Facing

Doors: 8PM / Show: 9PM / 21+ Anna Johnson celebrates the release of her debut LP Swarm of Tongues, out October 2 on Somnimage. She will be accompanied by Paige Naylor, Ben Baker Billington, and Andrew Scott Young. Joining the night are the dark, lush art rock sounds of Facing and the haunting intensity of Louise Bock, solo project of Taralie Peterson (known from Spires That In The Sunset Rise), with experimental percussionist Michael Zerang. ~~~~ Anna Johnson's sound unites electroacoustic improvisation with backgrounds in medieval folk traditions and sacred music. Based in drone and hypnotic repetition, she is invested in vocal expression as a portal to somatic and emotional presence. Anna's performances integrate projection installations of her textural film work, and her approach to live art is ritualistic; she seeks embodied and communal experiences of vulnerability and spiritual catharsis. She is drawn to the meeting points between personal and mythical, present and ancient. Anna is based in Chicago and tours regularly in North America and Europe. She originates from Minnesota, where she was raised with Celtic and Anglo folk traditions and sacred choral music, and studied both Western classical as well as traditional Eastern European vocal polyphony. She holds an MFA from the Performance department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Studio Art from Macalester College. Anna's debut EP Unknowing was released in 2025 on UK label Industrial Coast and her debut LP Swarm of Tongues releases in October 2026 on Somnimage. She was awarded an Outer Ear Session at Chicago's Experimental Sound Studio in spring 2026 for a recording project, and selected as a finalist for National Sawdust's 2026 Hildegard Commission, which will culminate in a December 2026 concert featuring a performance of her compositional work by Trinity Choir and the National Sawdust ensemble.