October 23, 2015

Friday night live at Transistor: piano-driven alternative folk from Sarah Eide, solo acoustic indie-folk from Tanous El-Kareh, and multi-instrumental geek-folk from Abud: A Bard. Sound by Jon Monteverde. 

New England born and raised, Sarah Eide is a Chicago-based pianist/singer/songwriter, who writes and performs what she describes as piano-driven alternative folk.  Though new to the Chicago music scene, Sarah is no stranger to gripping an audience with her powerful voice and lyrically beautiful music. A classical piano background coupled with a love for traditional American roots music and folk has led her to write songs that are daring yet familiar. She writes lyrics that are all at once raw, smart and intimate, while wrapping them in expressive melodies and adventurous chord changes. It’s within these songs that she dares question aloud spirituality, morality, relationships, societal standards, her place in the world and where the line lies between right and wrong.

Having graduated from Berklee College of Music, Sarah intended to make her mark in L.A. as a film composer and was well on her way to doing so, but by an unexpected twist of fate, she found herself in the Midwest. After months of working remotely on various independent games, advertisements and films, she found herself feeling unfulfilled and yearning for more. “I came to Chicago without knowing anyone in the music scene,” she says. “I had to figure out who I was as a musician and songwriter, as well as who I was as a person. Somehow that feeling of loneliness and exploring the unknown thrust me into my own self-discovery and got the creative juices flowing. I’d like to think a lot of good has come from it.” The result of this creative struggle is an arsenal of new songs accompanied by an ever expanding network of new musical relationships. Since late October 2014, Sarah (and a cast of supporting musicians) has begun playing in Chicago proper, all the while gaining new fans and garnering the attention of Chicago music’s best.

For her Transistor set Sarah played her original folky Americana tunes on the keyboard.

Visit Sarah Eide’s website.

An up and coming indie-folk artist, Tanous El-Kareh has found a home playing in the many intimate venues available around the Chicago circuit. As a graduate from the School of Theater and Music at UIC, he has dedicated his life to creating and sharing stories through his work, and empowering others to do the same. He has recently been featured at The Foundation Room at the House of Blues, The Store and The Throne Room. His second EP, “Faces,” was released on Bandcamp 8/18/15 and is availablehere for download and streaming.

Visit Tanous El-Kareh on Facebook.

Abud: A Bard is the tangible manifestation of multi-instrumentalist James Abud’s fantastical notions and musical research. This one-man show is founded on original acoustic works grounded in American folk, jazz, and theater music. It features Abud’s earthy virtuosity, chummy pathos, and enormous beard. Abud is a Detroit native and recent Chicago transplant whose life has been dedicated to composing, performing, and teaching music.

At Transistor, Abud: A Bard performed a half-improvised, half-caffeinated mélange of original music in varying styles on various instruments of both the string and non-string varieties.

Visit James Abud on Soundcloud.