STG Announces Matisyahu & Grouplove

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) announces the following concerts going on sale this week.

Grouplove
Special Guest: Walk The Moon
Date: June 6, 2011 @ 9:00pm
Venue: Tractor Tavern (21 & Over)
Price: $10.00 in advance, $12.00 day of show, not including applicable fees
Seating: General Admission
On Sale: Friday, April 29 @ noon
Ticketing Information: Available online at TicketWeb.com, in person at the Tractor Tavern box office (M-F 12pm-4pm), or at Sonic Boom Records. More info can be found online at STGPresents.org.

Hannah Hooper met Christian Zucconi late one evening on the lower east side of Manhattan. They had both been living in New York for years and had never crossed paths before. But from that night forward the two could hardly be pulled apart. Soon after their connection Hooper was invited to an art residency in Greece on the island of Crete and Hooper insists "without any hesitation" she invited Zucconi to join her on this journey. "Seriously, we had only known one another for a few days but are both so inspired and alive when we are together that going to Greece seemed like a magical and natural thing to do" recalls Zucconi. On Crete, in a small remote mountain village, Hooper and Zucconi met the members of their future band "GROUPLOVE" a year before it was officially formed. Sean Gadd, a natural songwriter and guitar player, born and bred in London instantly bonded with the two eccentric New Yorkers. Their relationship became apparent through the music they were making day in and day out. Andrew Wessen, a pro surfer and musician from Los Angeles and his childhood friend Ryan Rabin, an accomplished drummer and producer, were also at the residency and quickly joined in with the musical trio. These five musicians make up the members of what we now know as GROUPLOVE . Like all good things, the summer and the residency came to an end and the five friends scattered back to their homes all over the globe. With Sean in London, Christian and Hannah in Brooklyn and Ryan and Andrew in Los Angeles GROUPLOVE was faced with the challenge of what to do now. "We all understood how rare it is for five strangers to feel as close as family and create passionate music together. We couldn't just return to Brooklyn and let the music we all made fade into a memory of that summer we had in Greece," explains Zucconi. Everyone pulled their funds together and Sean, Christian and Hannah made their way to Ryan Rabin's studio in LA to record their album. "We seriously had the best time of our lives doing that record", says Zucconi. And the result is an incredibly special album where soaring harmonies coupled with sweeping anthems lead you through their powerful journey. Like the members of GROUPLOVE, their music is diverse in influence and style but bonded together by an undeniably creative kinship.

Matisyahu
Date: Saturday, July 30, 2011 @ 9:00pm
Venue: Neptune Theatre (1303 NE 45th St)
Price: $25.50 not including applicable fees
Seating: General Admission (21+ Floor, All Ages Balcony)
On Sale: Friday, April 29 @ 10am
Ticketing Information: Available online at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount Theatre box office (M-F 10am-6pm), 24-hour kiosks located outside the Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at (877) 784-4849, or online at STGPresents.org.

In April of 2005 a fresh voice announced his arrival on the international stage with a stunningly inventive document titled Live at Stubb's. Six years later, Matisyahu returns to the renowned Austin venue that helped to launch his career with Live at Stubb's Vol. II, a new CD-DVD package that demonstrates the continued originality and increasing depth of this longtime New Yorker's craft. Inspired by the runaway success of the original record, which spawned the hit single "King Without a Crown" and has to date sold nearly 700,000 copies in the United States, Matisyahu says he always knew he wanted to make another live album. "Performing is such a big part of what I do," he says, "and there's a lot about that live energy that you just can't catch in the studio. So for me it was simply a matter of figuring out the right time to do it." He chose well: Last year Matisyahu released Light, a David Kahne-produced studio disc on which he jumped boldly from hard-edged dancehall and ska-inflected New Wave to laidback pop-rock and acoustic folk-soul. The album took Matisyahu well beyond his stylistic comfort zone and charted the growth of his vocals from traditional reggae toasting to a more dynamic, emotional place. But it didn't necessarily show off his onstage evolution. "I've played so many shows and gone through so many metamorphoses as a performer," he says. Especially valuable was the opportunity to showcase that evolution at the very club where his career really took off. "It was kind of a return-to-roots occasion," he says-albeit one where we see how far he's come, as well.

ABOUT STG:
STG is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that operates the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping these two landmark venues alive and vibrant. STG presents a variety of shows from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and Jazz or comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at both historic theatres in Seattle and at venues throughout Puget Sound and Portland, Oregon.

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