DOORS @ 7:30 / SHOWS @ 8PM, UNLESS POSTED OTHERWISE
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Thu07Mar2019
Mike Robinson / Emma Frank 3/7
7:30 Doors $10.00 Suggested Donation
Depending on when you walk in on a song, Emma’s music might sound like folk, jazz, even R&B. It’s music that never stays put, full of moving parts, shifting tempos, and winding melodies. Her songs are journeys of self-discovery, framed by insightful lyrics and her warm, gossamer voice that songwriter Leif Vollebekk described as “like leather on silk.”
Born and raised outside of Boston, Massachusetts, Emma Frank moved to Montreal in 2006 to study literature at McGill University. It’s there that she began performing regularly, releasing two critically acclaimed albums under her own name on the Montreal-based label, The 270 Sessions and performing with art-pop ensembles like She’s Got a Habit and Malcolm Sailor’s Songs for Voice and Brass. After coming to New York in August of 2015 to perform in Franky Rousseau and Dominic Mekky’s chamber opera “April”, Emma decided to move to Brooklyn. It’s there that she penned the songs on her latest release, “Ocean Av”. The music was realized by collaborating and working with the pianist Aaron Parks, and features Rick Rosato on bass, Jim Black on drums, Franky Rousseau on guitar and production. Her fourth album, Come Back, on Montreal label, Justin Time, features Aaron Parks, Franky Rousseau, Tommy Crane and Zack Lober, and is due out early 2019.
Written and recorded in moments on and off the road, Clevidence exudes the on-the-go nature of its maker, Mike Clevidence Robinson. An in-demand collaborator, Robinson is rarely in one place for very long; when not on the road as a former member of The Jeff Austin Band, he can be found performing throughout NYC, producing, or recording for others out of his home in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. A testament to Robinson’s multifaceted-ness, Clevidence showcases his many forms on guitar, pedal steel, mandolin, banjo, and bass while also delivering his recorded debut as a vocalist and songwriter.
The record spans as wide a breadth lyrically as it does sonically, exploring transition and growth while embracing influences from and features an all-star list of fellow Brooklynites Emma Frank, Alex Hargreaves, Dave Speranza, John Fatum, Zosha Warpeha and Libby Weitnauer. It was produced by Joseph Valentine and recorded at Robinson’s home in Brooklyn, NY.
Growing up for the first five years of his life on a sailboat in The Caribbean, Robinson is no stranger to a life in transit. His parents would dock at the various islands, exposing him to a vast array of cultural influences that have underpinned his work and provided a unique perspective that few of today’s songwriters can call upon. At age six, the family migrated to Boulder, Colorado where was introduced to “mountain” music, citing Tony Rice as an early influence. Robinson began learning guitar from his father, an active local musician, and eventually joined his band for weekly performances around Boulder, adopting the lifestyle of a professional musician at an early age. At eighteen, Robinson moved to New York City to study music and soon became ingrained in the city’s vibrant acoustic music scene where he has become an in-demand multi-instrumentalist. His debut EP, Clevidence, is a bold step forward as a songwriter and frontman.