chris brokaw: 2020 shows

Chris was scheduled to travel to Italy in February and March 2020, but had to postpone the shows because of the COVID-19 outbreak. They will be rescheduled in the future!

2020 shows

Jan 11, 2020 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Somerville, MA, house concert; contact Chris for details

Jan 18 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
South Boston, MA, at Midway Lab, Mobius presents: Chris Brokaw, Chris Guttmacher, Mike IX Williams, Mark Cetilia, Max Lord

Jan 24 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Cambridge, MA, at Lizard Lounge, w/ Thalia Zedek, Field Day, Kid Gulliver

Feb 1 -- Chris Brokaw and Jimena Bermejo
Dallas, TX, at Latino Cultural Center as part of Teatro Dallas' International Festival; their piece is called "Paper Piel" and includes being wrapped in paper constructions that look like sculptures. Executive director Sara Cardona says: “I like Jimena’s aesthetic because she’s very sort of minimal, low-tech. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to work out, but apparently the paper is part making sounds and part of the dance. There is the idea of paper as a skin, and paper as a surface that everyone uses daily, though it’s kind of disappearing because of digital. They’re reimagining it as part of the body.” Read more here.

Feb 4 -- The Spelling Bee
Somerville, MA, at Highland Kitchen; Chris writes: "Here's what you need to know: yes, it's a spelling bee. Individuals step up to a mic and are tested on the spelling of words of increasing difficulty. Anyone can play. There's no cover. Just sign up at the bar between 9 and 10pm. The bee goes from 10 to 11. The winner gets a $25 gift certificate to Highland Kitchen. Hazrat Potomac is the mc. I'm his foil. We goof around and I play stupid stuff on guitar. It's fun. Words!" Every first Tuesday of the month!

Feb 22 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Brooklyn, NY, at 519 Evergreen Ave, in a benefit for Las-Americas.org; details here

Feb 14 -- Chris Brokaw and Jimena Bermejo
Boston, MA, 7pm at Assemblage Gallery, 70a Sleeper Street; a Mobius production titled "Chocolate Champagne Secrets," with performances by Jimena Bermejo and Zayde Buti, live music by Chris Brokaw, and special guest Liz Roncka; read more here about this dreamy, fun, and mysterious event

Feb 22 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Brooklyn, NY, @ 519 Evergreen, Bushwick. VESTMENTS + UM + CHRIS BROKAW + JOEY TRUMAN W/BRAD TRUAX + IAN WILSON in benefit for las-americas.org. 7pm to midnight; details here

ITALIAN TOUR POSTPONED Because of the outbreaks of coronavirus in Italy that began being reported Feb 23 2020, Chris has postponed his Italian tour. Shows had been scheduled for Feb 27-March 8 in Genoa, Bologna, Pescara, Montecarotto, Cremona, Roma, Ravenna, Perugia, Firenze, Busto Arsizio, and Narzole.

Chris writes: *** “It is with a very sad and frustrated heart that I'm postponing my tour of Italy. There were too many unknowns and too many moving parts (including show cancellations out of my control) and the wise move seemed, I think, to wait until things calm down a bit. - Thanks to my fantastic agents, Pentagon Booking, I've toured Italy more over the years than possibly any country on Earth (including my own) and it is hands down my favorite place to tour. So this hurts on a lot of levels but foremost my heart goes out to my friends there dealing with troubled times and uncertainty. I'm sending love and good vibes to all in Italia - we will try to rebook everything as soon as we can and I can't wait to come play there again.” ❤️:it:❤️ ***

CHRIS BROKAW (solo) ITALY TOUR: FEB/MAR 2020
February 27-March 8, 2020
[THIS TOUR HAS BEEN POSTPONED. SEE ABOVE.]

Feb 27 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Genoa, Italy, at Teatro Bloser; details here [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
Feb 28 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Bologna, Italy, at Efesto; details here [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
Feb 29 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Pescara, Italy, house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 1 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Montecarotto, Italy, at Osteria Sotto le Mura [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 2 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Cremona, Italy, at Osteria del Fico [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 3 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Roma, Italy, at Le Mura [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 4 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Ravenna, Italy, at Bronson [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 5 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Perugia, Italy, at T-Trane records; details here [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 6 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Firenze, Italy, at Circolo Arci Progresso [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 7 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Busto Arsizio, Italy, at Circolo Gagarin; details here [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 8 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Narzole, Italy, House Concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]

March 3 -- The Spelling Bee
Somerville, MA, at Highland Kitchen

BROKAW/FARINA LIVING ROOM TOUR POSTPONED Because of the outbreaks of coronavirus, Chris and Geoff have postponed their U.S. tour. Shows had been scheduled for Milwaukee, Madison, St. Paul, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Providence, and Boston.

Chris writes: *** Ok, change of plan. Due to some circumstances out of our control, Geoff Farina and I have elected to postpone our living room tour of March 14-25 until June or July. All tickets will be honored then, refunds available if preferred. We apologize to everyone involved, and we especially appreciate the patience of all our hosts as well as our bookers, Undertow Booking.

Meanwhile, I have elected to book three solo living room shows here in New England over the next couple of weeks:

March 20 - Somerville, MA [CANCELED]
March 22 - Montpelier, VT [CANCELED]
March 28 - Providence, RI [CANCELED]

I'm hoping these can afford people the opportunities to gather, enjoy music and not completely become lunatic shut-ins. I will perform a set of the cd "The Hand That Wrote This Letter" for classical guitar, and an electric guitar set of songs from the forthcoming "Puritan", the most recent "End Of The Night", and more. Write to me for details, addresses, etc. Thanks everyone, be well, stay kind + sane. ❤️ ***

CHRIS BROKAW/GEOFF FARINA LIVING ROOM TOUR: MARCH 2020
March 14-25, 2020
Chris and Geoff last did a Living Room tour in 2016, after the release of their "All Out & Down" LP. For this U.S. tour, all tickets must be purchased in advance from the Undertow Music Collective.

[THIS TOUR HAS BEEN POSTPONED. SEE ABOVE.]

March 14 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Milwaukee, WI, house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 15 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Madison, WI, house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 16 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
St. Paul, MN, house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 18 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Chicago IL, house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 19 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Detroit, MI (Grosse Point) [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 20 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Cleveland, OH (Shaker Heights) [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 21 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Pittsburgh, PA, house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 22 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Baltimore, MD (Catonsville), house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 23 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Brooklyn, NY, house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 24 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Providence, RI, house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]
March 25 -- Chris Brokaw / Geoff Farina
Boston, MA (Somerville), house concert [POSTPONED; SEE ABOVE]

March 20 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Somerville, MA, house concert; contact Chris for info [CANCELED]
March 22 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Montpelier, VT, house concert; contact Chris for info [CANCELED]
March 28 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Providence, RI, house concert; contact Chris for info [CANCELED]

March 21 -- Chris Brokaw Solo LIVE ON YOUTUBE 8pm EST
Click here for the YouTube Livestream, 8pm - 10pm EST. Chris writes: "I'll be playing two solo shows this weekend 'live on the web', on YouTube Live: Saturday March 21 at 8pm (EST), and Sunday March 22 at 2pm (EST). Everyone is invited! My hope with the Sunday one in particular is that people on the west coast of the US and in Europe can watch at reasonable hours." See the Boston Herald article featuring Chris about musicians moving online.

Chris continues: "Like everyone I'm trying to make up for cancelled gigs and tours to the best of my ability at the moment. There is something specific and magical about being in a room with people and making music happen; this will have to do for now, and I'm appreciative of those who've encouraged me to do this.

"Each show will be around 60-90 minutes. I'll be doing a bunch of classical guitar songs from "The Hand That Wrote This Letter", a couple of acoustic tunes from the Farina/Brokaw records, and electric guitar tunes from all eras, lots of new ones esp from forthcoming Brokaw and MV Ferries records. Not to show my hand completely, but this will have a little more variety than usual because I'm not always able to drag all these guitars around on tour.

"I'll be accepting donations via PayPal and Venmo. My PayPal address is chrisbrokaw@yahoo.com. My Venmo address is @Christopher-Brokaw-2. Any donation would be great. You rule! I have a couple of package things available too:--- contribute $50 and I'll send you a signed LP or a t-shirt---contribute $100 and I'll play and sing any request you have, and I mean basically any request that doesn't violate the law or whatever. Requests need to be made by midnight on Thursday so I can get it together. Requisite shout-out too of course.---contribute $500 and I'll write a song for you. It can be for you, or about you. It can be a love song, from you to a loved one; or something less rosy, perhaps for the president of your country. I'll send you a studio recording of the song, and of course the handwritten lyric sheet. I've never offered this sort of service before, so look out.

"Thanks for reading and for listening and supporting live (like) music."

March 22 -- Chris Brokaw Solo LIVE ON YOUTUBE 2pm EST
Click here for the YouTube Live Stream; see March 21 info for details

April 3 -- Chris Brokaw Solo LIVE ON INSTAGRAM 8pm EST
Instagram of Tubby's; Paypal address chrisbrokaw@yahoo.com, Venmo address @Christopher-Brokaw-2; any donation would be great.

This show follows Chris' first two experiments with live streaming in March. Chris writes: "Thanks so much to everyone who listened in on my webcasts. Your enthusiasm and generosity were flattering and a balm in this strange time. I hope it provided a good place for people to gather and enjoy music and company, however 'remote'. It was quite unique to play for a completely silent audience, while still being able to glance at comments on the screen... weird and new zone but actually quite nice. In general I'm constantly driven towards booking and playing shows, and I'm scheduled to play Friday April 3 at 8pm on the Instagram of Tubby's, one of my favorite clubs to play, in Kingston, NY."

See the Boston Herald article featuring Chris about musicians moving online.

April 12 -- Chris Brokaw with Damo Suzuki (of CAN 1970-1973)
Cambridge, MA at the Cambridge Community Center; Chris writes: "I'm honored and excited to play guitar for one night with magical legend supreme DAMO SUZUKI. Also on board: Chris Guttmacher on drums, Sam Potrykus on bass, Andrew Abrahamson on synth. Going for groove. Anything will happen!" Event details here [CANCELED]

April 20 -- Chris Brokaw Rock Band
Allston, MA, at O'Brien's, with EARLY DAY MINERS [CANCELED]

April 24 -- Chris Brokaw Live on Facebook 8-9:30pm EST
Live acoustic + electric set. New songs, old songs, everything. Details here! Contribusions via PayPal at chrisbrokaw@yahoo.com and Venmo @Christopher-Brokaw-2. Any donation would be great.

April 24 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Hamden, CT, at Space, w/ JENNIFER O'CONNOR [POSTPONED]

April 25 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Philadelphia, PA, at Ortlieb's, w/ JENNIFER O'CONNOR [POSTPONED]

April 26 -- Chris Brokaw Solo
Marlboro, NY, at The Falcon, w/ JENNIFER O'CONNOR [POSTPONED]

[last updated April 24 2020]

Jimena Bermejo and Chris Brokaw have been collaborating on movement and music since 2017.

Chris began playing solo in late 1999. His shows feature solo electric guitar and tambourine, vocals, and acoustic guitar. His solo records include "Red Cities" (2002), "Wandering as Water" (2003), "My Confidante + 3" (2004), the original film score "I was Born, But. . ." (2004), "Incredible Love" (2005), "Canaris" (2008), "VDSQ Solo Acoustic Volume Three" (2009), "Gambler's Ecstasy" (2012), "'Now, Forager' Soundtrack" (2014), "The Periscope Twins" (2015), "The Hand That Wrote This Letter" (2017), and "The End Of The Night" (2019). Since 2005, he has performed occasionally with the CHRIS BROKAW ROCK BAND with a variety of musicians.

martha's vineyard ferries
MVF is a punk rock trio of Elisha Weisner (Kahoots) on guitar + vocals, Bob Weston (Shellac + Mission of Burma) on bass + vocals, and Chris on drums + vocals. Their 2010 record, "IN THE POND" is a 4 song, 1-sided 12" ep, with etching on side 2 by their pal Rosie. Their 2013 "MASS GRAVE" lp and cd is on Kiam and African Tape Records. Listen and buy at Kiam and at MVF on Bandcamp.

charnel ground
Charnel Ground's debut release was recorded in Brooklyn, NY, and released April 6, 2018 on 12XU. It features Kid Millions (Oneida/Boredoms) on drums, James McNew (Yo La Tengo) on bass + organ, and Chris on electric guitar and is for sale here. The band's live debut was Dec 11, 2017, in NYC and featured Kid Millions on drums, Chris on guitar, and Brad Truax (Interpol) on bass. In 2019, the band will play four shows in April, with Chris on guitars, Kid Millions on drums, and Doug McCombs (Tortoise/Brokeback) on bass. SPIN writes: ". . . Brokaw plays with real tenderness as McNew and Millions patiently keep time behind him—a reminder that improvised noise rock, when played well, is fully capable of touching your heart as well as melting your face."

Chris and GEOFF FARINA (ex-Karate) have been performing together since late 2006. Their "THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE TO ME" is an album comprised almost entirely of pre-WWII blues songs. It was released on Damnably Records in the UK + Europe March 18 2010 and in the US on Chris's Label CAPITAN RECORDS on april 27 2010. It's for sale here. Their cd "THE BOARDER'S DOOR" was released in the autumn of 2010. Their most recent LP, "ALL OUT & DOWN" was released in April 2016 (special tour edition) on Landland.

EHC is a free-floating collective of musicians spearheaded and masterminded by multi-instrumentalist DAVID MICHAEL CURRY (Willard Grant Conspiracy, Thalia Zedek, Will Oldham, Boxhead Ensemble) and specializing in improvised music. Recordings include the full-length cd "Improvisational Music" (2001) on Hinah Records in France, featuring a trio of Curry, Brokaw and cellist Jonah Sacks, and "Painted Plane" (2004). The band's Hudson River Trilogy, recorded in 2001, was released in 2017 on Bandcamp. Brokaw, Curry and Sacks performed with the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA, in the 2003 production of "Highway Ulysses," which won the Elliot Norton Prize for Outstanding Production by a Large Resident Company.

Mobius presented a show in South Boston at Midway Lab, with Chris Brokaw, Chris Guttmacher, Mike IX Williams, Mark Cetilia, and Max Lord

Chris and Thalia Zedek performing at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA, January 24, 2020. Photo by Judith Anne Sprague.

Performing at Union Pool in Brooklyn, NY, Sept 2019. Photo by Kevin Bannon.

Chris toured with THE LEMONHEADS in Europe and the U.S. in 2019.

Hidden Tooth is Dave Curry and Chris Brokaw. They performed their improvised music for guitar, viola, trumpet and electronics throughout Massachusetts in 2019.

Charnel Ground (Kid Millions, Chris Brokaw, Douglas McCombs) toured the U.S. and Europe in 2019.

Chris' April 3 2020 live stream show on the Instagram of Tubby's Kingston -- one of Chris' favorite clubs to play -- follows his first two experiments with live streaming in March. Chris writes: "Thanks so much to everyone who listened in on my webcasts. Your enthusiasm and generosity were flattering and a balm in this strange time. I hope it provided a good place for people to gather and enjoy music and company, however 'remote'. It was quite unique to play for a completely silent audience, while still being able to glance at comments on the screen... weird and new zone but actually quite nice."