Jordana   

Kelcey Ayer

The Englert Theatre

Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ) is one of the most popular string ensembles in the world. Erasing
the boundaries between classical, dance, hip-hop and pop, VSQ performs spellbinding
renditions of everything from Billie Eilish to BTS, Taylor Swift to The Weeknd, and Danny
Elfman to Daft Punk. Praised by the likes of Buzzfeed, The New York Times, Consequence of
Sound, Nerdist and more, VSQ has garnered over 2 billion streams and numerous Billboard
chartings since its inception. VSQ can also be heard in numerous hit shows, including Netflix’s
Bridgerton, HBO’s Westworld, and ABC’s Modern Family.

Vitamin String Quartet

Dan Padley is an Iowa City guitarist and composer who finds himself dabbling in a wide array of genres and musical settings. In this show (along with bassist Blake Shaw and drummer Christopher Jensen), Dan will explore the music of acclaimed guitarist Bill Frisell. While rooted in jazz traditions, Frisell’s music also touches upon a vast array of styles and contexts.

Dan Padley – A Tribute to Bill Frisell

At its best, harmony duo singing can transform simple math into a magic trick. One plus one, instead of equaling two, suddenly yields an unexpected third thing. An upper-case ONE. A universal hum. A deep vibration that encompasses two different points of view. On their latest release, Every Time I Think About You, brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, aka The Cactus Blossoms, once again prove themselves to be among the most adept – and distinctive – modern practitioners of that magic. But like any great magician, The Cactus Blossoms can’t – or won’t – fully explain the illusion they create.

The Cactus Blossoms

Wildwood Saloon

Matteo Mancuso, born in 1996, a guitar child prodigy, approached the world of music at an early age, thanks to his father Vincenzo. He enrolled in a musical high school where he deepened his studies in classical guitar and founded the trio “SNIPS.” With this trio, he released the famous version of “The Chicken,” which quickly reached millions of views across various social media platforms. In 2019, he began a collaboration with Yamaha Guitars, participating in the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, the “Young Guitar Festival” in Bangkok, and several masterclasses in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Perm).

Matteo Mancuso

The Milk Carton Kids are an American indie folk duo from Eagle Rock, California, United States, consisting of singer-guitarists Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan. They began making music together in early 2011 and have recorded and released six albums. Their first two albums were released free of charge online.

Sierra Hull is a seven-time IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year, two-time Grammy nominee, and
one of the most dynamic voices in bluegrass and Americana. Her latest album, A Tip Toe High
Wire, marks a bold new chapter – her first independent release – spotlighting her songwriting
and instrumental prowess. Featuring guest appearances by Béla Fleck, Tim O’Brien, and Aoife
O’Donovan, the album balances tradition with innovation.

The Milk Carton Kids & Sierra Hull

New York based band Lip Critic is the project of Bret Kaser, Connor Kleitz, and Danny Eberle. The band is comprised of two samplers, two drummers and vocals. Through their untraditional instrumentation, Lip Critic executes an eclectic blend of punk, hardcore, club, modernistic pop sounds, and structures without inhibition. Paired with eccentric grandstand-style vocals, Lip Critic delivers a uniquely engaging live performance that rivals the hyper-stylized production on their records. These performances are heavily focused on improvisation and experimentation, including extended and remixed versions of songs. After self-releasing three projects from 2019 to 2021, Lip Critic’s debut album Hex Dealer was released on Partisan Records in May 2024. Lip Critic has earned early critical acclaim from NME (“on their way to becoming the next great NYC band”), Paste (“an apocalyptic wasteland of NYC’s best underground punk”), Rolling Stone (‘Songs You Need to Know’), Rolling Stone UK (‘Ones to Watch 2024’), Loud & Quiet (“one of NYC’s most talked about acts.”), Billboard, Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC 6 Music, and Matt Wilkinson (“totally essential”).

Lip Critic

Gabe's

The Englert is proud to be a part of Free Week this year, with a free performance from Elizabeth Moen, who has Iowa City roots. She attended the University of Iowa and started her music career performing here in Iowa City.

Elizabeth Moen’s voice doesn’t just fill a room: it draws you in, letting every note land like a conversation you didn’t know you needed. Born in small-town Iowa and now based in Chicago, her songwriting blends the familiarity of rural life with the movement of the city, offering a sharp, tender lens on human connection. Her music feels like catching up with a friend – confessional, self-aware, and clever, unafraid to lay bare the parts of ourselves we’d rather keep tucked away.

Free Week: Elizabeth Moen

The Lone Bellow burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut in 2013. The Brooklyn-based band quickly became known for their transcendent harmonies, serious musicianship and raucous live performance — a reputation that earned them their rabid fan base. It’s been three years since the band’s victorious Then Came The Morning was released. Produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, the album was nominated for an Americana Music Award. The band appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Late Show With David Letterman,” “Conan O’Brien,” “CBS This Morning,” “Later…with Jools Holland,” and “The Late Late Show With James Corden” in support of the album. In the years since the release, the band left their beloved adopted home of Brooklyn and moved to Nashville. Now, The Lone Bellow is back with Walk Into A Storm, which will be released Sept. 15 on Sony Music Masterworks. Walk Into A Storm was produced by legendary music producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, and more) and features their lead single “Time’s Always Leaving.” The trio, featuring Zach Williams (guitar/vocals), Kanene Donehey Pipkin (multi-instrumentalist), and Brian Elmquist (guitar), recorded this album in only seven days. The group’s first two albums graced the Billboard 200.

The Lone Bellow

It’s hard to imagine a band just coming into their own after 20 years of success, but that’s exactly what makes a true anomaly. Gaelic Storm, a multi-national, Celtic juggernaut grows stronger with each live performance, and after two decades and over 2000 shows, they are a true force to be reckoned with. 

The band attributes their continued success to their fanatic audience, and it’s a well-diversified crowd for sure – attracting fans of every genre with their rich storytelling, energetic instrumentals, devotion to Celtic traditions and passion for their stagecraft. They are as loyal to their fans as the fans are to them, as frontman Patrick Murphy states, “The fans are the ones that have given us this life. We’re here for them.”

Gaelic Storm

“It’s a highway, filled with deep, exotic colors and beautiful delicate things as well as the perils that come from moving so fast,” says Dar Williams, describing modern life. On her 13th album, Hummingbird Highway, out September 12 on Righteous Babe Records, Williams celebrates the colors she glimpses from her vantage as a touring musician. “I was a kid from the suburbs who listened when her hippie teachers said to get out in the world,” Williams muses. Hummingbird Highway is the latest chapter in a richly unfolding story. Drawing on her experience as a playwright, Williams populates her latest album with nuanced characters that come alive in the space of a few minutes.

Dar Williams

Jordana’s music has always possessed a unique sense of place.
You can hear the stillness of a Kansas bedroom on her 2020 debut Classical Notions… Humid
late night New York walks on her double EP Something To Say To You. There’s the
kaleidoscopic otherworldliness of Summer’s Over, her collab release with TV Girl. The
unmistakable sunshine of LA on 2024’s Lively Premonitions. But on her new semi self-titled
project, Jordanaland, the 25-year-old songwriter has officially crafted a place all her own.
“Jordanaland is definitely an escape from Americaland. It looks a lot like LA in the videos…for
some reason. Weird,” muses Jordana. “But it’s wherever you want it to be, just close your eyes.”
Recorded with her friends Charlie Kilgore & Julian Kaufman of offkilter pop group MICHELLE,
the EP drops Jordana in her most brightly-colored surroundings yet. Mixed by a pair of Grammy
Award winners in Olli Jacobs (Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, beabadoobee) & David Pizzimenti
(Ella Mai, Ed Sheeren, Travis Scott), these songs soar with a sonic confidence that has
previously only made occasional appearances in her discography.

Jordana

Blues icon. Soul man. Rock and roller. Robert Cray is all these things – and more. The Georgia-born, Washington-raised musician first picked up a guitar after seeing The Beatles on TV. Then, having witnessed Jimi Hendrix perform in Seattle, he determined that his destiny would follow a similar path. And so it has: across the past half-century, Robert Cray has developed into one of American music’s most singular artists.