SOLD OUT: Beth Orton with special guest Pneumatic Tubes
Thursday, March 7, 2024
6:30 pm Doors // 7:30 pm Music
All Ages
$59 (+taxes/fees) Premium Seating
$49 (+taxes/fees) Preferred Reserved Seating
$39 (+taxes/fees) Advance General Admission // $44 (+taxes/fees) At The Door
Ticket purchases are final and non-refundable
The Parkway is a fully seated venue
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A rare and intimate evening with acclaimed British singer/songwriter Beth Orton -- joined by multi-instrumentalist Jesse Chandler (Midlake, Mercury Rev) -- who will open the night with a set of original compositions under his solo nom-de-plume, Pneumatic Tubes.
A pioneer of the "folktronica" genre (mixing elements of folk and electronica), Beth Orton has long been regarded as possessing one of the most unique and expressive voices in music – a voice that has grown evermore rich and wise over time.
English singer/songwriter Beth Orton’s latest album Weather Alive was one of the most critically acclaimed records of 2022, landing on year-end ‘Best of 2022’ lists from NPR, Pitchfork, and the New York Times—the latter of which praised Orton for her “modal vocal phrases and marveling [stories].”
Orton self-produced Weather Alive, laying the foundations of the album on an upright piano that she installed in her garden shed at home in London. For this special performance at The Parkway, she will re-create the original inspiration for the album—focusing on voice, piano, and guitar.
Orton has long been regarded as possessing one of the most unique and expressive voices in music—a voice that has grown evermore rich and wise over time. Her 1996 debut, Trailer Park, pioneered a synthesis of electronic and acoustic sounds, while its 1999 follow-up, Central Reservation, garnered international success. Further albums like the Jim O’Rourke-produced Comfort of Strangers and 2016’s largely electronic Kidsticks co-produced by Orton deepened the breadth of her craft.
A turbulent life that progressed with long periods of ill health slowed her down and made for experience that she was only able to process through music. She began to spend more time making music at the piano than on guitar and the songs she wrote turned into the eight-track Weather Alive, the first album she’s ever self-produced in her nearly 30-year career.
“Music has always worked as a way of seeing,” she says. “I found myself writing until the words lost sense, which is really scary in the real world but really interesting when you’re making music. It gives all meaning new meaning. One of the most exciting elements of writing songs is how they reveal their truth as the process develops.” Indeed, the first notes of the album-opening title track usher the listener into an expansive, emotive and dream-like world of sound with little precedence in Orton’s prior work. The artist challenged herself to create music accordingly. Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden or Alice Coltrane come to mind at times throughout the record.
