On the evening of Thursday, July 13th we are proud to present avant-folk duo House and Land (NC), experimental/improv duo Jen Powers + Troy Kunkler (CMH), singer/songwriter Carole Walker Luley (CMH), and avant-folk/electronic musician Chris Pierce (CMH). The performance will take place at AutonomyHub (455 W. Broad St. 43215). Admission: $10 or $15 for two. Doors 7:30pm. BYOB, all ages.
About the performers:
House and Land is the duo of Sally Anne Morgan (fiddle, shruti box, banjo, vocals) and Sarah Louise Henson (vocals, 12-string guitar, shruti box, bouzouki). Sally and Sarah started playing together after Sarah opened for The Black Twig Pickers for whom Sally plays the fiddle. The duo quickly discovered that they were both interested in the same very specific forms of traditional music. Additionally, they both viewed it through the lens of their shared love of modern, experimental and minimal music. “We honor what two voices and bodies can do in one moment in time. It totally shapes our sound.”
Their playing together is wholly unmediated, without amplifiers and using just two sets of hands and voices. With a minimalist approach, their music considers the space between notes as much as the notes themselves. The material on their debut is drawn from traditional southern hymns and Appalachian ballads that originated in England and elsewhere hundreds of years ago. Microtonality is as essential to certain Appalachian vocal styles as it is to a Tony Conrad composition and the often spare adornment to their singing puts these complexities on full display. The songs, however, are not entirely unadorned. Sally and Sarah are both masters of their instruments and on several tracks they bring in percussionist Thom Nguyen, who plays with an improviser’s ear.
Songwriter Soul with a Funky Kick is how Carole Walker self describes her crafted sound. Her songwriting goes far beyond convention. She weaves her lyrics into a tapestry of spoken word, poems, and heartfelt songs all wrapped in her warm powerful voice. Mike Breen “CityBeat” magazine (Cincinnati, Oh) says “Carole Walker has been equally lauded for her soulful, lilting vocal ability, which get its calling card with Be Yourself (she can somehow occasionally sound like Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Ani DiFranco and Erykah Badu in the span of one line).”
Carole completed “Bloom” in November of 2016. “Bloom” is a collection of songs inspired by personal growth, loss, acceptance and love. In July of 2010 Carole lost her brother/bass player Chris Walker who was also her musical partner and co-founder of the bands “Heavy Weather” and “The Walker Project”. “Music can’t heal everything but it can help you find your way back from the darkest of places,” says Carole. “These songs were my way of putting back the pieces of myself after what seemed like to me was back to back tragedies. The songs were more personal than I ever expected, and still more songs are coming.”