Name: Nomad War Machine with TJ Borden & Embarker: Contra Madre record release show
Start: 2026-02-15T20:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-02-15T22:00:00-05:00
Location: Studio 34 Yoga | Healing | Arts

Nomad War Machine with TJ Borden & Embarker: Contra Madre record release show

Nomad War Machine:
Nomad War Machine is an improvised metal duo consisting of guitarist James Reichard and drummer Julius Masri. In 2023, both musicians entered Baltimore’s Tempo House Recording studio with pedal steel luminary Susan Alcorn Lobato. The release of the album Contra Madre (VG+ Records), on January 31 of 2026, marks the one year anniversary of her passing. The Fire Museum Presents concert serves as a Philadelphia premier of sorts, and a celebration of Susan’s undeniable creative fording into new sonic territories. February 15th, Nomad War Machine will be joined by Brooklyn based cellist TJ Borden, a restless improviser and explorer of tonal possibilities. TJ has performed and recorded with the Mivos Quartet, and has released many of his own works, both solo and collaborative.
Concerning Contra Madre: An unexpected opportunity arose after a conversation between James Reichard and Susan Alcorn, where she revealed a fascination with death metal, confessing, “I’m 70 years old, I think about death!” She had learned Arch Enemy songs on pedal steel, and was particularly compelled by the frontwoman’s intensity and vigor as a performer. Voicing an appreciation for the hook-oriented sound of Swedish death metal made sense for Susan whose roots as a veteran pedal steel player reached into the Western Texan swing circuit of the 60s and 70s. For Susan, ever the explorer, metal was a new, appealing point of departure for her into fresh, unfamiliar musical territory.
Though known for her fluency in Jazz, Country, and free improvisation, Susan had also studied Arabic, the oud, and maqam systems. Pre-70s Country & Western music had also been a lifelong presence for both members of Nomad War Machine. Julius Masri, a Lebanese free jazz and metal drummer, and devoted fan of Texas Swing legends like Speedy West, Jimmy Bryant, Leon Rhodes, and Joe Maphis, was also steeped in Arabic music traditions. James Reichard, before coming to ‘freely’ improvised metal, xenharmonic music, and non-western tuning systems, had grown up being subjected to countless singalongs to numerous pre-70s country records, entranced by the pedal steel. Susan Alcorn expressed an interest in playing with Nomad War Machine, it felt like there was a whole world of shared or complementary interests to explore.
Embarker:
Embarker is the solo project of audio visual artist Michael Roy Barker. Mb uses a variety of electronics, modular synthesizer, homemade instruments, voice and processed audio collages to create hyperkinetic, genre-bending music that is often used as a soundtrack to found videos or as an interactive audio visual experience. He has performed widely in the US, and has also studied at STEIM in 2007 and been artist in Residence at the Experimental TV Center in Owego NY 2006-2007.
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