Musicians from such bands as The National, Winnetka Bowling League, Civil Twilight and Spinal Tap — as well as a former Major League Baseball pitcher — will be performing in Park City in the ASCAP Music Cafe program at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in January.
ASCAP — the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, a performance-rights nonprofit — announced the lineup Tuesday for the cafe’s performances, Jan. 24 to 31, at 751 Main St., Park City.
Admission to Music Cafe shows is free for anyone with a festival credential over the age of 21. (Alcohol is served inside, so no minors.) Performances run from 2 p.m. to around 5 or 6 p.m.
Among the highlights is bassist Derek Smalls, billed as “formerly of the band formerly known as Spinal Tap.” Smalls is also one of many alter egos for actor, comedian and radio host Harry Shearer, known to many as the voice of Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Rev. Lovejoy, Dr. Hibbert, anchorman Kent Brockman and other characters on “The Simpsons.”
Matt Berninger, frontman for the indie rock band The National, is a leading name on the roster. So is Matthew Koma, singer-guitarist for the L.A.-based band Winnetka Bowling League.
Indie-pop duo the bird and the bee, folk-rock musician Aaron Lee Tasjan, blues-rock singer ZZ Ward, and country singer (and three-time MLB All-Star) Barry Zito are also among the top headliners.
One scheduled performer with movie connections is Rain Phoenix, who in October released her first solo album, “River,” a tribute to her brother, the actor River Phoenix, who died in 1993. (Rain’s other brother, Joaquin, won a Golden Globe last weekend — and is a favorite for an Academy Award nomination — for his performance in “Joker.”)
Koma’s collaborator in Winnetka Bowling League, Dan Romer, is among the writers of music who will take part in the ASCAP Composers Spotlight. So is Hans Zimmer, who won an Oscar for “The Lion King” and has written the score for Ron Howard’s Sundance entry “Rebuilding Paradise.”
Other composers in the spotlight event are: Nainita Desai (“The Reason I Jump”), Florencia Di Concilio (“Influence”), Amanda Jones (“Baldwin Beauty”), Anne Nikitin (“Lost Girls”), John Paesano (“Tesla”), Alex Somers (“Taylor Swift: Miss Americana,” “Charm City Kings”) and Pinar Toprak (“McMillions”).
Also performing in the Music Cafe are:
• Joseph Arthur, indie-folk musician.
• Ron Artis II, blues-jazz musician from Hawaii.
• James Bourne, English pop-punk musician.
• Jamie Drake, indie-folk singer.
• Fox Wilde, pop-rock brother duo.
• Stephen Kellogg, folk-rock musician.
• Léon, billed as a “Swedish songstress.”
• Alex Lilly, musician-arranger-composer.
• Stephen Dayvid McKellar, South African alt-rock musician, frontman of Civil Twilight.
• Jobi Riccio, Americana/country musician, winner of ASCAP’s NewSong Music Competition.
• Joe Robinson, guitar virtuoso, 2008 winner of “Australia’s Got Talent.”
• Lizbeth Róman, Puerto Rican/Caribbean songwriter.
• Ruen Brothers, retro-rock duo.
• Samantha Sidley, queer jazz vocalist.
• Colter Wall, outlaw-country singer-songwriter.
Also this week, the other major performance-rights group, BMI, announced its Sundance events.
BMI will play host to a composers’ and directors’ roundtable, with the theme, “Music & Film: The Creative Process." It’s set for Sunday, Jan. 26, from 3 to 5 p.m., at the Kimball Arts Center, 1401 Kearns Blvd., Park City.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, BMI will throw its annual Snowball Showcase, at The Shop, 1167 Woodside Ave., Park City. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
This year’s concert will be headlined by singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, who made her first splash with her confessional song “Stay” on the “Reality Bites” soundtrack in 1995. Also on the all-female line-up are California singer Chloé Caroline and an acoustic set by alt-pop songwriter Georgia Ku.
Both BMI events are open to festival credential holders.
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