Sour Widows • Dusk • Gash
Wed 07/23/25
7:00PM
All Ages
music
$18 ADV // $20 DOS
Show Lineup
Sour Widows
(San Francisco, CA)
Genre: Indie Rock
Following their recent release “Witness,” a sprawling track that cycles the listener through shades of grief, Sour Widows return with “I-90”, another explosive single produced in collaboration with Oakland-based engineer Maryam Qudus (Toro y Moi, SASAMI, Spacemoth).
Written in 2017 after the devastating loss of their partner, Sour Widows’ Maia Sinaiko speaks to the song’s growth and development:
“I wrote ‘I-90’ at a time when all I could do was make music alone in my room. Day to day life was a constant cycling through memories of places, feelings and experiences of which I was now the sole keeper. I found that the most mundane memories – driving in my partner’s car, the rural midwest landscapes of my college town – felt priceless, acting as vivid portals into what was now an irrevocable part of my life. The endlessness of grief supersedes the normal passage of time and the people we lose remain in places we can never go back to. It’s magic and terrible all at once; that is what this song is about.”
In addition to finalizing material for their full length record, the band has kept busy in 2022 with debuts at SXSW and Treefort, and tours with SPELLING, Pile and Babehoven across the west coast. The trio recently completed their first east coast tour co-headlining with Living Hour, and look forward to three west coast shows opening for Duster.
Sour Widows was formed in 2017 by Maia Sinaiko, Susanna Thomson and Max Edelman. All three had been close since meeting in various phases of childhood, and when they found themselves living in the same area, making music together came naturally. Maia and Susanna initially performed as a guitar/vocal duo, with Max joining on as drummer in 2018 to add a rhythmic element that completed the band, grounding the songs and opening them to a new range of possibilities. With a musical connection that was an extension of their longtime friendship, the band began fine-tuning a sound that swung from gently glowing harmonizing to energetic bursts of feedback-laced catharsis.
With their ‘Crossing Over’ EP—described by Pitchfork as “wielding raw vulnerability like a superpower”—Sour Widows discovered a new intensity by turning inward. The record dialed back some of the volume that drove their self-titled 2020 debut to make space for themes of self-reflection and painful change that cut through with sharpened clarity. The luminous vocal harmonies, complex guitar interplay, and understated drumming that have been at the core of the band’s sound remained foundational; but these four songs reached deeper, all the more stirring in their subtlety.
The unique form of the EP documented the band discovering a voice which derives its translucent power from restraint and intentionality. ‘Crossing Over’ represented a new phase of Sour Widows’ artistry, pointing to further growth with their soon-to-follow full length debut.
Dusk
(Appleton, WI)
Genre: Americana
Dusk is a group that walks the shadowed path. It’s well known in the rural pastures of Wisconsin, where all of the members of this group were raised, that the traditional music of the common people is Polka, but the most respected form of musical expression is Country and Western. Dusk walks cleanly between these two worlds; pulling influence from both but most strongly associating with Rock & Roll and Rhythm & Blues. They bring with them a strong, informed, melodic statement that draws a line between themselves and the trend of bubble gum pop and country-influenced mall schlock.
The group consists of vocalist Julia Blair on Wurlitzer electric piano, Colin “Wild Man” Wilde on drums and percussion, Amos Pitsch on bass guitar and vocals, Tyler Ditter on lead guitar, and Ryley Crowe on rhythm guitar, pedal steel, and vocals. Amos also doubles as a member of Appleton, Wisconsin punk band Tenement. The group is often compared to 60’s garage and R&B groups like NRBQ and THE LOVIN SPOONFUL, early 70’s country rock pioneers THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS, and at times the primitive rock and roll sound of a group like THE VELVET UNDERGROUND.
They hint at all these things, even as something in their music seems to breathe modern air. It’s a feeling that few musicians that attempt to nod to prior generations can capture without bastardising the very music that they intended to salute. Dusk have done it well, and in their music, you’ll find this plain truth among many exciting secrets.