THE MESSTHETICS AND JAMES BRANDON LEWIS

Sunday, June 14

THE MESSTHETICS AND JAMES BRANDON LEWIS

with Chris Forsyth

7 pm doors

$20 advance / $25 doors

all ages

Deface the Currency, the new second collaborative album from The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, grew out of a simple intuition. The group — with saxophonist Lewis joining the core Messthetics lineup of Brendan Canty on drums, Joe Lally on bass and Anthony Pirog on guitar — was on tour in the summer of 2025 when Canty knew it was time to go back into the studio. This configuration of the band had debuted on record the year prior, releasing an acclaimed self-titled album via Impulse!, the legendary jazz label. But as the quartet logged serious time on the road, the drummer felt their chemistry evolving, so he called up engineer Don Godwin and booked a couple of days at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, Maryland, where The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis was recorded. https://www.themessthetics.com/#/ https://jblewis.com/

Chris Forsyth connects the dots between between art rock, chiming atmospherics, and motorik precision in taut compositions and mercurial improvisations that have earned the Philadelphia-based guitarist a unique reputation as a leading guitar stylist. On this tour expect solo songs and instrumentals from Forsyth’s broad catalog.

“…a scrappy and mystical historian… His music humanizes the element of control in rock classicism (and) turns it into a woolly but disciplined ritual.” -N.Y. Times

“…a near-perfect balance between 70s rock tradition and present day experimentation,” -Pitchfork https://www.instagram.com/chrisforsythsolarmotelband/