Rising stars of guitar at Barking Legs tonight
Two rising stars in the world of guitar music will perform tonight, Aug. 8, at Barking Legs Theater for an evening of solos and duets.
Contemporary Performing Arts of Chattanoga and the Shaking Ray Levi Society are presenting Wendy Eisenberg and Shane Parish (of Ahleuchatistas) at 7:30 p.m. They will be joined by double bassist Evan Lipson and percussionist Bob Stagner for an opening set.
Each of the guest artists will perform individually, then together before the program concludes with book readings about music and creativity from Eisenberg and Parish and a question-and-answer session.
Eisenberg and Parish are inventive guitarists with deep roots in all genres. Both are veterans of critically acclaimed experimental rock bands, both are published in “Arcana VIII: Musicians on Music,” edited by John Zorn.
They met in March 2018, while Eisenberg was on tour in Asheville, North Carolina. Hours after meeting, they recorded “Nervous Systems,” a collection of radical standard-tuning guitar improvisations.
As an acoustic soloist, Parish creatively interprets and deconstructs folk music and jazz tunes, plays original cutting-edge polyrhythmic and contrapuntal works, and transforms the guitar into a mini-percussion ensemble. Parish is also known as the electric guitarist for the avant-rock band Ahleuchatistas.
Eisenberg is an improvising guitarist, banjo player, vocalist and poet. Using free jazz, new music and art song, her music challenges the technical demands placed on a guitar and a banjo in contemporary music.
She has two solo careers: improviser/composer and songwriter. Her albums “Its Shape Is Your Touch” and “The Machinic Unconscious” with Ches Smith and Trevor Dunn made Billboard’s 2018 Critic’s Choice Top 10 Jazz Records year-end list.