian radio. Kane is also one of the leading interpreters of Ottoman classical music having studied at Istanbul’s I.T.U. conservatory before beginning a 5-year apprenticeship with Oud virtuoso Münir Nurettin Beken.
As a composer Kane is regularly commissioned to create original works for dance, theater, and instrumental ensembles. Kane’s new works are created for live performance and fixed media. His new compositions merge his experience with African and Middle Eastern music with new forms and electronic media. Performing on the 21-string Mandinka Harp and the Turkish Oud, Kane Mathis renders compelling interpretations of traditional music, and years of study with generous masters have given Kane a rare opportunity to share these traditions with other cultures.
Coty Hogue and band: Live Album Recording
Tickets: $16 advance, $20 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Coty Hogue‘s got something different in her. Maybe it’s from growing up in a Montana town several orders of magnitude below “small;” maybe it comes from immersing herself in a folk music tradition that extends back for centuries. Whatever it is, you’d be hard-pressed to put your finger on it.
But when Coty picks up her banjo and lets her voice out, there it is. You’d think she’s a pretty young gal, but her voice gives her away when she sings those fine old Appalachian songs. That voice, pitched low and steady, keeps raising chills. Then she’ll apologize for playing too many sad songs in a row and launch into a fast-picking barnburner. Accompanied by Aaron Guest (12-string guitar) and Kat Bula (fiddle), Coty’s song selection runs the gamut of American roots music- a little blues, a pinch of swing, a spoonful of classic Opry, all with an emphasis on tight vocal harmony.
Coty grew up with horses and big sky in Philipsburg, Montana- population just over 900. She left in the early half of the decade for an education in Bellingham, Washington. That sweet, subdued little city- long known for its thriving roots music community- became home. Over the next few years, Coty played all over town, traded songs with anyone she could find, and learned how to play any stringed instrument she could get her hands on.
In 2009, Coty packed up her bags and headed east to Boone, North Carolina, where she received Masters in Appalachian Studies. Along the way, she recorded an album, Going to the West, with frequent collaborator Aaron Guest; toured the West Coast; performed at the 2010 International Folk Alliance Conference, the Subdued Stringband Jamboree, and Seattle’s historic Folklife Festival; and her music will be featured in the independent film, Neon Sky.
If you get the chance to see Coty Hogue, don’t miss it. It’s a rare sort of performer who will keep you transfixed through several full sets of music. She’ll burnish out-of-the-way gems and set them on fire again with her skilled interpretation. She’ll sneak in tunes of her own composing that you’ll swear you’ve heard before.
She’s got the simple elegance and understated mastery of her craft that distinguishes much more established players, and it is this- a young voice flavored with the tannins of an old soul- that quietly sets her apart.
Session Americana with Laura Cortese and Miracle Parade
Tickets: $15 advance, $18 at the door.Sorry, this show is completely sold out! No tickets will be released at the door.
However, we are webcasting this show in HD through Empty Sea Television. Click here to watch!
Session Americana sit tightly around a small round cafe table, ambient mics tuned to catch the complete sound of the voices and instruments. Players swap songs and instruments; a suitcase drum kit, an old electric bass, a field organ and a collection of acoustic instruments. The unique format feels fantastically theatrical and although the musicians face each other, the audience feels drawn into the circle by the warmth, joy and camaraderie that emanate outwards by the all-star cast of characters seated around the table. What keeps fans coming back show after show is the same thing that any audience member longs for; great songs performed by a great band.
Session Americana is a Boston-based band consistently referred to in articles by variants of “a folk-rock supergroup,” a “who’s who” or “all-star” band featuring members Sean Staples (mandolin, guitar, vocals, mandocello, fiddle), Billy Beard (drums/vocals), Jon Bistline (bass/vocals), Ry Cavanaugh (guitar, mandocello, vocals), Jim Fitting (harmonica/vocals) and Dinty Child (mandocello, fiddle, banjo, guitar, accordion, keyboards, vocals). After nearly ten years, Session Americana still feels stumbled-upon: every show seems a welcome surprise, not least to them. Find them and you happen upon a long-running song swap among old friends, veteran musicians facing each other over a round bar table, exchanging instruments as quickly as quips.
The core members of the band have brought enviable careers worth of experience to the “table”, featuring (current and former) members of Treat Her Right, Patty Griffin, Lori McKenna, The The, Dennis Brennan, Kris Delmhorst to name just a few. The group has grown from a rag tag jam at a local pub to a regional institution, playing gigs from coffee houses to urban nightclubs, regional, national, and international festival tents and theaters.
Roy Douglas: Live Album Recording
Tickets: $11 advance, $14 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Roy Douglas – from a large musical family, growing up in Illinois – left the endless horizons of the Midwest to explore what lie beyond. Carried by curiosity, so began a life of poetry and music, of perpetual discovery and learning.
Roy learned that music is a universal language, and like the endless horizon from whence he came, his appreciation and love for it is unbounded. His compositions are drawn from a diverse spectrum of music, which includes traditional folk, avant-garde, the mainstream radio of his youth, bluegrass, Celtic, classical, hints of jazz and more. He finds inspiration in the ever-changing ever-constant melody rhythm timbre and lyric poetry of life and living. Most of his songs he receives as gifts from the stories’ demeanor circumstance and day-to-day experiences of people he meets, observes, hears, or reads about. Other songs are simple commentaries about the unfairness society inflicts on folks that might be better served with compassion and a helping hand. His compositions are accessible and tuneful, shaped by tempo and tonality, balanced with dynamics and inflection, creating a body of work that reflects the unity, continuity and diversity of human experience.
Roy enjoys being immersed in throngs of people, uninhibited conversation, the embrace of the open outdoors, the quiet absorption of empty cathedrals, and spinning around in circles (arms flailing). Besides performing, rehearsing, and composing, Roy likes to read, write, walk, think, listen – and smile.
For the majority of the evening, Roy will be playing his own material. However, showcasing one of his rarely glimpsed musical facets and accompanied by the talented Chris deLeon on piano, the performance will begin with a short recital featuring favorite Italian arias, folk songs arranged by Aaron Copland, works by Stephen Foster, and more. The evening’s presentation promises to be especially unique, entertaining, and a delightful treat.
Don’t miss this animated, energetic, and engaging performer for his last appearance in the United States. Roy will soon be traveling to Europe, continuing his work as mentioned above, and then some. And then some more.
Blvd Park
Tickets: $8 advance, $12 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Blvd Park is a visionary group of musicians, bonded together out of chance, challenges and changes. Each member contributes his or her unique blend of musicianship & stylistic behavior forming a sound the group collectively calls, “Americarnie Browngrass”. Based in Seattle as of fall 2010, Blvd Park is quickly earning its way into the heart of the Seattle music scene, busking regularly at the Pike Place and Ballard Farmer’s Markets, making appearances on the Marty Riemer podcast, on Seattle Channel’s “ArtZone with Nancy Guppy”, “Blues To Do TV”, performing live on 91.3 KBCS, and playing shows at historic Seattle venues such as the Tractor Tavern, Chop Suey, Columbia City Theater and the Triple Door.
Blvd Park’s namesake comes from time spent living in the infamous midtown Sacramento 18th century Victorian home, The Bell Tower Mansion, in the neighborhood of Boulevard Park spring of 2009. Boasting an all singer, all songwriter lineup including the instrumentation of upright bass, mandolin, guitar, trumpet, accordion, banjo, tambourine and tight 3 to 5 part harmonies, with both male and female contribution, Blvd Park’s high energy live experience takes the audience on a vaudevillian gypsy caravan ride.
Brian Ballentine – vocals, acoustic guitar
Timothy Conroy – vocals, trumpet, accordion
Tekla Waterfield – vocals, tambourine, guitar
Jarrett Mason – vocals, upright bass
Banton Foster – vocals, banjo, tuba
Dune Butler – vocals, mandolin, upright bass
Americarnie: A natural blend of Americana music mixed with vaudeville circus western movies.
Browngrass music: Originated in Northern California; a style of music rooted in but not bounded to traditional bluegrass, folk and country.
Julia Massey & The Five Finger Discount and Jean Mann
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Imported from the Mid-Atlantic by way of the rocky mountain state, Julia Massey brings to the city of Seattle an outer-space sized sound that she and her band have branded COSMIC-FOLK-ROCK. The music they’re producing is fun, full of energy, and heart-opening; and that’s just scratching the surface.
Writing, recording, and performing alongside Massey for the last three years are bassist Geoff B. Gibbs and drummer Dominic Cortese. That’s been enough time to hone in on a particular feel, but their critically acclaimed release of 2011, Is There Room For Me? is not what you would expect.
This album is, by far, Massey’s heaviest and most experimental to date, almost completely transcending her self-proclaimed genre. Characteristic of Massey’s previous recordings, Is There Room For Me? gives the first impression that it is one lollipop short of children’s music, but the listener quickly realizes this music is not for children, but rather brings out the child in you, which is the essence of Massey’s genius. Is There Room For Me? is innocent, playful, and sometimes sensual; yet, its most redeeming quality is its subtlety. Whether it is Massey’s unique vocals, timeless poetry, or the edgy accompaniment from Gibbs and Cortese to Massey’s progressions and melodies, this record unveils a new season at every listen.
As the record unfolds, Massey cheerily explores subjects such as the similarities between the top of a mountain and the bottom of an ocean, alien visits, and a skate park she used to observe outside of her living room window. She also touches on more introspective themes such as the last wishes of a dying parent in “Aghadoe” and our place in the universe on the title track. Massey also pays homage to one of her heroes, Emily Dickinson, on a track titled “#712,” after a poem of the same name. Dickinson’s influence can be seen all over Massey’s lyrics throughout the album.
In short, Massey and her band turn what is seemingly a collection of pop songs into a collage of compositions that display a thick stack of thin layers to be effortlessly peeled back by listeners. Unlike Radiohead or other Prog bands whose music takes years to uncover fully, all of Massey’s layers float into your psyche like a feather taking your heart and mind on a journey that ends in sunshine. Then, like all great bands, you want more.
Noted alt-folk indie-pop singer songwriter, Seattle-based Jean Mann has a lot to write and sing about. Having toured extensively since releasing her first album, blossom (2000), this innovative, self-taught performer shares her soulful, lovely and gritty-honest tales woven through the voice of an angel. Her vocal prowess, combined with eclectic instrument playing (de-tuned acoustic 6-string and tenor guitars, harmonica and ukulele), results in the homey, intimate feeling of sitting around a kitchen table with close friends.
Jean has released four albums since she began pouring out her world in song, beginning September 1999, the very day her mother passed away. Along the road of that life-changing event, came more life, love, a stolen vintage Gibson guitar and enough broken hearts to fill a country western album. A cache of beautifully arranged songs and an empowered voice emerged through it all. Jean Mann is a truly soul-quenching force in today’s independent music scene.
