Thursday, December 8th, 8pm ET, ISSUE is thrilled to welcome back Canadian artist and vocalist Mary Margaret O'Hara to New York to give a rare performance. Returning after her one off sold out presentation at ISSUE's 22 Boerum theater in 2018—the only time she has performed in the US over the last decade—O’Hara takes the stage with close friend, acclaimed drummer and musical collaborator Jim White. The duo will perform a series of improvisations, embedded with covers and songs from her legendary songbook, alongside a host of friends and accomplices. The evening opens with interdisciplinary artist, performer, and 2019 Artist-In-Residence Rena Anakwe performing a new piece entitled “For The Weary.”
Known for her spiritual and feverish songwriting, Mary Margaret O’Hara has influenced generations of experimental musicians through her unique combination of avant-garde techniques with elements of gospel, soul, and jazz. O’Hara’s vocal stylings are performed in overlapping arrangements with sophisticated instrumentation, meditative atmospheres, and cathartic outbreaks. Her singular approach develops an open songcraft where the intensity of a ballad can spontaneously pivot to rollicking rhythm-and-blues.
A noir masterpiece, O’Hara’s Miss America remains a cherished cult album, cited by Nick Cave, Neko Case, Tanya Donelly, Michael Stipe, Radiohead, The Dirty Three, and countless others as a profound and influential masterwork. At the time of its 1988 release, UK music weekly Sounds wrote that O'Hara's voice appeared "to be clinging white-knuckled to the bare face of life." Recently, O’Hara’s improvised performances stack words and melody in real time to develop radically deconstructed versions of her material.
Rena Anakwe will perform "For the Weary,” an improvisational live score featuring field recordings, cassette tape, voice, tank drum and synth textures. In Anakwe’s words, “It's my ode to those who are craving ease and gentleness which at times feels inaccessible due to the speed at which things are moving around us. A sonic articulation of fatigue and repose, the balance through the chaos.”
The evening will be anticipated by an intimate conversation and reception with Mary Margaret & Marcus O’Hara for ISSUE members and invited guests on December 7 in First Unitarian Congregational Society’s Side Chapel. For more information about access to this event please contact Emma Roberts, Development Manager, at emma@issueprojectroom.org.
Undisciplinary artist Mary Margaret O'Hara is a graduate of The Ontario College of Art and Design who typecast herself with her 1988 album Miss America. All over the creative map, if there is such a map, she loves drawing, painting, her original calligraphy, free improv, hosting her brother's events, making people laugh and cry, acting in and composing for theater and film, doing wordless backup for singers and musicians, making noises on the fly, off the cuff, and out of the ballpark, and being with her brothers and sisters. You know who you are.
There are drummers and there are drummers. And then there is Jim White. Having first commanded international attention in the mid-1990s with the acclaimed Australian instrumental trio Dirty Three. Those who’ve worked with him – and all those he’s mesmerized as he plays - testify to his deft way with a rhythm, a downbeat, a jazz-fuelled wig out. His is a unique playing style forged in the then isolated Melbourne; a style that can sound like a full band one moment, and something stark and beautiful the next. PJ Harvey has said there is ballet in White’s light, precise touch. Will Oldham once remarked on White’s ability to dismantle a song, bit by bit, and rebuild it with his parts incorporated. The likes of Smog, Nick Cave, White Magic, Bonnie Prince Billy and Cat Power all know that there’s more to White’s drumming than mere accompaniment. His intuitive beats and singular approach have complimented the repertoire of the iconic Cretan lyra player, Psarantonis, and created sparks in his collaborations with the Cretan lute player George Xylouris. Whoever White is playing with, he is right there, present in the most inspirational sense. Greatly influenced by Mary Margaret and having worked with her on previous occasions, White has highlighted Mary Margaret as an artist who has had a profound impact on his music making.
Rena Anakwe is an interdisciplinary artist, performer and healer working primarily with sound, visuals, and scent. Exploring intersections between traditional healing practices, spirituality and performance, she creates works focused on sensory-based, experiential interactions using creative technology. Most recently, she was awarded a 2021-2022 MacDowell Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Arts, a 2022 Jack Nusbaum Artist Residency at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and the 2021 Canadian Women Artists’ Award from NYFA & the CWC (Canadian Women’s Club) of New York. She is based in Brooklyn, by way of Nigeria and Canada. aspaceforsound.com
