Brooklyn-based eight-piece San Fermin has released their dreamy new single “My Love is a Loneliness.” The third song to be pulled from their upcoming fifth studio album Arms (out February 16th via their burgeoning indie label Better Company Records), “My Love is a Loneliness” takes a bird’s eye view of heartbreak, finding solace in the cyclical nature of loss and redemption.
San Fermin is Ellis Ludwig-Leone (bandleader, songwriter), Allen Tate (vocalist, producer), Claire Wellin (vocalist), Akira Ishiguro (guitar), John Brandon (trumpet), Stephen Chen (saxophone), Tyler McDiarmid (guitar), and Griffin Brown (drums).
Arms marks a new direction for San Fermin, as they strip away much of the sonic ornamentation they’ve come to be known for in favor of a more raw, direct sound reflective of Ellis Ludwig-Leone’s candid, plainspoken lyrics. The album was written during one of the most difficult moments of Ludwig-Leone’s life, following the dissolution of two relationships. Over the course of the album’s nine stunning tracks, his lyrics move from anger and disappointment to clarity and acceptance in a steady progression reflective of the roller coaster journey that consumed him for the better part of a year.
Ten years ago, San Fermin released their critically heralded eponymous album and rocketed to a national audience with NPR inviting them to play a Tiny Desk Concert and calling the album “one of the year’s most surprising, ambitious, evocative and moving records,” while Pitchfork praising their “ambitious chamber pop debut.” Over the next decade the band released four albums and became known for their “knack for simultaneously expressing beauty and crisis” (The New Yorker). Arms is the greatest testament to the community the band has built over the last decade, and illustrates their ability to transform crisis into a communal catharsis.
“I liked the idea of someone’s particular brand of love being misanthropic, kind of a misfit. Always taking rather than giving, always leaving rather than showing up. And then the vicious cycle that accompanies that— if your love is selfish, your only companion ends up being loneliness, which becomes a kind of armor protecting you from ever getting too close. If you never let down the armor, you’re safe, but it ultimately leaves you cold.”
Ellis Ludwig Leone, bandleader and songwriter
“My Love is a Loneliness” is a heartfelt indie song with incredibly touching lyricism. The song opens with a gut-punching line already: “My love is a loneliness // it sits just next to greed.” The personification of love and comparing that to the loss one feels after losing a relationship with someone is so beautiful.
On top of the lyricism, this single features a fantastic indie guitar riff throughout the song, as well as an angelic vocal harmony near the midmark to the end.
The band will celebrate the release of Arms with a 2024 national headline tour that kicks off on March 21st at Treefort Music Fest in Boise, ID, followed by stops in New York, Chicago, Nashville, and Los Angeles among others. Find a full list of tour dates below or visit their website.
Tour Dates:
3/15: Utrecht, NDL – Birds of Paradise Festival
3/21-22: Boise, ID – Treefort Music Fest
3/23: Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room
3/24: Denver, CO – Globe Hall
3/26: St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
3/27: Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
3/28: Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
3/30: Nashville, TN – The Blue Room
3/31: Columbus, OH – The Basement
4/2: Washington, DC – Atlantis
4/3: Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
4/4: Boston, MA – The Sinclair
4/5: New York, NY – Racket
4/30: San Diego, CA – Casbah
5/1: Los Angeles, CA – Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever
R&B powerhouse Charlie Wilson will be headlining UBS Arena this upcoming mother’s day as part of Jammins Events’ R&B Love Fest 2024. Featuring KEM and legendary r&b group, Dru Hill, this soul-watering experience is set for Sunday, May 12. Presented by concert promotion/production mainstays, Jammins Events, R&B Love Fest 2024 will feature performances from legendary and contemporary artists.
Charlie Wilson at the main stage during Stavernfestivalen in Stavern on 08. July 2016.
Lineup:
Charlie Wilson (vocal)
To be able to do this with Charlie Wilson, KEM and Dru Hill – the entire line-up of talented artists, we are truly excited.
– Jammins Management Team
After all, the one nicknamed “Uncle Charlie” is a musical force that has maintained relevancy in a career spanning six decades. Overall, the music icon has garnered 13 Grammy nominations, while topping the R&B charts 13 times with number one singles. Not to mention decades of sold-out concerts, a New York Times and Washington Post best-selling memoir, I Am Charlie Wilson, a BET Lifetime Achievement Award and a Soul Train Icon Award. As such, he has both a star on the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame and will be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024.
https://youtu.be/25VQZA7yL-c?si=knXVaRnlo2n0LkC-
Additionally, R&B veterans Dru Hill and KEM will be making guest appearance at R&B Love Fest. Of course, the former has cemented their place in R&B folklore through a series of No. 1 hits, while KEM has been a steadfast presence in the r&b landscape. Meanwhile, Dru Hill has received multiple awards and performed internationally and has topped the Billboard Music charts multiple times.
Tickets for R&B Love Fest go on sale to the general public on Friday, December 15 at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.
The 20th annual Hank-O-Rama festival, celebrating the musical life of Hank Williams, will be held at Bowery Electric on New Year’s Day.
Hank Williams will be celebrated at the Hank-O-Rama show 71 years after his death. Williams is regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century. He recorded 55 singles that reached the top ten of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 12 that reached No. 1.
Hank Williams was just 29 when he was found dead in the back seat of his Cadillac on the morning of Jan. 1, 1953, in Oak Hill, WV, en route to a New Year’s Day gig in Canton, Ohio. The Hank-O-Rama celebration is a symbolic rain date for the last show Williams would ever miss. September 17, 2023, was the 100 anniversary of his birth.
The show features more than 30 of Williams’s hits and rarities, including “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and many others, performed live by recording artists and Hank-O-Rama founders The Lonesome Prairie Dogs.
Special guest vocalists include Tammy Faye Starlite, Tom Clark, Elena Skye & Boo Reiners of the Demolition String Band, Jack Grace, Monica Lil’ Mo Passim, Cliff Westfall, Sean Kershaw, Mony Falcone, and other stars of the NYC & Brooklyn country firmament.
Hank-O-Rama will also include The Lonesome Horns featuring trumpeters Jordan McLean & Billy Aukstik, with original horn arrangements for Williams’s “Ramblin’ Man,” “Alone and Foresaken,” and others.
Tickets for Hank-O at the Bowery Electric are $15 in advance, $20.00 at the door. Doors open at 6:30, music at 7:00.
The 65th Street Session project took place at the newly renovated David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City (on 65th Street), the home of The New York Philharmonic, on November 28.
Launched back in October, the first four shows are curated by Mandolin virtuoso, composer, singer, and winner of Grammy Awards Chris Thile. The series is a true collaboration with the space that lends itself to epic acoustics, striking new decor, flawless lighting, and a true 360 view for the audience assembled all around the stage.
For the show, Thile assembled a pretty eclectic group of musicians that you might never get to see share the stage. Grammy-nominated guitarist Cory Wong (Vulfpeck, The Fearless Flyers), Louis Cato (bandleader of The Late Show Band), Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello.
The show started with Thile, solo with his mandolin, his true comfort zone, as one by one the other artists came out and weaved in and out of each other’s songs. Mid-set allowed for Cory Wong to bring out his full touring band for four songs, and the show ended with a collaboration of all the artists sharing the stage. A truly magical night for any music lover, with something for everyone.
The 65th Street Session – David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center – November 28, 2023
Setlist: Singularity, Dionysus, Keep On Pushing, Back & Forth, Bubbles, Airplane, Separado, Acceptance, Real Job, Reflections, Pop Life, Modern Time, Bluebird, 1/4 Chicken Dark, Virgo, Against Mastery, Little Lights
Beloved rock band Taking Back Sunday has announced dates for their spring/summer 2024 North American headline tour celebrating their latest record 152. The two-part run is set to take place next year with stops in Wantagh and New York City.
Taking Back Sunday is made up of John Nolan (lead guitar, piano, vocals), Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), Shaun Cooper (bass), and Mark O’Connell (drums). The group has been making music together as a band for more than 20 years, sold millions of albums, and along the way, amassed a devoted, international fan base. Even then, the members of Taking Back Sunday still hope to make a powerful impact and sense of connection between fans and the world: “When we’re writing songs, the one thing we ask ourselves is, ‘Will it make people feel something?’ You try to make people feel emotion. That’s the one goal we went in with, and I think we did it,” says drummer Mark O’Connell.
This unrelenting pursuit of greatness lies at the heart of 152, Taking Back Sunday’s long-awaited, thrilling eighth studio album (and Fantasy Records debut). Written and refined over the course of several years, the group’s first full-length offering since 2016’s Tidal Wave is a passionate, melody-infused confessional from a band forever known for its honesty and vulnerability.
“…We’ve been on a whirlwind on finishing the record, getting everything ready to put it out, making all the plans. Now comes our other favorite part, getting to visit so many cities in North America and playing live. The set will be a good mixture of albums and the reception for 152 has been so positive that we can’t wait to get out there and play some of those songs for the first time in these cities and make magic all summer. Citizen also put out a great new record so we’re going to have a good time together. Can’t wait.”
Taking Back Sunday
When Taking Back Sunday first sat down together in late 2019 to begin working in earnest on what became 152, the band laid out some ground rules from the outset. They weren’t out to simply add more songs to their already-storied catalog, but rather make a piece of art they could be proud of.
To that end, so many of the songs that comprise 152 were workshopped like never before. As the band members explain, over the years they’ve learned to love letting a piece of music develop from its initial idea all the way to its sometimes drastically-different finished form. It’s a journey they’ve undoubtedly been on many times before when making previous albums, but as they found out when making 152, it’s one that continues to thrill them and keep things fresh.
Lyricists Lazzara and Nolan are also experimenting like never before. From the heartfelt recollections of the album’s epic opener “Amphetamine Smiles,” to the expressive yearning in lead single “The One”, listeners are invited into the songwriters’ collective heart.
Taking Back Sunday is expanding and developing as musicians, and we get to see it in real time with every album that they produce. There’s a hint of their old stuff in “S’old,” which is off put by their new versatility as shown in “Amphetamine Smiles” and “I Am The Only One Who Knows You.” It’ll be a ride to see what else they can do down the line.
“Normally it’s like, this is working right now, let’s just go with it and see what happens…But the process of making this record has helped get me to a point where I’m looking ahead. I’m so excited about the possibilities. You’ve got to keep moving forward. We need to continue building onto this wonderful world.”
Adam Lazzara
Taking Back Sunday 2023-2024 Tour Dates
12.5 Woolloongabba, AUS The Princess Theatre
12.6 Marrickville, AUS Factory Theatre
12.13 Wantagh, NY Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall *SOLD OUT
12.14 Wantagh, NY Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall *SOLD OUT
5.27 Ft. Worth, TX Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall
5.29 Phoenix, AZ The Van Buren
6.4 Portland, OR The Crystal Ballroom
6.5 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
6.6 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
6.8 Edmonton, AB Union Hall
6.9 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
6.11 Salt Lake City, UT The Union Event Center
6.12 Denver, CO Mission Ballroom
6.14 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah’s Stir Cove
6.15 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
6.18 Cleveland, OH House of Blues Cleveland
6.19 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
6.21 Minneapolis, MN The Fillmore Minneapolis
7.24 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
7.25 Columbus, OH KEMBA Live!
7.26 Detroit, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
7.27 Buffalo, NY Buffalo RiverWorks
7.30 Newport, KY MegaCorp Pavilion
8.1 Orlando, FL House of Blues Orlando
8.2 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution Live at the Backyard
8.3 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Live
8.4 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
8.6 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues Myrtle Beach
8.8 Charlotte, NC The Fillmore Charlotte
8.9 Raleigh, NC The Ritz
8.11 Dewey Beach, DE Bottle & Cork
8.13 Wallingford, CT The Dome at Toyota Oakdale Theatre
8.14 Boston, MA MGM Music Hall at Fenway
8.16 Philadelphia, PA The Fillmore Philadelphia
8.17 New York, NY The Rooftop at Pier 17
In addition to the headline tour, NY/NJ fans can look forward to the band’s annual holiday spectacular on December 13 and 14 at Mulcahy’s and December 15 and 16 at Starland Ballroom. On December 16, Taking Back Sunday will also be holding their annual Holiday Pop-Up Shop and fundraiser at Starland Ballroom in support of Tamerlaine Sanctuary & Preserve in honor of the band’s longtime attorney Dave Stein.
UK fans can catch Taking Back Sunday this March in Manchester, London, and Cardiff. For a full list of upcoming shows, please visit here.
Pre-sale and VIP tickets opened Wednesday, December 6, with general on sale to follow this Friday, December 8 at 10am local time. For more information, please visit this website.
National Sawdust (Paola Prestini, Artistic Director, Ana De Archuleta, Managing Director) has announced its Winter/Spring 2024 season. In a moment of existential crisis for the performing arts field—as COVID relief funding runs out, ticket sales and fundraising lag across the industry in comparison with pre-pandemic levels, and smaller budgets frequently result in reduced opportunities and resources for artists—National Sawdust embraces its role as a “vital part of New York’s new music scene” (The New York Times), for artists and audiences alike.
National Sawdust is a dynamic non-profit cultural institution that commissions, produces, and presents programming rooted in sound and supports multidisciplinary artists and arts organizations in the creation of innovative new work. Founded in 2015 by Kevin Dolan and Paola Prestini, National Sawdust operates out of an intimate space, equipped with a state-of-the-art Meyer spatial sound system, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where it is one of the few remaining cultural venues. The New York Times has described National Sawdust as “the city’s most vital new-music hall” and as “a triumphantly successful performance space that stands for a hip, sophisticated brand of new music.”
On the eve of its tenth anniversary, taking advantage of its nimbleness, and bolstered by the recent acquisition of its state-of-the-art Williamsburg venue, National Sawdust is finding new ways—and strengthening its impactful existing programs—to support composers, musicians, and multidisciplinary artists. The organization has initiated new partnerships with fellow NYC cultural institutions that will extend its impact. It teams with Harlem Stage on a new, cross-borough, series Uptown Nights: Convent to Wythe. Together, they will present silver through the grass like nothing, an in-process solo by violinist, vocalist, poet, and interdisciplinary performance artist yuniya edi kwon, and even in the shadow of a retching fog, a new work by performance collective SUN HAN GUILD, at Harlem Stage; and (( ( PHONATION ) )), a work of sound and visuals by Bora Yoon and R. Luke DuBois at National Sawdust.
National Sawdust also joins forces this season with Sparks and Wiry Cries to present their two-day festival featuring 14 world premieres by emerging composers from around the world and a co-curated concert by composer and Hildegard Commission-winner Niloufar Nourbakhsh; with Composers Now to present the opening event of the Composers Now Festival, hosted by that organization’s visionary founder and artistic director Tania León; with Winter Jazz Fest to offer Hess Is More’s category-defying musical concert and art installation Apollonian Blackout; and with the Metropolitan Opera to produce the 2023-24 season-long initiative Opera Evolved, a series of conversations with composers and artists about the contemporary operas featured at the Met this season and the ways opera is evolving today. In Winter and Spring, Opera Evolved presents Lileana Blain Cruz and Paola Prestini in discussion of genre fluidity, and a talk about reviving work from living composers.
National Sawdust is also bringing back its indispensable artist residency program, this season hosting eddy kwon & Holland Andrews. kwon and Andrews are among a wide range of artists making use this season of National Sawdust’s Meyer Sound spatial sound system, which facilitates ambitious sonic explorations and makes the live audience experience of new works uniquely compelling. Others include Hess Is More, Bora Yoon, Bruce Brubaker, Ning Yu, Maya Beiser, Susie Ibarra and Jeffrey Zeigler, Paola Prestini, and more.
By providing today’s most visionary artists with the institution’s unique suite of resources, National Sawdust empowers them not only to experiment and make meaningful contributions to a field undergoing various paradigm shifts, but to lend their visions and voices to urgent conversations in the world at large.
Please see below for the currentWinter/Spring 2024 programming schedule.
National Sawdust Winter/Spring 2024 Schedule yuniya edi kwon and Holland AndrewsHow does it feel to look at nothing
January 12, 20247:30pm
Using a new language of deconstruction, Holland Andrews and yuniya edi kwon present an in-process performance of How does it feel to look at nothing, a pre-origin story and collaboratively developed opera about a deity of namelessness. An opera of the elemental, of pre-deities, and illusions of containment, How does it feel to look at nothing is an embodied, interdisciplinary performance emerging through a story of transitional states. Composer-performers, multi-instrumentalists, and extended technique vocalists Andrews and kwon co-create this work through composition, improvisation, dance, physical theater, and ritual.
National Sawdust and Winter Jazz FestpresentHess Is More Apollonian Circles
January 16 & 17 at 8pm
Apollonian Circles is a multi-disciplinary musical concert and art installation experience that combines elements of electronic music, jazz, theater, and performance art. Each performance hinges on audience participation and improvisation guiding an ever-changing narrative of artistic expression; we are all participants reflecting one another’s experience as if in a hall of mirrors.
This project explores the very definition of what audiences have come to expect from a traditional concert. From the moment they arrive, attendees are transported to a mysterious dream-like space where the unexpected can happen. In the literal center of the room is a large table (decorated with other-worldly artifacts and ornaments) that is both stage and set piece for the performers and audience to gather.
Apollonian Circles is a constantly evolving musical live work, where concert formats and the relationship between music, musicians and audiences are explored and challenged. Apollonian Circles grow out of a constant longing for integration. We bring together artists, performers and ultimately audiences in a space that feels wide open yet artistically distinct and defined.
The music is composed and arranged by the Danish multi-instrumentalist Mikkel Hess and performed by his band, Hess Is More, which comprises musicians from Copenhagen and New York and features notable guests such as acclaimed singer Nomi Ruiz. The scenography is developed by Danish theater luminaries Christian Friedländer and Dicki Lakha in collaboration with award-winning director Tue Beiring, and with costumes by fashion design superstar Henrik Vibskov.
National Sawdust and Sparks and Wiry Cries present Laura Nevitt (8th Annual NYC songSLAM & songSLAM Commission winner) Anger in Open Mouths: three sweet songs
January 19, 20247:30pm
Fashioned after traditional poetry slams and storytelling events like The Moth, each Sparks & Wiry Cries songSLAM gives teams of composers and performers a chance to present world premieres of art song and compete for audience-awarded cash prizes totaling up to $2,000. Each regional songSLAM is produced with a partnering local organization. Since the inaugural songSLAM of 2016 in NYC, our first come, first served registration has filled in under 15 minutes of opening, and our songSLAM audiences are typically sold out and/or standing room only. The songSLAM was developed to bring in new, energized, and invested audiences for art song while removing barriers and gatekeepers for performers and composers. Our NYC songSLAM is the flagship event and in 2024 will be produced in partnership with National Sawdust.
During the 2023-2024 season, SWC will partner with organizations across the United States and internationally to produce 8 songSLAM events, allowing for the premiere of over 100 new songs and engaging with over 200 emerging artists in the following cities: NYC (‘Sparks’ & ‘National Sawdust’), Tallahassee (Florida State University), Waco, TX (Lone Star Song), Bratislava, Slovakia (421 Foundation), Bloomington, IN (Indiana University), Chicago, IL (Fourth Coast Ensemble), Ljubljana, Slovenia (Festival Ljubljana), and Minneapolis, MN (Source Song Festival).
Every year Sparks & Wiry Cries awards a songSLAM commission prize to one of the composers from the previous NYC songSLAM. This year’s commission will be the world premiere of Anger in Open Mouths: Three Sweet Songs, by composer Laura Nevitt and poet Viviana Gill performed by mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski and pianist Erika Switzer.
Only Voice Remains A recital co-curated by Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Sparks & Wiry Cries January 20, 2024 7:30pm
Only Voice Remains is a new sparksLIVE project. The title is inspired by Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad’s poem of the same name, and the program explores themes of exile, loss, and migration, using a diverse range of vocal traditions rooted in Iran and neighboring regions. The music in this program explores the intersection of Persian Flamenco, contemporary singer-songwriters, and Iranian classical music intertwined with the western classical recital format. Also highlighted on the program is the Pashtun Landay—a poetic folk couplet shared by women that exists primarily through an oral tradition. Set to music by Juhi Bansal for soprano, piano, and cello, these poems highlight similar motifs of struggle and triumph echoing down generations from woman to woman. Artist performers on this program include: Mahya Hamedi (vocalist), Ava Nazar (pianist), Farnaz Ohadi (vocalist), Karen Ouzounian (cellist courtesy of Silk Road Ensemble), and Abigail Sinclair (soprano).
Composers Now presents The Opening Event of the 2024 Composers Now Festival Hosted by Tania León January 31, 2024 7:30pm
While it may be nearly impossible to capture the totality of creativity as expressed by today’s composers, Composers Now and Tania try. From the very young to the legendary, you will come away from this evening with plenty of new sounds heard and composers met. Among the participants, Tania welcomes: the recipients of the 2024 Visionary Awards — Dwight Andrews, Philip Glass and Libby Larsen; the recipient of the First Commission Award and the world premiere of a newly written work, in collaboration with Jazz Gallery; a short documentary capturing the Fall 2023 Collaborative Creative Residency at the Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; works by Paola Prestini, a percussion trio by Javier Diaz, and more.
Julian Crouch and Saskia Lane BIRDHEART February 3, 2024 6pm
BIRDHEART is an intimate chamber piece of animated theater with a sheet of brown paper and a box of sand. A show about transformation,loneliness, and the urge to fly, BIRDHEART holds a hand-mirror up to humanity and offers it a chair. Through a series of animated images built in front of the audiences’ eyes BIRDHEART creates something achingly beautiful from the humblest of beginnings.
The BIRDHEART performance is preceded by some bird themed songs performed by Saskia and Julian, and led by the extraordinary musician Philip Roebuck. Singing along is encouraged.
National Sawdust and the Metropolitan Opera present Opera Evolved: Genre Fluidity
February 22, 20247:30pm
The second installment of this three-part series celebrates artistic convergence by investigating the intersection of innovation and tradition at National Sawdust. This event brings together a diverse array of multi-faceted artists, including Paola Prestini, esteemed composer and co-founder and artistic director of National Sawdust, and dynamic theater and opera director Lileana Blain-Cruz. Attendees will be treated to rich discussions and captivating performances that highlight genre-blending compositions and illustrate the transformative power of opera.
Bruce Brubaker Eno Piano February 23, 2024 7:30pm
Brian Eno famously said, “The studio is a musical instrument.” American pianist Bruce Brubaker now says, “A musical instrument can be a studio.” Brubaker will take the stage for a concert highlighting his 12th studio album, Eno Piano. This record, released November 10 on InFiné, encompasses a selection of Brian Eno’s iconic ambient music, including Music for Airports.
Can a single instrument convey ambient music originally made through studio techniques and tape loops? Eno Piano is a companion to Bruce Brubaker’s acclaimed album Glass Piano (2015); even the two album covers are companions. Named by Pitchfork “one of the most exciting pianists in the contemporary American classical scene,” Brubaker, in Eno Piano, shows that just as the studio can be a musical instrument, a single musical instrument can be a studio.
Brian Eno’s music is a significant part of the repetition-based musical minimalism practiced by Philip Glass, Terry Riley, and others in the late 20th century. In 1971, Philip Glass performed at the Royal College of Art in London. In the audience were two 23-year-olds: David Bowie and Brian Eno. Glass’s music was a fundamental influence on Eno. Later, Glass wrote three symphonies based on the three albums of Eno and Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy. Eno Piano acknowledges this deep artistic bond.
Alkemie and guest artist Amanda Gookin A Worthy Mirror February 25, 2024 7:30pm
A Worthy Mirror represents a time-traveling dialogue with the 12th-century trobairitz—the feminine counterpart of the poet-composers known as troubadours. Together with guest artist Amanda Gookin of Forward Music Project, we are commissioning eleven female and non-binary composers to respond to and converse with the 36 extant trobairitz texts (of which we only have music for one). This body of lyric poetry represents a large group of historically female and anonymous femme voices in the literary tradition. Witty, ironic, heartbreaking, and erotic—these texts present a mirror to reflect upon what feels foreign about the past and what feels familiar, what is the role of gender and self in relationships, and how do we make space for the multiplicities of identity, both in the 12th century and today.
NationalSawdust+ presents Insectum Featuring Susie Ibarra, Jeffrey Zeigler, Graham Reynolds, and Jessica Ware February 26, 2024 7:30pm
Join a zany evening devoted to Insectum, a sonic exploration of the world of arthropods. The program takes its name from the forthcoming record release featuring composer-musicians Susie Ibarra, Jeffrey Zeigler, and Graham Reynolds, who worked closely with University of Texas at Austin entomologists to create their album showcasing original tunes such as “Mosquito” and “Melolonthinae Larvae.” American Museum of Natural History evolutionary biologist Jessica Ware shares research that unravels the evolutionary history of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata), termites, and cockroaches (Blattodea) in this event, hosted by NationalSawdust+ curator Elena Park. Insectum will be both a celebration of the most successful and longest existing multicellular group of animals on the planet, as well as a cautionary tale about how their current threatened status poses dangers for the entire global ecosystem.
Part of NS+’s continuing For Nature series, Insectum kicks off three programs exploring the interplay and collision between the natural and human worlds, featuring artists and musicians, scientists, and activists working to preserve and restore the environment. For Nature is made possible by the generous support of Kathryn and Emmanuel Morlet and the Westcustogo Foundation.
Insectum commissioned by Golden Hornet
Co-Commissioned by Kathleen and Harvey Guion & The Guion Family Fund
Co-Commissioned by Suzanne Deal Booth & The Suzanne Deal Booth Cultural Trust
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts
Presented in partnership with the Asia Society and its initiative, Coal + Ice: Inspiring Climate Action Through Art and Ideas.
Insectum was created in consultation with Alex Wild and Jo-anne Holley at University of Texas at Austin. Insect images displayed are courtesy of Alex Wild.
National Sawdust and Harlem Stage present Bora Yoon featuring R. Luke DeBois ( ((PHONATION)) ) March 9, 2024 8pm
( (( PHONATION )) ) is a multimedia performance by Bora Yoon with live video manipulations by R. Luke DuBois, exploring where sound connects to the subliminal using found sounds, new and antiquated instruments, electronic devices and voice. Using a sound designer’s approach to performance composition that is steered by a penchant for a song, ( (( PHONATION )) ) engages with music as music, and not as part of a genre, taking the means to one end, and using it for another to form new utterances of sound and the beginnings of a new sonic language, within its spatial and architectural context. In every case, a particular sonic geography is evoked that might be inspired by a simple, found-sound in the world, or an expression of a sonic paradox bouncing around only in the mind.
Jodie Landau Performance of Self March 15 & 16, 2024 7:30pm
Performance of Self is an immersive piece by Jodie Landau that uses chamber music and dance to weave its way through songs and stories about queerness, gender, sexuality, [online] dating, choice, consent, attraction, desire, expectations, conforming to someone’s needs vs. self-preservation, language and communication, dance, drag, costume, and the performance of self.
“We continuously construct and curate our lives, our relationships, and our selves,” says Landau, “by choice or by circumstance. We weave the stories given to us, those we gather, and those we choose to retell to form a sense of identity. In identifying ourselves and each other we look to codify and define, and in such things we find both comfort and tribulations, as well as opportunity and limitations. Within all this, gender and sexuality are heavily weighted and fascinating topics, or at least have been for me, by choice and circumstance.”
Lætitia Sadier
March 20, 2024 7:30pm
Over the course of her career, spanning three-plus decades, Lætitia Sadier has never shied away from the hard topics, or stopped advocating for the possibility of self determination and emancipation in the face of the powers that be, conscious or unconscious. This is an essential part of the foundation she co-built with Stereolab, showcasing her spiritual, scientific and sociopolitical inquiries. She’s continued this process with Monade and under her own name and as a writer/singer/musician whose every album acts as a report on her journey of the self through time, space and the collective.
On Rooting For Love, the report is set alight by the heat of a turbulent world, collapsing institutions and Lætitia’s fully engaged process of expression as well as orchestration. The opening number, “Who + What” elucidates the central issue of the album: a call for a collective striving for Gnosis — an inquisitive outlook that will lend clues to the traumatized civilizations of Earth, allowing us to evolve away from millennia of alienation and suffering and towards the achievability of healing. The musical arrangements help to embody the layers of the issue, as with “Who + What”’s combination of organ, synths, guitar, bass, trombone, drum programming, vibraphone and zither, all working along intricate paths of chord and tempo changes. Leading from the inside is the implacable presence of Lætitia Sadier, herself interacting with a vocal assembly of men and women billed as The Choir. The regular reappearance of The Choir throughout Rooting For Love is a reminder of this music being one of a people in critical mass, in addition to an evolution that continues to deepen the rich harmonic fields in which Lætitia plays.
Past wounds are addressed again and again in the libretto, as the music provides a transformational balm to aid the healing process. The melodic funk of bassist Xavi Muñoz leads a Chic-adjacent slink to the occasional dance floor vibes and no-wave rockouts, while Hannes Plattemier and Emma Mario take turns in mixing the tracks and informing the far reaches of the material, with vibes, additional drum programming and synths alongside a talented cast of players and singers from Lætita’s Source Ensemble and beyond.
Whether drawing inspiration from Zen Shiastu training, or the lyrics of Véronique Vincent, (lyricist and singer for Aksak Maboul, and once upon a time, lead singer of the French Honeymoon Killers), Lætitia faces the truth without flinching. The shadows, whatever stuff they are made of — individual and collective, present and ancestral — need to be recognized and acknowledged, because the more we heal within ourselves, the more undivided we become in the face of looming Neofascist/Neoliberal narratives polluting the inner and outer landscapes. As with the cover image of the winter tree mirrored by the word patterns of Rooting For Love, Lætitia maintains that how we heal the world that’s coming, and what we make of it, will be a co-creation. The quality of our imagination, the orientation we give our thoughts and the capacity to bring love to ourselves and the world are a first step.
Alongside her collaboration with Modern Cosmology, last year’s incredible What Will You Grow Now?, as well as her continued tours with a reformed Stereolab, Rooting For Love finds Lætitia back in the world, once again urging all our grounded inner alignment and heart power to make us better equipped for creating what’s to come.
Palaver Strings Visions + Miracles March 22, 20247:30pm
This one-hour program brings together music that is transcendent in nature, drawing inspiration from dreams, medieval chant, renaissance polyphony, spirituality, and the power of silence. Anchored by Christopher Theofanidis’ otherworldy composition of the same name, Visions and Miracles takes us on a journey through the gentle sound worlds of Arvo Part, Max Richter, and Caroline Shaw, interspersed with excerpts of Mendelssohn’s Sinfonia No. 1. With mesmerizing harmonies and moments of joy, grief, and gentleness, Visions and Miracles is evocative and reflective, grounding and transcendent.
Summa for Strings Arvo Pärt
Entr’acte Caroline Shaw
Sinfonia No. 1 Felix Mendelssohn
Visions and Miracles Christopher Theofanidis
On the Nature of Daylight Max Richter
Fiddle Set Maya French/Jamie Oshima
Ning Yu + Qubit Piano Realities
March 28, 2024 7:30pm
Piano Realities is a program of works for piano and electronics, created and produced in collaboration by soloist Ning Yu and Qubit. As one of the foremost pianists of her generation, Yu is a champion of adventurous contemporary works, particularly those that incorporate aspects of sonic technology. As such, this concert has been specifically designed to realize the full potential of National Sawdust’s Constellation audio system, a multichannel environment with dozens of speakers.
The program features work by a group of composers—all based throughout the US and Europe—centered around the relationship between the grand piano and spatial audio. Yu will perform excerpts from David Bird’s Iron Orchid, a piece they developed together closely over several years. Also featured is the US premiere of Joanna Bailie’s new work, Marblepark, which aims to create, in the composer’s words “an impossible [acoustic] space,” while Aaron Einbond’s Cosmologies places the listener at the center of a larger-than-life grand piano. The program also includes the Berlin-based, Canadian composer Chiyoko Szlavnics’ haunting Constellations I-III; the world premiere of Heather Stebbins’ Prism II, as well as the first North American performance of Alec Hall’s A dog is a machine for loving, a powerfully emotional cycle for piano and tape based on the dogs in his life.
Roger Eno March 29, 2024 7:30pm
Roger Eno is a British composer and musician whose distinctive style as a recording artist has attracted a cult following. In 2020, at the start of the global pandemic, he made his debut on Deutsche Grammophon with Mixing Colours, his first duo album with his brother, Brian. During this turbulent period, the album garnered much praise, with The Observer noting that iIts slowly unspooling, generative beauty feels like a balm for these anxious times.” His debut solo album on DG, The Turning Year, was released in April 2022, at times featuring a 20-piece string ensemble and clarinetist. Critically well received, in May 2022 he was asked to appear on NPR’s Tiny Desk series.
After The Turning Year, Roger went on to release Rarities, an illuminating EP of unreleased tracks and gems from the album session. As well as this he also released “Above and Below,” a track that became an Amazon streaming success with 20 million plays to date.
Eno was born in the Suffolk market town of Woodbridge. He became immersed in music at school and bought a battered upright piano with money earned every Saturday as a butcher’s boy. His musical education continued at Colchester Institute School of Music. After a brief interlude playing jazz piano in private clubs in London, he returned to East Anglia.
As well as first collaborating with his brother Brian and Daniel Lanois in 1983 on Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, he has made over a dozen solo albums and other collaborative pieces with the likes of Peter Hammill, The Orb and his first “band,” the ambient supergroup Channel Light Vessel, whose line-up included Laraaji, Kate St. John, Bill Nelson and Japanese cellist Mayumi Tachibana. He’s also teamed up as a session musician and band member with artists as diverse as The Orb, Lou Reed, Jarvis Cocker and Beck, and not to mention his three-year stint as Musical Director for Tim Robbins and his band, The Rogues Gallery.
Known as a solo composer in both theater and film, Roger scored Trevor Nunn’s highly acclaimed production of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal at London’s National Theatre and, more recently, Nick Hornby’s Emmy winning TV series State of the Union, directed by Stephen Frears. Most recently he composed the soundtrack to the Erica Jong documentary Breaking the Wall.
Roger Eno lives in a small town on the border of Suffolk and Norfolk. Those two rural counties, with their quiet lanes, medieval churches and waterways, have given focus and intensity to the natural introspection of his music. He has described his creative process as one of “decomposing”—improvising in his studio early in the morning to later strip away all excess from the result to reveal the essence of the piece. His approach to the world has been likened to that of a visitor to a flea market, that nothing should be ignored, that the curious can be all too easily overlooked…
Roger’s sophomore album on DG is entitled the skies, they shift like chords, and is a quietly startling follow-up to The Turning Year. It features solo piano tracks, multi-instrumental piece, and electronic enhancement. The first track, “Strangely, I Dreamt” involves a stunning appearance on vocals by his daughter, Cecily.
Ran Blake Shimmering Shadows April 5, 20247:30pm
Ran Blake (b. 1935) will perform a rare NYC concert in solo and duo format with special guests. To celebrate the release of Ran’s biography, this concert will be inter-spliced with a live interview and film clips to present a retrospective of the life and music of this iconic pianist. From his early love of film noir, his the much heralded 1962 debut with Jeanne Lee on NewestSound Around, taking care of Thelonious Monk’s children after their apartment fire, getting caught up in the resistance after a coup in Greece on his birthday in 1967, to his highly influential teaching after founding the “Third Stream” program at the New England Conservatory; Ran Blake’s life sparkles with incredible vignettes, which he will share and
explore in his music for this performance.
In a career that now spans seven decades, pianist Ran Blake has created a unique niche in improvised music as an artist and educator. With a characteristic mix of spontaneous solos, modern classical tonalities, the great American blues and gospel traditions, and themes from classic Film Noir, Blake’s singular sound has earned a dedicated following all over the world. Blake is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” award and in 2022 earned a “Satchmo” award from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.
Maya Beiser Terry Riley’s In C(ello) April 6, 2024 7:30pm
Dubbed a “cello goddess” by TheNew Yorker, Maya Beiser creates radical works for the cello, reimagining her instrument’s boundaries with her iconoclastic performances and recordings.
On her forthcoming album, a multi-cello tribute to Terry Riley’s epic In C out in April 2024, Maya creates a hypnotic, rapturous soundscape with her cello, constructed from a series of drones and live cello loops. Joined by two of her long-time collaborators, the drummers Shane Shanahan and Matt Kilmer, this performance incorporates spatial sound designed specifically for National Sawdust’s immersive Meyer Constellation system.
National Sawdust and the Metropolitan Opera present Opera Evolved: Revival of New Work by Living Composers April 9, 20247:30pm
The compelling conclusion to this three-part series unveils the forefront of operatic innovation, offering a deep dive into the symbiosis of traditional support and cutting-edge creation in opera. This event compares the Metropolitan Opera’s groundbreaking initiative of presenting 17 contemporary works over the next five seasons with National Sawdust’s visionary plan to commission five new pieces in their 2024–25 season. The discussion will center on the transformative impact of these artistic endeavors by exploring the Met’s dedication to works by living composers and examining the pivotal role a burgeoning institution like National Sawdust can play in supporting this progressive shift.
NationalSawdust+ presents COMPOST! Featuring Melissa Clark, Tannis Kowalchuk, Mark Stewart, and More April 25, 2024 7:30pm
NationalSawdust+ digs deep into its For Nature exploration with COMPOST!, an evening of mixed fare with music, theater, and conversation devoted to the process of decomposition and cultivation. Multi-instrumentalist, song leader, composer, instrument designer, and committed composter Mark Stewart brings his Pete Seeger-meets-John Cage sensibility to bear, while theater artist Tannis Kowalchuk (co-founder of Willow Wisp Organic Farm and artistic director of Farm Arts Collective) performs a scene from her dynamic new solo show, Decompositions, which draws a parallel between the process of living, aging, and dying, and the transformation taking place in a compost pile on the stage. New York Times food writer Melissa Clark shares musings on biodegradation and moderates an engrossing discussion with farmers and activists in this nourishing NS+ evening, hosted by series curator Elena Park.
The event is part of NS+’s continuing For Nature series, three programs exploring the interplay and collision between the natural and human worlds, featuring artists and musicians, scientists, and activists working to preserve and restore the environment. For Nature is made possible by the generous support of Kathryn and Emmanuel Morlet and the Westcustogo Foundation.
Julia Jacklin New York Residency May 9, 15, 22, and 29 8pm
Since releasing her debut album Don’t Let the Kids Win in 2016, Julia Jacklin has carved out a fearsome reputation as a direct lyricist willing to excavate the parameters of intimacy and agency in songs both stark and raw, loose, and playful.
2019 follow-up Crushing was described as “a triumph” by The Independent, and “a candidate for this year’s strongest singer-songwriter breakthrough” by Rolling Stone, and her latest album, PRE PLEASURE, has been met with similar acclaim and continues to establish Jacklin as a mainstay of the indie world.
Jacklin returns to the US for the first time since her sold out PRE PLEASURE TOUR in 2022/23, and will be doing a unique series of solo residency shows alongside supporting a run of dates with Mitski.
Describing the upcoming shows, Jacklin says, “The residency idea started because in the spirit of doing what I want next year, even if it doesn’t make sense, I decided I wanted to do a Vegas Residency. The thought made me laugh, and I want to laugh more, and I want more joy in the indie rock touring circuit. I just feel like I jumped on a train in 2016 when I released my first record and it’s been a while since I’ve interrogated why I’m still on the train or asked who’s driving. I’m approaching next year’s shows with a sense of play. I want to write on the go, try things out and slow things down for a second. I want to stay in the same city for more than a night, have some breathing room in between each show to really think about what I’m doing, why I’m drawn to songwriting and public performance and how I can change my practises to be more sustainable. Maybe I can even work on my enduring stage fright in intimate rooms where I can see peoples faces, feel their support, and remember that this is all just about connecting with other people at the end of the day. I’ll be playing solo, I’ll have some guests, some friends, who knows! I’m just going to see how it feels and leave room for exploring and experimenting. Hope to see you there.”
NationalSawdust+ presents A Crisis of Responsibility: Excerpts from The Shell Trial Featuring Ellen Reid, and More to be Announced June 13, 2024 7:30pm
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid joins a special NationalSawdust+ evening showcasing insights and excerpts from her new opera, The Shell Trial, written with librettist Roxie Perkins, on the heels of its March 2024 world premiere in Amsterdam. Commissioned by Dutch National Opera and based on the play De zaak Shell by Rebekka de Wit and Anoek Nuyens, the opera explores climate devastation as a crisis of responsibility via a landmark 2021 court case in which environmentalists won a shocking lawsuit against Shell Oil.
The program will include arias sung from the perspectives of diverse figures, such as The Climate Refugee, The CEO, The Artist, as well as a chorus of children representing those killed by Shell’s colonial past and climate disasters. Members of the Young People’s Chorus of New York (YPC) will perform in the evening, which will include a probing discussion featuring a climate activist along with Reid and NS+ curator Elena Park.
The composer will share her experience of creating the provocative piece, which offers a range of voices and viewpoints on whose responsibility it is to halt climate change. As the complexity of the issues in the Shell lawsuit becomes clear, boundaries between guilty party and innocent victim, past harm and future progress, and individual and collective responsibility grow increasingly blurred.
The event is part of NS+’s continuing For Nature series, three programs exploring the interplay and collision between the natural and human worlds, featuring artists and musicians, scientists, and activists working to preserve and restore the environment. For Nature is made possible by the generous support of Kathryn and Emmanuel Morlet and the Westcustogo Foundation.
The Shell Trial is a commission by Dutch National Opera, in co-production with Het Geluid (Maastricht), Opera Philadelphia, and Bregenz Festival.
Isaac Mizrahi returns to the famed Café Carlyle in Manhattan with his show, “Mizrahi on Ice,” from February 6-17, 2024.
Accompanied by his band of jazz musicians led by Ben Waltzer, Mizrahi will perform a range of tunes from Arthur Freed to Grace Jones. His previous residencies in the room were sellouts, receiving widespread critical acclaim.
The New York Times noted, “he qualifies as a founding father of a genre that fuses performance art, music and stand-up comedy.”
Isaac Mizrahi has worked extensively in the entertainment industry as a performer, host, writer, designer and producer for over 30 years. Along with his annual residency at Café Carlyle, Isaac has performed at various venues across the country such as Joe’s Pub, The Regency Ballroom, several City Winery locations nationwide and comes to the Carlyle fresh from a United States tour and his run as Amos Hart in the Broadway production of CHICAGO.
He is the subject and co-creator of Unzipped, a documentary following the making of his Fall 1994 collection which received an award at the Sundance Film Festival. He hosted his own television talk show, “The Isaac Mizrahi Show” for seven years, has written three books, and has made countless appearances in movies and on television. He served as a judge on Project Runway: All-Stars for the series’ entire seven-season run and. is just completing his first season of his record breaking podcast, HELLO ISAAC. The series can be streamed on iHeart radio, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Café Carlyle is located in The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel (35 East 76th Street, at Madison Avenue). Tucked behind a Madison Avenue doorway, Café Carlyle welcomes its guests into a classic cabaret setting where incredible talent and music are paired with New York elegance and style, yet in an updated way. Originally opened in 1955, Café Carlyle is known for headlining incredible talent through the years – from classic performers such as Elaine Stritch and Eartha Kitt to more modern-day acts such as Jon Batiste, Isaac Mizrahi, Jeff Goldblum, Jill Kargman, Katharine McPhee, Dianna Agron, Alan Cumming, Debbie Harry and Rita Wilson. Café Carlyle, the New York City bastion of classic cabaret entertainment, continues to draw socialites, politicians and celebrities into its distinguished and glamorous setting.
Tickets are available online via Tock. General Seating: $140 per person / Premium Seating: $190 per person / Bar Seating: $110 per person.
The Screaming Orphans transformed The Roslyn Cellar into their living room on Sunday, December 3, inviting audience members into their family’s Christmas celebrations during their Mini Christmas Tour.
The Diver sisters, from left to right, Angela, Joan, Gráinne, and Marie Thérèse, performing at The Roslyn Cellar at 3:00 pm on December 3 as part of their Mini Christmas Tour.
The Screaming Orphans consist of the Diver sisters, Angela (bass, violin and vocals), Joan (drums and vocals), Gráinne (guitarist and vocals), and Marie Thérèse (keys, accordion, and vocals). The four sisters from Donegal aim to have their familiar bond transpire within audience members during performances.
“For a lot of our shows, we want people to feel like they’re in our sitting room. Or we’re in the house or kitchen and just having a sing-song,” guitarist Gráinne stated.
Within minutes of their performance, The Roslyn Cellar was quickly transformed into the Diver sisters’ living room. After their first song, a cover of “Merry Christmas Everyone,” the sisters informed the audience that they bought their sparkly holiday / concert attire for a steal at just $14.99 from Marshalls! The Screaming Orphans transformed into your best friend letting you in on the latest holiday deals.
For a lot of our shows, we want people to feel like they’re in our sitting room.
Or we’re in the house or kitchen and just having a sing-song
Gráinne Diver, guitarist and vocalist of Screaming Orphans
In the true fashion of Christmas, the Screaming Orphans continued to tell stories and reminisce throughout the afternoon performance. Guitarist Gráinne recollected on when her family would drive down to Germany for Christmas. On one particular Christmas, they drove from Germany to Austria, to the place where Silent Night was written. While Gráinne joked about how silly the journey was, given they drove in the snow without snow tires and that all the sisters wore ankle socks instead of boots in the freezing cold, she also noted the divine beauty of it all.
The revered beauty of the site transpired in the sister’s cover of “Silent Night.” Their haunting harmonies melted together into a wintery vortex’s siren call. The harmonies amplified when they switched from English to German midway through the song, harking back to the birthplace of the lyrics.
The sisters’ signature harmonies were truly highlighted in the slower, stripped back covers of the night. Songs like “O Holy Night” and “That Night in Bethlehem,” which was sung in Irish Gaelic, showcased the sister’s range of harmonies.
Angela (left) and Joan (right) Diver singing their rendition of The Turtles “Happy Together,” which is featured on the Screaming Orphans’s 2019 album Life in a Carnival.
But like all great Christmas parties, there also had to be some good craic. Songs like “Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake,” a song describing a horrific fruit cake that is sure to work up a fine stomach ache, resulted in cackling from the crowd. Lyrics weren’t the only culprit of good craic on December 3 though. So were the Screaming Orphans’s unique take on classic Christmas carols. Synthesizer, for instance, was added to the start of “We Three Kings.” The result was a time-traveling song that sounded futuristic yet nostalgic all at once.
The Screaming Orphans’s signature sound, melodic old-school pop with heavy folk influences, radiates throughout their cover of “We Three Kings.” Their signature sound allows the Screaming Orphans to reinvent these Christmas classics as well as to create new ones. The sisters played original songs “Song We Used to Sing” and “Bells,” the later of which is featured on their 2021 Happy Christmas Vol. 1 album.
The Screaming Orphans hinted at new original songs as well as a cover of “Christmas Wrapping” to appear on their Happy Christmas Vol. 2 album. The second volume is rumored to be released next December. Gráinne stated she hopes there will be not only a volume two but a volume three, four, and five! “We fully intend to do more,” she stated.
To close out their set, The Screaming Orphans kicked it into high-gear with a Christmas Eve reel. The energy continued and skyrocketed during their encore, which included their renditions of “Happy Together” and “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” Notably the chorus of “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles” was changed from “Da d-da da” to “Shot of Vodka.” Here, the gears shifted to a full-blown folk rock concert Drummer Joan was throwing her long blonde hair from side to side as she belted out the lyrics with unparalleled passion. One might have easily forgotten they were at a Christmas concert and jumped straight to St. Patrick’s Day. The result, a standing ovation.
Gráinne (left) and Marie Thérèse Diver (right) perform their encore set, which consists of their covers of “Happy Together” and “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).”
The stormy Irish weather may have followed the Screaming Orphans from Donegal to The Roslyn Center in New York, but the rain certainly did not damper their spirits. Respite from the storm was found in their Christmas carols as the sisters invited audience members into their home.
The Screaming Orphans will be back at The Roslyn Center, located at 19 Bryant Avenue, Roslyn. They’ll return in March for St. Patrick’s Day. The exact date of their concert at The Roslyn Center is scheduled to be announced soon. To view tickets for their other tour dates, click here. Until then, fans can check out the sisters’ recent album Paper Daises, which was released this past August.
Setlist: Merry Christmas Everybody, Blue Christmas, Wishing You a Merry Christmas, O Holy Night, Christmas Time is Here, Jingle Bells, Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake, Ho Ho Ho, O Come O Come Emmanuel, Song We Used to Sing, Bells, That Night in Behtlehem, Happy XMas (War is Over), We Three Kings, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Frosty the Snowman, Silent Night, Sleigh, Fleiz Navidad, Fairytale of New York, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Christmas Eve Reel
Darlene Love fans shared a special moment with the singer during her “Love for the Holidays” concert at New York’s Town Hall on Thursday, November 30 when Bruce Springsteen came on stage to present Darlene with an RIAA platinum album plaque for A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, the groundbreaking multi-artist wall-of-sound holiday collection that introduced Darlene’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” to the world in 1963.
Bruce Springsteen and Darlene Love at New York’s Town Hall, Thursday, November 30, 2023
Photo Credit: Sachyn Mital
Springsteen called Darlene “my forever crush” while singling out “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” as “the absolute greatest Christmas rock ‘n’ roll song of all time” and acknowledging “that song and Darlene have been a part of our holidays for 60 years.”
Darlene Love at New York’s Town Hall, Thursday, November 30, 2023 Photo Credit: Sachyn Mital
“When we recorded it, we had no idea it would be a song that people would play for over 60 years,” says Love, laughing. “But it’s a great song. It’s something that had never been done before: It’s a great Christmas song and a rock ‘n roll Christmas song. I never get tired of singing it. And I never really get tired of singing it because I only do it at Christmas time.”
Darlene Love at New York’s Town Hall, Thursday, November 30, 2023 Photo Credit: Sachyn Mital
Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” single has been certified 3x platinum by the RIAA as of April 7, 2023. Originally released November 22, 1963 on Philles Records, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector is currently available through Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment.
Brooklyn electro-rapper Aly G has released her catchy new single “Super Power.” The single tells personal stories of fighting through various traumas, asserting that womanhood is the strongest power one could wield.
An Ohio native, Alyson started freestyling while at college in Wisconsin, the rhymes spontaneously popping into her head. With her MFA in creative writing, she moved to NYC and built up a following as a singer-songwriter, until one night at a hip hop club, she realized who she was: Aly G. Incorporating beatboxing into her performances, along with covers of her fave 90s rap classics, she gained attention from The New Yorker and HuffPost for her innovative genre-blending and high energy performances. She has also recorded her own renditions of LL Cool J’s ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ and Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’.
Inspired by Lauryn Hill, Saul Williams, Santigold, and Salt-N-Pepa, she began writing material that personified the fun-loving, colorful swagger of Aly G, including the hilarious true story about a friend’s unfortunate celeb experience ‘Michael Cera C*ckblocked Me at SXSW’. Twice featured at The American Beatboxing Championships (earning props from Rahzel from The Roots), she has performed alongside artist /actress Awkwafina and visionary emcee Jean Grae.
Alyson’s music and original compositions have been featured on Fox, Lifetime, AOL, WNYC, and in TV/films including Conception, Super Sleuths, Creatures of Comfort, Dance Moms and The American Templars. She also founded NYC’s Tinderbox Music Festival, showcasing over 100 emerging female musicians from around the world in its four-year run, garnering press from The New York Times, Time Out New York, Billboard, Glamour and more.
Alyson is also part of POLYVOX, a duo with Joe McGinty (Psychedelic Furs), creator and curator of NYC’s famed Loser’s Lounge. Earning praise from NYC’s The Deli, Greenfield was also one of the first five artists chosen to record at Converse’s Rubber Tracksstudio in Brooklyn.
This single follows Aly G’s debut single “Build It Up,” which claps back at the urban renewal trend and increasing gentrification in Brooklyn, showcasing her socially conscious NYC vibe and rapid-fire delivery.
“Super Power” is all about focusing on women’s strengths and powers. Women are certainly not given enough credit for the strength they have to have to carry life. Even just growing up as a woman in America is so vastly different from growing up as a man in America: a man’s strengths can be a woman’s weakness. This song perfectly captures that imbalance we face.
“In the track I say, ‘Anything you can do, I can do bleeding / My body can sustain life through a feeding.’ We don’t have to be able to sprout webs from our fingers or fly through the air in order to do superhuman things, because as women we already have the power to do and face impossible things just by being who and what we are.”
