Wretched tchotchkes defy all expectations under the relentless beatings of a determined musician. Deformed forks, dusty luggage and a dirty shoe forget their haggard appearances and become useful once again. Partners on an ugly contraption, they thump and clank for their master, who has been exercising them for years as he makes a name for himself: The Suitcase Junket.
The Suitcase Junket, real name Matt Lorenz, arrives at The Sinclair in Cambridge on Jan. 5, Friday, for his first public performance of 2018. The evening promises to be a full-on extravaganza, opening with his sister’s band, Kate Lorenz and the Constellations; Somerville favorite Tim Gearan; Boston Music Awards nominee Julie Rhodes; and rising stars Lula Wiles, a trio of Maine natives.
No object is too forlorn or decrepit for Lorenz, the tinkerer behind this one-man band. His collection of mutilated musical instruments, festooned with abandoned stuff, forms a sort of drum set, accompanying him and his “nasty old guitar” to create a well-seasoned Americana sound that continues to evolve.
“I added a two-octave toy keyboard for the last album [‘Pile Driver’],” Lorenz said. “It was probably the thing that changed the most throughout the year, performance-wise … hopefully I was improving.”
Lorenz, a Leverett resident who performs about 200 shows a year, often alone, said he is looking forward to the reunion-style concert and kicking off the new year in good company.
“It’s really nice to get to hang around with friends,” he said. “I’m super excited to play with Tim Gearan again.”
The main focus of his tour-heavy 2017 was promoting his 12-track album “Pile Driver,” which was celebrated with a CD release show at the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls in April, and enjoyed by audiences everywhere from Saratoga Springs to San Francisco and even England and Italy.
Tracks include the anthemic rumbler “Mountain of Mind,” which has a robust chorus with help from his sister Kate, pumping the song’s scripture, “The blood of change is hot, it rolls like molten rock, down to the source of thought, and it takes some time”; as well as the nostalgic percussion-less ode, “Red Flannel Rose,” on chasing desire: “My heart is a hound dog running after its nose / tugging towards freedom and a red flannel rose.”
Most of the winter will be spent putting pen to paper, and old shoe to suitcase, as Lorenz goes through a large repository of song ideas collected on his cellphone. He sings while driving from gig to gig.
“There’s something about being alone in the car - it’s good thinking time,” Lorenz said. “I get to practice singing, sort of get all the weird out.”
The Sinclair concert will be recorded in case there is “anything good” that can be included on Lorenz’s upcoming live EP, to be released in the spring.
“I’m just looking forward to another year of making good music,” Lorenz said. “Hopefully it will be a year of collaboration.”
Tickets for The Suitcase Junket featuring Kate Lorenz & The Constellations, Lula Wiles, Julie Rhodes and Tim Gearan at 8 p.m. on Jan. 5, Friday are $15 at www.sinclaircambridge.com. The Sinclair is at 52 Church St., Cambridge. Show is 18+.
Have you heard of Lula Wiles?
There is no shortage of talent in the super-stringed folk trio Lula Wiles, as all three musicians sing and play guitar effortlessly, with members Isa Burke (daughter of folk stalwarts Susie Burke and David Surette) and Ellie Buckland taking turns on violin while Mali Obomsawin commands the upright bass.
All three previously met as youngsters at Maine Fiddle Camp in Montville before forming a group in college, according to an interview in Down East magazine. Buckland and Burke went to Berklee College of Music in Boston while Obomsawin is currently studying government and comparative literature at Dartmouth in New Hampshire, with two more terms to go. The band is based in Boston.
Hot off a month-long Bluegrass Jamboree tour in Germany opening for Boston five-piece The Lonely Heartstring Band and Toronto three-piece The Lonesome Ace Stringband - yes, their names are extremely similar! - Lula Wiles are pumped to perform at The Sinclair on Jan. 5 and start playing music from their second album, which they hope to release in June.
Learn more about the folk trio’s life on tour, second album and goals as musicians below. Interview with Buckland and Obomsawin has been edited for clarity. Interview was conducted Dec. 18.
Q: So you just finished the Bluegrass Jamboree tour?
Ellie Buckland: We just flew home last night and our luggage is still in Paris, but that’s OK. It’s going to be arriving today ... I’m home and I just want to do some laundry!
Q: Do you all live together in Boston?
EB: We all have our own places. I live in Watertown Square - I love it. It’s nice because it’s close to Cambridge and Somerville (perfect for gigging). Isa lives in Brighton. Mali is still going to Dartmouth College. She lives up in New Hampshire right now.
Q: Tell me about your recent tour.
Mali Obomsawin: It was so fun.
EB: It was our first time touring in Europe and it was just a completely amazing experience. Every night we opened the show for 30 minutes and then we’d all do a big finale together. It was pretty much a dream gig.The Bluegrass Jamboree is well known.
Q: Do you have a favorite show from the tour?
EB: My favorite performance was the last show, in Berlin. We played 23 shows in 26 days.
MO: It was intense.
EB: The energy was so good. Everyone was really happy and sad, and really present. And, we wore sparkly outfits. Literally Mali bought sparkly tights. When you’re on tour with huge group of people like that … the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
MO: It was also really incredible to be on a bus with two other bands … it’s rare to get to tour that long with another band.
Q: Did you all jam together a lot?
EB: A couple of times we would party in someone’s hotel room and be able to play tunes until the wee hours.
Q: Now that you're back, what are you up to?
MO: We just finished recording our sophomore album. We’re pretty pumped about it.
EB: We finished it just before going to Europe.
MO: We’re also going to Folk Alliance International, it’s a music industry conference in Kansas City.
Q: Tell me about your upcoming album.
MO: We recorded it very live. We’re really really proud of it, but a lot of the songs have never been performed. The way we arranged them in the studio might be different from how we perform them live. We’ll have our nose to the grindstone practicing.
Q: What is your biggest challenge right now?
EB: This new album we have is somewhat political. We grew up in really rural areas of Maine, so there are songs on there having to do with what it means to live in rural America …and not having the opportunities you wish you had and how that manifests into conservatism. All three of us are very liberal and don’t agree with what our government is doing right now. We also believe it’s important for us to talk about that as musicians. Isa has a new song. It’s sort of a direct response to the events in Charlottesville. Mali is Native American and one of her songs is about appreciating and interacting with people who are having a completely different experience than you.
MO: We feel it’s important to be writing more politically right now because we do have a voice that will be heard.
Learn more about Lula Wiles at www.lulawiles.com.