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Listings are
in the opposite order of appearance: headliner is listed at the top,
next is the support band(s),
and the last band listed is the opener.
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Wednesday
June 28
2023 8:00PM doors -- music at 8:30PM ••• 21 AND OVER $15 Nik Bartunek www.nikbartunek.com folk indie rock Miamaz www.instagram.com/miamazband harmonic funk, chillware Natalie Mata www.instagram.com/natalieemata indie pop [as of
5/15/2023]
Previously scheduled show, with Jesse Malin, is canceled. "Due to a serious back injury Jesse Malin must cancel the upcoming UK & US tours. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets. Jesse will be back out as soon as he is able." All tickets automatically refunded, nothing you need to do. Wednesday
June 28
2023
 7:30PM doors -- music at 8:30PM  ••• ALL AGES $20 in advance / $25 at the door Jesse Malin (20th Anniversary Tour) jessemalin.com/ americana rock Fantastic Cat fantasticcatband.com/ alt-country americana indie rock Nik Bartunek -from the Bay Area, CA -Life, God, depression, love-lost, the struggle of relationships and spiritual concerns permeate Nik’s lyrics and songwriting, with an emphasis on a ‘heart on the sleeve’ approach. Finding no real dichotomy between “regular life” and faith, there are prayers interspersed with storytelling and moments of personal reflection and note. Nik’s songwriting encompasses a cinematic musical approach that runs the gamut of intimate and moving arrangements to white-hot indie rock numbers . Diving between warm lows and energetic highs, his voice carries wide range emotionally and dynamically as well. Often drawing comparisons in songwriting to Coldplay, Nick Drake, The National, and Neo-Folk artists, Nik also had garnered a reputation for a unique voice and sound all his own. Beginning performance at a young age, Nik got his start in Bay Area coffee shops, open mics, house shows, and small venues where he honed his craft as a songwriter and performer. Eventually founding the group Picture Atlantic, Nik became the lead singer and principle songwriter for the group for over 13 years where they toured extensively, recorded multiple albums, and built a fanbase that spanned an international context. Now Nik focuses on his solo project, life at home, friends and family, community, and live performance. Miamaz -from Sacramento, CA -For long-time friends, Rachelle Martin, Nick Bear, and Gary Bladen, 2021 was an opportunity to reset and reform. After several years of living in different cities and collaborating remotely, they settled back in their hometown of Sacramento, CA. The strange monotony of quarantine led to impromptu jam sessions based around synth and guitar grooves, moody room lighting and clap stack beats. In 2022, they teamed up with Hank McKay on drums to finish and record their early demos. “Paranormal Babes” is the debut single for Miamaz. The track began in their home studio with a sample beat, Gary on guitar, and Nick on synth. Rachelle’s lyrics draw on the theme of burnout, reflecting the journey of the song itself. Layered harmonies, catchy guitar riffs, and funky synth tones carry the song before leading to a chill, "zen-like" outro. The song’s title is inspired by their close friends, who are enthusiasts of all things cryptid and supernatural. Miamaz pulls inspiration from the people closest to them. After all, the band name is a portmanteau of the baddest bitches they’ve ever known - their dogs. They look forward to sharing music, videos, and live show dates throughout the year. Natalie Mata -from San Francisco, CA -Natalie Mata, a local indie pop artist, writes songs about the experiences of being in her 20s. Her debut single, Rerun, will be released this summer alongside a music video. Follow her at @natalieemata on Instagram to stay in the loop! Jesse Malin -from New York, NY -“Sad and Beautiful World is for the survivors, the dreamers, the leavers and the believers,” said Jesse Malin. “My music has always been about rebirth and redemption. This record is for those who pick up the pieces and find beauty in the madness.” The first double album of Malin’s career hits like a collection of heartfelt and eloquent short stories that never lose their dirt and swagger. The phoenix bird could be the spiritual mascot of Sad and Beautiful World, out September 24 on Wicked Cool Records. Forged in the wild flames of the lost pandemic year, the album follows Sunset Kids (2019), Malin’s acclaimed album produced by Lucinda Williams and Tom Overby. Described by Uncut magazine as a “fearless storyteller,” followers have always appreciated the many sides of Malin, from his pioneer days in the hardcore band Heart Attack to D Generation and his solo career. Sad and Beautiful World, which takes its title from a line of dialogue in Jim Jarmusch's 1986 cult-classic film Down By Law, divides itself down the middle. A lyric in the song “Almost Criminal” gives the split record its theme: Roots Rock Radicals, Malin’s take on a phrase from the intersection of punk and reggae back in the day. The "Roots Rock” side leans to the sad-eyed ballads, while its companion, the "Radicals" side, roughs things up a bit. But not everything is as black and white as the movies. All of Sad and Beautiful World is both tough and tender, laced through with vividly drawn characters striving against circumstance and a raw emotional tenor. The 17 songs served up here will break your heart, move your hips, and keep the lights shining. Right before lockdown, Malin was moving fast on the heels of 2019's Sunset Kids with sold out dates in the US and UK. The album earned a four-star review from Rolling Stone and won three Independent Music Awards. “I took all my anxiety, fear and loneliness and began writing,” described Malin, who made the record in the fall of 2020 at Flux Studios in New York. “The sirens, the protests, riots and the darkness outside my doorstep definitely made its way in these songs. Everything rose to a boiling point, and we found a way to get through it.” At the heart of Sad and Beautiful World lies empathetic character sketches like "Todd Youth," which features Bad Brains' frontman H.R., a lifelong mentor to Jesse with his message of PMA (positive mental attitude), and brings a wistful voice from beyond the grave speaking to loved ones that remain – and "A Little Death," a scathing but ultimately compassionate read on a millennial brat. Hearts are broken and hearts are full – sometimes both at once – as on the stark opener "Greener Pastures” or the rebel soul of "Dance With The System," as cool and slick as a black leather jacket. Billie Joe Armstrong once said “New York City is the center of the universe, and there is no New York City without Jesse Malin.” Jesse masterfully sets the scene of his beloved hometown with the autobiographical "Backstabbers," a coming-of-age tune about navigating through the city lights, blood suckers and the arcade-prowling chicken hawks. Written in 2019, the slinky strut of "The Way We Used To Roll” now has an extra layer of meaning. Both songs were produced by fellow roots-rock-radical Lucinda Williams, who also sings backup on “Backstabbers,” and her partner, Tom Overby. The majority of Sad and Beautiful World was produced by Malin’s longtime guitarist Derek Cruz and Geoff Sanoff. Throughout 2020, Malin created and produced the celebrated weekly livestream series The Fine Art of Self Distancing to keep people connected worldwide and dancing on their couches. The show raised money for independent national venues, his band, crew and the Joe Strummer Foundation, and was named one of the best of the year by Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone. “When I was kid in Queens, my mother had a sign over the kitchen sink with a flower or something, that said ‘today is the first day of the rest of your life.’ I still feel that way. Growing up here, you find a way to carry your dreams up from the street and out to the stars. I try hard to keep my sense of humor, community and always find a way to dance through the flames.” Fantastic Cat -from New York, NY -They said it couldn’t be done. Four different songwriters joining forces to form a single band? There was simply no precedent (outside of CSNY, The Beatles, The Traveling Wilburys, The Highwaymen, Monsters of Folk, etc). And yet Fantastic Cat did it anyway, defying the odds and teaming up to record their highly unanticipated debut, The Very Best Of Fantastic Cat, out now on Blue Rose Music. Hailed by Rolling Stone as "a wildly satisfying collection of folk-rock, country, Americana, and good old rock & roll," the album gleefully careens between genres and decades, mixing electrified 60’s roots and 70’s AM radio gold as it balances careful craftsmanship and ecstatic abandon in equal measure. Individually, each member of Fantastic Cat boasts their own impressive resume along with a litany of critical acclaim. The Guardian dubbed Don DiLego “one to watch.” NPR said Anthony D’Amato “sings and writes in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen or Josh Ritter.” Rolling Stone called Brian Dunne’s latest single a “stunner” and praised Mike Montali’s band, Hollis Brown, as “the soundtrack for a late-night drive through the American heartland.” Collectively, though, the four transcend their respective roots, emerging as an instrument-swapping, harmony-trading, tear-jerking, wise-cracking rock and roll cooperative far greater than the sum of its parts. They say some cats are born fantastic; others have fantasy thrust upon them. These guys are somewhere in the middle. |
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