St. Louis scene-sters from all walks of life showed their IDs and walked down the narrow flight of stairs that opens to Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar‘s basement. The cavernous and impossibly cozy room was darkened. Attendees sipped beer, wine, and punch bowl manhattans as the room gradually filled to near capacity.

The view inside a viewing room at Beth Bombara’s video release. Onscreen: Kit Hamon.

On one wall three large, white, opaque art installations by David Burnett served as viewing rooms, each of which contained a never-before-seen Beth Bombara music video. The three videos were filmed and produced by Nashville videographer, photographer, and musician Joshua Black Wilkins with assistance from St. Louis music photographer Nate Burrell. Once inside a viewing room, revelers could have a seat and slip into a pair of headphones to watch the videos projected on a big screen as the background noise coming from the rest of the party melted away.

A photo of a moving picture: Beth Bombara onscreen at her music video release party.

In the middle of the event, in the middle of the room, Beth and her band (Kit Hamon, Karl Eggers, and JJ Hamon with contributions from The Blind Eyes’ Seth Porter and LTSFTG’s Miriam Keller) assembled in a circle, each member facing the crowd. The group played a spirited forty minute set that leapt from low-slung blues (“Right My Wrongs“), banjo-led folk (“Mountain Sun“), and even a Cake cover.

Beth Bombara

This intimate, unconventional performance was nothing if not a reminder of the depth of talent that Bombara possesses and has recruited over her years in St. Louis. Kit Hamon dressed up and threw down on upright bass. Multi-instrumentalist (and brother to Kit) JJ Hamon moved effortlessly from lap steel to trombone and back again. Eggers, on banjo, demonstrated why he’s one of the best active players in St. Louis bar none. Porter and Keller, on violin and trumpet respectively, expertly rounded out this one-night-only manifestation of the Beth Bombara band, and everyone in the audience was lucky to have beared witness.

All photos by Jess Luther.

Karl Eggers

JJ Hamon

Seth Porter

Kit Hamon