Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Artist: Dreamgirl
Presented by: Park The Van
Set time 1:00 am – 1:50 am
Venue: Seven Grand
Jangly dream-pop may have found its new favorite band, and one that we’ve all been sleeping on is Dreamgirl. Singer & multi-instrumentalist Lacey Hopkins met multi-instrumentalist Skylar Smith at a 2008 Friendsgiving gone wrong. The two bonded over French electropop and screamo, and they’ve been making music together ever since, forming Dreamgirl in 2013. Drummer Ian Dobyns and bassist Joe Gronniger subsequently joined forces in 2016 and 2019, respectively. They are pleased to report that all is well. You might hear them on the radio in a college town. The band looks excitedly to 2022 for a bevy of U.S. tours and the release of a full-length album.
Artist: Amra
Set time 10:10 pm – 10:50 pm
Venue: Higher Ground
R&B/Soul singer and songwriter Amra is definitely one of the emerging female stars in late 2010s. Her unique voice combining the juicy bassline and the sometimes- whispering, smokey tone just hits different on par with the slinky electronic beats. For fans in sultry R&B cravings, her music artwork is a fascinating must-listen.
Amra’s meteoric rise dates back to 2014 in live studio sessions. Based in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia, she has been featuring with versatile talented artists including Anar & Mika D, Araatan, and Mekh ZakhQ.
Her first single ‘Farewell’ was released in 2015 and soon became an instant hit, catapulting her on stage with debut showcase at Playtime Music Festival within two months. The single entered top 20 music charts and is still holding strong up until now with local radios airing it on repeat.
Following the success, Amra enraptured crowds on the dance floor with her second banger single ‘Take Me There,’ which topped charts for 10 consecutive weeks in 2017. And in 2020, the lead single ‘Never’ from her debut album marked another breakout by winning award of ‘Best Track of the Year’, with the music video on YouTube surpassing 5 million views.
Artist: SASAMI
Set time 11:00 pm – 11:40 pm
Venue: Half Step
SASAMI (Sasami Ashworth) will release her second studio album, Squeeze, on February 25, 2022, on Domino Records. Squeeze hammers home a sentiment of “anti-toxic positivity” and showcases her vicious honesty and brutally uncompromising vision, partially inspired by the Japanese yōkai folk spirit called Nure-onna (translation: wet woman), a vampiric deity that has the head of a woman and the body of a snake.
The fluidity of the Nure-onna can be felt in how Squeeze naturally flows through musical influences—from System of a Down to Sheryl Crow and Fleetwood Mac, to even Bach and Mahler. A classically-trained composer, SASAMI constructed the LP in the form of an opera or orchestral work that has different “movements” that take the listener on an emotional journey. Compared to the introspective indie rock of SASAMI’s 2019 self-titled debut album, Squeeze is a full-throttled expansion.
She hopes that listeners will identify with this new sinister, intense sound and use it as a soundtrack for processing their “anger, frustration, desperation, and more violent, aggressive emotions.”
