On Thursday, June 12, multi-instrumentalists Macie Stewart, Lia Kohl, and Whitney Johnson present their brand-new releases on Chicago’s ever-influential labels: International Anthem (Stewart) and Drag City (Kohl & Johnson). Head down to AB Club and join the experience!
Stewart will showcase her solo piano debut When the Distance Is Blue, featuring guest appearances by Kohl and Johnson, released on the renowned International Anthem. Kohl and Johnson will present For Translucence on Drag City—a bold blend of strings, synths, ambient sounds, and radio interference.
Macie Steward
She has already worked with Makaya McCraven and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), has written arrangements for Alabaster DePlume, Resavoir, Mannequin Pussy and SZA and she immerses herself in the art of songwriting with Finom. For her debut, she returns to her first musical love: the piano. She has the listener join her in the unavoidable forgotten and lost times that come with intensive touring.
Whitney Johnson & Lia Kohl’s debut album developed over the years from their first experiments with free improvisation on viola and cello to – as it now sounds – a neophonic orchestral work. For Translucence is a captivating yet calming experience, a lively meditation in which layers of acoustic strings, synthesizers, field recordings, radio sounds and sine waves strengthen each other and intertwine.
Cellist, composer and multi-disciplinary artist Lia Kohl is part of Chicago’s new generation of experimental and improvisational musicians. Collaborations with artists like Circuit des Yeux, Steve Gunn, claire rousay, Steve Hauschildt and Makaya McCraven have provided her with a solid footing in the international music world.
Violist and academic Whitney Johnson leads a double life: there is the musical entity under the name Matchess, while as a sociologist of sound she is known as Whitney Johnson. In September 2024, Drag City simultaneously released Hav (Johnson) and Stena (Matchess), whereby her two personalities musically challenged each other to create new, hypnotic parallels.
