NICO MUHLY TOURS U.S. & CANADA IN SUPPORT OF NEW ALBUM, MOTHERTONGUE

Nico Muhly is a 26 year old NY-based composer. Since receiving his Masters in Music from the Juilliard School in 2004 Nico has amassed premieres at The Boston Pops, the BBC, American Ballet Theater (for choreographer Benjamin Millepied), the New York Public Library, Whitney Museum and a debut at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, Muhly has worked extensively with Philip Glass as editor, keyboardist, and conductor for numerous film and stage projects, and contributed to projects by Rufus Wainwright, Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), Björk, Teitur, Will Oldham, and The National, to name a few.

Nico will be touring the U.S. and Canada in support of his upcoming release, Mothertongue (out 7/22 on Brassland), and he'll be joined on this tour by fellow Vermont-to-New York transplants, Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman) and Sam Amidon. Previously, they have appeared in each other’s shows and played on each other’s records. The performances will feature music from each of the three of them, as well as some sneak previews of future collaborative schemes. Sam will perform a set of folk ballads interspersed with the occasional Melville reading and some liturgical dance, accompanied by Thomas, with guest plinks by Nico. He will then pass the microphone to Thomas, who will whisper some lamp-rock, gently expiring into the microphone, while Sam and Nico strum and plink and generally try to liven things up. Finally, Nico will perform a selection of his compositions, with help from Sam, Thomas, and violist extraordinaire Nadia Sirota, culminating in “The Only Tune,” a piece that Nico wrote for Sam, and that he, Sam, Thomas, and Nadia premiered last year at Carnegie Hall.

While the music on Nico's records involves dozens of people from scattered corners of the world, the live show easily condenses these sounds - both electric and acoustic - into a tightly-knit family meal: keyboards, viola, voices all talking, competing, squabbling, and taking turns in the spotlight. For each of these shows, Nico will play material from his debut album, Speaks Volumes, some of the larger vocal works from Mothertongue, and other instrumental music.

You can listen to an edit of Nico Muhly's "Mothertongue" here: http://www.brassland.org/sound/nicomuhly_mothertongue_edit.mp3.

You can read “Eerily Composed: Nico Muhly’s sonic magic,” a profile in The New Yorker by Rebecca Mead (Feb 11, 2008) here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/02/11/080211fa_fact_mead?printable=true.

Nico Muhly Tour Dates (all shows with Doveman, Sam Amidon)
Thu. Aug. 14 Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
Fri. Aug. 15 Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
Sat. Aug. 16 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
Mon. Aug. 18 San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Hall
Tue. Aug. 19 Los Angeles, CA @ The Hotel Cafe
Thu. Aug. 21 Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere
Fri. Aug. 22 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church Sanctuary
Sat. Aug. 23 New York, NY @ LPR
Sun. Aug. 24 Boston, MA @ Museum of Fine Arts
Tue. Aug. 26 Montreal, PQ @ La Sala Rossa w/ Doveman, Sam Amidon
Wed. Aug. 27 Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall w/ Final Fantasy
Thu. Aug. 28 Chicago, IL @ Lakeshore Theater