SARATOGA SPRINGS — Open your mind and experience the unique sounds of Rasputina, with special guest Ryder Cooley, at Putnam Place on Friday, Feb. 8, at 9 p.m.
Pioneers in the use of cello as the sole instrument within a rock band, Rasputina has been inspiring young string players to commit a number of musical sins since 1996. The group’s concept was written as a manifesto and manifested accordingly by director Melora Creager as a wily subterfuge for a plot to open audiences to adventure. The funny, the sad, the heavy, the tender — it can all exist together.
Employing elaborate costuming spanning a number of historical periods, Rasputina brings marginalized historical female figures and stories to light in the pop form, using archetypal characters such as Indian princesses, Hawaiian handmaidens and Medieval queens. Over the years, Rasputina has performed/recorded with Marilyn Manson, Porno For Pyros, Cheap Trick, Goo Goo Dolls, Les Claypool and many others. Creager also played cello on the European leg of Nirvana’s final tour in 1994. Hardened road-dogs, and with more than seven albums under the band’s belt, Rasputina continues to amaze and amuse audiences across the country.
Cooley is an inter-disciplinary musician, artist and performer. Weaving together chimeric visions with songs and projected imagery, she creates cinematic performances, drawings and installations. Cooley performs with Hazel, a disembodied taxidermy ram, and with the band Dust Bowl Faeries. She is based in the New York Hudson Valley.
Tickets cost $17 each. For tickets and information, visit ticketbud.com.
