Conspiracy of Beards will open the evening with the poetic songs of Leonard Cohen at The Chapel, a new live music venue, restaurant, and neighborhood bar located in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District. Followed by Sean Hayes, whose soul-tinged songs reach inside and move you.

If there were a map of Sean Hayes’ 20-plus year career, it would be circuitous. A tangled criss-crossing of backroads and blue highways denoting place, influence, and trajectory. You can hear it in the deep-roots syncopation, in the dusty folk-stomp and in the biorhythmic pulse that ebbs and thumps throughout his music.

Well dressed in suits, ties, and the occasional fedora, Conspiracy of Beards bring an energized live choral music experience out of the churches and tabernacles and into the taverns, art houses, and theaters of the Bay Area and beyond. Transforming Cohen’s lyrics and simple melodies into complex 4- and 5-part harmonies, Conspiracy of Beards achieves a sound that is both robust and tender. With influences ranging from jazz and gospel, to barbershop and doo-wop, the unique arrangements that choir members create capture all of the emotion and humor of Leonard Cohen’s original music, and inspire audiences to ponder common human experiences like romance, heartbreak, politics, sex, longing, and spirituality.

Doors at 8 – Show at 9 – Tickets: http://www.thechapelsf.com/event/503599

*Original artwork and permission to modify it for use as a concert poster by Amanda Forrest-Chan – http://www.amandafc.ca