It’s true. On Tuesday June 2nd, The Red Krayola – the long-venerated and ever-evolving band that coalesces around Mayo Thompson – plays live in Los Angeles, their only show on the books, near or far.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the project, and – if anything is intact – it is certainly the refusal to repeat itself. The Red Krayola – and all of us that sail with it – must only move forward.

Still, amidst new songs and inventions, there are audible throughlines to various eras past: this is a new band that sounds like The Red Krayola.

Playing in this famously “nonmembership” organization are collaborators Mayo Thompson – now 82 – and Emmett Kelly on guitars, Connor Gallaher on pedal steel, and Marc Riordan on drums and keyboards, with all contributing vocals.

Having steered the craft deftly, Thompson’s crews have pioneered various styles: Texas psych, avant-garde soundmaking, capitalist critique songcraft, groovy proto-post-punk, and idiosyncratic indie rock. You don’t have to imagine what comes next; you can just come to the gig.

The Red Krayola are Drag City recording artists