Just to be clear (because I've referenced a few planned releases in the last several months):
I'm hoping to put out three releases as An Historic this year.
One will be a digital-only live album. It is a recording of the live set performed with the aid of Brian Slattery and Carl Testa at the December installment of the Uncertainy music series. I'm hoping to work more with this trio in the future.
One will be an EP, tentatively titled Seicremllams. This release contains 6 tunes, based around live single takes of accordion and voice with slight overdubs (vocal harmonies, clarinet, recorders, bowed cymbal). This release will have four stripped down arrangements of tunes that also exist in expanded form (either with the trio or performed with Dr. Caterwauls), as well as two tunes not heard anywhere else from a similar period of time. Hoping to release this on tape as well as digitally.
The last, hopefully, will be a full length, titled Small Mercies. There are ten tunes lined up for this set, all completed and fully arranged. As mentioned these will be more definitive versions of some of the tunes from the EP, as well as several tunes I've been playing live in various capacities for the last two years, which have been tweaked and refined by those experiences. The recording will also feature two tunes from the "Cutoff" split, also refined to fit the band sound.
This is plenty ambitious and all, but I have these tunes and more in the cue and it will be nice to launch some of them, so to speak, and clear the air for more. I have been working on a new series of piano-focused tunes and several new covers, and the momentum doesn't appear to be slowing. This year will also most likely see a self-made/shot/directed music video for one of the tunes from Seicremllams, if all goes well.
12.28.2011
12.26.2011
First things in the New Year
Here is a solo An Historic cover of Scott Matthew's "Language," as seen in Shortbus. I have wanted to cover this song for awhile but only a few days ago discovered a satisfying way to approach it. enjoy!
An Historic plays next in Hadley, MA on January 6th at Emmett Island (8 Pine Hill Rd) w/ Wood Spider, The Suitcase Junket, Asher (of Bella's Bartok). I'll be releasing a live album soon of the performance at the December Uncertainty Series - the second ever An Historic trio set, recorded in full by Lou Guarino. This set features tunes current and past, and I'm very pleased with the way Brian (Slattery, fiddle) and Carl (Testa, bass) have helped to realize these finicky compositions.
Dr. Caterwaul's hosts Wood Spider in New Haven on the first day of their winter tour. The show also features Tyler Bussey and Black is the Color (ex-Feral Flowers). Come out on Wednesday, January 4th to the coziest venue in New Haven, Neverending Books (810 State St)
Dr. Caterwauls appears again on January 14th at the Euphoria Salon in New Haven, doing a cabaret set with the Cygnet Sisters. The event is an opening for the art of Erin Jenkins. The opening is between 5-8PM and our set time is TBA.
Finally, I'll be participating in a Large ensemble project featuring a new composition by Barry Seroff and one by Nate Trier. The date is the 29th of January, at the Outer Space.
Take a look at the (finally updated) performance bar for some upcoming appearances January and beyond.
An Historic plays next in Hadley, MA on January 6th at Emmett Island (8 Pine Hill Rd) w/ Wood Spider, The Suitcase Junket, Asher (of Bella's Bartok). I'll be releasing a live album soon of the performance at the December Uncertainty Series - the second ever An Historic trio set, recorded in full by Lou Guarino. This set features tunes current and past, and I'm very pleased with the way Brian (Slattery, fiddle) and Carl (Testa, bass) have helped to realize these finicky compositions.
Dr. Caterwaul's hosts Wood Spider in New Haven on the first day of their winter tour. The show also features Tyler Bussey and Black is the Color (ex-Feral Flowers). Come out on Wednesday, January 4th to the coziest venue in New Haven, Neverending Books (810 State St)
Dr. Caterwauls appears again on January 14th at the Euphoria Salon in New Haven, doing a cabaret set with the Cygnet Sisters. The event is an opening for the art of Erin Jenkins. The opening is between 5-8PM and our set time is TBA.
Finally, I'll be participating in a Large ensemble project featuring a new composition by Barry Seroff and one by Nate Trier. The date is the 29th of January, at the Outer Space.
Take a look at the (finally updated) performance bar for some upcoming appearances January and beyond.
11.23.2011
Another month and change has gone by without an update. I don't think the idea of keeping each project isolated by updates is actually going to work.
Coming up soon is two shows back to back with Dr. Caterwauls, first opening for the excellent David Wax Museum from the Boston area on November 30th. This show is free and at BAR in New Haven, a fine venue with homemade pizza and house-brewed beer selections. The following day, we return to the Outer Space (a favorite venue in New Haven) to open for touring songwriters Andru Bemis and Elizabeth Pixley-Fink. See the sidebar for more details.
The day after THAT I'm doing a solo set as An Historic at a house show, details for which will be forthcoming.
The day after THAT I'll be performing with Atlas, a subgrouping of the New Haven Improvisers Collective, at Firehouse 12, at 8:30. NHIC does an annual concert at Firehouse 12 which is a fantastic venue both for listening and performing, and this year will also include the debut of NHIC Electric. Again, more details on the sidebar.
December will slow down a bit after that opening burst. I'll be performing with the Yale Klezmer band on December 7th, and again with Dr. Caterwauls at the Acoustic Cafe in Bridgeport on the 22nd. Most of this month is devoted to working on a short opera that I've mentioned here before, as well as a pretty crucial grad school application.
More details as I get em.
Coming up soon is two shows back to back with Dr. Caterwauls, first opening for the excellent David Wax Museum from the Boston area on November 30th. This show is free and at BAR in New Haven, a fine venue with homemade pizza and house-brewed beer selections. The following day, we return to the Outer Space (a favorite venue in New Haven) to open for touring songwriters Andru Bemis and Elizabeth Pixley-Fink. See the sidebar for more details.
The day after THAT I'm doing a solo set as An Historic at a house show, details for which will be forthcoming.
The day after THAT I'll be performing with Atlas, a subgrouping of the New Haven Improvisers Collective, at Firehouse 12, at 8:30. NHIC does an annual concert at Firehouse 12 which is a fantastic venue both for listening and performing, and this year will also include the debut of NHIC Electric. Again, more details on the sidebar.
December will slow down a bit after that opening burst. I'll be performing with the Yale Klezmer band on December 7th, and again with Dr. Caterwauls at the Acoustic Cafe in Bridgeport on the 22nd. Most of this month is devoted to working on a short opera that I've mentioned here before, as well as a pretty crucial grad school application.
More details as I get em.
10.05.2011
An Historic - upcoming events
The first two tracks of the long-awaited "Cutoff" Split with Cud Eastbound are up for streaming HERE. I am very excited to see this get off my harddrive and out into the cyber-aether. The full release (including Cud's tracks) will be available for PWYC download by this weekend.
This release coincides with a minitour I'm conducting next week with Mountain Wasp (mountainwasp.tumblr.com). There are only three dates, due to various unfortunate and last minute circumstances:
-10/11 in New Haven, at The Outer Space. (10PM, Free show but donations for gas and whatnot greatly accepted.)
-10/13 in Northampton, MA, on top of the parking garage downtown. With Nicholas Francis and maybe +1 TBA? Email me for more details.
-10/15 in Portland, ME. This will be with musical sibling Jakob Battick, in what will be the last ever show of his Jakob Battick and Friends project, for which he's put together the "Bloodworm Orchestra" for something really epic and special. (8PM, Poland St, Portland, ME.)
Two other shows in New Haven to mention, post tour:
10/27, at Bru Cafe. I'll be doing a set in support of Nicholas Francis and Homebody, two awesome acts (and friends) on a tour from Northampton, MA. 7:00 PM
11/7, at Neverending Books, in support of Mal Blum and Zoe Boekbinder. Circle Circle and an acoustic version of Proud Flesh will be playing. I am especially excited for this date as I will be joined by Brian Slattery on fiddle and Carl Testa on upright bass, which will be the first time I've performed a full set of An Historic material with something resembling a band. 7:30. This'll be a barn burner.
The possibility of scheduling a recording has ended up being a hassle, and thus will be postponed until early next year. I am still hoping to draw in the rest of Dr. Caterwaul's after some woodshedding, and there will still be a kickstarter campaign to fund its recording and release, although probably not on vinyl as originally expected. Details for that are still stewing, and I hope to release them soon.
This release coincides with a minitour I'm conducting next week with Mountain Wasp (mountainwasp.tumblr.com). There are only three dates, due to various unfortunate and last minute circumstances:
-10/11 in New Haven, at The Outer Space. (10PM, Free show but donations for gas and whatnot greatly accepted.)
-10/13 in Northampton, MA, on top of the parking garage downtown. With Nicholas Francis and maybe +1 TBA? Email me for more details.
-10/15 in Portland, ME. This will be with musical sibling Jakob Battick, in what will be the last ever show of his Jakob Battick and Friends project, for which he's put together the "Bloodworm Orchestra" for something really epic and special. (8PM, Poland St, Portland, ME.)
Two other shows in New Haven to mention, post tour:
10/27, at Bru Cafe. I'll be doing a set in support of Nicholas Francis and Homebody, two awesome acts (and friends) on a tour from Northampton, MA. 7:00 PM
11/7, at Neverending Books, in support of Mal Blum and Zoe Boekbinder. Circle Circle and an acoustic version of Proud Flesh will be playing. I am especially excited for this date as I will be joined by Brian Slattery on fiddle and Carl Testa on upright bass, which will be the first time I've performed a full set of An Historic material with something resembling a band. 7:30. This'll be a barn burner.
The possibility of scheduling a recording has ended up being a hassle, and thus will be postponed until early next year. I am still hoping to draw in the rest of Dr. Caterwaul's after some woodshedding, and there will still be a kickstarter campaign to fund its recording and release, although probably not on vinyl as originally expected. Details for that are still stewing, and I hope to release them soon.
9.28.2011
Broadcloth Awakens!!
Broadcloth has technically been on hiatus for the past few months; although we all performed in several concerts together (notably with Carl Testa and guitarist Ben Shirley performing Shirley’s compositions, and with vocalist Kyoko Kitamura on a different bill), and did one recording session in order to continue tracking the ever-impending full length album, we hadn’t performed as Broadcloth since the end of June.
All this is about to change. As Nathan will be leaving for Europe in November, and we’re all extraordinarily busy with varying events including the Energies, Ideas, Intuitions Festival at Roulette between October 5-8, performing the music of Anthony Braxton (more info at: http://www.roulette.org/events/upcoming.php), we’ve only got a few dates on the horizon, but hopefully more soon.
First is this weekend, October 1st, at The Home Of in Gowanus. (http://www.thehomeof.org). This will be our second visit to curator/saxophonist Edward Schneider’s Holidays for the Future series which focuses on new and experimental music as well as improvisation. This is part of a two day mini-fest (day 2 is at 16 Beaver St in Manhattan, which will also feature Anne and Nathan along with other improvisers.) Our first time there was a blast and produced one of our best sets (audio available at http://thehomeof.org/holidays-for-the-future-4), and we are excited to return!
The next will be on November 2nd, as the debut installment of another arm of the Uncertainty Series, happening at the Elm Bar in New Haven, CT. Details surrounding start time are still nebulous but we’ll have them as we get them.
More as we hear it!
All this is about to change. As Nathan will be leaving for Europe in November, and we’re all extraordinarily busy with varying events including the Energies, Ideas, Intuitions Festival at Roulette between October 5-8, performing the music of Anthony Braxton (more info at: http://www.roulette.org/events/upcoming.php), we’ve only got a few dates on the horizon, but hopefully more soon.
First is this weekend, October 1st, at The Home Of in Gowanus. (http://www.thehomeof.org). This will be our second visit to curator/saxophonist Edward Schneider’s Holidays for the Future series which focuses on new and experimental music as well as improvisation. This is part of a two day mini-fest (day 2 is at 16 Beaver St in Manhattan, which will also feature Anne and Nathan along with other improvisers.) Our first time there was a blast and produced one of our best sets (audio available at http://thehomeof.org/holidays-for-the-future-4), and we are excited to return!
The next will be on November 2nd, as the debut installment of another arm of the Uncertainty Series, happening at the Elm Bar in New Haven, CT. Details surrounding start time are still nebulous but we’ll have them as we get them.
More as we hear it!
Miscellaneous events in the next few weeks
*note: for ease of navigation, I've decided to do organize updates by project, instead of trying to cram everything into a single update. Hopefully this will mean smaller, less unwieldy updates, happening more regularly*
The Miscellaneous tag will be used for anything not connected to An Historic, Broadcloth or Dr. Caterwauls, the most active working groups I'm involved in at the moment. This is a formatting experiment, so please let me know if it's a terrible decision.
On October 2nd, I'll be performing with the Afro-Semitic Experience again at the West Haven I Wage Peace Walk. The walk and our set begins around 3PM - we'll be playing on the boardwalk, weather permitting, and if not, we'll be set up in St. John Vianney, at 300 Captain Thomas Blvd in West Haven.
October 7th, I'm EXTREMELY thrilled to be performing in the debut performance of the Ghost Trance Choir, which will be singing the music of Anthony Braxton as part of a 4 day festival called Energies, Ideas, Intuitions that is happening at the new Roulette space. That night will also see a performance of the 12+3tet, and the whole festival will feature some orchestra music, a new system incorporating voice, instruments and movement called Pine Top Aerial Music, and the debut of acts I and III of the new opera Trillium J, which will be accompanied by a 35 piece orchestra. Suffice to say that there is an incredible amount of energy going into the organization of this festival and if early rehearsals are any indication, it will pay off massively.
On November 12th, I will be involved in a composition recital of local friend and colleague Nate Trier. He is writing two pieces specifically for this occasion and I am very excited to be premiering them for him.
Stay tuned for opera updates - Brian, the librettist, and I have been having some great talks about the story/content, and I am excited to take the next step past the sketches I've been working on already. More to come!
The Miscellaneous tag will be used for anything not connected to An Historic, Broadcloth or Dr. Caterwauls, the most active working groups I'm involved in at the moment. This is a formatting experiment, so please let me know if it's a terrible decision.
On October 2nd, I'll be performing with the Afro-Semitic Experience again at the West Haven I Wage Peace Walk. The walk and our set begins around 3PM - we'll be playing on the boardwalk, weather permitting, and if not, we'll be set up in St. John Vianney, at 300 Captain Thomas Blvd in West Haven.
October 7th, I'm EXTREMELY thrilled to be performing in the debut performance of the Ghost Trance Choir, which will be singing the music of Anthony Braxton as part of a 4 day festival called Energies, Ideas, Intuitions that is happening at the new Roulette space. That night will also see a performance of the 12+3tet, and the whole festival will feature some orchestra music, a new system incorporating voice, instruments and movement called Pine Top Aerial Music, and the debut of acts I and III of the new opera Trillium J, which will be accompanied by a 35 piece orchestra. Suffice to say that there is an incredible amount of energy going into the organization of this festival and if early rehearsals are any indication, it will pay off massively.
On November 12th, I will be involved in a composition recital of local friend and colleague Nate Trier. He is writing two pieces specifically for this occasion and I am very excited to be premiering them for him.
Stay tuned for opera updates - Brian, the librettist, and I have been having some great talks about the story/content, and I am excited to take the next step past the sketches I've been working on already. More to come!
Upcoming Dr. Caterwauls Events
*note: for ease of navigation, I've decided to do organize updates by project, instead of trying to cram everything into a single update. Hopefully this will mean smaller, less unwieldy updates, happening more regularly*
Dr. Caterwaul's Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps has three upcoming performances, one of which I won't be involved in (we've done plenty of shows short a member before, no worries).
The first is THIS FRIDAY, September 30th, at the Outer Space in Hamden. We will be joined by vocalist Arminda Thomas and guitarist Jonny Rodgers, playing a set of early swing, and looking sharp. The rehearsals for this set have gone really well - it's going to be a ton of fun, and we would be awfully disappointed if no one danced.
(I can't seem to find info about the one in between, as that's happening while I'm on tour. However, it'll be for a tasting of some kind. whoops.)
The last, is Friday, October 21st, and is happening at Lyric Hall. For this , Dr. Caterwaul's will be joined by The Cygnet Sisters, vocalists Anne Rhodes and Zohra Rawling. Together we'll be affectionally deconstructing some classical repertoire, ranging from Mozart to Kurt Weill. There will be light fare and beverages included as part of the ticket price - further details on this event TBA.
Later we'll be playing at the Outer Space again, opening for Andru Bremis. That date is November 30th, and details will be confirmed for that later as well!
Dr. Caterwaul's Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps has three upcoming performances, one of which I won't be involved in (we've done plenty of shows short a member before, no worries).
The first is THIS FRIDAY, September 30th, at the Outer Space in Hamden. We will be joined by vocalist Arminda Thomas and guitarist Jonny Rodgers, playing a set of early swing, and looking sharp. The rehearsals for this set have gone really well - it's going to be a ton of fun, and we would be awfully disappointed if no one danced.
(I can't seem to find info about the one in between, as that's happening while I'm on tour. However, it'll be for a tasting of some kind. whoops.)
The last, is Friday, October 21st, and is happening at Lyric Hall. For this , Dr. Caterwaul's will be joined by The Cygnet Sisters, vocalists Anne Rhodes and Zohra Rawling. Together we'll be affectionally deconstructing some classical repertoire, ranging from Mozart to Kurt Weill. There will be light fare and beverages included as part of the ticket price - further details on this event TBA.
Later we'll be playing at the Outer Space again, opening for Andru Bremis. That date is November 30th, and details will be confirmed for that later as well!
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