Cole Blouin (*1994, Portland, Maine; he/they) is a Queens-based sonic artist whose practice incorporates score-based composition; improvisation; and song. Recently performed notated works include Mundiglossia/Bloom (‘ patiently,’) [2020-2021], a 45-minute soprano saxophone solo for Thomas A. Giles; (time, as) dye, fabric, spent longing [2020], for two violas, bass and alto clarinet, electric guitar, and fixed media; and Mutual Horizon B [2019-2020], for nine musicians.
With saxophonist Thomas A. Giles, he curates and co-administrates Fall Line, an NYC-based series and projected label for modernist, experimental and improvised music; Fall Line’s last visible project was October 2021’s 5 American Premieres, connecting 10 performers, 5 composers (Kelley Sheehan, Lauren Siess, Josh Mastel, Golnaz Shariatzadeh, and Cole Blouin), 1 recording engineer, 1 videographer, and 1 graphic designer.
As an improvisor, he has performed with musicians including Robin Meeker-Cummings, Aliya Ultan, Charlotte Munn-Wood, Lauren Siess, Thomas A. Giles, and Anthony Stillabower, among others.
He releases songs under the name Cole Blu, beginning with 2021’s Songs of Desire and Belonging (written 2015-2016) and continuing with the forthcoming album TORSO (2018-present), and, as a DIY artist, has performed in basements, living rooms, and bars across the Northeast and Midwestern US, California, and parts of Canada.
“Rhythm and groove, grit and honesty, Klar’s music is part of the new Americana synergy that infuses rock and pop sensibilities with folk sincerity. His music seeks to turn a simple tune into something that connects us to both the stories and emotions that make our experiences worth remembering." -https://www.sustainmusicandnature.org/jake-klar
Webb Crawford: “I’m a composer-performer, improviser, and instrument-builder. I like playing free-improvised music, Piedmont-style fingerpicking, and percussive/noisy stuff. I’ve built stringed instruments ranging from electric guitars, basses and mandolins to modern reconstructions of historical instruments and instruments made from recycled materials or found objects. I studied with Richie Baxt, Mamie Minch & Chloe Swantner at the Brooklyn Lutherie, and built electric guitars and basses at Subway Guitars in Berkeley, CA. I have a background in jazz guitar, and studied for three years with composer-performer Mary Halvorson. In 2017, I worked at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art to restore the instruments of Gunnar Schonbeck as part of a playable interactive exhibit. I built playable replicas of Schonbeck’s “Triangle Cellos” for Bennington College, and participate in instrument-building workshops with Hastings-on-Hudson based collective Bash the Trash. I completed an MA in Experimental Music/Composition at Wesleyan University in June, 2021.”
“Fragale, a native of New York’s Hudson Valley, starts measured, with crisp and emphatic delivery consistent with her portrayal of herself as someone who’s been attempting to feel organized for too long. But there’s something lurking beneath the polish of her voice and steady pace of the bass and drums.” - https://beatsperminute.com/ciarra-fragale-rages-against-the-mind-on-lose-my-cool/