Tristen//Aba Kiser

The Quilcene Lantern is proud to present Tristen and Aba Kiser!

6pm doors//7pm music

$15 advance//$20 at the door

all ages, bar w/ id

Credited as being a part of a group of indie rockers began reshaping the city’s musical vocabulary nearly two decades ago, Tristen is a Nashville-based recording artist who has built a reputation for crafting melody-driven songs rooted in clever, story-forward lyricism. 

Recorded in her home studio with her husband and longtime creative partner Buddy Hughen, her music showcases a striking intimacy and cohesion, with the two tracking most of the instruments themselves.  Playfully self-described as “refining unpopularity since 1982,” Tristen embraces eccentricity and independence of thought as core artistic values. 

Her discography charts an adventurous artistic evolution. Charlatans at the Garden Gate (2011) paired retro-pop hooks with lyrical storytelling, while C A V E S (2013) explored synth-driven, orchestrated arrangements. With Sneaker Waves (2017), she wove together folk-rock warmth, garage-tinged drive, and cinematic pop textures, the album’s title serving as a metaphor for life’s sudden turns.

Her latest album Unpopular Music was released Nov 7, 2025.

///

Growing up in Virginia singing jazz at her father’s restaurant, musical firebrand, and multi-instrumentalist Aba Kiser creates genre-bending experimental folk for a revelatory future.

Hard to pin down, but instantly familiar, her tongue in cheek lyricism, vintage vocals, and Koetke-style picking guitar paint a sonic kaleidoscope. Aba released her debut album "I'm One Too" in New York, NY where the nuanced complexity of her raw folk songs expanded to contain an entire orchestra thanks to composer and producer Kate Copeland.

Abakis was selected as a fellow of the Dosti Music Project, a collaborative music residency bringing together musicians from India, Pakistan and the United States. She has toured nationally as back-up for the likes of Eleanor Murray and Ings. Aba is currently working on her second album, a love letter of living grief to those lost in the turbulence of our times.