Did ya’ll know that Sufjan’s very first show was at a small barn house show in West Orange, NJ, at the unexpected invitation of Ben and Vesper Stamper? Yes, about ten years ago, they called him at his office cubicle at Penguin Putnam (where Sufjan designed promotional materials for Tom Clancy novels) and they said: Hey, take the NJ transit bus to Newark! Bring your banjo! We’ll make you dinner. Well, it’s been many years since, and to pay back the favor, Sufjan recently offered to record Ben + Vesper’s latest pop anthem 5-song EP called "LuvInIdleness," a reference to the famed Love-In-Idleness flower from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The EP is a glorious, punchy collection of pop poetic riffs that make reference to marital passion, boat stealing, Olivia Newton John, and farfetched dreams of owning a farm.

To celebrate, Ben + Vesper are doing a series of shows every Friday for the next month at Brooklyn’s Sycamore bar and flower shop (in idyllic Ditmas Park). Each show will start off with various outstanding artists and friends opening with a set of music (including two big hits from the Sounds Familyre label: 1) the gothic folk prophet Dan Zimmerman, and 2) the gorgeous family pop girl band Ortolan). Also, Asthmatic Kitty’s Welcome Wagon will play the last night, on September 25. (We like to think of Ben + Vesper as the Welcome Wagon of Sounds Familyre Records! Maybe we can convince them all to have a husband/wife sing-off!). Click on more (or here) to see full schedule.

Limited edition home-made copies of the EP will be available at the shows. Details here.
8/28 w/Dan Zimmerman
9/4 w/Sebastien Schuller
9/11 w/Ortolan
9/18 w/Kurt Weisman
9/25 w/The Welcome Wagon

Sycamore
1118 Cortelyou Road
Brooklyn, New York 11231
347-240-5850
sycamorebrooklyn.com