ColliderFest is back! With a line-up that vigorously conquers space, time, and “lejania” with powerful doses of musical creativity.

It’s a weekender that runs the full length of Bombyx with Neftali Duran’s Oaxacan cooking, hyperlocal beers and ciders crafted by Florence-based brewers, Spin That! Records’ record fair on Saturday, and workshops of all kinds. We’re adding a second stage this year, so each night features four sets of music. 

Don’t miss the fun. Don’t miss the Joropo (which literally means “party” in Venezuela).

Friday’s Lineup:

Brad Barr  |  Over a career that spans three decades, Brad Barr has cultivated a uniquely visceral, bravely intimate approach to the guitar. The Providence-born guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter’s approach to the blues might twang like Mississippi Fred McDowell one moment, then it’s slender and rolling, Fahey-style, before picking up a North African strain of the blues, a la Mahmoud Guinea or Ali Farka Toure. Inspirations range from mainstream rock to jazz greats, from the Smithsonian Folkways to Montreal institutions like Colin Stetson and Lhasa de Sela.

dragonchild + Sunken Cages  |  DA Mekonnen, aka dragonchild, is the founding member and bandleader of Boston-based Ethiopian group Debo Band. dragonchild takes the exploration of Ethiopian music Mekonnen began with Debo Band and explodes it into vivid, three-dimensional space. dragonchild shatters traditions and boundaries, incorporating sampled material, field recordings, experiments in high and low fidelity, and the throughline that unites the diverse sounds, layers of Mekonnen’s rich and ecstatic saxophone. Ravish Momin, aka Sunken Cages, is an Indian-born drummer, electronic music producer and educator residing in New York City. Momin started working under the moniker Sunken Cages in 2019, in order to showcase his unique production style which involves layering live-loops and manipulating them in real-time to blur the lines between composition and improvisation. While rooted in Indian folk and Black Music traditions, Momin is also influenced by the street sounds of South African G’com, Angolan Kuduro and Egyptian Mahraganat.

AMAYO  |  Duke Amayo came to the US from Nigeria when he was 17 on a soccer scholarship and settled in NYC, where he opened up his own “Afrospot temple” inspired by Fela Kuti’s Shrine – he is widely credited for bringing afrobeat to a global audience as the frontman of Antibalas.

Saturday’s Lineup:

Mafer Bandola & the Pipiris Band  |  Mafer Bandola, a Venezuelan living in NY, envisions a “portable community house” for Venezuelan migrants, where Joropo Llanero (an Afro-Indigenous genre from the high plains of Venezuela) can be taught, performed, and enjoyed.

Yasser Tejeda & Palotré  |  Yasser Tejeda, a Dominican jazz guitarist, reworks traditional merengues he grew up with into dance ravers for a new generation in Brooklyn.

Xenia Rubinos  |  Xenia Rubinos, born to Puerto Rican and Cuban parents in Hartford, CT, channels the intergenerational experience of “lejania” with electronic reworks of Caribbean rumbas, merengues and boleros. The inspiration for her latest album stems from a melody she often heard as a child, emanating from her Abuelita’s wind-up lamp and resurfacing at many points throughout her life – a beautifully time-worn bolero (love song) called “Una Rosa.”

Hyperlocal Florence brewers Jake Mazar of Artifact Cider Project and O’Brian Tomalin of BLDG8 Beer will be serving on both nights of the festival.

We are grateful for our sponsors: Secret Planet, Northampton Arts Council, Ruthie Oland Real Estate, Spin That! Records, The Creation Station, and Ana Bandeira Chocolate.