In September of 2019, musician and photographer Mike Weis spent a week in the CAR cabin, going on daily hikes through the dunes developing a photography project titled, Fragmented Wilderness of the Calumet Region. Click here to see more about this project.

On September 28, He hosted a soundwalk at dusk through the Miller Woods section of the Indiana Dunes National Park meeting Scott Tuma, Chloe Yu Nong Lin of the preserve on the top of one of the oldest dunes in the woods for a trio performance inspired by the seven stages of ecological succession, just after sunset.

Bios:

Mike Weis
About
Percussionist for Zelienople, Kwaidan, Good Stuff House, The Chevrons, Mirror Of Nature, Slow Bell Trio and solo.

BIO

Since 2000, Mike Weis’ main music project has been with the Chicago experimental-rock band, Zelienople. Zelienople has released music on various international record labels including Type, Immune and Root Strata. Weis’ former music projects include a duo with Scott Tuma, a trio with Tuma and Matt Christensen called Good Stuff House, and an improvisation trio with Neil Jendon and Andre Foisy (Locrian) called Kwaidan. His current projects include a collaboration with Slowdive drummer, Simon Scott, an avant-Jazz trio Slow Bell Trio with Steven Hess (Locrian, Pan American) and Keefe Jackson (Free Jazz clarinetist), an ambient improvisation trio with Jendon and Cinchel called Mirror of Nature and The Chevrons, a David Lynch-inspired lounge act with members of Zelienople. He has also contributed percussion recordings for albums by Xela, Black To Comm, Jasper TX and Mind Over Mirrors. In addition to these avant-garde projects, Weis has studied West African rhythms with Ghanaian master drummer, Gideon Foli Alorwoyie and traditional Korean Pungmul drumming with the Korean-American group Ilkwanori and master musician So Ra Kim from Korea. Recently, Weis has turned to the solo format releasing music on Barge Recordings, Type Records and Monastral under his own name. Weis also curates a concert series called, “Just This” at Chicago Zen Buddhist Temple for experimental musicians who are encouraged to incorporate the unique space of the 100 year-old former Freemason Hall, now the Buddha Hall into their performance piece. Past performers have been Grouper, Pan American, Jon Mueller, Zelienople and Olivia Block.
https://theslowbell.tumblr.com/

Scott Tuma

Scott Tuma is a musician from Chicago who is best known for his live performances and also for having played guitar in the pioneering alt-country band Souled American. Since his departure from Souled American in the late 1990s Tuma has released numerous solo albums, performed and recorded with Chicago's Boxhead Ensemble, and collaborated with members of the band Zelienople in a project dubbed Good Stuff House.

Tuma's unique guitar work is one of the primary features responsible for Souled American's highly distinct sound, though the band has continued playing without him seeming relatively unfazed by Tuma's departure. His solo work is more in line with ambient music than folk or country, though elements of those and other styles are still present. "Hard Again" and "The River 1 2 3 4" are expansive, gorgeous albums that feature Tuma playing most of the instruments himself - primarily guitar, harmonium, and organ (though he also plays bass, harmonica, and banjo) - though "Hard Again" also includes guest spots from members of Dirty Three, Rachel's, and Boxhead Ensemble.
https://scotttuma.bandcamp.com/

Chloe Yu Nong Lin
Chloe Yu Nong Lin is a musician and composer from Taiwan and currently based in Chicago. She has participated in many interdisciplinary works with Chinese orchestras and Legend Lin Dance Theatre in Taiwan. Lin currently engages in solo Pipa improvisation and experimental composition exploring the meanings and expression of words themselves. She also draws on sheet music to reflect her music imaginings. Her current projects also include collaborating with artist and guitarist Kevin McGrath as a music improvisation duo “Lin and McGrath.” In Lin’s music and sound practice, she focuses on the relationship between her body movements and her instrument the Pipa (琵琶). Her performances involve music, sounds, silence, extended techniques, movements, light and shadow.
https://sites.saic.edu/impact2019/artist/chloe-yu-nong-lin/