Sunday May 10 * 2pm * $15

Alexander is a solo moniker of New Haven, CT native David Shapiro (Headroom, Kath Bloom, Center). He has shared bills with Mdou Moctar, Loren Connors, Susan Alcorn, Kate Village, and many more. He has released an LP, a split 7" with Rob Noyes, and a handful of cassettes on C/Site Recordings. He has also self-released an LP and many cassettes that range from guitar soli to improvised electric guitar noise. Most recently he released a 7" of banjo and mandolin tunes on Carbon Records, as well as a self-released CD of hymns arranged for electric guitar.

Growing up in the Annapolis area and attending University of Maryland with friend and labelmate Robbie Basho, Max Ochs contributed two tracks for the 1967 "Contemporary Guitar" on John Fahey’s Takoma label. Inspired by his friend Fahey, Ochs developed his own interest in fingerstyle guitar, learning from one of the masters, Mississippi John Hurt, during a one-month residency in Ochs’ New York apartment when Hurt reappeared on the folk scene in 1964. Ochs was also performing with the legendary band, Seventh Sons, founded by Greenwich Village mainstay and early folk innovator Buzzy Linhart. Seventh Sons were a massively popular NYC band during the years of 1962-1964, recording tracks for Capitol Records for their debut record, which was scrapped after Ochs left the band and New York. Ochs has continued recording and performing in his spare time, releasing music on the Fonotone and Tompkins Square labels, and with collaborators like Neil Harpe and Rugburn.

Max Hamel is a craftsperson, musician, artist and instrument maker with diverse practices ranging from professional fine violin luthiery to handmade live electronics. Their performance work builds upon a foundation of circuit bending, feedback, magic, touch and chaos, delighting in subtlety, pliable gesture and flippant ambiguity. Raised in the DC metro area, they recently moved back to Washington, DC from New Haven, CT where they lived since 2019, working as a luthier and performing in basements, bookstores, galleries, warehouses, crypts and libraries throughout the northeast United States. They perform and release solo work under the names Max Hamel, HSFB, and Head Separating from Body, and play in groups including Rear Window (with Zach Rowden and Rex Morris), Cut Nails (with Rex Morris) and Chicken Flag (with Matt Wellins).