Jen Curtis, violin and Niloufar Shiri, kamancheh
An exploration of the migration of music from North Africa through Eastern Europe into Spain and Germany… from Arabic scales to Appalachian reels … and of course a little JS Bach. Jennifer Curtis, violin, Niloufar Shiri, Kamancheh, Naji Halil, Oud, David Meyer, cello and percussionists Will Ridenour and Jason Lentz. The New York Times described violinist Jennifer Curtis’s second solo concert in Carnegie Hall as “one of the gutsiest and most individual recital programs.” She was celebrated as “an artist of keen intelligence and taste, well worth watching out for.” Curtis navigates with personality and truth in every piece she performs. Jennifer is a long-time member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and founder of the group Tres Americas Ensemble. She has appeared as a soloist with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela and the Knights Chamber Orchestra; performed in Romania in honor of George Enescu; given world premieres at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York; collaborated with composer John Adams at the Library of Congress; and appeared at El Festival de las Artes Esénias in Peru and festivals worldwide. An educator with a focus on music as humanitarian aid, Jennifer has also collaborated with musical shaman of the Andes, improvised for live radio from the interior of the Amazon jungle, and taught and collaborated with Kurdish refugees in Turkey. Jennifer currently teaches part-time violin at Duke University. She plays on a 1777 Vincenzo Panormo.Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Kamancheh player and composer Niloufar Shiri began her musical journey at the Tehran Music Conservatory in Iran. She later immigrated to the USA and pursued her studies in composition at the University of California, San Diego, and Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT) at the University of California, Irvine. Niloufar’s musical world lies at the intersection of classical Iranian music, contemporary music, and improvisation. Her focus revolves around exploring the concept of displacement in relation to familiar and distant environments. Her music closely examines textural and timbral spaces, drawing inspiration from staggered pitch relations found in the Radif, as well as bird sounds, noise, and feedback. Her unique and radical approach to kamancheh performance significantly expands the sonic capabilities of the instrument and places her at the forefront of its practice.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Soundcloud
AZUL
AZUL AZUL’s sound is as multicultural as her background. Her music is enriched by her Argentinian roots, travel, and global studies degree, while influenced by jazz, broadway, soul, gospel, blues, disco, Latin folk and Latin rock. She is emotional, empathetic, and empowered. She is driven to amplify opportunities for femme/queer/poc individuals in her band and on stage. AZUL sings (in Spanish, English, and French), dances, and plays trumpet. She’s as serious as she is silly, and she wants *you* to connect with that energy while she’s on stage. AZUL has opened for nationally touring groups like Delta Rae and Esme Patterson and has played at venues like the Ritz, Fillmore, and Cats Cradle. Maia Kamil Singer-songwriter Maia Kamil is at home in the world. Maia has spent years refining a musical style that weaves eclectic influences, vocal dexterity, and complex lyrics to create tiny worlds in which the listener can get lost. In 2020, Maia relocated to North Carolina where she worked with guitarist and producer Charlie Hunter, who helped hone her craft. She became known as the local Norah Jones for her warm vocals, spiritual center, and ease with stepping into a variety of genres from Hip Hop to Neo-soul and folk. Much like her writing, Maia’s performances are an invitation to form community and create deep human connection. Her simple melodies act as launch pads for her graceful vocal runs, creating a new sound with a global soul. Her music offers transport to worlds away—the woods she’s walked in, the Dead Sea she’s floated in, the words of her ancestors, the lullabies she sang to her three younger siblings—while simultaneously bringing the listener back to a campfire with friends, singing melodies they feel they’ve always known. Links and Videos here
Tyson Brothers
Since 2016, the Tyson Brothers have been building a reputation as great songwriters and musicians, set apart by their high energy live performances. Starting out creating music and playing gigs in Raleigh North Carolina, the Tyson Brothers have quickly built a devoted following. The Tyson Brothers are releasing their newest album, New.wav, this summer with the first single, Whatever Happens, being released in March 2023. Get in touch to learn more about the band and upcoming gigs.Website | Instagram | Facebook | SpotifyThe Modern Age InstagramHigh June Website
mc chris
mc chris is most widely known for his reoccurring character MC P Pants on Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force where he was also an animator and writer. He’s been featured in the Aqua Teen movie, the video game and most recently on a series of You Tube videos called Aqua Donk Side Pieces. He’s also starred on several Adult Swim series including The Brak Show and Sealab 2021. When he’s not voicing some of his iconic late-night characters, he’s a full-time touring rapper. A pioneer of the hip hop subgenre Nerdcore, mc chris has worked with the likes of Talib Kweli, Andrew WK, and Donald Glover. His fans include the likes of Gerard Way, Post Malone and T-Pain and was even sampled by Run the Jewels for the latest Aqua Teen movie Plantasm. He’s toured with Reggie and Full Effect, Ninja Sex Party, Warped Tour, appeared on a GWAR album, performed at the gathering of the Juggalos and even had his own Honda commercial. His music has been featured on several Adult Swim Shows and commercials, Broad City and America’s Funniest Home Videos. mc chris is the widely accepted soundtrack to nerd culture. Not only does he rhyme about what nerds love most, but he was one of the first performers to encourage nerds to take pride in themselves and what they care about. He’s a full-time single father to his son, Tony, and lives in Los Angeles.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Setting
Setting is Nathan Bowles (solo/trio, Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) on strings, keys, and percussion; Jaime Fennelly (Mind Over Mirrors, Peeesseye) on harmoniums, synthesizers, and piano zither; and Joe Westerlund (solo, Califone, Sylvan Esso, Jake Xerxes Fussell) on drums, percussion, and metallophones. Their debut album “Shone a Rainbow Light On” on Paradise of Bachelors traverses textural, phosphorescent topography with a certified organic folk-engine. Fueled by a vibratory hybrid of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, the four stately longform pieces sound like a UFO slowly sinking into a peat bog. Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Label Artist Page
Grace Cummings
A “soon-to-be-iconic voice” (Rolling Stone), Grace Cummings is a contemporary folk musician from Melbourne, Australia. Her songwriting is influenced by 20th century poets and luminaries, from Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan to Brett Whitely and Van Gogh, reflecting a strong connection to the Australian landscape. She has appearance at globally renowned music festivals including Womad, SXSW, The Great Escape, End of the Road and Transmusicales and supported a host of venerated artists including Weyes Blood, Gareth Liddiard, J Mascis, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Ezra Furman.Grace won fans around the world with the release of her critically acclaimed 2022 sophomore album, Storm Queen (ATO/Virgin Music Australia) which was acclaimed in industry-leading publications including MOJO (Lead review, 4/5), Uncut (8/10), Reader’s Digest (Album of the Month), American Songwriter (‘Artists to Watch in 2022’) and NME (“beautiful, soaring with an unholy majesty… breathtaking”). Her highly anticipated third album, produced by Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Angel Olsen) will be released in 2024.Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Destroy Boys
Punk rock might have been the force that brought Destroy Boys together, but it’s far from the only touchstone for their music. From their first record through the beginnings of their fourth, they have continued to write and sing about what they know. School drama and elitist cliques encountered in their teens have given way to the pain of relationships and the inherent feelings of misunderstanding and isolation that is all too common for young people navigating a hybrid of physical and digital worlds. Started in Sacramento in 2015 by Alexia Roditis and Violet Mayugba while they were still in high-school, initially the band released acoustic demos on Bandcamp. Destroy Boys first proper record, Sorry, Mom remains a classic for the band’s fans, having spawned the underground hit I Threw Glass At My Friend’s Eyes and Now I’m On Probation. The follow up record, Make Room, recorded by Martin Cooke (Death Cab for Cutie, Of Monsters and Men) was tracked in just 4 days and yielded favorites such as Crybaby and Duck Eat Duck World (later featured on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack.) Adding drummer Narsai Malik to the fold in 2018, Destroy Boys began to tour in earnest, venturing as far as the UK, opening for numerous up-and-coming indie bands. As their own songs took off on Spotify and TikTok they signed with Los Angeles label Hopeless Records in 2020. Working with Philadelphia producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Circa Survive) their first Hopeless release was the snarling, one minute ripper, Muzzle. The eventual LP Open Mouth, Open Heart, released in late 2021 chronicled a band dealing with familiar pandemic-frustration and the rise of online gossip and bullying – and they dealt with these head on with songs ranging from Escape to Locker Room Bully. Despite that year-long setback, the band returned to touring in summer 2021, suffering the obligatory headache of Covid-cancelled shows, re-booking and re-reroutings. But their fanbase, which had been locked up as the band grew sevenfold online came out in droves. Headlining for the first time brought a succession of sold out shows and the reassurance that their connection with their audience was never stronger. Rolling into 2022, the band toured the UK with Alkaline Trio and Taking Back Sunday before crisscrossing the US several times as they continued to support the LP. With lauded performances at Riot Fest, Dia De Los Deftones, and more, they have since begun work on their fourth album. Working with Carlos De La Garza (Bad Religion, Paramore, The Linda Lindas) the recordings dig further back to embrace everything from garage punk to 90’s college indie rock. 2023 holds yet bigger experiences for Destroy Boys. Following appearances at Coachella they return to the UK and Ireland for Slam Dunk Fest, several headline shows and then multiple runs in Europe, taking in notable festivals including Roskilde, SBAM! And Sziget. Along the way fans can expect new music in advance of their as yet untitled fourth record.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Satsang
“I just want to write and perform songs that touch the heart and help others”. Letting go of genre, expectation, and boxes, Satsang has leaned into the power of songwriting to drive their forthcoming release, Flowers From The Fray (the band’s 5th album in 6 years) due out Fall 2022.Recorded and self-produced with the help of bandmate and longtime collaborator Parker Brown, this record finds the duo tucked away in a secluded cabin in Southwest Montana digging back into the foundation on which Satsang was founded on. “These songs were all so personal to me” says Drew McManus. “Whether it was really sifting through the stage of life I had found myself in which was a kind of dark night of the soul, or leaning into the love of my wife. This record is truly me bearing my heart. I needed to seclude myself to find out where these songs wanted to go, and having Parker’s musical guidance had a big hand in that.”This record, coupled with the band’s last release All. Right. Now. is a maturing. A growing into the songwriter and musicians that the band was destined to be. A settled and firm foundation of influences and sound that brings every external aspect in and finds it internalized and distilled into “Flowers From the Fray.”Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Teenage Fanclub
The first Teenage Fanclub single, 1990’s “Everything Flows,” was all about getting older and finding your way: Right from the beginning, the Scottish band somehow inherently understood the joy and confusion of forging a creative path. Even with that knowledge, the band’s three equally proficient and prodigious songwriters—Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, and Gerard Love—probably wouldn’t have predicted that this path would still be unfolding nearly 30 years later. Steadily—and, if we’re being honest, sort of slowly—Teenage Fanclub have built an incredible catalog of gleaming pop songs. It’s been a relatively straight line in pursuit of pop perfection, from the snarlier early days to the highly vaunted Bandwagonesque to the grand Songs from Northern Britain to their more measured, contemplative latest, 2016’s Here. Consistency has been a virtue, never a handicap. They spent a decent chunk of 2018 looking back, something they’re not inclined to do, but duty called: Five classic albums originally released between 1991 through 2000 were remastered at Abbey Road and lovingly reissued, and Teenage Fanclub took that as a challenge to relearn nearly every song from that era and plan a special series of three-night stands in the UK during which to play them. “We don’t spend a lot of time listening to the things we’ve done. Actually, we don’t spend any time,” says McGinley. “Sometimes you live with your own imagined version of a song in your head, and what you play is different than the records. Memories can be unreliable. It’s an interesting process to be forced to listen to the reality.” “As a musician you never listen to your own music—it’s masochistic!” laughs Blake. “Back at the start I wasn’t too clever on the guitar. And you can hear the change in the tone of your voice through aging. We sound like young men on the early records, full of optimism! Lots of these songs we have never, ever played live before. It’s exciting.” A big plus to relearning the oldies: They’d have a bigger pool of songs to choose from live, something they still cherish. A trip around the world was planned, starting with Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. It turned out, though, that Love’s enthusiasm for touring far-off places had waned, while the rest of the band consider touring to be crucial fuel for creativity. That impasse led to Love’s amicable departure from the band: He’ll play the back-catalog shows in the UK in October and November, and then turn in his Fanclub membership. McGinley and Blake have nothing but praise for their bandmate; they’ll miss his contributions, but they’re more excited than ever to make songs together—including, sooner than later, brand-new ones. “The good part of any change is that it forces you to not be complacent about things,” says McGinley. “There’s always something exciting about any kind of change.” “The three of us have spread the burden of songwriting over the years, so there will be a bit more work involved creatively,” says Blake. “We don’t feel pressure to get somebody in as a songwriter to replace Gerry. We could collaborate with other people, we could write together… I’m not worrying about it too much. Whatever happens, I know that we’ll create something that we’ll be happy to put our name behind.” Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Satellite Dog
Satellite Dog is a Psych-Groove band from North Carolina. Taking sonic inspiration from the psychedelic rock n’ roll whirlwind of the 1960’s and 1970’s, they combine musical ideas from a plethora of inspirations to form a uniquely retro-modern psych-groove soundscape. Relying heavily on improvisation during live shows, they twist and turn in and out of original tunes as well as originally-spun covers by bands such as the Grateful Dead and Phish. With roots in central North Carolina, the group has maintained a foothold all over the state, with frequent stops in Boone, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh. Welcome onboard and stay tuned for more…Website | Instagram | YouTube
