Erica Dawn Lyle Credit: Rayna Zemel
Erica Dawn Lyle’s creativity is always in flux. Many first heard of her when she joined the reunited Bikini Kill as a touring guitarist in 2019, but she has been a long-time mainstay of the punk, DIY, and activist scenes. She has been organizing and performing underground shows since she was a teenager in the early ’90s, and has used those connections to help realize a number of fundraising albums. Most recently, she teamed up with drummer Vice Cooler for 2022’s Land Trust: Benefit for NEFOC, utilizing musical talents as diverse as Kim Gordon, Brontes Parnell, and Linda Lindas. Raised funds for farming groups in the Northeast fighting for land sovereignty.
Lyle’s curiosity and accomplishments extend beyond music. Based in New York and Florida, she is an avid writer who has contributed art criticism to outlets such as Artforum and Art in America, and written a memoir about art and gentrification in the wake of the anti-globalization movement. Since 1991, he has published zines about: A DIY life called art, punk, crime, and fraud. She also dabbles in producing films, curating art shows, and hosting poetry readings. Her different experiences have been in a constant state of evolution, fostered by the flexibility of an anti-authoritarian subculture.
In recent years, Lyle has toured and recorded as an improvisational guitarist. In the notes for her album 1221/Empiredeath, which documents an October 2023 concert in Ithaca, New York, she says the concert marked a liberating shift in her approach that she continues to pursue. It is explained that it is a crystal of. She was transitioning from playing the guitar to experiencing her body and instrument becoming a conduit for the atmosphere in the room. She likens herself to an “ancient transistor radio” that can be turned on to “see what sounds swirl around.” In June, Lyle released a cassette called Colonial Motels (Nautis Recordings). The two songs were recorded over two days last summer at the warehouse art and performance space of recently deceased friend and organizer Jonas Fricke. The music is unnerving, spatial, and sad. It’s exactly the same sound you hear when a human radio picks up a signal of sadness or memory. Who knows what kind of vibe she’ll bring to her Elastic Arts debut. How her instrument sings is determined by what she brings into the room.
Erica Dawn Lyle Ben Zucker will open the show. Thursday, 10/17, 8:30pm, Elastic Arts, 3429 W. Diversey #208, $15, $10 students, all ages.
Reader Recommendations: Concerts
Upcoming shows to watch.
10/20 (Sat) Empty Bottle
10/22 (Tue) at Elastic Arts
10/22 (Tue) In an empty bottle
10/19 (Sat) Hungry Brain
10/18 (Fri) – 10/19 (Sat) Judson & Moore
10/11 Friday at the Cape
Chicago Reader staff writer Mikko Caporale (they/them) is an award-winning journalist and Conn-raised Midwesterner who bounces around basement shows, warehouse parties, and art galleries.
They are interested in the material, social, and political conditions that shape art and music and their associated subcultures.
Their writing has appeared in outlets such as Nylon, Pitchfork, Buzzfeed, In These Times, and Yes! magazines etc.
When they are not cultivating love with truth, beauty, and profanity, they can be seen as powerlifting.
Caporale lives in Chicago. You can reach them at mcaporale@chicagoreader.com and follow their work on Twitter.
Other works by Mikko Caporale
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