Ardmore To Host 'Continuous Musical Experiment' Act

Ardmore Music Hall for Patch.com

Everyone Orchestra is coming to the Ardmore Music Hall.

Conducted by Matt Butler, this show will feature Steve Kimock (guitar), John Morgan Kimock (drums), Todd Stoops (Raq - keys, vocals), Cris Jacobs (The Bridge - guitar, vocals), Ashish Vyas (Thievery Corporation - bass).

Created in 2001, Everyone Orchestra has spearheaded bringing together musicians from a variety of cities, genres, and walks of life to play purely improvised set with one another, without any preconceptions of how it is “supposed” to sound. Tuning in to Matt Butler’s energy and pantomime, The Conductor is utilized as a pivot to the set mood of each passing jam as he communicates musical concepts using hand signs, whiteboard and assorted mime suggestions. The edge of your seat enthusiasm for what is next is the fuel behind the continuous musical experiment of Everyone Orchestra.

The group will be at the Ardmore Music Hall on Friday, November 20. Doors will open at 7 and the show will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $17 in advance and $20 at the door.

Having marched clearly into uncharted territory, Everyone Orchestra is an avant-garde conceptual and collaborative performance which deeply encourages and requires audience interaction. Both the band and the audience start the show with a clean slate to help co-create a dynamic musical experience, with Butler receiving ideas from the audience to help set the course of action.

“The fantastic thing about EO is that every time ‘it’ plays, it’s always fresh and organic; never the same set list, let alone the same lineup twice,” read a review by Live For Live Music. “Intermixing everyone’s distinctive strengths and featuring all the musicians at one point or another, the Everyone Orchestra truly gripped the imaginations of both those on stage playing the music and those who showed up to watch the beautiful mishmash.”

Butler’s unique style of conducting is groundbreaking in that he, as EO’s founder, has essentially created an entirely new way to perform and experience music. Butler says, “Playing with different musicians, improvising every night, and getting the crowd involved in ways that they can’t be at a regular show has provided an unparalleled live music experience.”

“[In each city] Butler will have another group with which he can create the beautiful chaos this act is known for. Simply put, there is no set list to be confined to, no certain marks to hit over the course of the night. Butler makes his way to the front of the stage, and it’s off to the races, testing the limits of his players while also showing how good music is when everything clicks in the midst of an improvised set.” writes Examiner’s Thomas Gerbasi. “At this point, Butler almost has it down to a science, at least as much as you can on a speeding car that could veer off the road at any moment.”

The ever-evolving collective of Everyone Orchestra participants is an increasingly wide and intercontinental group which has included members of The Grateful Dead, Phish, Furthur, Ratdog, Trey Anastasio Band, Gov’t Mule, String Cheese Incident, moe., members of Allman Brothers Band. including Oteil Burbridge, Yonder Mountain String Band, The New Mastersounds, Big Gigantic, The Punch Brothers, Dumpstaphunk, Galactic,The Motet, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Railroad Earth, Thievery Corporation, Lettuce, Infamous Stringdusters, Dopapod, Leftover Salmon, The Flecktones, ALO, Papdosio, Tuvan throat singers, live painters, dancers, chanters, choirs, hula hoopers, firespinners, jugglers, stiltwalkers, storytellers, a presidential candidate and hundreds of others among a growing legion of other performers.
EO balances the challenges of live group improvisation with triumphant tension and release conduits of music which head deep into the heart filled with the aspiration of creating shared magical moments.

What is Everyone Orchestra → http://vimeo.com/36999515

Musicians Describe Everyone Orchestra → http://vimeo.com/33037192

Musicians from across a wide spectrum of styles and backgrounds describe their experiences with Everyone Orchestra.