In the annals of ’90s indie rock, Letha Rodman Melchior made her mark as a guitar-wielding slayer in righteous math-rock outfit Ruby Falls. With six-string counterpart Jennifer Rogers, drums-bashing sis Laura Rogers and bassist-singer Cynthia Nelson, the band is entrenched in NYC underground lore. Now, 15 years after RF’s demise, Brooklyn mainstays Jennifer and Laura are coming to the aid of Rodman-Melchior, who has been battling cancer and facing mounting medical bills. Along with Miyuki Furtado, the sisters are re-forming their bloozy post-Ruby garage-rock unit, the Rogers Sisters, which disbanded in 2006.
Rodman Melchior’s productivity hasn’t stopped in the face of illness, nor has her positive outlook. She blogs about her hospital ordeals (lethashappyhospitalfuntime.blogspot.com), records prolifically and last year released one of 2013’s best experimental releases: Handbook for Mortals, a disc of heartrending collages featuring piano, horns and field recordings.
Now based in North Carolina, Rodman Melchior won’t be participating in the evening’s activities. But in keeping with her intrepid musical breadth, the sisters have assembled quite the disparate bill, including epic thug-riffers Endless Boogie, postpunk minimalists Crystal Stilts, popcentric rockers Love as Laughter and considerably more.—Brad Cohan