Big Lazy and Mamie Minch — two underground bands from the Brooklyn Barbés scene — share a vibe if not a genre. Big Lazy is completely instrumental, self-described as “crime jazz & highway twang”, while Mamie is an acoustic blues crooner, singer-songwriter, and dogged feminist. But they’re both slightly punk, very DIY, and fiercely independent — the atmosphere is retro; a bit old-fashioned in a noble sort of way; the music has one foot in the present and the other in the past, sometime back before people sat around all day staring at smartphones.
And the two bands are friends, which makes this double-bill a sweet and intimate occasion for them both to share some songs with you from their respective songbooks — music from across the American landscape of blues & jazz & twang, from inside the crowded bellies of cities and out on the loneliest of country roads.
Each band will play a full set.
BIG LAZY has flourished for over two decades in NYC’s downtown music scene. Simultaneously noir and pastoral, gothic and modern, the trio conjures images from big sky country to seedy back rooms with cinematic clarity. With a nod towards classic guitar instrumentals and a fiery performance style, their most recent album, Dear Trouble, captures the essence of their legendary live shows.
Big Lazy founder Stephen Ulrich is the composer for the HBO series Bored to Death and the art forgery documentary Art and Craft. His filmic music can be heard in numerous recent episodes of NPR’s This American Life.
“The Big Apple Crème de la Crème.” Robert Christgau – dean of American rock critics
“Big Lazy, the elegantly gritty instrumental trio led by the extraordinary guitarist Stephen Ulrich, plays stunningly beautiful music that evokes everything from truckers’ romps to the haunting film scores of Bernard Herrmann.” The New Yorker
MAMIE MINCH is a longtime staple of New York’s acoustic blues scene. Listening to her sing and play is like unpacking a time capsule of American music that’s been stored in her 1930’s National steel guitar for decades and filtered through a modern femme sensitivity. Mamie’s newest release Slow Burn is a collaboration with drummer/producer Dean Sharenow that sees her traditional influences stretch out, turn up, and get deeper, groovier, funkier.
“Minch may be best known as an erudite, imaginative blues guitarist, but she also has a hauntingly nuanced alto voice and writes in an old-time vernacular that can be raucously funny, or profoundly sad.” Lucid Culture, September 2020
Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test within 48 hours required for entry to indoor shows. Masks required while inside the venue.
This performance is made possible in part by the generous sponsorship of Oak Meadow.