Venue: La Sotterenea (4848 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, Quebec H2T 1R5) Date: May 23, 2024 Doors: 8:00 PM Music: 8:30 PM
Tickets: $20.00 with taxes and fees in advance / $20.00 at the door
Advance Tickets: https://www.venuepilot.co/events/100209/orders/new#/
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1605569410197557
Co-presented with Casa del Popolo Presents with funding from SODEC.
Accessibility information is listed below.
Kaia Kater’s new album, Strange Medicine (coming May 2024 on Free Dirt Records), opens with a haunting vision. Accompanied by Aoife O’Donovan, Kater sings of the women burned at the stake as witches in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts and their wish to strike back: “I dreamt I moved through you and / Burned my name into your chest”. It’s an opening salvo from an album that celebrates the power of women and oppressed people throughout history as they rise up and turn the poison of centuries of oppression into a strange kind of medicine. Kater’s songs are dialogues with these historical figures and meditations on her own modern life as well. In the years since her 2018 album, Grenades, on Smithsonian Folkways, Kater has taken time to reinvent herself and hone her skills, first attending film school to learn composition, then diving deeper into her songwriting to come up with her most personal album yet. Feeling the pressure as a talented young songwriter, banjo player, and bandleader with three successful albums and an NPR Tiny Desk Concert under her belt, Kater struggled initially with the expectations of her adopted genre, Americana. “I was factoring everybody else’s perception into my songwriting,” she says. “Would I write more honestly if I knew that no one would ever hear this?” With that in mind, Kater retreated to her apartment in Montréal. Sitting at home with her banjo, the songs unfolded in personal intimacy, revealing windows into the perspective of women and revolutionaries through history. Co-producing with Joe Grass (Elisapie, The Barr Brothers), Kater invited close friends and colleagues O’Donovan and Allison Russell to sing on the album, along with longtime hero and American legend Taj Mahal.
Thanya Iyer is both a person and a band. Thanya Iyer the person, is 1/3 of Thanya Iyer the band. The other 2/3s are made up of Alex, Dan, and other great friends. Thanya Iyer (the band) has done a lot (released an album, released a mixtape, played at festivals, played in every time zone in North America, etc). Thanya Iyer (the person) has done all this and then some. Thanya Iyer (the person) is a very busy person. Thanya Iyer (the band) is a very busy band and the sound has evolved to reflect this. Thanya Iyer (the band) struggles to define their music (only when asked, they don’t think about it the rest of the time) and rather than recite a list of genres and sub-genres, they would rather you just listen and tell them. But for the lazy (or busy) people out there maybe Future-Folk is accurate (or vague) enough? Thanya Iyer (the person and the band) will continue her and their never-ending quest to bring joy to those they come in contact with. Using music, conversation, green tea, and miscellaneous.
Accessibility: The Sotterenea is located in a basement of 4848 St-Laurent Boulevard (there are 22 steps total). There are gender neutral washrooms which are not wheelchair accessible. There is a Hearing Assistance System on the FM dial at 101.1 FM. Anyone needing assistance accessing the space can contact us at: – we are happy to try and accommodate people to the best of our ability.
Public Transportation: La Sala Rossa is roughly equidistant between the Laurier and Mont-Royal metro stations. Closest bus stops are:
-1/2 block from northbound 55 and 363 (St-Laurent / Villenueve, stop ID: 51875)
-2 1/2 blocks from southbound 55 and 363 (St-Urbain / Villeneuve, Stop ID: 51848)
-1/2 block from westbound 46, 51 and 711 (St-Joseph / St-Laurent, Stop ID: 51828)
-1/2 block from eastbound 51 and 711 (St-Joseph / St-Laurent, Stop ID: 51829)