‘It’s as if the world ended and we don’t have any electricity’: Particle Kid’s J. Micah Nelson plays unplugged benefit show for Palms-N-Paws tonight (2/20)
Tonight (2/20) The Booth House in Twentynine Palms hosts a fundraiser for Palms-N-Paws animal shelter featuring a performance by Particle Kid, the moniker of songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist J. Micah Nelson (who is also the youngest son of Willie Nelson). With this performance just one stop of Particle Kid’s AcousticQuest tour, reporter Gabriel Hart chatted with Micah to get deeper insight into this performance, his relationship with animals, and why this fundraiser is so important.
This Friday (2/20) The Booth House in Twentynine Palms hosts a fundraiser for Palms-N-Paws animal shelter featuring a performance by Particle Kid, the moniker of songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist J. Micah Nelson (who is also the youngest son of Willie Nelson).
Micah Nelson describes this Particle Kid stripped-down acoustic performance as post-apocalyptic, with little to no electricity of amps, and will feature the analog visual elements as well.
“I have all the music running through a little machine I built. It looks like a little bird house but it’s just a speaker with a Petri dish of water, a light, and a camera and what happens in the water when the music the vibration goes through, it creates these mandala fractal patterns on the water and we project that live. So it’s an analog visual and sonic experience. I’m also an animator and my wife Alex and I create visuals and she’ll be blending those things in as well. It’s different than my usual shows in that the drum kit is just my suitcase with the kick pedal. It’s as if the world ended and we don’t have any electricity in it except for the microphones and so it’s a different show.”
Since this stop on his tour is a fundraiser for a local animal rescue, I asked Micah about his connections to our furry friends.
“Our dog Suki is a healer and cattle dog and she’s like our daughter. So much of our life revolves around her. We were actually looking at Palms and Paws and trying to see if while we’re out there we might meet a friend for Suki, a second dog for her to play with. My partner Alex is very passionate about animal rights. She’s always looking at different ways to support rescues and she has a whole network of friends who do all kinds of volunteer work for rescues and ways to protect dogs and cats and all animals whether it’s legislative or fundraising or fostering.”
In addition to fundraising at the door, Micah will also be donating 50% from all the custom handmade posters he made for this show.
The Booth House’s Palms-N-Paws Benefit featuring Particle Kid opens their doors at 4:30, with desert legend Sean Wheeler at 5:30 Milo Gonzalez at 6:30, and Particle Kid from 7:30 to 9:00
With local vendors, live art, wood-fired pizza, local beer and craft cocktails, and silent art auction. The Booth House is located at 75727 Baseline Road in Twentynine Palms.
