Galen Kipar Project Performs at the LAB on April 7th; Chelsea Lynn Labate Opens

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by Erin Scholze
on Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Galen Kipar Project
with Chelsea Lynn Labate opening the show!
The LAB
Thursday, April 7, 2011

9pm doors
Donation w/ $7 minimum
828.252.0212
39 N. Lexington Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
http://www.lexavebrew.com/

Effortlessly crafting a fusion of folk, classical, jazz, and blues, the Galen Kipar Project has been hailed as "complex yet accessible" and "cohesive and poignant" with "experimental folk masterpieces." Based in Asheville, GKP recently released their fourth album in five years The Scenic Route which features the unique sonorous sound that has become the band's trademark. GKP is vocalist Galen Kipar on guitars & harmonica, Lyndsay Pruett on violin & vocals, Jeremy Young on drum kit, Ben Portwood on upright bass & vocals, along with with frequent guest Aaron Ballance on dobro and lap steel. "This is folk and blues done so well, with bits of jazz and funk thrown in making it that much more enjoyable," states Origivation Magazine.

Their most recent release, The Scenic Route, was listed in WNCW's Top 100 Albums of 2010! Host of the Grateful Dead Hour, David Gans states about the album, "It's like a collection of short stories, brilliantly constructed and with a unique and compelling literary voice. I keep coming back to each song, listening more deeply and being drawn more deeply in. I was knocked out by their last CD, and was hoping I'd like the next one even half as much; if anything, I like this one twice as much." WNC Magazine calls the album, "intricate and memorable, sophisticated and relaxed."

The GKP was featured on WNCW's 2010 Crowd Around the Mic Compilation CD with artists such as Darrell Scott, Jeff Sipe and Ike Stubblefield, Muddy Waters Reunion Band, Drivin & Cryin' and Jim Lauderdale. Their hit October Snow was used in a commercial promoting the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) and the WNC Farmers Market Association and was also a finalist in the Google TV for All Contest.

The fan base of the Galen Kipar Project is growing exponentially, with a strong regional presence in the Southeast plus U.S. national touring, including performances at Magnolia Fest, FloydFest, Six Points Music Festival, and the Crested Butte Music Series. The GKP has also played the Knitting Factory in NYC and to a jam-packed, toe-tapping crowd at the Kennedy Center's renowned Millennium Stage in Washington DC. This spring they will also be at Suwanee Springfest and returning to FloydFest amongst other shows on their tour. The New River Voice recalled from 2010, "If the Pied Piper-like migration of people to the stage during their FloydFest performance this past summer is any kind of barometer, the band is on an immutable trajectory of permeating Southwest Virginia with their versatile, yet immediately attainable sonority."