June 1, 2014

Chris Forsyth

Chris Forsyth is a lauded guitarist and songwriter whose work assimilates art-rock textures with vernacular American influences. Long active in underground circles, he has released a string of acclaimed records of widescreen guitar rock under his own name including 2011’s Paranoid Cat (Family Vineyard) and 2012’s Kenzo Deluxe (Northern Spy). His most recent release, Solar Motel (Paradise of Bachelors) was called one of 2013’s best releases by the New Yorker, Uncut, Aquarium Drunkard, Frontier Psychiatrist, Pop Matters, and others, provoking ecstatic comparisons to classic artists like Television, The Grateful Dead, Popul Vuh, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Richard Thompson, Robert Quine, John Fahey, and Glenn Branca. In spring 2013, Forsyth formed The Solar Motel Band with longtime bassist Peter Kerlin, guitarist Paul Sukeena (Spacin’) and drummer Steven Urgo (ex-The War on Drugs), and introduced the band with a month-long residency at Ortlieb’s in Philly that ignited a storm of blog praise when the shows were posted on Soundcloud. Their recent 18-date US tour generated more waves of praise, with Aquarium Drunkard calling them “one of the most raved-about live acts on the road today,” and the Chicago Reader commenting “if you take ‘classic’ to mean “archetypal,” I don’t mind saying that Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band are currently the acme of classic rock. ” Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band released a live LP, Solar Live 11.15.13 (Electric Ragtime) on Record Store Day and their first studio release Intensity Ghost, will be out on No Quarter in October.

Gretchen Lohse

Gretchen Lohse is a native Philadelphia singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She comes from a family with deep musicroots and was classically trained on violin, which is evident on her recordings. As the front woman of Philadelphia psychedelic folk rock band Yellow Humphrey, she dreams up rich, strange musical tapestries- part memoir and part tall tale- that are heavily influenced by folklore and silent films. Solo, she is barebones and delicate, her songs full of ghosts and unrequited love.