"The Outside Presents," an experimental music performance series, is hosted by Evan Miller, shown here at a performance from earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of Ruthie Herman)
‘The Outside Presents’ returns with ‘Midwestern Ambience’ for third season
- Published: August 29, 2025
Experimental music series “The Outside Presents” returns this weekend for its third season, opening with a program titled “Midwestern Ambience.”
The show, set for Saturday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. in the Foundry Theater’s black box space at Antioch College, will feature Indianapolis-based composer Landon Caldwell and Cincinnati musician Nick Keeling, with visual accompaniment by Dayton’s SOS Lightshow.
As in its first two seasons, “The Outside Presents” remains free to the public, with donations to the artists encouraged.
Organizer Evan Miller, host of WYSO 91.3’s Sunday night program “The Outside,” said season three begins with “business as usual” — two regional artists presenting adventurous sounds in an intimate setting.
Caldwell, whom Miller described as “a multi-instrumentalist, multi-disciplinary artist and a composer,” is also co-founder of the Indianapolis label Medium Sound. His work, Miller said, is “New Age adjacent — lots of synthesizers and wind instruments,” with a meditative but exploratory bent.
Keeling builds his performances on piano and tape loops, using a modified eight-track setup that he often employs as both instrument and a kind of visual installation.
“He has this contraption where he makes tape loops out of eight-track tapes,” Miller said. “Sometimes he’ll set them up some distance away from each other, so the tape itself moves around the space as it plays. I don’t know exactly what he’ll do in the room this time, but I told him, ‘You have the space, do what you want.’”
The pairing of artists from nearby cities fits Miller’s broader curatorial approach: introducing audiences to experimental musicians rooted in the Midwest — and beyond — while drawing connections across different practices. The goal, he said, is not just to showcase the work for those who are fans of the broad genre of experimental music, but to invite curious audiences into unfamiliar sonic territory.
“I think giving people the opportunity to have that moment where you experience something totally new — that opens your mind up to things — is cool,” Miller said. “I had those moments when I was younger, and they led to a life that’s rich with interesting art and people. Not everybody’s going to walk away wanting to devote their life to it, but maybe you want to break out of your comfort zone a little — I say, ‘Please do .’”
The Foundry’s black box space, Miller added, has become a reliable home for that kind of discovery: “It has the DIY spirit — it’s just me and my coworkers setting things up — but it’s also a real venue. The room sounds good, audiences are attentive and people often come up afterward to ask the musicians questions and peek at the setup.”
“The Outside Presents” begins its third season with a larger base of financial support, including from the Yellow Springs Community Foundation, HydeOut Skates, Yellow Springs Brewery, Tweedle D’s, Lucky Bunny Tattoo and Omega Music.
Miller said the expanded budget helps ensure artists are fairly compensated — particularly as state and federal funding sources continue to be uncertain — and may allow for higher-profile bookings in the coming year.
“For me, the priority is keeping admission free and making sure the series doesn’t run in the red,” he said. “That way we can keep this sustainable and continue bringing these kinds of artists to Yellow Springs.”
For more information on the season-opening show, including audio samples for the show’s headliners, go to http://www.wyso.org/the-outside-presents.
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