Americana singer/songwriter Jonah Tolchin will be performing at the Hopewell Theater on July 29th at 8:00 pm in celebration of his new album Lava Lamp, his fourth release with Yep Roc Records.
Born and raised in Princeton, Tolchin began his career as a DIY artist, hitting the road as a teenager and self-releasing his own music until signing with Yep Roc for his critically acclaimed 2014 label debut, Clover Lane. Recorded in Nashville with a slew of special guests including Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin and Deer Tick’s John McCauley, the album prompted Uncut to rave that Tolchin “demonstrates the finesse and maturity of someone like Jason Isbell” and NPR to proclaim him “a promising new artist who artfully occupies the gulf between old-school tradition and contemporary appropriation.”
Tolchin followed it up in 2016 with the similarly well-received Thousand Mile Night, which has racked up more than 11 million streams on Spotify with its title track alone, and 2019’s Fires for the Cold, a bittersweet meditation on loss and redemption that featured appearances by Jackson Browne, Rickie Lee Jones, and Sara Watkins.
It’s that joyous sense of freedom and endless possibility that defines Lava Lamp, Tolchin’s bold and adventurous new collection and fourth studio album. Built around a series of loose, live-in-the-studio performances, the record is more sonically diverse than anything in Tolchin’s catalog, expanding on the folk-blues style he’s become known for to incorporate elements of indie rock and grunge fueled by gritty electric guitars and a muscular rhythm section.
Tolchin has toured the US and Europe extensively, sharing bills with Rickie Lee Jones, Tom Paxton, Mandolin Orange, Chuck Prophet, Gregg Allman, Chris Smither, Dave and Phil Alvin, Tony Joe White, Black Prairie, Deer Tick, Justin Townes Earl and others. In addition to his solo career, Tolchin co-founded the rock/jazz/r&b duo Dharmasoul in 2018 with drummer/pianist/vocalist Kevin Clifford and they released their first album Lightning Kid in 2018. He has produced albums for Julie Rhodes (Bound To Meet The Devil), Bill Scorzari (Through These Waves), Chrissy Stewart (House of Christina), and Ali McGuirk (Till It’s Gone).
At the Hopewell performance, Tolchin, on vocals and guitar, will be joined by Nic Coolidge on bass and Kevin Clifford and Michael Bosco on drums and percussion. The Hopewell Theater is located at 5 South Greenwood Avenue, Hopewell, NJ. For reservations go to hopewelltheater.com and use code TOLCHIN22 to waive fees.