"Come Dream with Us" appropriately reads the caption splashed across the promotional flyer for a tour featuring musicians hailing all the way from the rainy state of Washington.
On their two-month "Winter Greyhound Tour," autococoon and 1985 will be stopping at Sugar City in Buffalo this Sunday to intoxicate music lovers with their sound and enlighten humanitarians.
Caitlin Payne Roberts of autococoon and Matthew Fu of 1985 will perform alongside local musicians, Martin Freeman of Repeater and Joshua Lee Almendinger, in an effort to support Roberts' association with the Honduras Accompaniment Project.
At the end of the tour in mid-February, Roberts is expected to attend training in San Francisco, Calif. for her travels to Honduras where she will live among protesters of the military coup that ousted their former president in 2009.
According to the Honduras Accompaniment Project's website, the organization "works to accompany the nonviolent social movement in Honduras in the face of the repression begun by the coup."
The controversy that ignited the protesters occurred in June 2009 when Jose Manuel Zelaya found himself forcefully removed from his home early one morning and abruptly flown out of the country. Although it was speculated that Zelaya was interested in altering the Honduran constitution to lengthen his limited four-year term, the people of Honduras were outraged at the spontaneity and force of his removal.
The days that followed were painted with riots by angry protesters in opposition to the coup. Nonetheless, they quickly found themselves confronted by police and attacked with tear gas and other methods. Since then, individuals continuing the peaceful protesting find they are continually mistreated and their voices are repressed.
Through the Honduras Accompaniment Project, Roberts will connect with these protesters while providing them with support and encouragement.
With the delicate picking of an acoustic guitar and a voice that carries a chilling vibrato, autococoon echoes the techniques practiced by folk musicians with songs self-described to possess "lyrics springing forth from our collective unconscious and music wrought with deliberate placement."
Roberts, along with Fu, will be performing solo and is sure to provoke thought and question through her authentic performance. The band 1985 has recordings that include songs with creatively layered tenor vocals, balancing the strong pitch with a strumming of minor chords. Songs that often possess lyrics with political and social undertones are not overly abrasive or too obvious, leaving room for interpretation.
The two bands are unsigned yet, but they have recorded albums through MASA Records (Music as a Social Agitation) founded by Fu.
They will be playing alongside Buffalo's Repeater, which offers a collection of music one may describe as being robotic or mechanic. Though there is no singing laced throughout its sounds, the complexity of the distortion produced enough to digest.
This concert is anticipated to be unique, as it will be an eclectic blend of west coast sounds with the local scene. The variety of music from these talented artists coupled with the intriguing atmosphere of Sugar City will be sure to provide attendees with a thoughtful experience.
The concert will be on Sunday and begins at 7:30 p.m. Sugar City is only asking for $5 in donations as a cover.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
