York’s Arts Barge is set to host an intimate evening with two legends of America’s thriving alternative indie scene.
Chris Otepka of the Heligoats, and Jake McKelvie of the Countertops will play solo acoustic sets at the Foss Basin venue on Friday 15 September.
The special gig was organised by Kai West – who’s usually busy playing bass with York’s liveliest band, Bull.
Kai told YorkMix: “I’ve recently organised some country music gigs at the Arts Barge, so it’s exciting for me to move on to something a bit different! The barge is a perfect venue for intimate shows like this.
“Welcoming these two American indie songwriters to York will be a real treat. Their music will appeal to fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, The Mountain Goats and Clem Snide.
“The support band, Big Rain In The Morning have been refining their low-fi sound around York for some time now. Witty, whimsical and often woeful, they will be delivering a stripped-back set of their anti-folk bangers. Fans of Jeffery Lewis, Moldy Peaches, and Belle and Sebastian will love this band.”
If Chris and the Heligoats are new names to you, here’s what Stephen Thompson of America’s National Public Radio says: “He may be a lone guy with an acoustic guitar, but Chris Otepka gives fans a lot of ideas to unpack.
“Otepka performs solo and unplugged as The Heligoats — a strange name for a guy strumming a guitar, but oddly befitting someone who stuffs his songs with so many sideways ideas and observations. Given the yarns he spins, it’s easy to imagine him envisioning a herd of goats with propellers and setting the concept to music.
“He was the star of NPR’s 100th Tiny Desk Concert, the perfect act to mark that milestone: His music is best heard in an intimate setting, where his words can unfurl clearly and he can hold a small room rapt with songs and stories that reward your attention.”
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Sharing top of the bill at the barge, Chris’s friend Jake McKelvie tours the U.S. both with The Countertops and as a solo act.
Time Out wrote of him: “He has carved himself a niche as a songwriter, combining a rapid delivery with stream-of-self-consciousness writing in a manner so singular that it is never in question whose songs are being played.”
Tickets for the event are £10 and are available here.
The Arts Barge at Foss Basin is off Tower Street, opposite York Castle Museum, and immediately next to St George’s Field Car Park.