Martha Wainwright, Brad Barr (of The Barr Brothers) @ FREMONT ABBEY

Abbey Arts and The Crocodile present:

Martha Wainwright: www.marthawainwright.com

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of her seminal eponymous debut studio album, Martha Wainwright announces the 20th Anniversary Tour, hitting North America in the Spring of 2025.

“20 years ago my life as an artist took shape when my first record was released. In many ways that record defined me, as well as launched me into a now over 20 year long career that has made me who I am. It was after 10 years of playing in bars, making cassettes and EPs to sell at my shows, singing backup for my brother Rufus, falling in love and out of love and in again, practicing, writing, singing until I could barely sing anymore, partying, walking for hours and hours, crying and laughing with friends, playing with musicians and listening to great artists working with my ex-husband in the studio for 2 years that created this first record.

Labels wouldn't sign me when I started and I had to craft, with the help of many people, an album that would finally be licensed and released in 2005. My first record tells my story and when it was finally released I was able to work and tour and have a career in music - something that I always wanted but wasn't sure would happen. 20 years later, with 6 other albums under my belt, 2 kids and a career that is chugging along, I can safely say that my first record paved my way forward and I'm very proud of it and still sing many of these early songs.

On March 21st we will release the record on vinyl for the first time ever, as well as digitally release unheard songs, outakes and early material from that 10 year period of discovery that led to my first record. And along with the re-release there will be a tour (with more dates being announced soon), with a few great musicians, where I'll play the record in its entirety as well as a few new songs - there's no 48 year old me without the 28 year old me.

With love and gratitude,

Martha

Brad Barr (of The Barr Brothers) www.linktr.ee/bradbarrmusic

Over a career that spans three decades, Brad Barr has cultivated a uniquely visceral, disarmingly intimate approach to the guitar. If you’re already a fan of the Montreal-based Barr Brothers, or the legendary improv-rock trio The Slip, then you already know — it’s futile to try and categorize his ongoing experiments in sound and songwriting.

It’s a never-ending quest of sorts. The Providence, RI native is ever searching for an expression that’s free of cliches and idioms, universal in spirit, bold as love. His approach petitions you to lean in and listen — as if that, more than anything, were the point of it all. To be of service to the moment. His song-writing speaks with us — not at us — with both a confessional wisdom and a child’s eye; with the hope of seeing the world and its dusks and dawns and dreams like it did the first time.

Hidden depths emerge. In something as quotidien as “the blues”, Brad Barr’s ear picks up the strains of a borderless sound that has criss-crossed the world for thousands of years. Carnatic ragas flow seamlessly into the Mississippi Delta. The oblong rhythms of the Sahel are imbibed by the sage and smoke of a Navajo love song. The telluric forces of the Earth heave through the open portal of an amplified guitar.

His musical journeys, almost always in lockstep with sibling drummer Andrew Barr, have taken them on chimerical paths: from all-night sets at jam festivals to the main stages of Newport Folk and Montreal Jazz; from tightly focused avant-rock collaborations to atmospheric reverb-laced folk ballads. Starting in the mid-90s, their trio The Slip built a global cult following for their wide-ranging compositions and deeply improvisational sets. When the two brothers moved to Montreal in 2005, they started a new chapter with experimental harpist Sarah Pagé and formed the Barr Brothers. The ensuing three albums have each been nominated for a Juno award, and they have shared the bill with such artists as My Morning Jacket, Calexico, Bela Fleck, The War on Drugs, Tinariwen, Built to Spill, The Prodigy, Emmylou Harris, and others.

Amidst the pandemic, Brad released his second instrumental recording, called THE WINTER MISSION (Secret City Records), with a simple rule: just the guitar. Its raw, unsettling intimacy is described as “an album of riches that needs to be given plenty of listens and plenty of time. It will certainly reward you.”

At the heart is an artist who is constantly reinventing himself — whether in the studio or in front of audiences — and the mystery of what might happen next is always there. There is an accumulated treasure trove of songs, both lyric and instrumental, from his thirty-plus years of constant exploration; and there is Brad himself, already leaning into the next turn, trying mostly to surprise himself... and the listener is along for the ride.

@ Fremont Abbey Arts Center

7p doors, 8p show

All ages, some seating available, bar w/ID

ABBEY ARTS EVENT INFO:

• Fremont Abbey is ADA accessible on either level.
• For most events we have a mix of padded chairs and standing room.
• Seating is not guaranteed or reserved unless noted.
• To respect the performing artists and your fellow attendees, please refrain from talking during the performances
• Please limit photos during the show so as to not distract other attendees from the experience.
• Phone and video may be permitted for some shows, from the standing area only please.
• No professional cameras or cameras with shutters allowed in the venue
• We are an all ages venue. Kids 10 & under are free at Abbey Arts concerts & arts events unless noted.
• Equity & Inclusion - Entering the venue indicates agreement to adhere to the Abbey Respect Policy. www.fremontabbey.org/respect
• Service animals as defined by the ADA are allowed. Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.