WXPN WELCOMES

Aaron Lee Tasjan

Sunday, June 26 2022
at the Valencia Ballroom

with special Guest the Quahogs

Sunday, June 26 2022
Doors 7:00 PM / Showtime 8:00 PM
All Ages

Please note that this show will take place at:
The Valencia Ballroom
142 North George Street
York, PA 17401

Artist website: Aaron Lee Tasjan

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:

All tickets are general admission and will-call only (no physical tickets). Tickets are nonrefundable.

Be sure to check the COVID Info page of our website prior to the shows for up-to-date safety guidelines, as they are subject to change as the event date draws closer. By purchasing tickets, you acknowledge that everyone in your party will follow any regulations in place on the date of the show, and will not be entitled to a refund for noncompliance.

If you have season tickets, this show IS included in your 2022 season ticket package!

Note that this is not a seated show, though a limited number of chairs will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is the new album from Aaron Lee Tasjan, a genre-bending rising star who’s bold reimagination of classic sounds and songwriting has established him as one of the most idiosyncratic artists of his generation.

His self-titled fourth album is a masterclass in interstellar pop, vintage glam, 90s Anglophilia and experimental and psychedelic rock & roll. Irreverent lyrics may show Tasjan with his tongue in his cheek, but Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is an album with something to say. His autobiographical lyrics reflect on self-acceptance, expose his own contradictions, and offer a unique self-deprecating critique on the millennial generation’s simultaneous capacity for great empathy and narcissism. The album also explores notions of mental health, identity and sexuality, and is dedicated to the alternative kids who also felt “other” growing up.

Tasjan has been on a shapeshifting musical journey his whole life. From his glam rock roots, when Jimmy Iovine told him “guys in make-up don’t sell records” and Lady Gaga would open for his band in NYC, to his legend-hopping guitar sideman days, where he played with everyone from The New York Dolls to Sean Lennon and traveled the globe, collecting road war tales from doing mushrooms with Bono to twitter spats with Peter Frampton.

His search for a musical locus and geographic wanderings began in his early teens. They took him from Delaware, to California, to New York, to his current home in Nashville. He moved there in 2015 to play guitar in a band that imploded on his arrival. Through dumb luck, he quickly landed a deal with New West Records and became an established musical entity, releasing a diverse succession of critically acclaimed albums that drew the attention of everyone from NPR Music to Rolling Stone.

Despite this success, seeds of doubt started to bloom. After multiple musical incarnations, his label questioned Tasjan’s direction and where he should go next. So did Tasjan, and as he internalized their recommendations, musical paralysis ensued. He toured through 2019 and then came to a realization that he needed to give himself permission to go rogue. Sparked by the fond memory of an LSD-laced songwriting session that occurred years ago, when he felt at his most accomplished and free. With equal parts uncertainty and recklessness -- he hid from his label and covertly crafted Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! with co-producer Gregory Lattimer and mixed with John Congleton (Angel Olson, Bill Callahan, Sharon Van Etten, Lana Del Ray)….

There was no need for doubt. With humor, wit, and irony, Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!’s personal and hopeful vision was a coded message to himself and showed him self-belief was all he needed to get out of his own way. He feels grateful to his label for “motivating him to prove them and himself wrong.” Tasjan’s determined pursuit of his singular sound led him to a sense of musical realization and his most compelling album to date. Whilst his tour plans were pushed during the pandemic he’s been working with Noon Chorus and been delivering some great livestreams and historically he has opened for Marcus King, Greta Van Fleet and opening festival stages for Willie Nelson, Jeff Tweedy, and Social Distortion with his band at festivals from Stagecoach to Summer Fest to Bonnaroo.

It’s difficult to define a band like The Quahogs by a genre. Equal parts tender and heavy rock, singer/songwriter Steve DelMonico’s lyrics are witty, wise, and delivered with a mentholated authority. Steve Donovan’s lead guitar meanders from gently weeping to chainsaw shredding, oftentimes in the same song. Amato and Nick on bass and drums round out the sound by hanging in the back pocket like a full wallet. Their most recent release, an 11-song LP titled Sunny Waste, was recorded at the revered Columbus Theatre in Providence. It highlights their eclectic vision of rock-and-roll - think of Townes Van Zandt shaking hands with 70s era Rolling Stones. They are becoming well-known for their high-energy live performances, but are equally comfortable in a stripped-down environment.