Tui

Friday, June 14, 2019
8:00 pm

Tui is an internationally touring old-time duo made up of Jake Blount and Libby Weitnauer. They draw inspiration equally from rare archival recordings and the music of their peers, and both have extensive experiences with other genres of music; Blount spent years as a funk and metal guitarist, and Weitnauer has an M.A. in classical violin performances from NYU. Tui's diverse influences enable them to create music that is innovative and technically demanding, yet accessible and affecting as only old songs can be. They plan to release their debut album, Pretty Little Mister, June 28, 2019.

Jake Blount is a fiddler, banjo player and scholar based in Washington, D.C. He has performed and recorded with acclaimed fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves and award-winning old-time string band The Moose Whisperers, in addition to having served as a guest lecturer on music history at numerous museums and universities. In 2018, he and Hargreaves opened a series of shows for GRAMMY-winner and MacArthur “Genius Grant" recipient Rhiannon Giddens. He centers and venerates his racial and ethnic heritage through his approach to music and its history.

Fiddler and singer Libby Weitnauer has degrees in classical violin performance from DePaul University and New York University, but finds her voice in the traditional music of Appalachia. She has performed in a wide array of venues and concert halls, most recently the Smithsonian National Museum of American History after a summer of research and music-making under the supervision of Grammy Award winner Dom Flemons.