Lily Taylor

Dallas-based vocalist and experimental-pop chanteuse Lily Taylor presents her anticipated new album Amphora with an album release performance at the historic Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff Friday December 1, 2023 with Poppy Xander and Buffy Jacobs opening the evening. Taylor's latest album is a stunning musical journey, sure to captivate listeners with its mix of avant-pop, ambient pop, and experimental sounds. Recorded at Elmwood Recording in Oak Cliff, Amphora was produced by a dream team of talented producers, Black Taffy, Lily Taylor herself and Alex Bhore and released on her own label, Lily Taylor Music. The track-listing includes ten original songs, each one a masterpiece in its own right, receiving critical acclaim. Please join in for an unforgettable evening of music!

 

Join us on The Green at The Kessler (outdoor stage & lawn behind The Kessler Theater)!

These events are currently free, but space is limited and is first come-first served (as seated by our hosts).

Want to reserve a picnic table? You can select and pay for a table of your choice here! Each table seats up to 6 guests and will be reserved for you from opening to close on your selected evening.

Food will be available on-site each night from our neighbors at PhD, with beverage service from The Kessler Bar crew.

Events are “rain or shine” – in case of inclement weather, the performance will be moved indoors.

To label Calliope Musicals a band might be selling them short, because—while the six-piece group’s primary medium is music—their live show is an auditory, visual and genuinely transportive experience.

The group’s roots date back to 2009, when frontwoman Carrie Fussell and guitarist Matt Roth began playing head shops around town. Soon Fussell’s boyfriend, now husband, Josh Bickley joined the band on drums (a choice they made hesitantly, for fear of “Fleetwood Mac drama”), and—with the addition of Craig Finkelstein, Andrew Vizzone and Chris Webb—the trio transformed into a six-person musical tribe.

While the band describes their style as psychedelic party folk, the actual sound—a harmonious blend of drums, guitar, bass, a hybrid instrument known as a xylosynth and Fussell’s powerful voice—is hard to define and varies substantially by song. What is consistent, however, is the element of storytelling that courses through every track in the Calliope catalogue.

“Our music centers around a certain energy more than a certain style,” the perpetually barefoot Fussell says. “We’ll do rock, then dance-y disco, then some slow sit-down [songs]. At the end of the day, it feels like the music revolves around imagination and adventure more than it does a specific type of music.”

But lyrics and sound aside, perhaps the most captivating aspect of the group’s show is the integration of props. During most performances, beaming audience members can be found swaying with sparklers, bouncing with balloons, and singing along while waving cardboard signs hand-crafted from Shiner Bock boxes—all handed out by animal-costume-attired friends of the band. (Calliope has also been known to wield a confetti canon, to the chagrin of bar-backs everywhere.)

It’s these extra touches that encourage more crowd interaction and involvement than you’re likely to find almost anywhere else, making for a truly magical performance.

“The vibe we want to create is the feeling that the audience is part of the creative process and part of the performance,” says Fussell. “I think we always just hope that people leave our show feeling empowered and inspired—like they can do anything.” – Sam Sumpter, TRIBEZA

Patrice Pike and Wayne Sutton are touring this summer bringing their new collaboration of arrangements of songs from Sister 7 and all their catalog of solo projects over the years. Patrice and Wayne are the founders of the seminal jam band Little Sister, also known as Sister 7. The two have toured with Sister 7 and on their own including supporting the Allman Brothers, John Fogerty, Sarah McLachlan, Blues Traveler, The Neville Brothers, Ray Charles, Chris Isaak and Dave Matthews Band among others.  They have played Austin City Limits Festival for many years, as well as Kerrville Folk, High Sierra, Strawberry Festival, and also legendary venues in the U.S. and Europe. Their songs are literary, emotionally riveting and eclectic, drawing from Roots Rock, Rhythm and Blues, World and Jazz influences. Patrice is an accomplished rhythm guitarist, vocalist and drummer and Wayne’s lead guitar and singing all together creates a big sound as a duo as well as with their full band.  They have put together a collection of new songs that have been selling out shows in major markets in the southwestern region and are working on a new recording project with a wealth of top players as well as doing select shows with Sister 7. The touring will include Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Oregon and Washington state.

May 26th they will play at the Kessler Theater in Dallas with a full band and special guest Lily Taylor followed by their first summer festival in Taos at Music on the Mesa.

 

Patrice is also Co-Founder of the Step Onward Foundation and has collaborated in raising over $450,000 for supporting education and housing and sustainability for young adult survivors of homelessness and children surviving critical illness in the last 10 years.

 

“You can hear it in her voice. It isn’t the over-trained perfection of a vibrato-obsessed diva, but the supple-yet-strong twang of a country gal who has mastered her instrument. When she barks, when she pleads, when she seduces, it is with intent, and you feel what she wants you to feel. Pike is a veteran, having traveled with the famed Austin jam band Sister Seven, whose members eventually focused and polished themselves out of the noodling genre and into respectability — and then of course broke up just as they were hitting their artistic peak.

 

Pike is still up there on the peak, crafting solid rock songs and indie ballads for her own label, ZainWayne Records (founded with former Sister Seven member and longtime collaborator Wayne Sutton), and polishing and pumicing that stressed and gorgeous voice. She’s not a grasshopper anymore. – Jordan Harper, St. Louis Riverfront Times 2004

 

“She’s a rock singer with a soulful heart and one foot in the blues, the other in jazz.” – Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times 2010

“Patrice Pike will light you on fire. With nothing more than her guitar and her musical partner in crime, Wayne Sutton seated to her side, Patrice Pike filled the stage at Poor David’s Pub in Dallas on Saturday night. The lush, full sounds were enthralling. As she performed crowd favorite “Jackknife Girl,” it was hard not to think about how truly amazing what one girl and a guitar with one guy with a guitar can do. They filled the space with sounds as full and rich and inviting as any band five times their size.

 

There is something altogether alluring about Pike and her music, her voice, the way she handles a guitar, the songs she pens, all of it. No wonder audiences have been becoming back for more year after year. Her lyrics shine with her understanding. Her music fills you. Patrice Pike will light you on fire.”

Written by Jenny Block for EdgeDallas.com October 22, 2014

Jenny Block’s work has appeared in Cosmopolitan (Germany), USA Today, American Way, BeE, bRILLIANT, the Dallas Morning News, D, Pointe, and Virginia Living, as well as on huffingtonpost.com, yourtango.com, and ellegirl.com.

 

“Pike is one of the finest new rock singers in America”, Billboard Magazine 2000