Sunday January 7 * 7pm

milarepa dorji is an improviser from maine who always brings an eclectic sensibility to their music, whether solo or in groups.

Liam Grant is a New England guitarist with a punk ethos, cut from the American Primitive cloth. The restless guitar explorations, modal epics, and driving uptempo rags recall the likes of Grant's pedagogue, Takoma Records, and the path that was paved by his forebears John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and later Glenn Jones, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Jack Rose, and others.
Bridging that past Grant evokes the pith of the landscape in which he was raised. Personal instrumental memoirs and ruminations on the banks of the Merrimack River. Amoskeag. And the place where the waters flow around it. Salmon tails up the falls and black pearls from the river. The exodus to Stratton-Eustis and the Last Night on the Dead River before the great flood.

"Although only 23 years old, Liam’s become a leading force in a much needed third wave revival of American Primitive music. Despite his age, Liam’s the very definition of 'an old soul' and while he draws on a wide variety of contemporary influences, he also channels a comprehensive history of the blues as well as a deeper energy that informs both his playing and songwriting." -- Rob Vaughn, Portland, Oregon – July 2023

Dechen (Ellen McSweeney) is a singer, violinist, and songwriter based in Takoma, DC. She writes art-folk songs about love, death, and the spiritual path. She spent a decade playing classical and contemporary music in Chicago, and recently spent two years training at a monastery in Vermont. Her sets are intimate, stripped-down, and meditative experiences that may help you cry, breathe, and feel your heart.