March 14, 2014

Friday night live at Transistor: La Patrie and Nino Arobelidze. Sound by Jon Monteverde.

La Patrie is a progressive indie rock band based in Chicago. Drawing strong influences from jazz and soul, their self-titled EP is filled with lofty melodic lines and wistful harmonies. With Mihailo Ivanovic on vocals and guitar, Jeremy Aregood on vocals, Devin Foster on bass and Zachary Batteiger on drums, the band members have used their eclectic backgrounds and talents to create La Patrie's unique, soulful sound.

For this Transistor show La Patrie will perform all original material, including songs to be featured on their forthcoming EP, "The Gilded Age." Featuring a blend of post-rock, indie and soul, expect to hear intricate melodies, endearing harmonies and heartfelt lyrics.

Visit La Patrie on Soundcloud.

Born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia, vocalist/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nino Arobelidze's music education started at the cultural center next door to her parents' flat, where she witnessed countless rehearsals and performances of Soviet-funded ensembles as well as film showings, which originally sparked her fascination with the use of cinema and performance arts as a form of social protest. Having moved to the United States as a teenager, Nino became enamored with jazz music, a genre that thrives on individuality and freedom expression.

A graduate of DePaul University Music School, Ms. Arobelidze was the first singer to be invited as an artist in residence at the North Shore Hotel in Evanston, where she held weekly lecture-performance series on world vocal music from 2009-2012. In August of 2012, Nino released "Urbanismz," a new album with the Chicago-based producer/composer/multi-instrumentalist Pablo Gordy, with whom she heads a multi-genre collaborative Forbidden Knowledge. In his review of the album Vadim Molodyi writes: "'Urbanismz' has a very fresh approach to communicating with the listener; it's very direct and edgy, yet full of warmth and poignancy.... 'Urbanismz' makes for an unforgettable experience." Reklama Newspaper (issue #41).

Dubbed "one of the most innovative artists working in the U.S. today" (Anna Asatiani, Imedi TV) Nino Arobelidze's most recent solo album, "Nomad," was released March 17th on Ni Fu Ni Fa Records.

For her Transistor set, Nino performed a short set of her music that you won't want to miss; she played her Gretsch guitar, looped vocals on her BOSS RC-300 pedal, and generated a great deal of positivity in the audience.

Visit Nino Arobelidze on ReverbNation.