Danny Schmidt: Concert & Live Webcast
Sorry, this show is completely sold out. No tickets will be released at the door.
However, you can still tune in live to watch our webcast — click here to learn more.
Named to the Chicago Tribune’s 50 Most Significant Songwriters in the Last 50 Years, Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter Danny Schmidt has been rapidly ascending from underground 
cult hero to being widely recognized as an artist of generational significance. With lyrical depth drawing comparisons to Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt, and Dave Carter, Danny is considered a preeminent writer, an artist whose earthy poetry manages to somehow conjure magic from the mundane, leading Sing Out Magazine to tag him “Perhaps the best new songwriter we’ve heard in the last 15 years.”
Performing solo almost exclusively, armed with just his voice, his words, and his acoustic guitar, Danny’s an authentic timeless troubadour, one man sharing his truth in the form of songs, unadorned and intimate. The understated effect can be startlingly powerful. As songwriter Jeffrey Foucault put it: “Everything about the man is gentle, except for his capacity for insight, which is crushing.”
After garnering unanimous critical praise for his self-released Parables & Primes album in 2005, Danny’s follow up release, Little Grey Sheep in 2007 began an unbroken streak of albums that have charted at #1 on the Folk Radio Charts, internationally. After also winning the prestigeous Kerrville New Folk award in 2007, Danny won the notice of venerable Americana roots label, Red House Records, who began releasing his albums in 2009, starting with the critically acclaimed album, Instead The Forest Rose To Sing, thus exposing a much broader audience to Danny’s music, alongside such notable artists as Greg Brown, Eliza Gilkyson, Jorma Kaukonen, and John Gorka.
Antje Duvekot
Tickets: $20 advance, $24 at the door
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Antje Duvekot is one of the brightest singer-songwriters to rise out of Boston’s competitive acoustic music scene. She released her third studio album, New Siberia on Sept 18th, 2012.
Singer songwriter Ellis Paul says “Antje is the rare artist that can write about the social and the personal in the same breath. She is as understated as she is wise and her songs go down mentally as well as soulfully. Her voice has a sound of innocence and naivety which makes razor sharp insights into the human condition. As far as I can tell, Antje is the whole package… I’ve had this reaction once in the past 10 years, and that was the first time I heard Patty Griffin.”
Antje Duvekot solidified her reputation as one of Boston’s top singer songwriters with Big Dream Boulevard her debut studio release and the Near Demise of the Highwire Dancer her follow-up CD. The debut CD was produced by Seamus Egan, founder of the Irish super group, SOLAS. The project was released on acclaimed songwriter Ellis Paul’s label, Black Wolf Records and quickly attracted international attention for Antje. It was voted “#1 Folk Release of 2006″ by the Boston Globe and was named to the “Top10 Releases of the Year” by National Public Radio’s, Folk Alley. Her follow up album the Near Demise of the Highwire Dancer was produced by Richard Shindell and along side with Richard features other “folk royalty” such as John Gorka, Lucy Kaplancky and Mark Erelli. It was voted #1 album of the year 2009 by WUMB 91.9 fm in Boston.
Antje has won some of the top songwriting awards including the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the prestigious, Kerrville (TX) “Best New Folk Award” and in one of the nation’s top music markets, she won the Boston Music Award for “Outstanding Folk Act”, three of the top prizes in the singer songwriter world.
Antje has extensive touring experience, criss-crossing the US and Europe several times. She is a compelling live performer and has been invited to play some of the top festivals including The Newport Folk Festival as well as the Mountain Stage, Philadelphia and Kerrville Festivals. Internationally, she’s headlined the The Celtic Connections Festival in Scotland and the Tonder Festival in Denmark.
In December of 2007, The Bank of America featured Antje’s song “Merry Go Round” in a national TV advertising campaign seen by millions, including a Super Bowl audience. Antje’s fast growing fan base, the viral spreading of her music and a track record of sold-out shows are a testament to her growing popularity. Neil Dorfsman, the producer of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Sting says, “When I first heard Antje I knew I was witnessing something very special. She creates an entire, detailed world in verse, and takes you there with beautiful and understated melody. Her songs are stunning paintings of color and shade and always generate the heat and light that real art should. In an unpoetic and ‘in your face’ world, she is lyrical and subtle”
“This debut album is the most refreshing, lyrically impacting record I’ve heard in ages. A stunning debut.” – Maverick Magazine (UK)
“What a blessing to have worked with someone as talented as Antje. With a voice like hers, and songs as good as these, a producer (especially a first-time producer!) just tries to get out of the way, to do no harm, and to let the artist speak for herself.” - Richard Shindell
“Duvekot has gotten hotter, faster than any local songwriter in recent memory. Her songs feel at once fresh faced and firmly rooted, driven by the whispery sensuality of her voice. She believes in the redemptive power of the shared secret; and is utterly unafraid to mine the darkest corners of her life for songs that turn fear into resilience and isolation into community”. - The Boston Globe
Antje Duvekot
Tickets: $20 advance, $24 at the door
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Antje Duvekot is one of the brightest singer-songwriters to rise out of Boston’s competitive acoustic music scene. She released her third studio album, New Siberia on Sept 18th, 2012.
Singer songwriter Ellis Paul says “Antje is the rare artist that can write about the social and the personal in the same breath. She is as understated as she is wise and her songs go down mentally as well as soulfully. Her voice has a sound of innocence and naivety which makes razor sharp insights into the human condition. As far as I can tell, Antje is the whole package… I’ve had this reaction once in the past 10 years, and that was the first time I heard Patty Griffin.”
Antje Duvekot solidified her reputation as one of Boston’s top singer songwriters with Big Dream Boulevard her debut studio release and the Near Demise of the Highwire Dancer her follow-up CD. The debut CD was produced by Seamus Egan, founder of the Irish super group, SOLAS. The project was released on acclaimed songwriter Ellis Paul’s label, Black Wolf Records and quickly attracted international attention for Antje. It was voted “#1 Folk Release of 2006″ by the Boston Globe and was named to the “Top10 Releases of the Year” by National Public Radio’s, Folk Alley. Her follow up album the Near Demise of the Highwire Dancer was produced by Richard Shindell and along side with Richard features other “folk royalty” such as John Gorka, Lucy Kaplancky and Mark Erelli. It was voted #1 album of the year 2009 by WUMB 91.9 fm in Boston.
Antje has won some of the top songwriting awards including the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the prestigious, Kerrville (TX) “Best New Folk Award” and in one of the nation’s top music markets, she won the Boston Music Award for “Outstanding Folk Act”, three of the top prizes in the singer songwriter world.
Antje has extensive touring experience, criss-crossing the US and Europe several times. She is a compelling live performer and has been invited to play some of the top festivals including The Newport Folk Festival as well as the Mountain Stage, Philadelphia and Kerrville Festivals. Internationally, she’s headlined the The Celtic Connections Festival in Scotland and the Tonder Festival in Denmark.
In December of 2007, The Bank of America featured Antje’s song “Merry Go Round” in a national TV advertising campaign seen by millions, including a Super Bowl audience. Antje’s fast growing fan base, the viral spreading of her music and a track record of sold-out shows are a testament to her growing popularity. Neil Dorfsman, the producer of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Sting says, “When I first heard Antje I knew I was witnessing something very special. She creates an entire, detailed world in verse, and takes you there with beautiful and understated melody. Her songs are stunning paintings of color and shade and always generate the heat and light that real art should. In an unpoetic and ‘in your face’ world, she is lyrical and subtle”
“This debut album is the most refreshing, lyrically impacting record I’ve heard in ages. A stunning debut.” – Maverick Magazine (UK)
“What a blessing to have worked with someone as talented as Antje. With a voice like hers, and songs as good as these, a producer (especially a first-time producer!) just tries to get out of the way, to do no harm, and to let the artist speak for herself.” - Richard Shindell
“Duvekot has gotten hotter, faster than any local songwriter in recent memory. Her songs feel at once fresh faced and firmly rooted, driven by the whispery sensuality of her voice. She believes in the redemptive power of the shared secret; and is utterly unafraid to mine the darkest corners of her life for songs that turn fear into resilience and isolation into community”. - The Boston Globe
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!
Impossible Bird
Tickets: $17 advance, $20 at the door
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Formed by Nick Drummond and Tyler Carson, Impossible Bird is a duo that will shake your bones. The genre smashing duo from Seattle has been turning heads up and down the West Coast of North America with their blend of infectious songs and playful live shows. And the music industry is starting to notice. In April 2012 they released their debut self-titled EP which was instantly hailed as a musical tour-de-force by critics from across the musical spectrum, many noting that it signified the start of something truly exceptional. “Impossible Bird is the next big musical duo” said the Seattle Weekly. The EP won Seattle Met’s Album of the Month, and has been praised and championed by local DJs Shawn Stewart and Marco Collins. And they’ve only been a band for a year. Check out Impossible Bird!
“Brilliant Dionysian music.” — GARRISON KEILLOR
“Acoustic duos simply aren’t supposed to have this big a sound. It’s only a matter of time before Impossible Bird has an equally large audience… Belongs in heavy rotation.” — SEATTLE MET
“In over thirty eight years in the recording industry, I can count on one hand the number of bands that have it all. Impossible Bird is at the top of the list.” — ROBERT LANG
Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys
Sorry, this show is completely sold out. No tickets will be released at the door.
Young “rootsgrass” band Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys has jumped into the forefront of today’s progressive roots music movement. Distinct vocals, tight harmonies, instrumental expertise, and creative arrangements are all essential characteristics of their unique sound. Instrumentally, they can turn on a dime, their arrangements showing a well-developed taste in music – based on bluegrass traditions but frequently dipping into swing jazz and popular song craft – and their sound is deftly guided by the clarion vocals of lead singer Lindsay Lou.
Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys’ new album, Release Your Shrouds, marks a remarkable step forward and that’s thanks in part to the relationship between Lindsay Lou and Joshua Rilko, which blossomed in their college days and, with their recent marriage, now forms the core of the band. Joshua plays mandolin and joins his voice with Lindsay in beautiful harmony on the new album which is a window to a bluegrass band spreading its wings and incorporating new influences into their sound. On “Wonderful You Are,” bass player Spencer Cain shines in a duet with Lindsay’s Billie-Holiday-like vocals, and dobro player Mark Lavengood brings the fire on “Lemon Squeezy.” Keith Billick’s banjo playing not only offers the driving bluegrass sound, but also brings a level of sophistication to the less traditional numbers, like instrumental track “Barbarossa.” Lindsay Lou’s songs are fully crafted stories, often based on real-life experiences, with lovely hooks and choruses. The breadth of the songs’ themes pushes each band member to work outside the bluegrass box and the results are delightful. Like any family, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys are more than the sum of their parts. They’re an all-American family, front-porch pickin’ party, with each song shining with the polish of handmade homemade acoustic roots music.
“Lindsay Lou and The Flatbellys bring new life to bluegrass. Soulful vocals along with exceptional musical chops will keep you wanting more.” – Dave Bruzza, member of Greensky Bluegrass, award-winning Jamgrass band
David Grier
Tickets: $20 advance, $25 at the door
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1961, a family move to Nashville at age 3 fully immersed David Grier into the bluegrass music world, and at age 6, he began playing the guitar. Today, he is regarded as one of the premier acoustic guitarists in the world, along with his early influences, Doc Watson, Tony Rice, and family friend Clarence White.
Recognized by Acoustic Guitar Magazine in 2000 as one of the Artists of the Decade, and named Guitar Player of the Year three times by the International Bluegrass Music Association, Grier has played on four Grammy Award-winning albums (True Life Blues: A Tribute to Bill Monroe; The Great Dobro Sessions; Alison Brown’s Fairweather; and Amazing Grace 2: A Country Salute to Gospel).
Having released four albums on Rounder, beginning in 1988 with Freewheeling, Grier launched his own label, Dreadnought Recordings, with the 1998 debut release, Hootenanny, with Dirk Powell and Tim O’Brien (“endlessly inventive and tasteful” – All Music Guide). His most recent release, Evocative (Dreadnought 2009), featuring 10 original tunes and a rich complement of collaborators (Victor Wooten, Paul Franklin, Stuart Duncan and more), has been hailed for its “deep musical introspection” as well as its “unmatchable mastery of the guitar” (Martin Mull). Other Dreadnought releases include the highly-acclaimed Live at the Linda (2007) and I’ve Got the House to Myself (2002) (“unfettered explosive invention” – Tim O’Brien).
“His unmatchable mastery of the guitar is ever present, but it’s the emotional exploration of the music as a whole that leaves a lasting impression. There is evidence everywhere of deep musical introspection: real soul-searching, and, I would have to say, bravery.” ~ Martin Mull
“David Grier is a willful, accurate instrumentalist whose every note seems to run through a bright, intelligent sieve. He maintains an unqualified standard of excellence in guitar playing, always with a knack for unorthodox surprise.” ~ Claire Lynch
“Grier sculpts fascinating forms the way air and moisture combine to create billowing cumuli.” ~ Jazz Review
“I’ve had the good fortune to see David Grier live several times, and while I certainly delight in watching him play, I especially like to watch folks who have never seen him live before. There’s this denial/acceptance cycle as they try to rationalize what they “know” to be possible with the guitar versus what their eyes and ears are experiencing. . . . And he does it in this self-effacing way that almost undercuts his musical inventiveness [and] preternatural skill.” ~ Chris Thiessen, Flatpick Guitar Magazine
The Kora Band: Concert & Live Webcast
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Click here to purchase advance tickets.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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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.
