Sled Island Music & Arts Festival Announces Sudan Archives as Guest Curator for 2020

The first major announcement of Sled Island 2020 is upon us. We are thrilled to reveal that electronic and R&B infused violinist/vocalist Sudan Archives will be joining us as guest curator for this year's festival!

Each year, Sled Island's guest curator puts their stamp on the festival through special programming choices and with their presence at the event. Sudan Archives' curatorial selections, to be announced in the coming months, will join roughly 250 additional bands, comedy, film and visual art projects chosen by the festival in more than 30 venues across Calgary from June 24 - 28, 2020.

In addition, Sudan Archives will perform at Central United Church (131 7th Ave. SW) on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Sled Island passes grant access (subject to capacity) and are currently on sale at SledIsland.com, Sloth Records (736B 17th Ave. SW) and Lukes Drug Mart (112 4th St. NE). Single tickets will be available in spring 2020.

A friendly reminder that Sled Island 2020 Discovery and Discovery Plus Passes are currently 15% off! Regular pass rates go into effect on February 12, 2020.

Also, from now up until mid-May we are offering payment plan options. If you are looking to break up your spending this year, you'll definitely want to take advantage of this unique offer. For more information visit SledIsland.com/Passes.

Violinist and vocalist, Sudan Archives writes, plays, and produces her own music. Drawing inspiration from Sudanese fiddlers, she is self-taught on the violin, and her unique songs also fold in elements of R&B, and experimental electronic music.

Sudan Archives grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she "messed around with instruments in the house" and took up violin in the fourth grade, eventually teaching herself how to play the instrument by ear. When she discovered the violin playing style of Northeast Africa, her eyes opened to the possibilities of the instrument. "The way they played it was different from classical music. I resonated with the style, and I was like, 'Maybe I can use this style with electronic music,'" she says. This fusing of folk music and electronic production was the turning point for Sudan. "I started mixing my violin into beats," she says, "It wasn't complicated - I'd just sing straight into the iPad." She honed her at-home style after moving to Los Angeles aged 19 to study music technology, and after a chance encounter at a Low End Theory party with Stones Throw A&R and Leaving Records owner Matthewdavid, she signed with Stones Throw.

At the very start of her musical career, she's already won plaudits from the likes of the New York Times and Pitchfork, and played live at experimental festival Moogfest. Her EP Sudan Archives is an extraordinary debut statement from a singular artist. Over six tracks, Sudan Archives layers harmonies, violin figures and ethereal vocals, grounding them all with the hip-hop beats. Now with the release of her long-anticipated full-length album Athena, Sudan Archives has officially begun to cement her place as a unique force in modern music.

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