Matt Lorenz aka The Suitcase Junket
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — The Pioneer Valley’s Matt Lorenz aka The Suitcase Junket brings his one-man roots-music band to MASS MoCA on Saturday, June 25, at 8pm. The concert is a sampler of the talent featured each year at MASS MoCA’s FreshGrass Festival, taking place this year September 16-18.
Pulling his moniker from the luggage he sits on to perform, The Suitcase Junket’s music spans from soft folk-rock to punk-infused blues, while his knack for soaring throat-singing contrasts with his aggressive strumming and baby-shoe kick drum. Lorenz’s songs form a colorful sonic palette that serves as an exemplar of innovation in the folk genre. His songwriting is “crafted and honed, not strewn about” with “a tinge of Waits and a hint of Dylan, in both vocal styling and social consciousness” (No Depression).
The Suitcase Junket has three studio albums to his name — “Sever and Lift” (2009), “Knock It Down” (2011), and “Make Time” (2015) — along with a recently released EP “Dying Star” (March 2016), out on Northampton, Mass.-based Signature Sounds.
Lorenz has shared the stage with Los Lobos, Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, and Jackie Greene, and has toured extensively throughout the U.S. as The Suitcase Junket. He’s also played and toured as a member of Easthampton-based roots-rock trio Rusty Belle and calls the Pioneer Valley home.
FreshGrass Presents brings innovative, stand-out bluegrass and roots music to MASS MoCA throughout the year. The series highlights nuanced, genre-pushing artists by giving them a stage for the night — whether it’s their first time at MASS MoCA or they’re returning for a victory lap after a rollicking FreshGrass festival set in the fall. Past FreshGrass Presents artists include Old Crow Medicine Show, The Lone Bellow, and Birds of Chicago.
The Suitcase Junket plays on the Dré Pavilion (or inside MASS MoCA’s Club B10, if it rains) on Saturday, June 25, at 8pm. Dinner is available from Lickety Split before and during the show. A full bar serves Bright Ideas Brewing beers and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits. Tickets are $12 students + advance, $18 day of, and $24 preferred. Tickets for all events are available through the MASS MoCA box office located on Marshall Street in North Adams, open 11am – 5pm Wednesdays through Mondays; closed Tuesdays through June 25. Starting June 26, the box office will be open 10am to 6pm every day, with extended evening hours to 7pm on Thursdays through Saturdays. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during box office hours or purchased online at MASS MoCA. All events are held rain or shine.
Matt Lorenz aka The Suitcase Junket
About FreshGrass
FreshGrass is committed to preserving, supporting, and creating innovative grassroots music. The FreshGrass Foundation, which co-produces the festival with MASS MoCA, funds the FreshGrass Award and FreshGrass Presents, creates new music through FreshScores and the FreshGrass Commission, and operates the No Depression Fellowship for writers. The foundation operates No Depression — the quarterly journal of roots music, both online and in print.
About MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA is one of the world’s liveliest (and largest) centers for making and enjoying today’s most important art, music, dance, theater, film, and video. Hundreds of works of visual and performing art have been created on its 19th-century factory campus during fabrication and rehearsal residencies, making MASS MoCA among the most productive sites in the country for the creation and presentation of new art. More platform than box, MASS MoCA strives to bring to its audiences art experiences that are fresh, engaging, and transformative.
MASS MoCA’s galleries are open 11am to 5pm every day except Tuesdays. From June 26 through September 7, MASS MoCA’s galleries are open 10am to 6pm every day, with extended evening hours to 7pm on Thursdays through Saturdays. The Hall Art Foundation’s Anselm Kiefer exhibition is open seasonally, spring – fall. Gallery admission is $18 for adults, $16 for veterans and seniors, $12 for students, $8 for children 6 to 16, and free for children 5 and under. Members are admitted free year-round. For additional information, call 413.662.2111 x1 or visit MASS MoCA.