Hour

Bridget St John at Stone Circle Theatre

BMB Live Presents

Hour

w/ Bridget St. John

@ Stone Circle Theatre

Please note that this event will have some limited seating on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The title of Ghost Bridge, the East-Coast-spanning chamber ensemble Hour’s masterful fifth record, is borrowed from bandleader Michael Cormier-O’Leary’s unrealized movie concept about a bridge that inexplicably starts disappearing. Equally rooted in contemporary classical, film soundtrack music, and experimental rock in the Jim O’Rourke and Dirty Three lineage, the six kaleidoscopic instrumentals on the album sketch a progression from existential doubt toward renewed understanding. Written for a 13-piece ensemble including woodwinds, strings, and vibraphone, Ghost Bridge explores emotional extremes—grief, anger, acceptance, and transcendence—with indelible melodies that recur like calming mantras, set against restless, impressionistic chords evoking the uncertainty of the infinite.

Philly-based multi-instrumentalist (and Dear Life Records founder) Cormier-O’Leary has made Hour a home for his increasingly cinematic instrumental compositions since the mid-2010s. Currently, the ranks of the evolving ensemble feature Abi Reimold, Jason Calhoun, Peter Gill (2nd Grade, Friendship), Adelyn Strei (Skullcrusher), Peter McLaughlin (Little Wings), and Frank Meadows (Fust, Dear Life co-owner), among many other accomplished players. Ghost Bridge represents a bold step forward for the tightly-knit ensemble, connecting the dots between Cormier-O’Leary’s soaring musical themes with an inventiveness that perfectly suits the searching nature of the subject matter.