On the heels of her highly-anticipated debut full-length, Church of Scars, rising Los Angeles indie pop singer Bishop Briggs returns to Nashville tonight, May 30 after a Music City debut last year at Exit/In, this time for an upgrade at considerably larger sister space Marathon Music Works with electro-laced alt/indie duo Foreign Air. Thanks to a series of breakout singles, transcending blog hype to dominate radio and TV spots, Briggs is already a huge new fixture in the pop scene, and we expect her star power to continue to grow tremendously this year. If you want to catch her on the ascent, tickets are still available right here. Read on for more about the show!
BISHOP BRIGGS
Whether or not you realize it, even if you haven’t heard of fast-rising indie pop singer Bishop Briggs, you’ve almost certainly heard her. Between inescapably gigantic breakout single “River,” a huge, anthemic radio staple, or her moody cover of INXS classic “Never Tear Us Apart,” which graced the soundtrack of the latest Fifty Shades movie, or even perhaps “Wild Horses,” the thumping, beat-driven song that largely helped launch her into fame throughout the blogosphere, and appeared in frequently-aired Acura commercial in 2016, Briggs has been all over the place the last few years. This is all the more impressive considering that the young singer is only just now releasing her debut full-length, Church of Scars, on April 20 (she previously had an eponymous EP and a handful of singles, remixes, and collaborations). Born Sarah Grace McLaughlin in London to Scottish parents (from the town of Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire, which inspired her stage name), Bishop had an incredibly global upbringing, growing up in Tokyo (where she first fell in love with music singing at the country’s popular karaoke bars) and Hong Kong (where she attended secondary school), before ultimately settling in Los Angeles at 18 to study and further pursue music. Hustling around town, the singer, who originally went by BISHOP until an early dispute with a band of the same name forced her to change it, soon attracted major label A&R, and landed a deal with Island ahead of her early string of buzzworthy singles. Now 25, Briggs is fast becoming a household name, having appeared on The Tonight Show, American Idol, on tour with Coldplay and Kaleo, and at a number of festivals. We suspect Marathon will be a stepping stone to great indie pop stardom, especially since she played Exit/In just last year, so don’t miss her now while you can!
FOREIGN AIR
Conjuring an electro-infused, pop accessible alt/indie sound that should hook Bishop Briggs fans right in, duo Foreign Air, made up of Jacob Michael and Jesse Clasen, commanded critical praise for their eponymous debut EP in 2016, and have more recently been further honing and evolving their unique style with a series of singles, presumably leading up to their next record. While a fairly new act, the pair have actually been friends for a decade, keeping in touch while performing in other projects, before time and circumstance led to an opportunity to collaborate, and the genesis of the band. Pulling from hip hop and electronic and sounds of the ’80s and ’90s, they found an organic and collaborative melding of their wide-ranging influences, and one that has so far produced some pretty stunning results. You’ll definitely want to make a point to be there for their opening set.
Bishop Briggs and Foreign Air will perform tonight, May 30 at Marathon Music Works. The show is all ages, begins at 8 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.), and tickets are available to purchase for $25.
