11/17 at Rhizome with Aaron Martin

Very excited to re-announce that I will be playing duo with DC elder Aaron Martin at Rhizome on the 17th! We'll be joined on the bill by Atlanta's Whispers of the Night and a third performer TBA.

This will probably serve to one of the last few shows of the year for me: a preemptive end-of-the-year "Thanks" to everyone who comes out to shows, fills out bills, hosts gigs and generally supports the arts. It's so cool that people are psyched to see improvised music and the more experimental side of things. I'm profoundly grateful for all the wonderful opportunities this year and psyched for more to come! 

See you at a gig!

-Ian

Lipscomb/Gilgore/McColm Trio at Rhizome DC (Photo from Instagram)

RVA THX/November gigs thus far...

Thanks to Tashi Dorji, James Toth, and the folks at Black Iris in Richmond, VA for a great time last night! It was so wonderful to be able to take some leaps of faith in front of such an attentive audience!

Polaroids of James and Tashi that I took this past year

Two fun gigs coming up at Rhizome DC:

11/1 - Jarrett Gilgore, Jon Lipscomb, and myself open for Gaute Granli & Macho Blush who are on tour together

11/17 - I'm honored to be playing with DC elder Aaron Martin opening for Atlanta's Whispers of Night

Hopefully you can make it out to one of them!

See you there!

More October performances!

I have two more rad gigs to announce for the month.

First, I will be playing with the mighty Low Ways Trio at Showtime Bar (DC) tomorrow night (Wednesday 10/4). This is always an exciting group to play with and Mark's music is really terrific.

Secondly, we'll be celebrating the birthday of the inimitable Luke Stewart at Dew Drop Inn (DC) on October 12th as a double trio of Heart of the Ghost (Luke, Jarrett Gilgore, and myself) and Organix trio (Jamal Moore, Jeron White, and Trae Crudup). This is the first time these groups have ever collaborated and we're all excited to make all the talk we've had a reality. 

Psyched! See you at a gig!

Low Ways Trio at Rhizome DC (Photo from Instagram)

Fall gigs thus far...

I'm excited for some more gigs coming up the next few months!

As of now, these are what are confirmed but there may be more to come.

9/29 - I'll be playing drums with the mighty Low Ways Trio (Mark Cisneros, Luke Stewart, and myself). It's usually a quartet but Anthony Pirog is indisposed that night so this will be a fun time to re-approach that music with a new configuration.

10/14 - Nagual & Stefan Christensen return to blast New Haven with feedback improvisations at Orchard Street. New Haven is one of the meccas of guitar music right now and I'm so glad to be able to play & visit there so often.

10/17 - Jarrett Gilgore & I revisit some of Marian McLaughlin's gorgeous music and hopefully add some more tunes to our repertoire at DC9.

11/1 - The freakishly talented Jon Lipscomb will be coming back to the States and playing in a new trio with Jarrett and myself. Very excited about this collaboration and I hope some more comes of it.

Stay tuned & see you at a gig!

Xenga & Zach Rowden Record!

I just arrived back in Virginia from a weekend recording with Jarrett Gilgore and the mighty Zach Rowden. Henry Birdsey, a friend & skilled engineer/composer, was kind enough to engineer the recordings and give us some studio time. The session was fruitful & hopefully you will hear/see the result soon! 

Until these collaborative sessions are released, you can hear our music on a split I announced in a previous blog post or come see Jarrett & I play with Luke Stewart, Tashi Dorji, and Tyler Damon at Rhizome DC on September 9th. 

See you at the gig!! 

Photo by Henry Birdsey  

Nagual & Stefan hit the road...

I'm very excited to play three crucial dates with this trio. The new release looks excellent & we'll have some of our old march as well for sale. We're playing with some absolutely incredible acts & old friends. You really can't ask for more in this world. 

7/21 - Rhizome, DC w/ Developer, JRNLR, & Wasteland Jazz Unit

7/22 - Kung Fu Necktie, Philly w/ Fully Glazed & Stefan (solo) 

7/23 - 49 Shade, Brooklyn w/ Bebe Yama, Charmaine Lee & Zach Rowden, & Max Alper  

See you at the gig!!  

Xenga + Zach Rowden "Split" & Nagual drives North

In the intervening period since the site was under construction, Jarrett Gilgore, Zach Rowden, and I went on a wonderful & short Southern tour down to Atlanta and back. We all still have copies of the split we released for tour. I think it looks beautiful & I'm very proud of the design on this one. It's not up on the web yet but drop me a line if you'd like a copy.  

Xenga  + Zach Rowden's "Split" out now on Pidgin Records!!

Next up is a short tour with Nagual & Stefan Christensen this coming weekend. We'll have a new feedback-laden tape from C/Site Recordings with us (as seen above). Come say hey! 

Dates as follows:

7/21 - DC w/ Developer & Wasteland Jazz Unit at Rhizome DC

7/22 - Philly w/ Fully Glazed at Kung Fu Necktie

7/23 - Brooklyn w/ Charmaine Lee & Zach Rowden, Bebe Yama, and Max Alper at 49 Shade

See you at the gig!!

Nagual + Stefan Christensen's "II" out soon on C/Site Recordings!!  

More in July

A few new shows just got confirmed for the coming month:

Jarrett Gilgore & I will be performing as Xenga for Capital Fringe's music in the Courtyard series. We'll also be joining our friend Marian McLaughlin on her set just following ours. After performing with her at Normal's, we're excited to continue to work on such beautiful music! 

On the 19th, Heart of the Ghost (Luke Stewart, Jarrett, and I) will be opening for solo sax force, Jonah Parzen-Johnson. We've all know Jonah for a number of years & it will surely be a pleasure to play in support of his new music. 

More to come!!! 

See you at a gig! 

Early Summer

I just got off of a very brief stint playing drums behind Jesse and Drew of Elkhorn. It was a pleasure getting to join them in Philly and DC this weekend. The shows were really a blast: many thanks to all who came out!

You can check out some of their music here: https://elkhorn.bandcamp.com/

Sunday, Heart of the Ghost got back together to play the Takoma Park Jazz Fest. I'm honored to say we'll be backing up Chicago's Paul Giallorenzo at Normal's in Baltimore on Thursday night. The inimitable Susan Alcorn will be playing on that bill as well. Truly not to be missed.

Check out Paul's stuff here: http://www.paulgiallorenzo.com/

And Susan's here: http://www.susanalcorn.net/

This Friday night, New Haven's Dave Scanlon will be gracing Rhizome in DC with his intense and innovative approach to electric guitar. Xenga (my running duo with Jarrett Gilgore) will be opening in collaboration with Marc Miller. Also, DC's ripping-est new duo of Sarah Hughes and Nate Scheible will be playing. Really psyched for this!

Live Scrap

This page will serve as an attempt to keep up with real-time gig announcements, photos, and to throw some of the debris from touring and recording your way. Hopefully, it will be entertaining as well as informative. (No Promises)

Thanks for reading & dropping by,

See you at the gig!

-Ian