Ladies Takeover Syndicate Lounge

Head up Twentieth Street this Saturday for Ladies Takeover night at the Syndicate Lounge, where four soulful bands will bring their femme to folk.

Rennee Arozqueta headlines the night with her solo project, Renee is a Zombie, finally bringing her multi-instrument loop track music to the Magic City. Renee played in Birmingham last year as part of a folk duet, but her enthusiasm about this new project has grown in the eight months since that show.

After bending her style to fit the duet with Silo, “I got bored just being the girl with the guitar. I got bored just playing one instrument,” she says. “I started playing with just foot percussion. But the songs started missing the vocal harmonies, so I got a loop station. It took me months. It felt really scary and complicated. It started with a drum beat and slowly I would add instruments from there.” The result is a sound both complex and easy to listen to, with strong vocals and melodic accompaniment.

Renee’s lyrics and inspiration come from her journey, from the time she worked a desk job to bravely setting out on long tours. “I was doing the music thing- and then I got this weird thought in my head that I had to be a big girl and get a big girl job,” she says. “I don’t know why I did that. It was terrible- every time I put my head to the pillow, all I wanted to do was get in the van again.” So Renee loaded instruments into her tour van, the Grumbledore, and “started a cross country tour that became a spirit journey.”

After projects in Montana and tours that took her across the mid-western desert, Renee answers the question “where are you from?” with a story instead of a city. “And that’s a theme to a lot of my songwriting, wanting to have roots but not really having them,” she says. “Not being from somewhere is something that I draw from.”

Joining her on this tour is the North Carolina duo Magpie Thief, whose harmonies and relaxed banjo tempo are complemented by Emily Stewart’s jazzy vocal tone. Matty Sheets joins her or carries the tune himself, with a frank solo voice somewhat reminiscent of Seth and Scott Avett. “He’s actually the only guy that’s going to be performing too, which I love,” Renee says. “And she’s got this really interesting voice- I’d place it in the north Alabama Yodeling range. Their harmony is incredible.”

The two bands joining Renee’s tour for their Birmingham stop are Sister Sniffle and Raspberry Leviathan. Renee heard Sister Thistle’s music and asked the singer-songwriter to join, thinking the “soft, sweet, intricate songwriting” to be a needed addition to the show. Raspberry Leviathan’s Levi plays acoustic guitar to make “lethargic folk” with a bit of R&B to it.

Renee encouraged Raspberry Leviathan to make an EP after hearing some of her music. “I love nagging musicians to promote themselves, to get on the phone and book themselves,” she says. “To sleep in weird places and sell their own posters!”

Her enthusiasm for up-and-coming musicians is particular to this show at the Syndicate, as the hand-picked bands and ladies night theme will make for a show to be proud of. “This is a special show!” she says. “This show among any others on this tour, because of the community that we’re going to create.”

See Renee is a Zombie, Magpie Thief, Raspberry Leviathan, and Sister Sniffle at the Syndicate, March 7 at 9 p.m. Cover is $10.

The Syndicate Lounge is located at 433 20th St S, Birmingham, AL 35233.

Katy Ward is an artist and journalist who loves all things Birmingham. Her artwork, articles, and special projects can be found at katywardcreative.com.