with Uhl
Doors at 7:00, show at 8:00
$10 adv/$13
21+
About this Event
For Camp Saint Helene, the concept of otherworldliness is neither strange nor complex, but alluring and holy. Formed by Elizabeth Celeste Ibarra and Dylan Nowik, and joined by Wesley Harper and Alex P. Wernquest, they approach their craft akin to a ritual, leaning into the notion that art and expression are sacred experiences on an overstimulated planet. Often informed by the spirit of a defunct Christian-summer camp turned arts-colony deep within the mountains of New York, their music searches for shimmers of hope amidst hints of doom.
“Farfisa Song”, off their debut record, Mother (2019), was named KEXP’s Song of the Day and added to KEXP Music that Matters Vol. 683 by Cheryl Waters. She describes Camp Saint Helene as “..call[ing] to mind the '60s California folk scene with their gentle, waltz-like pastoral sound”. Additionally, “Farfisa Song” was featured predominantly in Amazon Prime’s teen horror drama, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and Mother was named by Bandcamp as a New and Notable record of 2019, describing it as “Occult-folk in the 70’s U.K. tradition that further affirms the link between Appalachian and British folk songs”.
They recorded their first album almost entirely live to 8-track, 1⁄2” tape, at Basement Floods Records in Catskill, New York. Their second album is currently in production.
Showcasing her operatic background through a pop lens, Uhl makes dynamic music that is as informed by Mozart and Puccini as it is by art pop divas Kate Bush and Annie Lennox. The results are enigmatic, dramatic, and transportive and will certainly appeal to fans of contemporaries like Weyes Blood, Perfume Genius, and Cate Le Bon.
Channels presents the voice as an instrument and songwriting as an opportunity to transport listeners to a series of unique settings. "I spent my whole life studying classical music and performing music as other people," Uhl says. And so this process of embodying characters continues in her own work. "I approach my own music like I would approach an aria or art song."
Each song on Channels is voiced by a different character living through their own unique struggle. Uhl is, in a sense, channelling them.
Uhl's earliest musical memory is telling: “I was in the back of my Mom's car on the way to school when 'Pavement Cracks' by Annie Lennox came on, and it felt like the song made time slow down. I was so focused on the sounds –– their textures and the way they made me feel. It was my first realization that musical choices are intentional and possess the power to transport a listener to unknown places.”
That visceral connection to music led Uhl to begin studying music formally at the age of 12 when she developed a deep affinity for opera and classical music and a youthful drive to live life as a professional opera singer. Her four years of conservatory training concluded just as the world was going into lockdown.
Like many musicians, during 2020 Uhl found time away from the rigors of her routines which, in her case, meant a break from the classical music world. She utilized this moment to pursue writing her own music and in doing so she found her voice. But what that voice contains, it would seem, is a variety of voices. Uhl is singular, but Channels is plural.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Skylark Lounge, 140 South Broadway, Denver, United States
USD 10.00
