9 pm
$12 adv/$15 door
21+ show
Tickets Available at: Juke Records (Bloomfield), Dave's Music Mine (South Side), Caliban Books (Oakland), or Cruel Noise (Polish Hill).
from Scotland on Sacred Bones Records
the voice of goth-pop pioneers Strawberry Switchblade
(Coil, Current 93, Sorrow, others from England's Hidden Reverse)
ROSE McDOWALL with a full band
with special guests Doors in the Labyrinth
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Rose McDowall's first venture into music was in the Poems, an art-punk trio formed in 1978 with her then-husband Drew. She formed Strawberry Switchblade in 1981 with Jill Bryson. They performed well-produced, synth-laden psychedelic pop with a strongly gothic fashion sense. After signing with Warner Bros. Records they enjoyed chart success with their single "Since Yesterday" in 1984, but split in 1986.
For the next six years, McDowall was primarily a guest vocalist or "floating member" of several different experimental, industrial and dark-folk bands: Coil, Current 93, Felt, Alex Fergusson, Into a Circle, Nature and Organisation, Nurse with Wound, Ornamental and Psychic TV, on recordings as well as singing or playing guitar for live appearances.
In 1993, she formed a folk rock band called Sorrow with then-husband Robert Lee. Between 1993 and 2001, they released two albums and one EP and performed in Europe and the US, appearing in Pittsburgh at the Oakland Beehive. During this time, McDowall continued to record and perform with Current 93 and Coil. In 2005, she began performing under her own name.
McDowall is best known as a vocalist but also plays guitar, keyboards, melodica and drums. Her signature instruments are a Washburn 12-string acoustic guitar, a Fender Coronado electric 6-string guitar and an electric harmonium.