Mama’s Broke w/ Jude Brothers

Mama’s Broke Analog Tour – stay tuned for a special announcement

Mama’s Broke have spent the past ten years in a near-constant state of transience, pounding the transatlantic tour trail. They’ve brought their dark, fiery folk-without-borders sound to major festivals and DIY punk houses alike, absorbing traditions from their maritime home in Eastern Canada all the way to Ireland and Indonesia. Nowhere is the duo’s art-in-motion approach more apparent than on their long-awaited sophomore record Narrow Line (May 13, 2022 on Free Dirt Records); it’s the sound of nowhere in particular, yet woven with a rich synthesis of influences that knows no borders. It earned them a JUNO nomination for Traditional Roots Album of the Year 2022. The eleven songs on Narrow Line burrow deeply, with close harmony duets, commanding vocals, and poignant contemplations on cycles of life, including birth and death. Tinges of Americana stand side-by-side with the ghosts of Eastern European fiddle tunes and ancient a cappella ballad singing, melding into an unusually accessible dark-folk sound. A careful listen of Narrow Line invokes an ephemeral sense of place—whether real or imagined—inviting us to take comfort in the infinite possibilities of life, whether or not we ever choose to settle down.

Both coming out of traveling communities that are focused on music and protest, the two owe the way in which they move through the world to the integrated and self-sustaining nature of DIY culture and activism. It was a busy life that took them on a roundabout annual touring schedule running between Canada, the United States, Ireland, the UK, and Europe. In each country, they built grassroots DIY communities to support their music or moved along the pathways of communal organizing that sustained other touring artists.

The driving force behind this band is – and has always been – the commitment to challenge borders between people, places, and traditions; while encouraging freedom of expression and community through music.

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Jude Brothers is a freak folk singer-songwriter from Northwest Arkansas, inspired by the regional folk music of their Ozark home, while always reaching for the roots therein and branches thereout. Their sound is an eclectic blend of traditional sensibilities and contemporary concerns, a feral strangeness and delicate sweetness, an unnerving ancientness and an endearing naivety – an artist comfortable navigating their own contradictions. Brothers offers old school folk heads a taste of timelessness, evocative lyricism, and unparalleled vocal stylings over a bed of whirling harp & guitar melodies.

“…delivered a mesmerizing set behind their harp. Their voice aches with a high Ozarks mystery, beautiful and haunting, while their songs wind like kudzu through long ballads and existential inquiry.” – Doug Freeman, The Austin Chronicle

“Alternating between banjo, harp, and guitar, Brothers’ emotive performance recalled the likes of Gillian Welch, Joanna Newsom and Karen Dalton.”  – Jonny Leather, Mecca Lecca

**THIS SHOW IS IN THE THEATER ON THE 2ND FLOOR — ACCESSIBLE ONLY BY STAIRS. We dearly want to add an elevator to this historic building once we have the means.***