Orillia

Chicago Folk artist Orillia plays Bantha Tea Bar, Friday June 20th. Doors at 7. Music from 730-9. $20. Under his moniker Orillia, Andrew Marczak follows the long tradition of country music’s more progressive stewards, commanding audiences with his unique bracing tenor and skeletal arrangements. His debut self-titled record, which was tracked completely live, acoustic, and straight to tape at Jamdek Recording Studios in his hometown of Chicago, marries the quotidian poetry of Sam Shepard with the direct, otherworldly twang of Sparklehorse. His self-titled debut record was self-released in November of 2024 with a full-band release show at the Hideout in Chicago, followed by a 9-day duo tour across the Midwest in January. An East Coast US/Canada Tour and European Tour are in the works for late summer of 2025. "Orillia makes the sort of thoughtful, raw, and authentic music that's needed in today's complicated world" - Britt Julious, The Chicago Tribune Writing for Under The Radar, Caleb Campbell said of Pontoon Boat: “Pontoon Boat” is an energetic folk strummer that finds Marczak building atop a sparse and spacious arrangement, filling it with jangly acoustic chords and his own warm tenor. It brims with easygoing charm and keening melodies, encircling Marczak’s vocals in a rush of twangy, urgent guitar strums and wistful mandolin chimes. Meanwhile, beneath the pastoral sheen, the track’s lyrics paint a faintly nostalgic picture of wayward young adulthood: “Do you have a pontoon boat that we can rent / Just for the season? / Gonna get a big girl job at the hotel bar / It’s gonna make me life so easy / Got any more of that? / I can’t get my act together / Mom stopped sending money / Way back in December / What can you stand to lose / Just in one summer?” With his various projects, including Toadvine and the Roof Dogs (Earth Libraries), Andrew has shared stages with artists like shame, dehd, Richard Lloyd (of Television), Lavender Country, Country Westerns, Tobacco City, Vundabar, and Fred Armisen. His song "No One" was featured on the soundtrack of the film Poser, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2021.