Guitar Worship Service is playful in name, however not to mislead the importance of the creative possibilities of a guitar, GWS presentations select musicians and sound sculptors to freely interpret what a guitar is. While there are physically different types of guitars (electric, acoustic, steel, bass, etc.), GWS also encourages a conceptual nature for examining how to approach a guitar even by non-physical interaction with the instrument. For example, performance art would be a medium to this interpretive approach even if a single note or a sound is produced from a guitar. With the freedom and encouragement for artists to apply themselves (or with collaborators) as they creatively see fit, the GWS series has but one requisite for every live set: A guitar, in whatever capacity, is integrated with non-traditional application.
On this evening, GWS # 8 proudly presents four incredibly diverse solo artists:
PINK VOID
By combining exploratory tapestry drone and (sub)liminal audio samples, a listener could sublimely abandon conceptions on how to extract sounds from a guitar. Adding to the unique technique is that not one guitar string may be strummed. The aural directive is motioned by this artist’s gradual emergence from a long hiatus that has avoided recording and performing. Consider this a rare chance to be a passenger on an immersive cruise.
BLUES WEAVE
A melting pot of coolly askew though woven with brevities of straight ahead music but all the while shifting electronic beats jump cut the listeners attention created by this far reaching guitarist that effortlessly opens passageways into auditory environments that inventively reshape the out-jazz to come tinged with even outer-blues if it’s even suitable to reference such genres.
SANDESH NAGARAJ
The profile photo on Sandesh’s Bandcamp (link below) captures a single person posed with a guitar. The image is a misnomer. To hear the application of just one guitar will not be received by your ears. An array of instruments and sound generating objects are put into place on a foundation that does not support phonic prenotions. Sandesh is a composer that successfully avoids giving pulse to the humdrum. “Charred” sounds akin to an erratic Conlon Nancarrow piano… and then sets fire to what you thought you just heard. The proof is evident through all of Sandeshe’s Bandcamp offerings. Know that we’re going to witness an audio architect constructing compositions of astounding heights.
MONED
A conduit for channeling multiple guitars to deliver seismic walls of purely warm, sculptive Larsen effects (i.e. producing palatable feedback while utilizing no loop pedals). The strong dose of meditative listening is prescribed to absorb the subtle shifting of frequencies and moaning of tones dispense a sensory experience. MONED is a psychedelic guitarist not of that musical genre but of psychotomimetic science.
These four performances will be collaboratively washed by improvisational projectionist COLORBARD VISUAL. The white wall behind the stage will be this artist’s blank canvas. This audio-visual dynamic is intended for the audience’s enjoyment while enhancing each artist’s presentations.
Note that Guitar Worship Service has no religious affiliation, rather the series title is a good-natured description to celebrate one of the most diverse instruments created. Doors open at 6:30.