Saturday March 23 * doors at 6pm, music at 7pm * TICKETS
Hour is an instrumental ensemble demonstrating a compositional ethos grounded in rote arrangement and group improvisation while aiming for breathy timbral intricacy and carefully balanced melodicism.
Formed in the flourishing underground of West Philadelphia in the latter half of the 2010s, Hour fluctuates in size and scope around composer and multi-instrumentalist Michael Cormier-O'Leary (Friendship, Dear Life Records) who provides a clear yet open-ended harmonic framework and an ambitious ear towards evoking atmosphere, both expansive and intimate.
Cormier-O'Leary has contributed notably across the landscape of independent music, and Hour clearly distills the versatile range and community-minded nature of his touch.
In 2018, Hour released two albums: Tiny Houses and Anemone Red. Both achieved critical acclaim from outlets such as Stereogum, NPR, Goldflakepaint, Line of Best Fit, and more. Comedian Joe Pera told Pitchfork that Tiny Houses was one of the albums he listened to for inspiration when writing season 3 of his show Joe Pera Talks With You.
Hour has shared the stage with Loren Connors, Kath Bloom, Sam Amidon, Jeffrey Lewis, and more.
One of the world’s premiere exponents of her instrument, Susan Alcorn has taken the pedal steel guitar far beyond its traditional role in country music. Having first paid her dues in Texas country & western bands, she began to expand the vocabulary of her instrument through her study of 20th century classical music, visionary jazz, and world musics.
Though known as for her solo work, she has collaborated with numerous artists including Pauline Oliveros, Chris Cutler, the London Improvisors Orchestra, the Glasgow Improvisors Orchestra, Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ingrid Laubrock and Leila Bourdreuil, George Burtm Evan Parker, Michael Formanek, Zane Campbell, and Mary Halvorson among others.
In 2016, she was voted "Best Other Instrument" by the International Critics Poll. In 2017 she received the Baker Artist Award, and in 2018, along with saxophonist Joe McPhee, she was the recipient of the Instant Award in Improvised Music.
The UK Guardian writes, “As an improvisor and composer, Alcorn has proven to be visionary. Her pieces reveal the complexity of her instrument and her musical experience while never straying from a very direct, intense, and personal musical expression.”
Heather Stebbins is a sound artist who makes sparkly, gritty, and pressing music for instruments and electronics.