Friday 19 April 2019, 7.30pm
Anna & Elizabeth hold firm to the roots of American folk song, while removing the limits of how that music can be played and presented.
“an audacious step forward ... subtly pushing at what folk music sounds like and what it can do” – Pitchfork
The duo of Virginian singer Elizabeth LaPrelle and Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist Anna Roberts-Gevalt recently released The Invisible Comes to Us, their second LP on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings - a spellbinding reconfiguration of ancient folk ballads that sees the duo’s immersion in Appalachian music move to a place of boundless experimentation.
Live, Anna & Elizabeth seek to honestly channel the often cryptic and complex narratives of the songs they have collected. Resisting cosy 'show and tell' didacticism, they instead draw the audience into an impressionistic continuum of song, drone, sound collage and improvisation, often using hand-woven 'crankies' to visually illustrate these rich, foreboding and eternal tales. The pair have moved towards AV installation work as a means to further develop this lateral approach to performance, most recently crafting a multimedia piece exploring the legacy and music of Salem ballad singer Texas Gladden for Cube Fest in Blacksburg, VA.
Ingrid Plum uses her voice with extended technique, improvisation, field recordings and electronics, to create layered soundscapes, spoken word and songs.
Originally trained in classical singing and performing from age 7, Plum was awarded a scholarship after her 5 octave range was discovered at 11. Specialising in Sound Art with Performance at the University Of Brighton before studying a Masters in Music Creative Practice at Goldsmiths, University of London, after graduating Plum continued her studies in voice by exploring extended vocal technique in ethnographic research, incorporating these techniques and traditions into her work which has been exhibited and performed internationally.
Plum formed the free improv group Susurrations in 2011 and in 2012 she launched Plum Records, released her solo EP 'The Tunnel Recordings' followed in 2015 by her debut album 'Plangent'. In 2016 this was followed by 'Everything Is Becoming Science Fiction' a collaboration with Graham Dunning, Ian Stonehouse and John Harries and 'Unsung', a collection of early sound works from installations and films 2002-2012. In 2016 she formed free improv trio PlumPyneThornton, founded all female noise choir The Larsens, and studied directly with Meredith Monk. Plum is a visiting lecturer in Interdisciplinary Practice, Sound and Media at Goldsmiths University Of London and the University of Brighton. She is the founder of Bechdel, a DIY event platform for female experimental/noise/spoken word/improv/free folk/free jazz/folk/Neo-classical acts and is based between the UK and Denmark.
