Tag: banjo

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The Next Moment

The next concert in my Birmingham New Music Festival schedule is The Next Moment, tonight at East Village Arts in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m playing a new piece for extended banjo and live electronics that uses automated phone system samples (“To speak with a customer representative…press 9…”). Craig Hultgren will premiere As Safe As If It Were In The Fire for ecello and live electronics.

Saturday, May 11, 2024 5pm
The Next Moment: Mostly Improv
2024 Birmingham New Music Festival
East Village Arts
7611 1st Ave N
Birmingham AL 35206

Other composers and improvisers on the program include Rob Voisey, the festival’s guest composer visiting from NYC, LaDonna Smith, Michael Coleman, and Joshua David Davis.

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Esther and Holland

Esther Morgan-Ellis holding fiddle and bow beside Holland Hopson holding a banjo

Fiddler Esther Morgan-Ellis and I have been working on a set of original banjo and fiddle tunes. We’ll be playing them out in public beginning in May 2024. We’ll also record the collection for future release.

Get a jump start on the shows by visiting Esther’s website to hear some sample tunes.

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Brush Mind: Begin To – Screening and Performance

The University of Alabama Art and Art History Department will present Hank Lazer and me in a poetry and music performance along with a screening of our latest collaborative video Brush Mind: Begin To.

Holland Hopson (L) and Hank Lazer (R) at the Blue Ridge Art Center, Seneca South Carolina

Wednesday February 7, 2024 at 12pm
Brush Mind: Begin To – Hank Lazer and Holland Hopson
Sarah Moody Gallery of Art
Tuscaloosa AL
part of the 2024 Biennial Faculty Exhibit

Hank and I have collaborated over the last four years on a variety of projects including three installments of the Brush Mind series, the book with accompanying album field recordings     of mind     in morning, and recent performances at the New Orleans Poetry Festival and Blue Ridge Arts Center.

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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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field recordings of mind in morning Videos Playlist

YouTube player

All of the videos from the field recordings of mind in morning project with poet Hank Lazer have been assembled into a playlist at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfbjRdn65YhoGXZk98dnAPyBylDeuATCF

Don’t forget that Hank’s book is available at BlazeVox and our audio recordings are available at Bandcamp.