Local indie folk band The Woodpile and Nina de Freitas, of Nina and The Hold Tight will take the stage at the Union basement Gardens March 14, 2019 at 7 p.m.
Presented by StudioWYO, the free performance kicks off The Woodpile’s midwest tour.
Opening for The Woodpile, Nina de Freitas is the frontwoman of Nina and The Hold Tight, a five-piece band hailing from Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Hold Tight began as de Freitas’ solo project and became popular after her 2017 EP “Spinning Towards the Edge.”
Nina and The Hold Tight released their first single in November 2018 and have plans to record an EP sometime this year. They made their debut as Nina and The Hold Tight with their submission to the NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2018, which resulted in a feature on the “All Songs Considered” blog.
Since then the group has played many more shows in the Denver area, including a critically-hailed main stage set at Denver’s 2018 Underground Music Showcase. De Freitas often does solo performances as well.
“Through music, The Hold Tight supplies an inexplicable excitement and devotion that carries itself through your whole being,” Alex Kramer wrote in 303 Magazine about the group’s live set.
Headlining the night, The Woodpile is a local favorite. Lead vocalist Evan Gwin established their name with a solo EP, “The Woodpile,” in December 2015. The folk/rock band consists of Gwin (vocal/guitar), Brendan Ruwart (vocal, percussion, guitar, banjo), Molly DeLau (bass, cello), Jessie Salas (cello, vocal) and Jesse Twitchell (electric guitar, vocal). They connected through the music department at UW and the Laramie community in 2016.
This is their seventh consecutive semester playing at The Gardens.
“Since The Woodpile first stumbled onto the stage, just learning to walk, our primary objective has been to make music that we’re proud of and that an audience can connect with on a very personal level,” Gwin said. “As we move forward, we only wish to raise that bar for ourselves and connect with as many folks as we can.”
The band resonates with folk and acoustic music from the past half-century but does not shy away from creating progressive sounds from their classical repertoire, classic country, modern rock, punk and melodic metal influences.
“We love tight vocal harmonies, dense arrangements and careful lyrics,” Gwin said.
The Gardens will be the start of the band’s Midwest tour. The Woodpile will be visiting Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and Omaha for the first time to share their music. The group has also been recording their first full-length album in collaboration with Will Flagg and anticipate a late spring or early summer release date.
To learn more about The Woodpile, visit their Facebook, Bandcamp or check them out on Instagram. Nina and the Hold Tight are also on Facebook.
