Facebook Icon Instagram Icon

Lensic 360 Radio

Lensic 360 is a part of the Lensic Performing Arts Center

Learn More

Sponsors

Upcoming

Samantha Fish

September 10th

Melvins - SOLD OUT

September 10th

Blossoms & Bones

September 11th

Max McNown

September 11th

The Swell Season

September 15th

Birdtalker

September 16th

Fortunate Youth

September 17th

Wyatt Flores

September 17th

Bad Suns - SOLD OUT

September 19th

Pile

September 20th

BUNT.

September 23rd

Cuco

September 23rd

John Moreland

September 24th

Nate Sib

September 25th

The Dandy Warhols

September 29th

I'm With Her - SOLD OUT

September 29th

Liam St. John

September 29th

LA LOM

September 30th

The Waterboys

September 30th

Softcult

September 30th

Noah Reid

October 1st

Built To Spill

October 2nd

The Halluci Nation

October 4th

Joe Samba

October 5th

Panda Bear

October 5th

Wednesday

October 9th

Superchunk

October 12th

Mallrat

October 12th

Strawberry Guy

October 17th

Las Cafeteras

October 19th

Teen Mortgage

October 19th

Jeffrey Martin

October 21st

Nicotine Dolls

October 21st

MINDEX x SOMATOAST

October 24th

Booker T. Jones

October 25th

Arlie

October 26th

Las Cafeteras

October 28th

DeVotchKa

October 30th

Ghost Light Groove

October 31st

Osees - SOLD OUT

November 4th

John Craigie

November 5th

Marcus King Band

November 6th

Willi Carlisle

November 6th

Thunderpussy

November 8th

Joshua Radin

November 10th

Todd Rundgren

November 11th

Lucius

November 12th

Dean Johnson

November 12th

Stanley Clarke

November 13th

Algernon Cadwallader

November 15th

Desert Dwellers

November 15th

Peter McPoland

November 17th

Marlon Funaki

November 18th

Infinity Song

November 19th

New Constellations

November 20th

Willie Watson

November 21st

Neko Case

November 21st

DakhaBrakha

December 3rd

DakhaBrakha

December 4th

Don Broco

January 28th

Storm Large

February 5th

bbno$

February 25th

The Strumbellas

March 2nd

The Bad Plus

March 13th

Lunasa

March 15th

Pink Martini

March 23rd

Pink Martini

March 24th
Lensic 360

Dean Johnson

w/ Emily Hines

at Meow Wolf

Time: 7:30pm     Day: Wednesday     Doors: 7:00pm     Ages: All Ages    

TICKETS

$22–$27 before fees

MEMBER PRE-SALE: Wed, June 18, 10 am. Want pre-sale access? Become a Lensic member!

PUBLIC SALE: Fri, June 20, 10 am.

For online ticketing sales & support, contact Meow Wolf: 1-866-636-9969 or online here


VENUE: MEOW WOLF 

SEATING: Standing room only 

ADA: Please email help@meowwolf.com in advance for ADA accommdations. 

PARKING: Yes, at the venue

ALCOHOL: Yes

OUTSIDE FOOD/DRINK: No

PROHIBITED ITEMS: Meow Wolf recommends leaving the following items in your car or securing them in a locker. Please review their Prohibited Items list for further questions. 

-Backpacks & oversized bags
-Laptops or Tablets
-Oversized coats
-Umbrellas
-Luggage
-Strollers
-Skateboards
-Professional recording equipment

Please be advised that by entering this event, you are agreeing to being filmed and/or photographed, and the resulting assets may be used for Lensic marketing or promotional purposes. Should you wish not to be photographed or recorded on video, please notify a staff member or one of the event photographers/videographers.


DEAN JOHNSON

Not long after crossing beyond the neon into Al’s Tavern, one might catch murmurs drifting up and down the bar during Dean Johnson’s bartending shifts – nudges and whispers that he might just be the best songwriter in town. “Wait ’til you hear him sing. Just don’t ask him to do it, because he won’t. He might do another show this year, but probably not.” Al’s regulars, howsoever biased, speak of his talent like a family secret – Seattle folklore. How many times, and for how many years, has Dean elusively replied to some variation of the question, “When will there be a record?”

The phrase “hidden gem” would seem appropriate here, but it’s a misnomer when talking about Dean Johnson. He shines bright, in plain sight, and it was only a matter of time before people stopped to take a look. Dean’s gentle and passionate approach to songwriting has inspired many, and his work provides the listener the opportunity to believe once more that a song can be more than the sum of its parts. If you catch even a phrase of his melodies or the sobering tone of his voice, it waltzes its way into your heart like a letter written, signed, sealed, and delivered just for you.

His debut album Nothing for Me, Please was recorded at Mashed Potato Records in New Orleans with the help of Sam Gelband and Charlie Meyer, Dean’s bandmates in The Sons of Rainier; as well as Mashed Potato regulars Sam Doores, Duff Thompson and Steph Green. The record is a hazy, relaxed daydream – anthems for those who know the sweetness and coldness of quiet moments, the power and the pain of love. Whether you’ve been waiting patiently these many for Dean to release these songs, or you’re just now coming across his work for the first time, the name Dean Johnson, much like his songs, won’t soon leave your mind.

Nothing for Me, Please is out now on Mama Bird Recording Co.


EMILY HINES

Raised on a small farm where the Midwest meets the South, Emily Hines crafts earnest indie rock with a twangy, unruly air. These Days, Emily’s first album for Keeled Scales and her initial offering to a wider world, features nine songs thoughtfully recorded to cassette from a tiny house in South Nashville.

These Days traces Emily’s progression as a twenty-something seeking love and meaning in late-stage capitalism. The songs play like a stack of Polaroids on the coffee table, candid and nostalgic.

Emily wrote her first songs with her brother at the tender age of 7 as a welcome home present to their sick mother. That initial experience instilled a passion for the honesty, compassion, and transformation that songwriting can offer.

After writing most of the album during an interlude of organic farming in Ohio and Kentucky, Emily quickly began playing shows around Nashville, connecting with a warm collective of like-minded musicians that eventually led her to her producer and partner, Henry Park. This quiet blossoming of community was powerful and formative, informing her writing process and eventually connecting her to her band – a rotating cast of generously talented musicians including Liv Greene, Holden Bitner, and John-Ruben Medina. Drawn particularly to improvisation and collaboration, Hines and her band shaped the songs over countless gigs and rehearsals.

The recording process was joyful and experimental, initially with very few expectations of the outcome. Trusting the power of embodied presence in a performance, they recorded live takes of her voice and guitar to cassette, which were then layered upon by her band, who added drums, cello, and more.

The resulting collection makes for something truly special; rich and decadent but also earthy and cracked. Emily prioritized creating a recording that feels human and present, and the outcome is palpable throughout These Days. At times we’re right there in the room with Emily, up close and deeply personal, at other points it’s as if you’re straining to hear from the outside listening in; ear to the wall, notes carried and caught in the breeze.

“We were drawn to the 4-track because it constrains the urge for perfectionism and encourages authenticity to the moment,” Emily explains. “What you get is what you get, the 4-track doesn’t afford you to get surgical about the details – and that can be really freeing.”

‘Cowgirl Suit’ epitomizes that captured atmosphere, setting the tone for all that follows. Unfiltered and unvarnished, the stripped-back sound is immediately arresting, the subtle ballad weaving a mesmerizing pattern.

‘My Own Way’, the album’s opener, offers a brighter shade, a fuller sound. The shuffle of drums and weaving cello uplifts the vocal.  “I was noticing myself slipping back into old routines when what I wanted was to focus on the future and rid myself of anxieties that were weighing me down. It was a reminder that there’s freedom in not knowing what’s around the corner, freedom in the things I don’t know.”

Elsewhere, ‘All Of Our Friends’ is perhaps the album’s musical centerpiece. Golden and fully-formed it feels both timely and timeless, an intimate rumination about wanting to pursue a relationship but being held back by the baggage we all carry with us. “If all of it comes out just like you intended won’t you be a little bored and wishing that it didn’t?” Emily sings, working through the anxiety of a new relationship to try and find enjoyment in the mystery.

It's a theme that continues to raise its head through these songs; the push and pull between doing what we’re told and staying in our comfort zone, versus discovering ourselves and who we really are through the act of letting go, through choosing to be brave and embrace the unknown that hovers in the distance. As a debut album, These Days is a notable accomplishment; as a collection of heart-stirring country songs,it’s quietly, patiently, remarkable.

Sign up for our mailing list to stay in the know, look out for special deals, free shows, and more!

The Lensic Performing Arts Center Logo

Performance. Community. Education.

View programming at the Lensic.