Samia
There’s a line on Honey, the upcoming album from Nashville-via-NYC songwriter Samia, about Aspen Grove, a collection of 40,000 trees in the plains of North America, all connected by a single expansive root system. There’s no stronger metaphor for the audience the 25-year-old empathy engine has been generating since she began releasing music seven years ago. Her songs, her fans, her friends: one enormous, interconnected ecosystem. Honey, comprised of eleven new moments of catharsis, is by and for that organism. Set for release on January 27th, 2023 via Grand Jury Music, the album was recorded at North Carolina studio Betty’s –- owned and operated by Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sandborn and Amelia Meath, frequent touring partners of Samia’s. It was produced by Caleb Wright, part of the team that helmed Samia’s breakthrough 2020 debut The Baby (praised by the likes of The A.V. Club, The FADER, Pitchfork, NYLON, and Stereogum to name a few, ending up on year-end lists from NPR and Paste), and a founding member of one of Samia’s favorite bands, The Happy Children. It features some of her nearest and dearest friends: Christian Lee Hutson, Briston Maroney, Jake Luppen, Raffaella. Its songs were surreptitiously road tested for her devotees while opening for Lucy Dacus, Courtney Barnett, and more. The end result is what Samia calls simply “a real community record.” “We tried to be as honest as possible and keep the songs as raw as possible,” Samia said. “We talked a lot about zooming out and zooming in, giving a lot of weight to the small moments and considering them as part of a big picture, how they factor into everything else that’s happening in the world.”
Christian Lee Hutson
Christian Lee Hutson starts his new album Quitters with a laugh. In this follow up to his ANTI records debut, Beginners, Hutson moves away from the focus on growing up to the dread and complications of growing older. The laugh that announces Quitters is the kind you’ll find at the end of John Huston films, one of resignation and release, and somehow a cosmic laugh that says “California,” a place where lonely people gather together like birds.
Across Quitters’ 13 tracks, Hutson crafts this portrait of the place he’s from. In these short story-like songs, Hutson presents characters who carry this golden light and sinister geography inside them. It’s a place where everything in the end gets blown away and paved over with something new, where even the ocean and fires are always whispering, “One day we’ll take it all back.” This is a Los Angeles in constant transition, where childhood is lost, where home is gone and can never be visited again. Yet Hutson’s world is also one of happy accidents, where doors are left open on purpose, hoping that someone new will walk through. In the end, what’s left are these songs created by some future spirit, written to comfort the person we are now. Full Bio Linked Here.
Note that the event producer and Artist may change dates, times, and/or venues depending on the current COVID-19 environment. Ticket buyers will be updated by the Academy Center of the Arts staff, should any change to schedule or venue occurs.
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Tickets:
General Admission: $20.00 (plus taxes and fees)
GA Ticket + VIP Meet & Greet: $70.00 (plus taxes and fees)
Includes:
-One (1) full-price ticket to the show
-Q&A session with Samia*
-One (1) signed commemorative VIP Laminate
-One (1) Exclusive Tote Bag only available w/ VIP purchase
-Early Entry to the venue (‘Skip the Line’ 1 hour prior to listed door time)
-Early access to the merchandise table
-Limited availability
*Q&A will last approximately 15 mins. Samia will answer as many questions as she can from the stage in the time available.
For more information or to purchase tickets to this performance, contact our Bank of the James Ticketing Office at (434) 846-8499.
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Want to volunteer and see this show for free? Contact Mele Thompson, [email protected], for more information.