Gallery Show: Ohmme and Ben Lester
Already celebrated as the “Heart of Chicago’s Music Community” (Noisey) by both fans and tastemakers alike, OHMME (aka the duo of Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart) amalgamate the aggressive and the meditative on their bold debut full-length album, Parts.
Still in their 20s, Stewart and Cunningham are both classically trained musicians and are established players within the Chicago music scene. They are especially involved in performing and working for venues within the local experimental music scene. They’re constant collaborators and have recorded and toured with homegrown acts as varied as Tweedy, Whitney, Chance The Rapper and Twin Peaks.
Cunningham and Stewart are multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriters with a penchant for two instruments in particular. “The band started because we knew we could sing well together and we wanted to make some noise with the guitar,” says Cunningham. Stewart elaborates, “Sima and I are both trained classical pianists and we know many of the sonic spaces keyboards have to offer. Since we were interested in experimenting and creating something different from what we had both done in the past, we chose guitar as our outlet for this band. We wanted to create both new and uncomfortable parameters for ourselves to force us into a different creative space.” These guitar-heavy experiments are sometimes earthy and resounding, at other times shimmering and buzzing—swirling around the duo’s expertly crafted vocals while creating a chaotic bed of harmony. Cunningham’s smoky alto complements Stewart’s higher-register croon, all underpinned by the restrained yet highly inventive polyrhythmic percussion of drummer Matt Carroll. Think Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian-era Dirty Projectors.
Doors: 7:30 p.m. // Show: 8:00 p.m.
Opening Music: Ben Lester
$10 ADVANCE TICKETS // $12 AT THE DOOR
The Lakely Restaurant and Bar is onsite for any dinner and drinks you might like to enjoy before the show.
Gallery Show: Allison de Groot + Tatiana Hargreaves with a Special Opening Performance by Shane Leonard
Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves, two women on the forefront of American traditional music, join forces in this powerful new duo. Their reverence for the people and music that has come before them provides a platform on which they build their own musical vocabulary.
With banjo, fiddle, and voice, Allison (Molsky’s Mountain Drifters) and Tatiana (Laurie Lewis) seek out unusual repertoire that catches their ear and inspires them to explore the boundaries of the tune. Their debut album showcases a strong new voice that is both reflective and dynamic.
Allison has toured all over the world with various groups, performing at venues such as Trafalgar Square in London, Newport Folk Festival and other major festivals across the US and Canada. She combines love and passion for old-time music, technical skill and a creative approach to the banjo. Allison has immersed herself in American roots music through festivals such as the Appalachian String Band Festival in West Virginia, making pilgrimages to musical communities in North Carolina and participating in the acoustic music scene in Boston, MA. For more information about Allison, visit www.allisondegroot.com.
Since releasing her first solo album “Started Out To Ramble” in 2009, Tatiana has toured and performed with musicians such as Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, and Michael Daves. From being the second woman to place first at the Clifftop Appalachian Fiddle Contest, to her bluegrass fiddling on Laurie Lewis’ GRAMMY-nominated album The Hazel And Alice Sessions, Hargreaves shows a musical fluency that flows between old time and bluegrass worlds with ease. For more information about Tatiana, visit www.tatianahargreaves.com.
DOORS 7:30 // $10 ADVANCE TICKETS // $12 DAY OF SHOW
Gallery Friday: Gaelynn Lea
When Gaelynn Lea won NPR Music’s 2016 Tiny Desk Contest, her two decades as a hardworking and talented musician finally crystallized in a beautiful moment of national recognition. It was also just the beginning of a grand adventure. With the wind of her award at their backs, Gaelynn and her husband Paul sold their house in Northern Minnesota, quit their jobs, bought a van, and hit the road.
Since then, Gaelynn has played over 250 shows in 42 states and seven countries, adding nearly 100,000 miles to their Ford Econoline’s odometer. The singer-songwriter and violinist has performed everywhere from coffee shops, bars, schools and festivals; she’s graced the stage of renowned venues like Nashville’s Music City Roots, The Kennedy Center, House of Blues and even BBC World News. This June she was featured at arts festivals in Iceland and Switzerland, in July, she appeared at the Winnipeg Folk Fest, and is set to perform at Travelers’ Rest Fest (curated by The Decemberists) in August.
Join her for another much-anticipated, intimate appearance at The Gallery inside The Oxbow Hotel on Friday, September 7th.
DOORS 7:30 // $10 ADVANCE TICKETS // $12 DAY OF SHOW
Gallery Friday: Kind Folk
When the musicians in Kind Folk first played together in a small Brooklyn apartment back in 2014, there was an immediate synergy between them. Months went by before they played together again, but when they reconvened the same connection was still there. Four years later, after a handful of other sessions and even a failed first gig, the group is releasing their first debut album, “Why Not”, on Fresh Sound New Talent in September 2018. The group includes trumpeter/flugelhornist John Raymond, alto saxophonist Alex LoRe, bassist Noam Wiesenberg and drummer Colin Stranahan. Individually, each of the musicians has developed a reputation as a rising star musician in their own right. Having each released numerous solo albums of their own music, they’ve garnered praise from sources such as the New York Times, Downbeat Magazine, JazzTimes and more. It’s without question that they’ve each established themselves as important voices in the global jazz scene. However, collectively, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Kind Folk features primarily original compositions written by each of the musicians, each bringing their unique compositional style to the group to form a unique, quartet sound that is all their own. The group also includes select material by musicians such as Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Haden, Ornette Coleman and others. All in all, there’s no doubt that “Why Not” is just the beginning for this group of individual, like-minded, musicians.
DOORS 7:30 // $10 ADVANCE TICKETS // $12 DAY OF SHOW
