HUG: Gyan Riley, Devendra Banhart, and Noah Georgeson Live At Hollyhock House

Friends! On the evening of August 20th we’re gathering with our friends of Hollyhock House, Luaka Bop, and Little Operation to host the premiere performance of HUG high atop Los Angeles at sunset. If a sunset concert alongside a historic Frank Lloyd Wright house in an art park that overlooks the city sounds like something you might be interested in, then you’ve found your people. HUG is the new collaborative project from celebrated guitarists and songwriters Gyan Riley, Devendra Banhart, and Noah Georgeson. It’s the sound of three eternal friends becoming children, inviting us along for the journey, and their playful debut album is out in early September via David Byrne’s celebrated Luaka Bop label. Devendra Banhart begins the record by thumbing a simple melody on a kalimba; then, an incisive, percussive sound fills the open field between his phrases. At first, it sounds like a washboard, or a modulated cheese grater. But when the short rasps grow into a veritable chorus of clipped, plosive trills, you realize it’s frogs. It’s an audibly perfect moment of meditation in this warm summer air — and sets the tone for a record that’s based on humans making nature sounds. Humans are nature sounds. HUG will be playing a select few shows in the fall, including MassMoCA, ArtYard, the Walker Center for the Arts, and we are so honored to hold this first moment of sharing freely in community with one another at Hollyhock House. Thank you to Little Operation for trusting us with this moment, to Hollyhock House for so enthusiastically hosting and supporting, to Luaka Bop for the art that they help to bring into the world, to our family of Mobius Acoustics for providing the evening’s sound system in hi fidelity wonder, and to Gyan, Devendra, and Noah for the many years of music that have soundtracked our lives. HUG will begin around 7p& we’ll see you soon! This gathering is free & all ages (always). Arrive early as seating is first-come, rsvp does not guarantee admission, and capacity is limited. Music will take place on the lawn of Hollyhock House, and a quick note that while your furry friends are allowed on the grass at Barnsdall Park (where you can watch and listen) they won’t be able to join us on the lawn of Hollyhock.