The Cedar Presents
NO-NO BOY with The Umamies
Friday, April 12, 2024 / Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM
All Ages
Seated
$23 Advance, $28 Day of Show
This is a seated show with general admission, first-come-first-served seating. The Cedar is happy to reserve seats for patrons who require special seating accommodations. To request access accommodations, please go to our Access page.
General Admission tickets are available online.
Listen
ABOUT THIS SHOW
An immersive concert experience that illuminates hidden Asian American histories through folk songs, sound pieces, live projections, and storytelling - The Cedar is delighted to welcome back NO-NO BOY!
NO-NO BOY
NPR Music has hailed NO-NO BOY as "one of the most insurgent pieces of music you'll ever hear which re-examines americana with devastating effect... An act of revisionist subversion" Taking inspiration from his own family’s history living through the Vietnam War as well as many other stories of Asian American experience, Nashville-born songwriter and scholar Julian Saporiti has transformed his years of doctoral study into an innovative project that bridges a divide between art and scholarship. This performance will celebrate No-No Boy's second full-length LP EMPIRE ELECTRIC released by the Smithsonian Folkways label.
Sounds contain histories and prophecies. If you listen closely, there are winding tales to be found in a string brushed by a handmade bow, worlds to be uncovered in the trill of a bird about to take flight, and truths to be reckoned with in the grain of an unknown voice. This is the revelation at the core of Empire Electric, the third album by No-No Boy, and its songs that examine narratives of imperialism, identity, and spirituality. It tells stories rooted in years of research and relationship-building, made vibrant and profound through a rich congregation of instrumental, environmental, and electronically manipulated sounds from Asia and America. Every single sound, from the gracious swell of a pedal steel to the warbling pluck of a koto, becomes a part of the poetic recasting of shared post-colonial trauma and the startling joys that can be wrung out of that hardship.
To learn more about No-No Boy:
THE UMAMIES
We are The Umamies, a band of Asian American musicians who write original pop music. As grandchildren and children of immigrants from Filipino and Japanese backgrounds, we are in various stages of re-connecting back to familial histories and culture, whether through stories from our elders about important life events, studying languages, or learning more about traditional tattooing and martial arts. We aim to create space for complexity and nuance when it comes to Asian identity - and theory aside, we hope to foster spaces for Asian expression, celebration, and joy through pop music!
