It is with a great deal of joy, gratitude, and anxiety that we announce our next original play, "The Hunter and The Bear", will begin performances in less than 300 days. We had the idea for this story over 8 years ago, and now (thanks to support from Manhattan Theatre Club, Ars Nova, The Orchard Project, and Vineyard Arts Project) we have a new script and new songs that we can't wait to share with you. We're particularly proud to be premiering it in Chicago with our friends at Writers Theatre, in their new home, one of the most beautiful theaters we've ever seen.

Here's the official blurb:

"The Hunter and The Bear tells the haunting story of an imaginative young boy and his father, the pragmatic hunter tasked with protecting their isolated town. When his son disappears in the woods, the search to recover him will lead the hunter, and eventually the entire community, through a landscape teeming with dark secrets and supernatural threats.

Cast in flickering campfire light, this combination frontier ghost-story and modern-day parable unfolds in PigPen's signature style: using resourceful staging, captivating storytelling, ingenious shadow puppetry and award-winning folk music to fuel a headlong plunge into the darkest part of the woods."

Check out their full season announcement here.

Pericles, written by William Shakespeare, directed by Trevor Nunn, and somehow featuring the seven of us in every supporting role imaginable will officially extend through April 10th at Theatre for a New Audience. A critics' pick from The New York Times and 4 star reviews from Time Out New York and The Guardian - productions of Pericles like this are few and far between - make sure you catch it before it's gone! Get your Pericles tickets here.

We played Rough Trade on Monday 2/29 (pictured above) and it was the best Monday night crowd we've ever had. So for all you second rounders who are reading this email and coming on 3/14 - the gauntlet has officially been thrown down. Come celebrate with us. Get your Rough Trade tickets here.

And now we send you back to your regularly scheduled programming.

With all our love,

PigPen

November 19, 2015

Arya Shahi

Shakespearean News

November 19, 2015

Arya Shahi

We're thrilled, eager, and humbled to be working on Shakespeare's PERICLES with Trevor Nunn at Theatre for a New Audience. We can't think of a better way to kick off 2016, a year of crafting brand new PigPen stories and music, than to be surrounded by the talent and experience of this cast and creative team.

This will be the first time Mr. Nunn will have staged a Shakespeare play with a company of American actors. It will also be the first time all seven of us will appear in a production together that we haven't written.

Those of our music fans that are interested in some theatrical context, or our theatre fans that want to geek out with us, keep reading...

You know Shakespeare. Not just a playwright, he's the playwright. You either hated or loved him in high-school, but you were reading him because he's widely regarded as the greatest playwright who ever lived. Greatest hits include: Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth. Pericles features one of Shakespeare's most epic journeys and most specific uses of a singing narrator, Gower. We're completely excited to explore this world.

Trevor Nunn is a legendary theatre director. Even if you don't know theatre, you know Les Miserables and Cats, both of which he directed. He also co-directed one of our all-time favorite pieces of theatre, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, which you can watch in its entirety on YouTube if you have 8.5 hours to spare. It's worth it. Oh and in 1968, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was 28 years old. We don't quite know how we ended up in the same room as him, but we're going to roll with it and try to learn as much as possible.

Which bring us to Theatre for a New Audience. We met Artistic Director Jeffrey Horowitz in 2012 after our album Bremen had just come out. A few months later he saw The Old Man and The Old Moon. After a few quick conversations, it became a goal of ours to find a way to work together. Mr. Horowitz, and TFANA, are an embodiment of passion for great writing and dedication to the artist. They've produced some of the best plays we've seen in New York City. We're lucky to have them so close to home.

Now as far as new original PigPen stuff you can look forward to - we've been hard at work on our newest original play with music, The Hunter and The Bear, in collaboration with Manhattan Theatre Club and Ars Nova. We'll hopefully have some exciting news to share with you all about that very soon. Additionally - we've just signed on to work on a new theatre show - our first adaptation! That's a little further away, but no less awesome.

Okay. This was really long. We'll leave you alone for a while now. Come see Pericles.

All our love,

PigPen

May 16, 2015

Arya Shahi

Mumford and Sons, Whole Sun, and Meryl Streep.

May 16, 2015

Arya Shahi

So many exciting things going on here at the incredibly mobile PigPen headquarters (read: our tour van) - here's what you need to know!

FIRST: We'll be joining some of our very favorite bands - Mumford and Sons, Alabama Shakes, Dawes, The Flaming Lips, Jenny Lewis and more - at this year's very first GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD stopover in Seaside Heights, NJ on June 6th. These festivals are a favorite amongst musicians and fans alike - highlighting the food, people, and culture of a specific town off the beaten path - we can't wait to be a part of it.

THEN: Our new album "Whole Sun" will be out on July 7th (both standard and deluxe editions) and is NOW available for digital pre-order! The deluxe version will feature 3 bonus songs and the Bandcamp version will come with a bunch of exclusive super cool stuff (alternate artwork, lyric sheets, unreleased photographs, and more) that we're finding in our "archives". Artwork by the painfully talented Derek Eads.

THEN: We make our feature film debut playing some tunes in "Ricki and the Flash" directed by Oscar Winner Jonathan Demme, written by Oscar Winner Diablo Cody, starring Oscar Winners Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline... In conclusion: we seem to be the only thing associated with this film that has not won an Oscar. RATF is out in August. Here's an amazing picture of us with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline that we pulled from the trailer. It's amazing in that it's a picture of us with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.

OH AND RIGHT NOW: We're on tour! Playing concerts all over the USA. Hitting our favorites from "Bremen" & "The Way I'm Running" - but mostly focusing on sharing the new songs from "Whole Sun" with you all. Come hear them live before the album is out. 4 cities down. 25+ to go.

Cities, dates, and tickets here.

Hope to see you on the road. With love,

-PigPen

February 19, 2015

Arya Shahi

Put on your headphones... It's PigPen in 3D!

February 19, 2015

Arya Shahi

Now we know what you're thinking... What next guys? PigPen in IMAX? PigPen on ice? PigPen does Vegas? A PigPen themed mini-golf course? No. None of those things are next. Those things are all ridiculous. Don't start any rumors. But this 3D sound thing is awesome.

You see while we were up at Dreamland Recording Studios making the new album, we invited our friends at Hooke Audio to record one of our favorite unreleased tracks, "Shailene", with their incredible binaural microphone. Just use any pair of ordinary headphones to hear the extraordinary effect.

Hooke is designing a mobile headset that will allow anyone with a smart phone to make their very own videos that sound just like this one. We think that's pretty darn cool and are proud to be the first band they're collaborating with.

Should we make more of these? Take to our facebook and twitter to tell us what you think!

Love always,
PigPen

December 5, 2014

Arya Shahi

A Sophomore Album

December 5, 2014

Arya Shahi

We're making one. Watch the Kickstarter video. Pre-order your copy. Do a little dance. Definitely tell your friends about it. Maybe even tell your cousins about it. Just the cool cousins. You could all pool your money and ask us to cover any song in the world. Wouldn't that be great? We think so.

We won't let you down.

Love always,
PigPen