Tuesday January 6 * doors at 7, show at 7:30 * $15-30 * TICKETS

Under his own name, Joe Westerlund has emerged as an intuitive improviser and composer during the last decade, scoring deep meditative practice over the course of three full-length solo records. After all, Westerlund—a longtime student of Milford Graves—has now spent more than a quarter-century gleaning lessons from folk musicians and avant-garde icons, from close friends and challenging strangers alike. He served as the dynamic backbone of Megafaun, the North Carolina trio that he cofounded, and initiated collaborations with Arnold Dreyblatt, On Fillmore and Justin Vernon. As a session drummer, he has worked as the pulse beneath the plaintive Americana of Watchhouse, Daughter of Swords, and Jake Xerxes Fussell and been a textural anchor for the folk abstraction of Califone. Currently, he tours and records primarily in an improvisational trio, Setting (with Jaime Fennelly and Nathan Bowles), as a duo with trumpeter Trever Hagen, and as a solo artist on Psychic Hotline. His latest release, Curiosities from the Shift, is Westerlund’s definitive statement so far: a playful exploration driven by beats but not bound by them.

Jay Hammond is a guitarist and songwriter from Jackson, TN living between Washington DC and Asheville, NC. He records and performs his original songs under the moniker Trippers & Askers, whose 2021 release, “Acorn” was called a "shimmering homage to nature" by The Guardian. In 2023, he released an album of instrumental music alongside Andy Stack (Wye Oak) entitled "Inter Personal" that was called "gold" by Talkhouse. As a guitarist, he has performed and/or recorded with Psychic Temple, Eamon Fogarty, No Lands, Chessa Rich and Libby Rodenbough. Through these collaborations, he has worked with current or former members of The Sun Ra Arkestra, The War on Drugs, Lambchop, Wye Oak, Sylvan Esso, and St. Vincent, and Psychic Temple. His recording credits include New Amsterdam Records, Galtta Media and Sleepy Cat Records. He has worked as an instructor Duke University Department of Music, currently teaches in the Performing Arts Department at Georgetown University, and has collaborated with Grammy Award winning artist Anthony LaMarca in the band No Lands.