Wed 3/8 @ 7-8:30PM
The monthly music series Lift Their Voices at the BOP STOP, sponsored by local nonprofit Roots of American Music, showcases local musicians paying tribute to historical influences from communities whose contributions are too often underappreciated.
This month’ performing artist is singer/songwriter Mikey Silas, frontman for Apostle Jones and the Shoreline Funk All-Stars. And while both bands draw on influences such as blues, funk and R&B, Silas’ program goes in an entirely different direction. He’s paying tribute to Wendy Carlos, one of the pioneers of synthesizer-based music, both in her contribution to the development of the instrument and expanding the popularity of the music it could make, influencing all of today’s electronic music. Her 1968 album, Switched-On Bach, presented the composer’s music in an entirely different light, and was a huge hit, launching a wave of synth-based music.
What few knew then was that while the album, released under her birth name of Walter Carlos, was soaring up the Billboard charts, she was already begin hormone therapy for her transition, something she didn’t reveal publicly until the late 70s. And the album’s success paid for her gender reassignment surgery.
Get tickets to the concert here.
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