Heather Christian is the daughter of a blues musician and a go-go dancer. Since her arrival in New York City in 2000 she has worked as a multi-hyphenate designer and performer with several companies around the city, including her own project, Heather Christian & the Arbornauts.
Heather Christian & the Arbornauts are a group of multi-instrumentalists headed by Heather who premiered her music multi-media piece North to much critical acclaim at LaMama E.T.C in January of 2008. This piece was Christian’s debut (she directed, composed, choreographed, art directed and performed it) and incorporated video installation, puppetry and dance in a concert setting comprised of songs, both original and selected, about the nature and landscape of longing. “North manages to combine its poetic imagery and associative narrative into a surprisingly moving event. At the center of it all is the angelic Christian, who delivers a mesmerizing performance that is both intimate and powerful”—Backstage Magazine. North was Christian’s first evening length piece, and it launched her into NYC’s music consciousness.
She and the Arbornauts, a chamber-punk assemblage of multi-tasking dandies have since been seen at venues around NYC (Joe’s Pub, Rockwood Music Hall, Pianos, among others) with a tour-able scaled-down repertoire of new music that deals with heart ache, time travel, space travel, and the deep American South from their upcoming album Cabinet. She debuted this collection, Evening of Traveling Hymns, at Joe’s Pub in August of 2008. She is currently working with famed manager/producer Alan Bezozi (They Might be Giants, Regina Spektor) with plans to release the album via European tour in 2010.
Sasha Brown is multi-instrumentalist & composer residing in Brooklyn. He is currently a member of six wildly different New York-based bands. He has toured throughout the Eastern half of the U.S. and has performed everywhere from the Montreux Jazz Festival to the Bowery Ballroom. As an Arbornaut, he sings background vocals and plays electric, acoustic, & slide guitar, electric bass, and cello. More information about his musical endeavors can be found on his MySpace page.
Chris Giarmo is an artist living in Brooklyn. As an Arbornaut he sings backup vocals, and plays accordion, melodica, harmonium and autoharp. He has also composed music for productions of Half Straddle, performed with Big Dance Theater across the globe and was recently assistant choreographer on David Byren's current world tour. For more info visit chrisgiarmo.com.
Raky Sastri is a drummer and wandering multi-instrumentalist. When not Arbornauting he performs alongside Heather Christian in another context: his own band, No Eye Contact, which recently completed its first album, 'You and Me and Other Fables'. When not performing he spends his time being outrageously forgetful.