MICHIANA
Upcoming Shows
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 06/03/12 | Michiana in Brooklyn, NY | Death By Audio |
| Time: 9:00pm. MICHIANA ALBUM RELEASE SHOW!! w/Killer Bob, Gym Deer, & Due Diligence | ||
| 06/06/12 | Michiana in Baltimore, MD | Windup Space |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/07/12 | Michiana in Washington DC | The Dunes |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/08/12 | Michiana in Charlottesville | The Garage |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/09/12 | Michiana in Greensboro, NC | The Green Bean |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Ross Edwards & Heralding | ||
| 06/10/12 | Michiana in Asheville, NC | The LAB |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Galen Kipar Project & Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/12/12 | Michiana in Johnson City, TN | The Acoustic Coffee House |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/13/12 | Michiana in Cincinnati, OH | House Concert |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/15/12 | Michiana in Chicago, IL | Jerry’s Sandwiches |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/16/12 | Michiana in Pittsburgh, PA | Garlfield Artworks |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Host Skull & Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/17/12 | Michiana in Philadelphia, PA | Little Berlin |
| Michiana Album Release Tour w/Ross Edwards | ||
| 06/28/12 | Michiana in New York, NY | Ella Lounge |
| Time: 8:00pm. Admission: $5. Buy tickets | ||
| 07/01/12 | Michiana in Philadelphia, PA | Rip Rig |
| 07/31/12 | Michiana in Brooklyn, NY | Glasslands |
| w/Noble Laureate, Railbird, TBA | ||
About
Jonah Parzen-Johnson – Baritone Saxophone
Michiana is a small beach town situated on the border between the states of Michigan and Indiana. The Michiana solo saxophone pieces are a collection of melodies and structures composed with memories of Michiana as references. In exploring his childhood experiences at this beach town, Parzen-Johnson was overtaken with the desire to contextualize his emotional response. It seems that the powerful nostalgia he felt when he looked back on these moments is a wonderful place from which to draw musical ideas.
Interestingly, the compositions are drawn from the nostalgia itself, and not the memories that cause it. Nostalgia is a personality trait that can be central to how human beings relate to the world. The music for this project is about remembering life, and not the memories themselves.
The compositions presented for this project utilize melody in conjunction with shifts in tonal color and noise techniques to paint a landscape of joyful melancholy. The music is heavily influenced by archival recordings of American folk music as well as the work of Joanna Newsom, Jose Gonzalez, Devendra Banhart, and Bill Callahan. By arranging, adapting, and interpreting this music for solo saxophone, Parzen-Johnson is able to highlight the emotional qualities that are so striking in these musicians’ compositions.
In the Michiana Solo Saxophone series, Parzen-Johnson convincingly melds 20th century American musical sentiments with, 21st century folk music, and jazz experimentalism. The result is a highly captivating musical experience.