Performance: Chuck Johnson + Johnny Bell + AEEMI

Santa Fe Noise Ordinance (SFNO) is pleased to present Oakland-based composer and pedal steel master Chuck Johnson in support of his new album Sun Glories. An innovator spanning genres from ambient Americana to soaring post-rock, and a composer of soundtracks for HBO and PBS, Johnson studied at Mills College under Pauline Oliveros and has been a mainstay of the Bay Area’s experimental and improvised music scene. Pitchfork called Sun Glories Johnson’s “most restless, exploratory album thus far,” a work that “melts his instrument down to a wall of shimmering sound.” The performance will be accompanied by visuals created by Los Angeles-based video artist Dicky Bahto.

Also on the bill is Santa Fe’s own Johnny Bell, fresh from a regional tour of Texas and Colorado, in his first hometown performance since the release of his well-received, sold out cassette Field Trips. Field Trips collects recordings from New Mexico, Arizona and California, the backbone for Bell’s banjo improvisations. A new local duo, AEEMI, will open the show.

The performance will be held at the community event space Cocoon, a new home for experimental music in Santa Fe that opened in January this year. Housed in Meow Wolf’s former studio space, Cocoon has collaborated with SFNO and local artists on under-the-radar shows and residencies. Established in 2023, SFNO is a monthly experimental concert series encompassing a wide range of practices from free improvisation to harsh noise, from ambient and experimental electronics to performance art. SFNO has previously hosted Catherine Sikora, Nakatani Gong Orchestra, the Chacon/Nakatani/Santistevan trio, Twig Harper, and the Santa Fe Intertribal Noise Symposium in collaboration with ICA Santa Fe, along with countless local artists and musicians, many of whom played their first show for SFNO.