Monday October 7 * 7pm * $15 * TICKETS
Poster: Josh Levi
Universal Light is an idea. It's a musical process. It's Mike Gangloff on fiddle, Jesse Sheppard on guitar, and Kaily Schenker on cello.
Mike is a founder of the long-running improv drone unit Pelt and of quarter-century-and-counting old-time rowdies Black Twig Pickers. His fiddling with those bands and others, as well as recent solo recordings and tours in the USA and overseas, blends improvisation, original melodic composition, and a deep grounding in traditional Appalachian music. Jesse is half of the band Elkhorn, an improvisational guitar duo with Drew Gardner, that has been playing since 2013. Over a slew of albums and tours, Elkhorn has ventured into countless psychedelic spaces, anchored by the churn of Jesse's acoustic 12-string guitar. Jesse's non-Elkhorn musical output includes a folk duo with his daughter, Eva, and playing electric bass in various rock combos. As Solar Hex, Kaily mixes solo cello improvisation with keening vocal laments accompanied by harmonium. She and Mike perform frequently as a duo and in larger ensembles around their homes in Virginia, as well as sometimes taking the music farther afield.
Pergola is the work of Baltimore-based fingerstyle guitarist Todd Shelar. His music is influenced by American Primitive Guitar players, impressionism, minimalism, Renaissance through modern classical guitar and various folk music traditions. For Pergola’s Rhizome set, he'll be celebrating the release of his latest record of solo acoustic guitar instrumentals titled “Moon Glows The Same.”
Jon Camp is a fingerstyle guitarist and composer from the DC region. Jon blends twang, drone, and melody into a cohesive whole that is exploratory without forsaking the hook. Of Jon’s self-titled release on Centripetal Force, Andy French of Raven Sings the Blues said, "From fingerpicked folk to broken dawn blues, glycerine Loren Connors contemplation, bluegrass breezes and non-trad tributaries, the album doesn’t settle. With so many muses, Jon keeps things from swerving between impulses, finding a common beam between the hues in his wheel of colors." For Jon’s set, he'll perform as a five-piece ensemble with Jon and Dave Jones (The Caribbean) on electric guitar, Julian Comanda on bass, Scott Verrastro (Kohoutek, Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders) on drums, and Todd Shelar on shruti box.