From The Window: al riggs plays Bile and Bone & Others

Recent Indy Week cover subject al riggs will perform songs from their outstanding new album Bile and Bone (recorded with Lauren Francis) and other songs live From The Window of the Carolina Theatre of Durham’s Connie Moses Ballroom on Saturday, October 3 during the venue’s takeout concessions hours. The artist will perform above and away from the concessions pick-up area and any guests.

No tickets will be sold or admission charged for this performance. The artist will perform while guests arrive at the venue to pick up concessions orders, and for anyone else walking through downtown Durham during Downtown Durham Inc’s The Streetery hours (5-9:30 p.m.). This live performance starts at 5 p.m.

About The Artist

Bile and Bone is the new album from songwriter al Riggs and guitar annihilator Lauren Francis.

Two years in the making, and in between countless side-projects, singles, side-albums, and a premiere at Hopscotch Music Festival 2019, Al and Lauren recorded this nine-song album in two different New York apartments, an apartment in Durham, a house on the other side of Durham, and additional recording in yet another house on yet another side of Durham.

Produced by Francis and mixed/mastered by Alli Rogers (recently an engineer on Bon Iver’s “i,i”), Bile and Bone is a culmination of familiar themes and tropes in Riggs’ songwriting (horror movie monsters, queer politics, puns) taffy-pulled into a widescreen format by Francis’ production and arrangement. Swaths of strings and electric piano are cut through by chunky acoustic guitar that sometimes teeters on the intrusive. Flirtations with soft rock (“Werewolf”) motorik pop (“Boyfriend Jacket”) and Eno-esque ambient balladry (“Apex Twin”) sit snugly against the ghosts of Fahey (“Dying Bedmaker Variations”) and the dust-clogged remnants of a pawnshop (“Love Is An Old Bullet”).

The title track is a shuffling climax of held-back fury, summarizing the overall air of the album with volatile lyricism (“I should not be in a place/where I am on my knees each night/praying for my leaders/to be shot down on sight”) with classic pop harmonies provided by Rook Grubbs (Vaughn Aed).

The end result is a patchwork of beauty with claw marks. Possibly cat, possibly wolf-person, definitely lovely.

Guest Safety Information

Guests and staff are required to follow the public health guidelines currently in place: wear face coverings, maintain a physical distance of six feet from other guests and staff and use hand sanitizer to avoid any potential contamination. If someone doesn’t feel well, they should stay home.

Guests must follow all North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (NC ABC) laws regarding alcohol. No alcohol can be consumed on the Carolina Theatre’s grounds.

Carolina Theatre staff will monitor the guests in regard to compliance with existing public health recommendations. Anyone not following these recommendations will be asked to leave. If the area doesn’t seem safe, the performances will stop.

To support the programming and the staging of From The Window performances, guests and fans are encouraged to become a member of, or donate to, Carolina Theatre of Durham, Inc., the nonprofit that operates the city-owned historic venue.