FISHBLOT

FISHBLOT is the improvisational duo of Danny Fisher-Lochhead and Ryan Blotnick, two musicians who independently found their way to an island in Maine and have lived and collaborated there since 2015. Their music grows out of a shared practice of improvisation, experimentation, and deep musical intuition, shaped by the rhythms and relative isolation of life in Maine. Often working without predetermined compositions or structures, FISHBLOT explores a fluid space between experimental and melodic music, balancing spontaneous interplay with a strong sense of form, texture, and atmosphere. Their performances and recordings are marked by an unusually intuitive connection between the two musicians—a kind of musical mind meld that allows ideas to emerge, develop, and disappear in real time. Personal, exploratory, and often unexpectedly melodic, FISHBLOT’s music reflects a shared desire to discover what can happen when two musicians simply listen closely and follow wherever the music leads. Since their release of their fully improvised album small talk (2022, ears & eyes), they have begun to add compositions into their repertoire - an eclectic mixture of originals and works by Handel, Elliott Smith, Skúli Sverrisson and beyond.

Danny Fisher-Lochhead grew up in New York and started playing cello when he was young. Later on he picked up the saxophone, which continues to be his main access point into the world of music as a performer. A little later still he started to write music more seriously, which has since become a vital part of his musical life. He has released

eight records as a leader or co-leader -- including his large ensemble project from May 2025, World of Difference. In recent years he has been collaborating extensively with dancer and choreographer Orlando Hernandez in the NYC-based group The Knee-Heart Connection. He has lived on Mount Desert Island ince 2015, where he is continuing his exploration of music through all of the channels available to him.

www.dannyfisherlochhead.com

Ryan Blotnick is an acclaimed American guitarist, composer and educator based

in Maine. His music combines jazz, rock and ambient music, using spacious

arrangements and slow‐unfolding themes to foreground tone, harmonic detail and

ensemble interplay. He has performed with jazz & world artists including Michael

Blake, Pete Robbins, Phillip Greenlief, Mike McGinnis, Mali Obomsawin, Akoya

Afrobeat, Thomas Morgan and Tyshawn Sorey. His compositions have underscored

films that won Audience Awards at Sundance, Full Frame, DOC-NYC and other

major international film festivals. His recent album The Woods features a quartet

with Adam Chilenski, Tyler Wood and Otto Hauser, and was hailed as “minimalist,

contemplative, insightful and perceptive.” by critic Ralph A Miriello. He lives in

Southwest Harbor and is visiting faculty at College of the Atlantic. www.ryanblotnick.com