Tag: The Green Room

Crosstown Arts presents Willi Carlisle with Rachel Maxann in the Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

“Willi Carlisle speaks his truth.” – NPR Music

“Willi Carlisle is just the kind of artist that Americana music needs.” – Paste Magazine

WILLI CARLISLE is a poet and a folk singer for the people, but his extraordinary gift for turning a phrase isn’t about high falutin’ pontificatin’; it’s about looking out for one another and connecting through our shared human condition. Born and raised on the Midwestern plains, Carlisle is a product of the punk-to-folk music pipeline that’s long fueled frustrated young men looking to resist.

After falling for the rich ballads and tunes of the Ozarks, where he now lives, he began examining the full spectrum of American musical history. This insatiable stylistic diversity is obvious in his wildly raucous live performances, where songs range from sardonic trucker-ballads like “Vanlife” to the heartbreaking queer waltz “Life on the Fence,” to an existential talkin’ blues about a panic attack in Walmart’s aisle five.

With guitar, fiddle, button-box, banjo, harmonicas, rhythm-bones, and Willi’s booming baritone, this is bonafide populist folk music in the tradition of cowboys, frontier fiddlers, and tall-tale tellers. Carlisle recognizes that the only thing holding us back from greatness is each other. With a quick wit and big sing-alongs, these folksongs bring us a step closer to breaking down our divides.

“Willi Carlisle is an absolute force of nature. From the moment he walks on stage you can’t take your eyes off of him and the minute he opens his mouth you can’t help but hang on every word. Even if the songs weren’t there, the showmanship alone would be worth the price of admission, but the scary part is the songs are just as good as the stories.” — BJ Barham

Crosstown Arts presents The Otis Mission in the Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Friday, March 17, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 in advance | $20 at the door ($10 students)

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

The Otis Mission is led by veteran drummer and prominent Memphis musician, James Otis Sexton.

While James is widely known as a versatile drummer, having performed, toured, or recorded with several world renowned and Grammy-winning artists, he is least known as a composer. For this reason, “The Otis Mission” was created, and it will solely perform James’ original musical compositions.

Because he’s performed in a plethora of musical genres including gospel, jazz, fusion, rhythm & blues, hip hop, salsa, and more, it’s no surprise that his music would reflect just that.

This promises to be a fun night of music and the inception of a new staple in Memphis music heritage.

This ensemble consists of James Sexton (drums), Tony Dickerson (keys), Alvie Givhan (keys), Deante Payne (mallets), Joe Restivo (guitar), and Ted Partin (bass).

Crosstown Arts presents Ami Dang in the Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20 advance | $25 day of the show

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Amrita “Ami” Kaur Dang is a South Asian-American vocalist, sitarist, composer and producer from Baltimore. Her sound blends elements of North Indian classical, noise/ambient electronics, beat-driven psych and experimental dance pop. The work references her hybrid identity as a first-generation South Asian-American, Sikh upbringing, musical education, as well as the chaos and spirituality of the landscapes of both Baltimore and urban India.

Picking up her first sitar when she was twelve years old, Dang has studied North Indian classical music (voice and sitar) in both New Delhi and Maryland, and she also holds a degree in music technology & composition from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Following in the footsteps of artists like Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass, she seeks to advance the sound of contemporary experimental, pop, and electronic music with the sounds of South Asia — through vocals and sitar, ragas, and sampling. And vice versa, she aims to bring a broader sound palette to the legacy of South Asian music. These goals are a lifelong mission. To that end, she has collaborated with Animal Collective, William Cashion (of Future Islands), James Acaster, Thor Harris — to name a few. She has provided tour support for Beach House, black midi, Grimes, Lower Dens, Florist and more.

Crosstown Arts presents TANGELA “Splendid Mind Series ii”, featuring Spek (Was Here) and DJ set by STH MEMPHIS JEFF in the Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Saturday, February 4, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 advance | $20 at the door

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

TANGELA is the glittery finish to a masterfully crafted collage. She glows, sparkles, and shines wherever she is present. A fusion of love and artistic vision, TANGELA has dibble-dabbled in The Arts since she was a toddler — weaving in and out of painting classes, bands, theatrical outfits and dance troupes, intent on discovering her most magical talents.

Memphis music legends baptized and verified TANGELA at a young age, as she studied under the tutelage of soul music icons at the city’s STAX Academy of Music. The spirit of Memphis — the tension, hustle, grind, grit, and flair — are evident in the Berklee College of Music graduate’s products.

For more information about TANGELA:

Visit @PUSSII_DUSSE on Instagram

Email tangelamgmtco@gmail.com

Stream “SPLENDID MIND EP” on your music listening platform of choice

Crosstown Arts presents Gareth Pearson in the Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20

“Gareth is fast becoming one of the world’s most renowned instrumental guitarists.” – Adam Walton (BBC Radio Wales)

“I really respect Gareth’s abilities. He’s a great young man and a great ambassador for the acoustic guitar.” – Tommy Emmanuel

Gareth Pearson is referred to as “The Welsh Tornado” which is particularly appropriate, seeing as this special talent combines fingerstyle pyrotechnics, with explosive lead runs making Pearson one of the most exciting acoustic musicians gigging today.

Gareth has a distinctive style that can be heard through his creative and innovative arrangements which cover a wide spectrum of genres, including country/folk/classical/pop/rock/jazz/swing and bluegrass music, along with his own beautiful and often intricate original compositions.

Drawing his playing style initially from influences such as Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Jerry Reed and Tommy Emmanuel, he has developed a style that is both inspiring and entertaining.

Within a year of taking up the guitar, Gareth was opening for Tommy Emmanuel on his 2005 UK tour. It was in Cardiff where Tommy invited Gareth to play at the CAAS convention (Chet Atkins Appreciation Society) in Nashville, Tennessee.

Later that year, Gareth was performing and touring alongside Ray Davies (The Kinks), John Renbourne, and Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Jukes. During the Southside Johnny tour, Gareth was invited by Southside to be flown over to the USA to open for his annual New Years Eve concert at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey.

The following year Gareth was invited by Tommy Emmanuel to be the support act for his UK tour, following extensive UK supports to Jan Akkerman, Andy McKee and appearing at numerous Folk Festivals and Guitar workshops including the Montreal Jazz Festival.

With appearances throughout Europe and a growing reputation, Gareth was invited to perform at the 2008 Canadian Guitar Festival where he came to the attention of Candyrat Records. This lay the seed for Gareth to be the first UK guitarist to be signed by the label. On its release, Gareth’s debut album “Urban Echoes Vol 1” was selected by Acoustic Guitar editors and frequent contributors as one of the “Essential Acoustic Albums of 2010”.

With appearances at the 2009 Montreal Guitar Festival, USA and worldwide tours and guitar workshops, Gareth’s reputation as a performer and teacher is constantly growing.

Crosstown Arts presents Xiu Xiu with The Pop Ritual in The Green Room.

The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $25 General Admission

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Xiu Xiu’s most recent work is a record of halves.

Angela Seo sings on half of the record. Jamie Stewart sings on half of the record.

Half of the songs are experimental industrial. Half of the songs are experimental modern classical. Half of it is real. Half of it is imaginary.

The real songs attempt to turn the worst life has offered to five people the band is connected with into some kind of desperate shape that does something, anything, other than grind and brutalize their hearts and memory within these stunningly horrendous experiences.

The imaginary songs are an expansion and abstract exploration of the early rock and roll “Teen Tragedy” genre as jumping off point to decontaminate the band’s own overwhelming emotions in knowing and living with what has happened to these five people.

What none of this record does and despite the oft repeated assertion, what Xiu Xiu has never done, is attempt to superficially shock the listener. Instead, Xiu Xiu has spent twenty years grappling with how to process, to be empathetic towards, to disobey and to reorganize horror; there is no other word for it other than horror.

The motivation for writing Ignore Grief to be about a child who was sold into prostitution by his mother, a junior high student who was kidnapped and murdered, incessantly choosing alcohol and cocaine over one’s family, becoming lost in the bleakest, darkest aspects of cultish spirituality and committing suicide as means to escape and protest a life of violent sex work is because the members of Xiu Xiu themselves are deeply shocked.

Old friend and new member David Kendrick (Sparks, Devo, Gleaming Spires) joins Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart through whatever this may be and whatever it may mean and why ever it may have occurred. The point of aesthetic examination is to see if there is any way to come out the other side or if there is even any reason. In either case there may not be but to simply turn away would be yet a further act of destruction.

“I had now lost all confidence in myself, doubted all men immeasurably, and abandoned all hopes for the things of this world, all joy, all sympathy, eternally. This was the truly decisive incident of my life. I had been split through the forehead between the eyebrows, a wound that was to throb with pain whenever I came into contact with a human being.” – Osamu Dazai