Margaret Glaspy

For the first time, Margaret Glaspy is presenting a solo acoustic show filled with  songs from her past and present. Freshly off the heels of her third full-length  album, Echo The Diamond, the music emerged from a deliberate stripping-away  of artifice to reveal life for all its harsh truths and ineffable beauty. Like the  precious gem of its title, the result was an object of startling luminosity, one  capable of cutting through the most elaborately constructed façades. “That  record came from trying to meet life on life’s terms, instead of looking for a happy  ending in everything,” says the New York-based musician. “The whole  experience of creating it felt like effortless catharsis.” Glaspy will be bringing a re imagination of these songs as well as those of her favorite songwriters to the  stage with ‘Margaret Glaspy: Unplugged’. 

Originally from the Northern California town of Red Bluff, Glaspy first started  writing songs at age 15 and soon began honing the potent balance of sensitivity  and incisiveness that now imbues her music. In bringing Echo The Diamond to  life, she adhered to a songwriting process meant to preserve and amplify her  unfettered expression (“If I sit down with a guitar and stay in the same spot for  about 15 minutes, I usually have a song at the end,” she notes). Drawing from an  eclectic mix of inspirations—Sonic Youth, Vivienne Westwood’s punk-influenced  approach to fashion, Tom Waits’s music and turn as a jailbird DJ in Jim  Jarmusch’s Down By Law, the 1985 Japanese Western film Tampopo—Glaspy’s  influences show in her ability to turn a phrase with edge and humanity all in the  same gulp.  

"a revelation of intimacy and confidence" - Paste Magazine 

“For anyone who enjoys a thoughtful singer-songwriter record with adept, minimalist  instrumental backing and a powerhouse vocalist, Echo the Diamond is a worthy listen"  -Pitchfork 

"Echo the Diamond, Margaret Glaspy’s third full-length released last week, is defined by  the singer-songwriter’s unfussy view of reality, each tweaked guitar string and weary yet-hopeful lyric steeped in the California native’s reality. “Get Back” is highlighted by  that uncompromising point of view: as she insists on returning to herself amidst  immense loss, Glaspy holds nothing back, each production blemish adding character to  a rugged song that will get stuck in your head." - Billboard

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Ryan Lerman (of Scary Pockets)

As an instrumentalist, Ryan Lerman spent his 20s touring the world as a bassist for Ben Folds, guitarist for Michael Buble, and string arranger/musical director for John Legend. As a songwriter, his compositions have been recorded by Vulfpeck, Buble, and others. As a scene builder, he's one half of the creative team behind YouTube sensations Scary Pockets and ‘stories’.

Lerman's songwriting unrelentingly seeks the impassioned marriage of melody and harmony. Sonically, Lerman is an explorer, never afraid to throw a piano down a flight of stairs, dunk a wurlitzer in a sensory deprivation tank, or turn a guitar into a piece of mallet percussion. In the age of instant gratification, Lerman is not flashy; he's a craftsman. From stark acoustic intimacy to lush orchestral density, Lerman sings of romantic misfirings, existential musings, and wistful daydreaming, all with a longing that lands the listener squarely in that special space between joy and sadness.

- Theo Katzman