Chris Bathgate (full band) @ Skinny Pancake

Iowa-born Chris Bathgate’s sound is a subtle outpouring of humble reflection wrapped up in complex musical ideas inside traditional folk arrangements. Bathgate lays somber-ish lyrical lines with a touch of country twang atop harmonies that often feel somewhere in between folk and chamber pop. Using both acoustic and electric guitar, piano, strings, horns, and more, Bathgate creates large ideas from simple building blocks by studiously constructing multilayered harmonies and textures to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. His latest release, Salt Year, was released in 2011 on Quite Scientific Records.