Category: Music

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Gates Ensemble Remastered

During last week’s Bandcamp Friday flurry I didn’t get a chance to highlight the release of the remastered Gates Ensemble album: 16 october 03 on Burning Harpsichord Records. The album features a lovely composition by Travis Weller: reinforce one another, conditions for contraction and an untitled improvisation by the group. This release also includes a special bonus track uncovered during the remastering

Playing with the Gates Ensemble was one of the highlights of my time in Austin, Texas. The group consists of

Brent Fariss – contrabass
Jacob Green – piano and electronics
Holland Hopson – banjo and electronics
Josh Ronsen – clarinet and piano
Bill Thompson – electronics
Travis Weller – violin and electronics

We’ve gotten together once or twice in various configurations since Bill and Jacob and I left Texas. Hopefully there’ll be more Gates Ensemble performances and recordings again soon.

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Compassion Compilation

Petal Motel has released Compassion, a Bandcamp-exclusive digital compilation benefiting the National Network of Abortion Funds. The collection features Cosmic Americana by over 30 artists ranging from fingerpicked folk and ambient soundscapes to pedal steel-driven dreams and rock stompers.

My tune “Red at the Edges” is included. It’s a companion to the work on my album Tell A Gossip.

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Davey Williams Memorial Guitar Festival

We honor and remember the incomparable guitarist and improviser Davey Williams this weekend at East Village Arts in Birmingham. The Davey Williams Memorial Guitar Festival runs Friday through Sunday March 3-5 and will feature guitar solos by local and guest performers, a guitar parade, performances on cast iron guitars and Jean-Jacque Gaudel’s invented instruments, and more. There will also be a screening of Lee Shook’s documentary about Davey, Convulsive Blues. I’ll be performing on Sunday as part of the Antennae Road Orchestra, reinterpreting selected improvisations from Williams’ Antenna Road album. See below for the address, full schedule and festival pass info.

Davey Williams’ books, CDs, t-shirts (and these sweet bumper stickers) will also be available.

Bumper Sticker: SKRONK! if you heart Davey Williams

The DAVEY WILLIAMS GUITAR FESTIVAL  
MARCH 3-5, 2023       EAST VILLAGE ARTS     7611 1st Ave. N.  

FRIDAY   
5:00  “Rush Hour”  ELECTRIC GUITAR PARADE  ON THE STREET 
6:00 POTLUCK/ Hospitality/EXHIBITION/byob
7:00 – !0:00 featuring: Cast Iron Guitars
Guitar Solos/”Round Robins”
Killick Hinds: h’arpeggione, Big red harp guitar

SATURDAY    
6:00 POTLUCK/ Hospitality/EXHIBITION/byob
7:00 – !0:00  featuring: Cast Iron Guitars
Guitar Solos/ ”Round Robins”
Musical Inventions of Jean-Jacque Gaudel
Brady Sharp: solo electric guitar

SUNDAY
6:00   POTLUCK/ Hospitality/EXHIBITION/byob
7:00 – 9:00  CONCERT and “TALL TALES” & Cast Iron Guitars
Documentary Film: “CONVULSIVE BLUES” by Lee Shook
The “ANTENNAE ROAD” ORCHESTRA
performed by UAB Jazz Ensemble & Community Musicians

$10 single    $20 Donation/VIP FESTIVAL PASS 

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Sky Sparrow Snow

I’m thrilled to announce my latest solo recording, Sky Sparrow Snow. This release is a return to song forms for banjo, voice and electronics. Sky Sparrow Snow is a collection of seven original songs merging old-time Appalachian banjo with ambient electronics. The tunes touch on folk (“Laurel Cove“) and gospel (“Over Yonder’s Ocean“) with adventures into hybrid genres like raga blues (“Alap Catfish Impala“) or Steve Reich-meets-Dock Boggs (“No Mule“).

The record is available at Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify and other streaming services.

Though these recordings may sound like studio creations, they’re largely documents of live performances, with only minimal edits and overdubs. All of the electronic treatments happen in real-time; I play the banjo and sing while custom Max patches respond to the audio signals and data from my sensor-equipped instruments.

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Composer’s Voice Feature

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A recent episode of Composer’s Voice featured my music played by Miolina and Craig Hultgren. The half-hour show was produced by Rob Voisey and aired this weekend on Manhattan Neightborhood Network’s Lifestyle channel. If you missed the broadcast you can see the episode on YouTube or Facebook.

The video includes an excerpt from A Long Line of Clouds Just Above the Trees (2022) for violin duo and live electronics performed by Miolina: Lynn Bechtold (violin) and Mioi Takeda (violin). We received support for the project from the Collaborative Arts Research Initiative (CARI) at the University of Alabama. We workshopped the piece during a Summer 2021 residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute in New Hampshire.

The episode concludes with a complete performance of Snakeskin (Verso) (2019) for solo cello and live electronics performed by Craig Hultgren (ecello).