2024 Music - True/False Film Fest

2024 Music

18andCounting

St. Louis polymath Stan Chisholm holds no mercy for the uninitiated. Incorporating a studio’s worth of modular hardware into his immersive live experience, ideas of hip-hop and electronic music are shattered and pieced back together into a vision both grim and wholly life-affirming.

Agile One & DJ Nico Marie

@CTION Party

A creative union of two St. Louis nightlife fixtures, perennial Fest favorite Agile One partners with the ascendant star of DJ Nico Marie to ignite the nightclub into a forum for jubilance and restoration.

Ben Lamar Gay

Thursday Night Rose Showcase

Charged by the philosophy that “Americana” spans far wider than just these continental states, Chicago cornetist and composer Ben Lamar Gay filters jazz, bossa nova, and spoken word through textured, chaotic lenses. Connecting the reaches of Black diaspora through sound collage and folklore, Ben’s both a student and master of his craft.

Blue-Eyed Mary

Sentinel Park Showcase

Effie Lillig and Kathryn Myers, both raised here in Columbia, MO, harmonize over acoustic strumming in a way that makes us set aside our modern devices to rediscover the shared beauty of human connection and the natural world.

Boreal Hills

Eastside Kickoff Concert

All the best attributes of a DIY rock and roll band can be found in St. Louis-based Boreal Hills, with fun, bouncy and melodic jams that tickle you out of your seat to shake a leg and sweat out your stored up feels on the dance floor.

BSA Gold

Hitt Records Sessions

A dynamic and engaging newcomer to the Fest’s musical gallery, BSA Gold is the performance moniker of Chicago flautist, beat maker and events producer Barédu Ahmed. Blanketing lush melody and understated poetry over a bedrock of low end theory bass hits, her sounds signify a space where the cosmic and temporal can interact in harmony.

Daniel Villarreal

Thursday Night Rose Showcase

Although Daniel cut his teeth in the progressive punk music scenes of Central America, it wasn’t until he left his hometown of Panamá City for the States that he became the renowned Latin music troubadour that he is today. After a decade of adjacent work (including his role in ‘21 Fest heroes Dos Santos), Villarreal began delivering his own self-titled albums driven by earthy spiritual grooves that fit squarely on any deep cut, heads-friendly radio mix.

drummerscales

Curation, technique and an innate sense of timing lie at the core of this DJ & musical director’s practice. Treating the dancefloor as not only a space for joy but also as an exhibition of high art, the multifaceted handiwork of LA’s Jacob Somerscales has been a recurring piece of the True/False Music puzzle for years.

Good Looks

Saturday Night Rose Showcase

After three rapturously received opener performances and a sold-out showcase last season, it’s only right for us to rewind with Austin’s own Good Looks. Penning prose-laden anthems that simultaneously hit the hearts of Americans at their most political and personal, the Keeled Scales band is primed for a major run at the current rock day crown.

Gora Gora Orkestar

Balkan-funk brass collective Gora Gora Orkestar hits a folksy medley of Old World and New World, with energetic live performances that will rock and rattle you to your feet.

J2M

Friday Eastside Happy Hour

A collaborative affair born out of a serendipitous reunion at the 2023 Fest, the interstate connection of St. Louis guitarist Joey Ferber and Kansas City percussionist Zach Morrow takes hold in the space between the notes. Both coming highly accomplished in their solo rights, Ferber’s idyllic strumming is bolstered by Morrow’s near surgical drum precision, building a conversational exercise in improvisational music.

K Kudda Muzic

Rosy piano chords accenting the unflagging funk of expertly placed drum patterns usher audiences into the orbit of this St. Louis-bred keyboardist. Moonlighting as sideman for some of the city’s brightest stars (Smino, Blvck Spvde), Kudda’s downtempo beat alchemy turns any space he enters into a headnod suite.

Kyren Penrose & Liv Burney

True/False has watched these two musicians grow into seasoned Midwestern voices. Consistently maturing as individual performers and songwriters, the two will marry their talents into a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Laika

Eastside Kickoff Concert

The freshest entrant into our town’s quietly rich history of atmospheric indie rock, the hype is to be bought on these youngsters. Nathan Forck and Rachel Kelly’s vocal frontline darts between the two in an emphatic banter, creating an opening for a dense yet pointed wall of pop sound to emerge behind them. With songs designed to leave the chase as quickly as they arrive, it’s heartening to know that Laika’s only just at the beginning of their endeavors.

Lia Kohl

Sanctuary Showcase

Multi-disciplinary artist, composer, and cellist Lia Kohl springs from the creative mecca of Chicago’s art community. Her dreamy, improvisational performances of drony layered synth and strings have the ability to transport you to a different, more serene world.

Materia

The Blue Note Dance Party w/ Materia

St. Louis’ most infamous rave crew returns to the Fest with a vengeance. Armed with a reloaded deck of propulsive, chaos-oriented tracks to match their mesmeric visual accompaniment, the Midwest is still very much young and reckless within the Materia sonic multiverse.

Nádir S

The surrealist collages of Nádir S. layer ambient, found sound and dance-music. Part of the St. Louis collective MATERIA, Nádir S. demonstrates his versatility as both a DJ and solo artist.

Nona Invie

Hitt Records Sessions

Minneapolis based artist Nona Invie returns to True/False with a solo project after Fest favorites Anonymous Choir and Dark Dark Dark graced our stages in years past. Nona gathers us into her aural landscape, where a sweeping piano accompaniment lays the foundation for powerfully delicate vocals that affirm the strength in human vulnerability.

PSALM ONE

Saturday Night Berlin Showcase

It’s hard to decide what’s more impressive: Psalm One’s prolific discography or her decorated professional resume. At once a respected MC, in-demand journalist and celebrated author, Cristalle Bowen’s impact on rap music, media and culture cannot be understated. With recent releases ringing as smooth and potent as her 2006 Rhymesayers debut, this Chicago maven is a true champion of the genre’s enduring independent spirit.

R.A.P. Ferreira

Saturday Night Berlin Showcase

Having emerged from hip-hop’s online sonic boom last decade, R.A.P.’s trademark releases a barrage of witty, paradoxical musings upon listeners with each verse he unfurls. Now representing Nashville, the artist formerly known as Milo’s latest creative iteration explores the intersection of Blues tradition and modern shapes of lyrical expression.

Rae Fitzgerald

Sometimes the saddest sound brings the warmest catharsis. Hearing Rae Fitzgerald’s lonesome, dreamy voice will cause the world around you to melt away, offering an emotional release and a chance to purge your own tensions.

Randall & Rehm

Two thirds of the legendary Missouri roots rock band The Hooten Hallers, John Randall and Andy Rehm take a break from touring the world to help bring True/False to a triumphant conclusion by leading the celebratory Busker’s Last Stand on the final night of the Fest.

Reggie Pearl

Eastside Kickoff Concert

Don’t let the ornate arrangements, driving guitars and sharp pop instincts of this breakout act lure you to comfort. Underneath her seemingly nostalgic indie soundscape, Reggie Pearl takes up provocative arms against misogyny & fundamentalism with surreal power and vocal candor.

Richard Edge

After discovering finger-style acoustic guitar playing at the age of 12, Richard Edge slowly cultivated his own quick-picking style into an instrumental form capable of painting pictures and telling stories.

Richard Penrose

If you’ve ever walked by a certain, small cavernous building on 8th Street at just the right time, you may have already been lucky enough to hear the soft intimate croon of Richard Penrose’s voice, hear his ukulele strum, or his pump organ vibrate its reeds.

Roshni Samlal

Sanctuary Showcase

This New York City based tabla player combines her classical training with modern electronic elements. Roshni’s innovative approach to the tabla blends the traditional and contemporary, creating a meditative percussive soundscape.

Royce Martin

It’s with pleasure that we welcome St. Louis pianist and composer Royce Martin into our 2024 musical fabric. A Berklee College of Music graduate with an expansive credit list, Mr. Martin is a true acolyte of the ragtime style, proudly striving to honor and continue the legacy of one of Missouri’s most significant artistic exports with care.

RP Boo

One of the Midwest’s great cultural ambassadors, RP Boo’s international notoriety stems from his pioneering status in the Chicago footwork narrative. As the oft-cited founder of the form, RP continues his nearly thirty year tenure as club music innovator and archivist via a high octane merger of syncopated rhythms and eccentric sample work.

Ruth Acuff

The phantasmic songs of Acuff’s harp and angelic voice breathe in and sigh out with a waking elegance.

Soup Activists

This six-piece supergroup brings their relentless, playful pop punk to the Fest. Bringing the impact of revered former projects to the table, their collective forms a sound carrying the weight of regional influence.

Steven Senger

Synthesizers, basslines, and heady guitar licks posit Steven Senger’s music as both of the future and past. Equal parts DIY and avant-garde, notions of electronic music are bent and warped, arresting audiences with sonic fluidity.

Sweeping Promises

Friday Night Berlin Showcase

Good Living Is Coming For You, the title of Sweeping Promises explosive 2023 Sub Pop debut, summarizes the Lawrence, Kansas-based outfit’s aesthetic in seamless fashion. Constantly finding subversive ways of melding the eerie with the hopeful, the duo of Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug’s experiments in vocal delivery and recording design have cemented the group as one of today’s most progressive punk acts.

Tashianna Harp

Inspired by the French Impressionist composers, Tashiana Merryman strode after and achieved a Masters in Harp Performance at Denver University. She brings her own interpretations of greats such as Debussy and Ravel through compelling and dynamic performances on her concert harp.

Thao

Saturday Night Rose Showcase

Thao Nguyen’s musical intentions have resoundingly avoided categorization for the better part of twenty years. Carrying a mercurial fascination with the blocks of folk, punk, pop & hip-hop, the San Francisco singer/bandleader continues to foster her reputation as one of indie’s most eclectic figures and sought-after contributors.

The Mall

Friday Night Berlin Showcase

The dark analog drum machines, tunneling synths and echoed voices of The Mall invoke visions of commutes on a train through a dystopian crumbling city.

The Quorus: Columbia’s LGBTQA+ Community Choir

Through the power of choral music and community service, The Quorus strives to be a positive, caring, and dynamic group of diverse advocates providing safe-space, growth, and social justice for the LGBTQIA-Z community.

They Hate Change

Friday Night Berlin Showcase

Change is inevitable. The acclaimed duo of Vonne Parks & Dre Gainey have decidedly torpedoed any remaining hip-hop conventions to birth a singular style deeply indebted to both their Gulf Coast homeland and shared affinity for the European electronic canon, resulting in a bombastic mix of effortless flows and frenzied production choices. With an endless roll call of influences studded within their tracks, THC is steadfastly committed to bringing Tampa’s musical wealth to the world (and vice versa).

Tonina

Thursday Night Rose Showcase

In the four years since her last Fest stint, Tonina Saputo has taken on multiple international tours, found a new home in Los Angeles, and recorded 2022’s Senti, a record that once again interweaves her symphonic education on bass with affirmational soul balladry. Always looking to underscore intersectional identity within her work, Toni’s found sure footing in the favor of jazz purists and fusionists alike.

Travis McFarlane

Tre. Charles

Friday Eastside Happy Hour

Matching his intricate R&B songcraft is Tre. Charles’ elegant vocal croon, housing dulcet and baritone qualities alike. Listeners are warmly invited to partake in this North Carolina resident’s journey through heart, soul and ambience.

tristaño

Under the combined influence of jazz legends, hip-hop maestros, and contemporary beat-makers, this St. Louis three-piece provides a contemplative yet engaging soundtrack to the ebb and flow of the Fest.

Two Fathoms

The sound of this Celtic duo will instantly steal you away from our modern age to a festival of jigs, hornpipes and reels. With Tashi Merryman cradling the Celtic Harp and Tim Carson wielding the Irish Tin Whistle, musical stories of conquerors, forest sprites, heroes and foes unfold.

V.V. Lightbody

The solo project of Chicago musician Vivian McConnell, V.V.’s music has the essence of a dream state while not shying away from flair. With a timeless sound, velvety vocals, a cache of instruments and clever arrangements, McConnell arrives as the latest representative of the city’s constantly evolving indie scene.

Valebol

Saturday Night Rose Showcase

Spurning from the minds of longtime friends and creative allies V.V. Lightbody and Daniel Villarreal, Valebol works as a synthesis of both halves individual pursuits while also carving out space for its own identity. Applying a unique, shoegaze informed shimmer to a backdrop of irresistible Latin funk, Villarreal’s steady and tender percussive cues provide the foil for V.V. ‘s ethereal vocals and celestial flute play.

Zeph France

Saturday Night Berlin Showcase

Upon one’s initial listen to Zeph’s 2022 album nJOY!, it becomes clear that the Kansas City kid carries a worldview beyond his 22-year age mark. Able to pivot his pen between affectionately spun hooks and ironclad verses reflecting on life, love, and pain in the modern age, the Mizzou-made rapper/scholar typifies the new school of hip-hop thought at its most contagious.

CONCERTS

Super, Silver, Center & Stay Up Late passholders can start reserving tickets to showcases on their reservation date. Make sure to add it to your calendar!

Individual tickets to all showcases will be available Monday, February 19, 10AM CST space permitting.

Eastside Kickoff Concert

Wednesday, Feb 28 / Doors 7PM / Show 8PM – 11:30PM

There’s no better catalyst for a slew of True/False musical nights than a trifecta of regional rock music featuring new and old blood. Reggie Pearl, LAIKA and Boreal Hills will whet the palate for all those ready to embark on another True/False adventure. Gen admin: $10

@CTION Party

Thursday, Feb 29 / 10PM – 1AM

Newly renovated and outfitted with a 60-inch disco ball, 10Below at Harpo’s plays host to the St. Louis-bred superpowers of Agile One & DJ Nico Marie. Our longtime Fest stalwart unites with the city’s hottest new performer to connect on an expressive excursion of hip-hop, house and pop. Join your friends, old and new, for the starting block of the weekend’s nightlife theater. Open to passholders with reserved ticket.

Thursday Night Rose Showcase

Thursday, Feb 29 / Doors 6PM / Show 7PM – 10:30PM

Enter into a rapturous, jazz informed trance at the inaugural Thursday night Rose afterparty, a lineup marked by top flight performance and undeniable style. Chicago’s Daniel Villarreal and Ben Lamar Gay reassert their claims as two of the region’s most coveted musicians with their singular perspectives on the respective Latinx & Black American sonic landscapes, alongside the soulful Afro-Cuban offerings of Fest cornerstone Tonina. Gen admin: $18 advance, $20 night-of-show

Friday Eastside Happy Hour

Friday, Mar 1 / 6PM-8PM

Eastside Tavern’s intimate nature serves as an ideal setting for this assembly of nascent, sonically curious projects. T/F everyman Joey Ferber and Kansas City road warrior Zach Morrow once again use the Fest as a kismet connection point for their delicate yet fiery freestyle duo J2M, dressing the stage for North Carolina newcomer Tre. Charles’ walk through R&B tropes of yearning and heartbreak. Free and open to the public, donations encouraged.

Friday Night Berlin Showcase

Friday, Mar 1 / Doors 7PM / Show 8PM-11PM

Alert: a loud night lies ahead. Seizing firm control of Café Berlin are three entities who boldly predict the future of punk, hip-hop, electronic and beyond. Lawrence based rock visionaries Sweeping Promises lead the charge with a must-see live set, Tampa’s They Hate Change injects an aggressive fascination with international club music into Florida’s hallmark bass-boosted mode, and the dystopian dance stabs of St. Louis’ The Mall round out an evening with seemingly endless bearings on what could be next for music at large. Gen admin: $18 advance, $20 night-of-show

The Blue Note Dance Party w/ Materia

Friday, Mar 1 / 10:30PM-1AM

Merging the raucous and caring in a manner singular to this collective, the return of St. Louis ravebearers Materia will transport you to another plane and keep you on your feet all throughout the night. Combining the spinning forces of Umami, Nadir Smith, Manapool & Sweeet with the cutthroat mic skills of MC Eric Donte, Materia delivers the audiovisual spectacle of the season. General admission: $10 advance, $15 night of show

Sentinel Park Showcase

Saturday, Mar 2 / Doors: 1:30PM / Show 2PM – 4PM

Often a heavenly voice is enough to lure us in. Other times our own imagery upon hearing poetic lyrics are the pull. Traverse north to the Arcade District stage and get the best of both worlds with the melancholy bedroom pop of Rae Fitzgerald and the wistful harmonies of Blue Eyed Mary. Free and open to the public, donations encouraged. Will be relocated to Eastside Tavern if the weather turns.

Sanctuary Showcase

Saturday, Mar 2 / Doors 6:30PM / Show 7PM-9PM

Find catharsis within the beautiful vaulted wood ceilings of the sanctuary at Calvary Episcopal Church, where Roshni Samlal will perform solo tabla over complex world rhythms and Lia Kohl will extract alien broadcasts to loop through meditative cello improvisations. Free and open to the public.

Saturday Night Berlin Showcase

Saturday, Mar 2 / Doors 7PM / Show 8PM-11PM

Beats, rhymes and a poetic mapping of Midwestern life are on full display at Cafe Berlin this Saturday night. Illustrious MC, producer and Ruby Yacht label boss R.A.P. Ferreira routes up from his current Nashville home to demonstrate his patented brand of intelligent and intricate lyrical dexterity, enforced by the headstrong bars of Chicago’s Psalm One and Mizzou’s own Zeph France. General admission: $18 advance, $20 night of show.

Saturday Night Rose Showcase

Saturday, Mar 2 Doors 8PM / Show 9PM – 12:45AM

A true lineup of genre benders: Americana rock n’ rollers and T/F 23 Fest darlings Good Looks, Thao (backed by an all-star cast of True/False musicians), and the dreamscape Latin grooves of Valebol will bring the Fest to a pinnacle of showcases none shall want to miss at Rose Music Hall. General admission: $20 advance, $25 night of show

Hitt Records Sessions

Sunday, Mar 3 / Doors 6PM-8PM

While it may commence the bittersweet end of the weekend, the contemplative and physical testimonies of Chicago’s BSA Gold and Minneapolis’ Nona Invie turn the Fest’s flagship record store to a portal for the uncharted in this final showcase of the 2024 program. Free & open to the public.

Buskers Last Stand

Sunday, Mar 3 / 9:30pm-10:30pm

With a tear and a beer, the festival comes to its official end with the ritual escape of the accordion, trumpet, and megaphone. Theater lobby open to Super, Silver, and Stay Up Late passholders & those with a ticket to the closing night film.