Photo credit: Bill Brownlee

Friday August 5 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS

Bill MacKay is a Chicago-based composer, improvisor, guitarist and writer. He has created an extensive body of original work, while energizing the folk, avant-garde, and experimental diaspora. MacKay is also a poet, visual artist and polyglot, and is a member of both the avant-garde rock outfit Black Duck (with Doug McCombs) and the experimental groove-drone project BCMC (with Cooper Crain). Nathan Bowles is a musician and teacher living in Durham, North Carolina. His work, both as an accomplished solo artist and as a sought-after ensemble player, explores the rugged country between the poles of Appalachian old-time traditions and ecstatic, minimalist drone. Although his recent solo recordings prominently feature banjo, Bowles is also widely recognized as a masterful and versatile drummer, and he considers himself first and foremost a percussionist, with banjo (and piano) as a natural extension of his percussive practice. Current projects include his trio with Casey Toll (Mount Moriah) and Rex McMurry (CAVE) along with membership in long-running projects Black Twig Pickers and Pelt. Keys, the debut album from Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles, is, on the surface, a collection of guitar and banjo duets – but from the opening moment, it is clear that Bill and Nathan’s agreed-upon duo is a living organism, growing as it goes.

Natalie Chami (b. 1987) is a proud Canadian-born Lebanese American who adopted the TALsounds moniker in 2009 for her explorations in the drone, ambient, and improvisational disciplines. Through her masterful synth work, operatic vocals, and nuanced sculpting of mood and atmosphere, Chami's music strikes a balance between the extremely personal and the selflessly transportive. Chami has shared bills with Merzbow, Tortoise, Mary Lattimore, Mdou Moctar, and more. In 2020, she released Acquiesce, available on NNA Tapes.