Lovely Socialite releases new singles, podcast & music video ahead of “The Drift” album release show 7/30 @ Cafe Coda!

click for tix

The Drift album release show 7/30/2022 7pm live at Cafe Coda (buy tix $10) presented by BlueStem Jazz, featuring interludes by DJ o2


New Music Video for our second single “Experiment One”!


…Report 2-6z.11, anura, suborder heleioporus australiacus …Dermis level permeo-turbine sequences complete. Calibrating microbiome fueling ratios. Metatarsal elongation – 84.3%. Initiating final flight of F.R.O.G. … 

Lovely Socialite, Madison’s omnivorous mutant of a band, has returned with a vengeance. Following three years of show hiatus, puddle-muck lurking, jazz-gland regeneration, and zoom meetings, Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps’ very own sextet resurfaces with a brand-new full-length album, a renewed penchant for “toxically consonant” performance, and a highly-enriched class of aerial amphibian, known only as F.R.O.G.

Ben, Corey & Brian of Lovely Socialite met up with Michael Brenneis of BlueStem Jazz to discuss their history and release of the new album, check it out!

THE DRIFT is a return to form for Lovely Socialite; a 50-minute opus of their unpredictable, occasionally mordant, oft-funky sound. The album displays an impressive range of compositional concepts – blistering sprints, patient groove journeys, exploratory landscapes of timeless texture, and the mean brooding stomp of a many-tentacled monster. Now in its 11th year as a collaborative project, Lovely Socialite’s unmistakeable musical character has matured into a rich sonic world for listeners of all ponds to enjoy. 

F.R.O.G., tentacle-monster, Socialite, and all lovely guests take flight at Cafe Coda on SAT, JUL 30 at 7 PM. Mrs. Phipps’ lads will perform new music from THE DRIFT. In addition, the event will mark the 10-year  anniversary of Socialite’s debut album, Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps Registers her Delight. Guests will enjoy fan-favorite Socialite tunes from this classic recording.

Tickets are $10, available at the door and online at Cafe Coda’s website.

Check out our first single from the new album “The Final Flight of F.R.O.G.” plus a behind the track podcast with John Praw & Corey Murphy!


No tadpoles were hurt in the making of this album.


“DoubleShark” EP by Lovely Socialite now available on Bandcamp!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the #DoubleRelease show last night! Thanks to Jack Chandler & Art In for hosting. Thanks to Emili Earhart & Michael Groome aka And Illusions for sharing their soundscapes and sonic explorations & kicking off the show. Thanks to Jacob Bicknase, Cooper Schlegel, Joshua Agterberg & Alex Charland for sharing their beautiful compositions as Left Field Quartet – congrats on the release guys; killer set! Thanks to Jess Jacobson & Elizabeth Jesion for coordinating the Sharks&Crafts table. Thanks to my shark bros Ben Willis, Pat Reinholz, Corey Murphy, Michael A Koszewski & Abe Sorber, it’s always a pleasure and an honor to spend time together as Lovely Socialite (est. 2009!). #DoubleShark (& thanks to Scott Gordon of Tone Madison for this freakin badass picture!)

Be sure to check out Left Field Quartet’s new release “Please Take Us Seriously” >>


 

8/7 | Ben Willis + Brian Grimm @ Bos Meadery

8-7 Ben Willis and Brian Grimm v2

Sun 8/7  |  6pm  $5  @ Bos Meadery

849 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703

solo & duo performances from

BEN WILLIS – double bass

BRIAN GRIMM – guqin, cello

Bos Meadery – “Mead Made Modern” our mission is to make the world’s oldest fermented beverage in the most modern possible way using local ingredients, so that our mead reflects the flavor of the Wisconsin landscape. Much like farm to table eating, this is field to glass drinking.

BEN WILLIS (DET/AA, MI) – solo double bass

Egret/Flatlander is a set of solo bass pieces by Ben Willis. Composed through development and exploration of improvisational practice, the movements have taken shape as open cellular structures, that act as themes and zones for extemporaneous development.

The pieces make use of a range of extended double bass techniques, drawing inspiration from contemporary classical music and free improvisation. The musical language draws from many influences, including rock structures, folk harmonies and melodies, and doom metal.

Ben Willis is a bassist whose affinities lie in collaborative projects, new music, improvisation, and the merging of cross-disciplinary elements. He’s performed his original collaborative work at venues and festivals around the U.S., including the International Society for Improvised Music Conference, Electroacoustic Barn Dance at the University of Mary Washington, the Whitewater Arts Alliance Series at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater and the Ratchet Series at the Skylark in Chicago. In 2013, he was a Robert Black Bass Fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival. Much of his work highlights the importance of collaborative, performative process in the development of new art. He is a member of the Weather Duo, an electroacoustic ensemble with cellist Pat Reinholz, dedicated to performing new music that blends classical training with improvisation and folk idioms. The Weather Duo has contributed music to the Li Chiao Ping dance company, a video project with artist Doug Rosenberg and dancer Sally Gross, and composed occasional film scores. In live performance, they explore multimedia collaboration with the help of live video artist Anna Weisling. He has also toured and recorded as a sideman, working with many indie/folk artists, including Anna Vogelzang, Dietrich Gosser, and Thistle and the Thorns. He often participates in recitals of new music and collaborations with composers, and performs regularly with the jazz/rock project Lovely Socialite Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps, and the free improvisation trio Glacier. He currently resides in Ann Arbor, MI. He earned a BM in Performance at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and MM in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He’s studied bass with Richard Davis, Diana Gannett, and Bob Hurst, and composition with Andrew Bishop.

Buy Egret/Flatlander here >>


BRIAN GRIMM (MAD, WI) – solo cello & guqin

Cellist & composer Brian Grimm grew up surrounded by Chinese string instruments of every sort. After initial lessons in Chinese music with Yang Wei (pipa) & Daxun Zhang (bass) of the Silkroad Enesemble, he was lucky to then study guqin (zither), pipa (lute), gaohu (fiddle) & daruan (bass lute) in Hong Kong with members of the 香港中樂團 Hong Kong Chinese OrchestraWuji Ensemble 無極樂團. Over the last 15 years Grimm has developed a deep language of Free Improvisation & Composition with groups such as The Brothers Grimm, Lovely Socialite, and Brennan Connors & Stray Passage. In conjunction with performing & teaching, Brian runs GrimmusiK Records – a label for all projects involving him & his brother AJ (classical & flamenco guitar).

** BC Grimm’s new CD “Orbis Obscura” for Pipa, Fuzz & Delay drops Friday, 8/12 on Other Obscura Records @ ArtIn Gallery on East Wash! **

J100

COMING SOON! NEW BC GRIMM CD “ORBIS OBSCURA” DROPS FRI 8/12


 

 

6/26 – 7/2 | Lovely Socialite “Toxic Consonance” Midwest Tour!

“Toxic Consonance” by Lovely Socialite

INDEPENDENT ALBUM RECENTLY RELEASED

Available on Spotify, iTunes, &  Amazon

CDs + Streaming on our Bandcamp

“An omnivorous mutant of a band.” – Isthmus, Daily Page
“ …this band is deeply odd in its bones,” – Tone Madison
“Fans of Modern Jazz, Contemporary Classical Music, Rock & Hip-Hop will become  captivated by the amazing sound of Lovely Socialite.” – High Noon Saloon

Lovely Socialite  website  |  facebook ], formerly Lovely Socialite Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps, is a Madison-based six-piece that combines the aesthetics of modern jazz with contemporary classical, driving rock, and hip hop.  Lauded for their bold and intricate compositions, the group often draws comparisons to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.  The band’s original music combines strict notation with moments of improvisation and maintains a healthy balance of dark and heavy rock grooves with quirky jazz obscurities.

While Lovely Socialite’s unusual mix of strings, traditional Chinese instruments, brass, and a jazz rhythm section suggest that the group might be a contemporary music ensemble, it is their use of stomp boxes, vocal processors, and other electronics that makes the group a suitable fit for any rock, hip-hop, or jazz bill.  In fact, Lovely Socialite has been privileged to share the stage with such artists as Dessa, of Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree, as well as performing live on the UW Madison Terrace with Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes.

In October of 2015, Lovely Socialite released their second full length album.  Nearly two years in the making, “Toxic Consonance” was recorded at Blast House Studios in Madison with Landon Arkens.  “Toxic Consonance” represents an edgier and more mature version of the band than their previous endeavor, “Registers Her Delight” (2012), and features extensive production efforts mixing found sounds, vocal samples, and electronic effects into their live-style recording.

Upcoming “Toxic Consonance” Tour

6/26The Frequency, Madison, WI

9p  $8-11 | w/ We Are The Willows & Mr. Jackson

6/27Elastic Arts, Chicago, IL

9p  $10 | Anagram Series w/ Gerrit Hatcher Trio

6/28 –  The Spot Tavern, Lafayette, IN

6/29Space Bar, Columbus, OH

9p  $5  w/ Us, Today & Radar Hill

6/30MOTR Pub, Cincinnati, OH

10p  Free  w/ Us, Today

7/1 Kerrytown Concert House, Ann Arbor, MI

8p  $10  general admission

7/2Trinosophes, Detroit, MI

8p  $10  w/ Salim Washington