Last year, the North Carolina label Three Lobed Recordings celebrated 20 years of putting out a steady stream of experimental psych-rock releases. 

In a normal year—and we all know 2020 was not that—the celebration would’ve touched ground in Durham, where Three Lobed artists like Mac McCaughan and Daniel Bachman have called home, and where label founder Cory Rayborn lived while attending Duke University. 

Luckily, those overdue celebrations will find a place in Duke Performance’s Spring 2022 season, which was announced this morning.

The three-day Three Lobed Recordings 21st anniversary festival will take place April 14-16 with performances from label artists like acclaimed harpist Mary Lattimore, singer-songwriter Steve Gunn, virtuosic guitarist William Tyler, and more. The festival is a partnership with WXDU 88.7 FM, Duke Arts, and the Duke Coffeehouse; day passes are available for $25 each. 

If you’ve missed the intimate feel of Duke Coffeehouse concerts, over the past twenty months, this festival—with performances that will take place at both indoor and outdoor venues around campus—feels like a guaranteed way to scratch that weirdo itch. 

Other musical highlights in the season include performances by Branford Marsalis, a free performance by new music quartet Yarn/Wire, as they begin a new multi-year collaboration with Duke Music Department, and a Les Filles de Illighadad show at Motorco. 

The new season also marks the return of the American Ballet Theater Studio Company at the Rubenstein for a week-long residency, the world premiere of “Embarqued: Stories of Our Soil” from choreographer Stephanie Batten Bland’s Company SSB, and a new genre of “algorithmic theater” from New York director Annie Dorsen. 

The full season lineup can be found via the Duke Performances website, where single tickets are also now on sale. 

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Sarah Edwards is culture editor of the INDY, covering cultural institutions and the arts in the Triangle. She joined the staff in 2019 and assumed her current role in 2020.