Celebrating 40 years, Seattle’s annual Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival takes place at the Seattle Center over Labor Day Weekend–September 4th through 6th. As Seattle’s longest-running music and arts festival, the festival provides a forum for hundreds of artists to gather under a creative bumbershoot, meaning umbrella, in front of more than 150,000 visitors who will come to see and hear the confluence of music, film, theater, comedy, dance, spoken word, visual arts, and kids activities.
With 35+ musical performers each day, Bumbershoot’s 2010 lineup features artists spanning more than four decades of music with headliners like Bob Dylan, Weezer, Hole, Billy Bragg, and Mary J. Blige playing alongside indie rock talent like Surfer Blood and Atlas Sound and the up-and-coming MTV-class of Drake, J. Cole, and LMFAO. International flavors are provided by niche-industry mainstays like Balkan Beat Box, The Budos Band and Ozomatli, while Oregon talent will be represented by The Decemberists, The Dandy Warhols, Loch Lomond, The Thermals, Laura Veirs, and Horse Feathers.
OMN’s Chris Young and Brandon Ellison will be providing live coverage from Seattle but until then, check out their 2010 Bumbershoot picks.
Saturday, September 4
LA’s abrasive, electro-noise rockers HEALTH starting grabbing attention in 2007 when they put out their shared debut single with Toronto’s Crystal Castles. The track, “Crimewave,” flew up the UK indie singles chart and exposed their punky DIY spirit and idiosyncratic nature to the world–just about everyone in the band plays a zoothorn (a permutation of microphone and guitar pedal) or some other weirdo noisemaker. Plus they’ve got hands down the creepiest music video of the past year for “We Are Water,” produced by Eric Wareheim. Freak your ears out on the Center Square Stage from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
For their 2009 release, The Hazards of Love, Portland favorites The Decemberists got heavy. The album is a 17-song suite of melodramatic, bookish rock that draws equally from British folk and prog (with occasional forays into sludgey, stoney metal). According to their website, the band is well underway in recording “what will no doubt be our SIXTH record at a barn in an undisclosed location near Portland.” Bumbershoot and MFNW are (so far) the only NW dates scheduled for the Decemberists through the end of the year, so from 5:30 pm to 6:45 pm on the Bumbershoot Mainstage is the place to catch them.
Come to Jamie Lidell’s set expecting to shake your ass off to some electronica infused neo-soul. On the title track of his newest release, Compass, Lidell blends classic Motown elements with programmed beats and acoustic indie-folk textures. “I Wanna Be Your Telephone” sounds like an ode to Prince–quirky, glitchy electronics pulsing with an infectious dance-y groove. He can get as funky and experimental as Stevie Wonder, but as much as he may reflect these influences, Lidell is the real deal. Not content to simply imitate the greats, Lidell is making his own unique contribution to the great canon of soul. He plays 5:45 pm to 6:45 pm on the Broad Street Stage.
Neko Case is a busy woman. Her 2009 release Middle Cyclone debuted at number three on Billboard’s Top 200 and earned the smokey songstress her first two Grammy nominations. This year Case is back with Canadian indie-pop supergroup the New Pornographers. The band released the critically acclaimed Together in May, and has been touring steadily since. Case comes solo to Bumbershoot this year, and you can catch her earthy, complex, Americana-inflected pop from 7:15 pm to 8:30 pm on the Bumbershoot Mainstage.
Like a hippie, indie folk savior Edward Sharpe leads his Magnetic Zeros into pastures greener and venues bigger. He’s been continually leading them, all ten members including himself, across the country in their revamped school bus since the 2009 release of their debut, Up From Below. The messianic figure of Sharpe, played by lead singer Alex Ebert, is a bit of an act, but when combined with sultry, subdued vocals of Jade Castrinos, the stomping, janglin’ tunes are captivating with their free-spirited whistles, claps, horns, and bouncy choruses. Watch the crew rollick through a “40 Day Dream” on the Broad Street Stage from 7:30 PM to 8:45 PM.
The self-proclaimed Legendary King of Rock & Soul, Solomon Burke has been preaching soulful, gospel blues for more than 55 years. Never as universally popular in the mainstream as some of his contemporaries, Solomon Burke has had several rebirths over the years, specifically from movie soundtracks–his biggest hit “Cry To Me” was revived in 1987 by Dirty Dancing and both The Stones and The Blues Brothers took on “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”–not to mention a Grammy in ‘03 for Don’t Give Up On Me. Surrounding himself with love, the man has 21 children and at least another 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. Celebrating 70 back in March, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer took his act to Japan for the first time ever this year as well as returning to Europe. But mind you, the only scheduled North American date is on the Starbucks Stage from 8:45 PM to 10:15 PM.
The great American troubadour may get more gravely with time but like a fine wine, his tales are just as potent as ever. Bob Dylan plays the Bumbershoot Mainstage from 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM and also shares Portland’s Edgefield stage with John Cougar Mellencamp on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
The cacophony of sound that is Ozomatli impressed the Northwest World Reggae Festival in Marcola, Oregon two weekends ago with “boundless energy and passion” for a socially consciousness society, and they’ll again bring their big band, Latin, hip-hop, world fusion full of horns to the Fisher Green Stage from 9:30 PM to 10:45 PM.
Sunday, September 5
Have you ever wondered what Nirvana’s “Drain You” would sound like re-imagined by an indie-folk act? Horse Feathers apparently did, and a version of it will be released this November as the b-side to a 7-inch with the new song “Bonnet of Briars.” The band gives “Drain You” a chamber-folk makeover–soft acoustic guitar, sweeping strings and sensitive vocals. Horse Feathers plays 1:15 pm to 2:15 pm on the Starbucks Stage.
Seattle natives Hey Marseilles play the kind of symphonic pop that draws easy comparisons to bands like Devotchka, Matt Pond, PA and the Decemberists. The septet brings a host of influences and instruments to bear on their just re-released debut To Trunks and Travels. On “Rio” strummed, classical-sounding guitars blend with strings, percussion, handclaps, and trumpet. Hey Marseilles plays 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm on the Broad Street Stage.
Seattle-staple David Bazan has been bumping around the Northwest since 1995 with his tales of conflict and spirituality. Going at it solo since the dissolution of Pedro the Lion in ‘06, Bazan released a solo album under his own name in 2009, Curse Your Branches, but Bumbershoot will feature Bazan + Band, the first time he’s had a full band in almost five years, on the Broad Street Stage from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
From upstate New York, indie rocker, chamber poppers Ra Ra Riot just released their second, string-filled album The Orchard, which the band said is “so poppy you will want to throw up on yourself,” this week with nine of the ten tracks mixed by Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla. The six-piece includes a violinist and a cellist to create playfully poppy yet romantically impassioned tunes. You’ll be sure to hear their latest single “Boy” (and download it in exchange for your email here) on the Broad Street Stage from 5:45 PM to 6:45 PM.
After thirty years as a musician and activist, Billy Bragg is still kicking. Like Bob Dylan and Woodie Guthrie, Bragg is a songwriter with immense staying power. He’s a folk singer-songwriter with a punk sneer, a protest musician still dedicated to changing the world after all these years. Bragg is playing 8:30 pm to 9:45 pm on the Starbucks Stage.
Weathering the turbulent ’90s and now the first decade of the 2000s, Portland’s The Dandy Warhols may have been mentioned less frequently in the pop-cultural lexicon of recent years but one listen to their new “greatest hits” release, The Capitol Years: 1995-2007, will remind you that The Dandys’ garage rock has been consistent over the years. The album, out last Tuesday, features 14 past singles and one new track (“This Is The Tide”). Recently returned from Europe, Bumbershoot is their only announced West Coast date (so far). Catch them on the Broad Street Stage from 9:15 PM to 10:30 PM and leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of The Capitol Years.
For we children of the ’90s, Weezer’sBlue Album was one of the most important rock records of their decade. But their legacy has lived on far beyond “Undone” and “Buddy Holly” (even if some of us choose to forget that there are any Weezer records post-Pinkerton). Weezer remains a radio staple and a modern rock tour-de-force. The new single “Memories,” off the forthcoming album Hurley, may not cover any new ground, but Rivers Cuomo keeps churning out pop that is as guitar heavy and catchy as ever. They play 9:15 pm to 10:30 pm on the Bumbershoot Mainstage.
Monday, September 6
Loch Lomond’s lead singer/multi-instrumentalist Ritchie Young is a tremendous presence. His delicately thunderous songwriting and distinct, powerful voice are perfectly fleshed out in the chamber pop sextet in Loch Lomond. Folk and classical instruments, from mandolin to clarinets to ukuleles, bring depth and passion to their music. Live they’re stunning, and they’ll be playing 6:15 pm to 7:15 pm on the Northwest Court Stage.
Canadian heavy metal that’s been kicking ass since ‘81 regardless of who has been paying attention, Anvil toured the world with some of the biggest bands of their day but has spent the last two decades in relative obscurity… until the 2008 documentary, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, by Sacha Gervasi brought them back into the public’s consciousness as one of hard rock’s original hard-working bands who has stuck it out over the years–against all odds. Now they’re back touring the US and taking the Center Square Stage from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM.
We recently interviewed Seattle’s Kirk Huffman when his gorgeous pop outfit Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground last came through Portland. Wild Orchid Children is the Mr. Hyde to that placid project. Gone are the lilting, old-timey pop textures and in their place is a hard-hitting shout fest in the vein of The Mars Volta with hints at classic rock, hip-hop and dub. Their new album, The Wild Orchid Children are Alexander Supertramp, is due soon and the jammy 18-minute epic “Black Shiny FBI Shoes” is streaming online. The Wild Orchid Children play 7:45 pm to 8:45 pm at the EMP Sky Church.
She’s back on the road after giving birth to her “bouncing baby boy” Tennessee in late April, sharing her lovely folk pop with the world again. And Laura Veirs’ long-time collaborator, and her baby’s daddy Tucker Martine who has also produced her last six albums including January’s July Flame, has been enjoying their time in Europe as well. Returning to the NW for the first half of September, Portland’s Laura Veirs arrives at Bumbershoot with her band The Hall of Flames performing on the Northwest Court Stage from 8:00 PM to 9:15 PM.
Portland’s favorite jangly pop-punk outfit The Thermals have had a busy couple years. They signed with Kill Rocks Stars in 2009, pumping out the full-length Now We Can See, as well as three singles and two splits with The Cribs and Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. Their fifth studio album, Personal Life, is out September 7 and their new video for “I Don’t Believe You” is streaming below. The Thermals play 9:15 pm to 10:30 pm on the Broad Street Stage.
Grinding out soul, blues and rock for himself and others since the ’60s, Booker T. has created his own musical movements and musical moments for many other musicians. A recipient of the Grammy Award for lifetime achievement, Booker T. released his first solo record in 20 years, Potato Hole, in April 2009 with the Drive-By Truckers playing as his backing band on the recording and featuring guitar accompaniment from Neil Young. The album features a cover of Andre 3000’s (Outkast) “Hey Ya!” and went on to win a Grammy for the Best Pop Instrumental Album. The man plays many an instrument but listen up for his distinctive Hammond B3 organ on the Starbucks Stage from 8:30 PM to 9:45 PM.
Known to us Yanks as The English Beat, the 2 Tone ska revival band picked up their instruments again in the mid-2000s… but as two separate groups. Songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Dave Wakeling’s US version of band will be stopping at Bumbershoot while the UK version, The Beat, retains two original members but keeps their distance. As long as you’re no purist, the music is definitely still ripe for skanking in front of the Fisher Green Stage from 9:30 PM to 10:45 PM.
The foundation is celebrating its launch Friday, July 20 at the Wonder Ballroom, a space generously donated by local concert promoter Monqui Presents. Doors open at 8pm with performances by funk-master Dr. Theopolis, Casey Neill and the Norway Rats and surprise all-star guest appearances, as well as a silent auction from sponsors and supporters like R.E.M., Music Millennium and Kill Rock Stars.
In a normal functioning heart, electrical signals travel along a single pathway when they move through the heart. In Wilson’s case, there is an extra conduction pathway or “node” that causes the electrical signal to arrive too soon. This can lead to dizziness, rapid heart beat, fainting, and sometimes cardiac arrest.
For Wilson this meant another severe attack, shortly after the Dharma Bums February reunion concert, which caused him to pass out in the bathroom of a local pub. Wilson says he “woke up underneath the sink, Lord knows how many minutes later, having completely, completely gone out… I feel like I know what it is to die, you know?” After wrestling with it for a couple of days Wilson went to his cardiologist and found out that after already undergoing surgery last year, the node had come back. “I didn’t even know there was a possibility of that.”
He began planning immediately, working “his magic” as his nurse says on the phone, to secure funds as well as donated time from the hospital to get his next operation done. “It took months and months and months to figure out the finances and the opportunity to take off ten days to recover… It was a very, very, very hard way for me to get ten days off. [Laughs].”
And in the midst of all of this, Wilson began to think about other musicians facing medical crisis:
We live in a society that obviously doesn’t want to give anybody health care, let alone musicians. The irony is, that every time there is a crisis, whether it be Katrina or whether it be somebody breaking their leg… what does everybody do? The come to musicians to ask for their free time, to donate their time and ability, their only money stream really left to them [live music], for benefits… It [opens] up a pretty deep conversation.
Since discovering his condition four years ago, Wilson has seen an outpouring of support from hundreds of people. Now, he wants to pay some of that goodwill forward. In May, with the help of The Dharma Bums manager Michele Mei, the organization began filing the paperwork to get The Jeremy Wilson Foundation off the ground. Mei has a background in non-profits, but she still says that “every day we learn something new.”
While diving head-first into the world of non-profits, Wilson juggled the tasks of keeping his studio afloat and covering his own health care costs. By the time his second operation came on July 20, he estimates that 95 percent of the costs were covered. But several hours into that surgery it became clear that the procedure would not be successful. The medicine he’d been taking to manage his symptoms suppressed the node that was misfiring, leaving his doctors unable to target and remove it. Now, Wilson is on the hook for a third operation.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to repeat that [fundraising]… I’m kind of back to square one a bit when it comes to where I’m at.”
The foundation launch was timed with the idea that he would be beyond this moment, that he would be healthy enough to start thinking about the health of other musicians. “I was always meant to be the [initial] beneficiary,” a sort of Litmus test for the organization, “but I’m really hoping that I won’t need very much, and that we can start to help others out.”
Despite the setbacks, Wilson remains optimistic and has big plans for the foundation. For now, the foundation will focus on providing assistance for musicians in medical crisis, similar to the way that organizations like the MusiCares Foundation do now. On the day of the interview, Wilson himself had just come from a teeth cleaning with a local dentist through a grant from MusiCares.
Once the Jeremy Wilson Foundation’s website is up and running, there will be an online application process, which Mei anticipates will be streamlined in the next six months. Wilson says, “You’ll have to prove that you’re a working musician. You don’t have to be a full-time one, but music plays a big role in your life. You’ve got records out, you’re out there playing, you’re touring, you’re doing different things.” He wants the application process to be fair and transparent but says that it will be “hard to say no to anyone… there’s just so much need.”
That help could include crisis funding in the case of an emergency, grants, even writing checks to help musicians cover basic expenses while they struggle to address their health care needs. According to Mei, the foundation already has doctors and dentists offering “seriously reduced” rates for musicians that the non-profit refers.
The Jeremy Wilson Foundation currently has a three member board including Wilson, Mei and a woman (who wishes to remain anonymous) with a 20 year background in non-profits. For now, these three will be making the immediate decisions about who will receive what kind of funding, but the board is looking to expand, both in personnel and in reach.
While their immediate goal remains crisis funding, the foundation eventually hopes to offer educational and preventative services, and to “put together enough organization, which it looks like we’re going to be able to, that we can negotiate group [insurance] policies” for musicians to buy into. For those that still can’t afford insurance, they hope to offer grants and incentives.
A recent survey by the Future of Music Coalition found that 33 percent of musicians were uninsured, nearly double the national average of 17 percent uninsured. Mei believes this may be because musicians may lack the financial ability to pay for their own insurance, may not understand the resources available to them, or may be “denied [coverage] because of lifestyle assumptions” that insurance companies make about musicians. She points to drummer Richie Hayward, who died of liver cancer August 12. “Someone in Little Feat for God’s sake, who [had] never had health insurance.”
The scope of this foundation is unique and ambitious. Wilson explains that the foundation’s business model is to “basically be a publishing company and a concert promotions company, but instead of making money for profit, we’re making money to help people.” Mei initially hopes to have at least two concerts a year that Wilson says might be “a little more than what you’re used to paying. Maybe it’s fifteen or twenty bucks to come to one of these concerts, but [it's a concert] where every single penny that’s being raised is gonna go into a fund that is going to help many people.”
Wilson hopes that the foundation will be a ready-made umbrella where, “when emergency benefits are thrown for musicians and different people, they won’t have to go through the rigmarole” of establishing a non-profit. “We’ll have a place where the money can go,” and can be earmarked for a particular person or cause to “make sure that they don’t have their life come crashing down on them because they had the gall to get sick. [Laughs].”
Wilson and Mei both credit early donations from Peter Buck and the Decemberists as the financial catalysts that have helped launch The Jeremy Wilson Foundation, as well as what Mei calls a “flood of music industry folks offering items” for Friday’s auction. She stresses too, that while this is starting in Portland, this is meant to serve the wider Pacific Northwest. “Washington has to wake up,” and our musical friends across the river need to apply or refer their Washingtonian band mates.
With so many people expressing their support, Wilson says that it “really makes me want to live up to it… I want this to take off, I want it to go beyond my life.” He knows that the vision is grand and idealistic, but “we’re hoping that through a non-profit foundation that we’ve found one way in our society that we can act communally.” And ultimately, he believes being able to do this will help bring meaning to his own life. “I’m just so touched by the healing process, that maybe my heart’s not fixed altogether yet, but it is on another level.”
The Jeremy Wilson Foundation celebrates its launch this Friday, July 20 at the Wonder Ballroom. Doors at 8pm, $18 adv, $20 at the door. Featuring Dr. Theopolis, Casey Neill and the Norway Rats, special guests and a silent auction.
Tax-deductible donations can be sent in a check payable to The Jeremy Wilson Foundation at: 1028 SE Water Ave. Suite 230, Portland, OR 97214
Portland avant-folk act Y La Bamba is releasing Lupon, produced by The Decemberists’ Chris Funk, on September 28. They’ve been getting a lot of attention lately, with glowing praise both locally and from the likes of the LA Weekly and Billboard.
Luzelena Mendoza, the songstress behind Y La Bamba, is a daughter of immigrants who spent summers in a farm community in California’s San Joaquin Valley soaking up traditional Mexican folk music and stories. She’s turned those experiences into into songs that crackle like dusty old records.
The album, the band’s first studio recording, is coming out on Tender Loving Empire. Their streaming the first single “Juniper” now, and have a bunch of Oregon shows lined up over the summer:
Willamette Week’s Musicfest NW announced their full lineup today, adding almost 100 more local and national acts than previously announced. Artists for the September 8th-12th festival include The Decmemberists, The National, Panda Bear, The Thermals, Menomena and many more. Tickets are available now, but the full schedule is still being settled.
From the website:
We’ve just updated our site to include this year’s full lineup(give or take a few bands)! Be sure to click on each band for more information. In addition to The Decemberists, The National, PandaBear, OkkervilRiver, TheThermals andMenomena, we’ve now added close to 100 more artists, including AU, FreeEnergy, Moneybrother, AndersParker,DavidBazan, ShabazzPalaces, AndAndAnd, ChampagneChampagne, KevinDevine, TheUpsidedown and many more!
We are currently hard at work on this year’s MFNWschedule and hope to have a finalized version released soon; be sure to keep checkingmusicfestnw.com/schedule for updates.
See all these bands when MusicfestNW takes over PortlandSeptember 8-12; save $10 courtesy of JacksonsFood Stores if you purchase your wristband before July 6. Information here.
Colin Meloy announced via Twitter yesterday that the Decemberists will be playing Seattle’s Bumbershoot, which runs September 4th-6th, and Willamette Week’s MusicfestNW, which runs September 9th-12th:
Tickets for Bumbershoot are on sale now and the festival announced the lineup yesterday on their blog.
The headliners include The Decemberists, Bob Dylan, Weezer, Neko Case, Mary J. Blige, Hole and J. Cole, along with “one more very special guest to be announced soon!” Oregon acts include The Dandy Warhols, The Thermals, Horse Feathers, Delorean and more.
The full list from their blog:
LMFAO / Billy Bragg / Ozomatli / Angelique Kidjo / Solomon Burke / The Dandy Warhols / Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros / Jenny and Johnny (featuring Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice) / Jamie Lidell / The Raveonettes / Balkan Beat Box / Motion City Soundtrack / The Thermals / Ra Ra Riot / The English Beat / Justin Townes Earle / Booker T. / Surfer Blood / The Bouncing Souls / Japandroids / Bob Schneider / Anvil / Bomba Estereo / Jay Electronica / Aterciopelados / Baroness / James Cotton “Superharp” Blues Band / David Bazan / Meat Puppets / Crash Kings / This Providence / Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express / The Moondoggies / The Whigs / Greg Laswell / Civil Twilight / Trampled By Turtles / The Clientele / Atlas Sound / Laura Veirs & The Hall of Flames / The Budos Band / Bobby Bare Jr. / Horse Feathers / Vienna Teng Trio / HEALTH / Plants and Animals / Georgia Anne Muldrow & Declaime / Wheedle’s Groove / Hey Marseilles / Kings Go Forth / Sweet Water / Delorean / JEFF the Brotherhood / Chris Pureka / Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra / Garotas Suecas / The Maldives / The Constellations / Coryell, Auger, Sample Trio / Grynch / Visqueen / Victor Shade / Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs / Fresh Espresso / Pete Molinari / Sista Monica’s “Singin in the Spirit” / Lay Low / Unnatural Helpers / Idiot Pilot / The Round / Wild Orchid Children / The Cute Lepers / Feral Children / Fences / Caspar Babypants / The Tripwires / Fatal Lucciauno / Loch Lomond / The Physics / THEESatisfaction / School of Rock All Stars / See Me River / Zoe Muth and The Lost High Rollers / People Eating People / Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme / Brent Amaker & The Rodeo / Born Anchors / Slender Means / BOAT / McTuff Trio / Parlour Steps / The Redwood Plan / Helladope / Lisa Dank / Greta Matassa Quartet / The Lonely H / Matt Jorgensen Quintet / Becki Sue & Her Big Rockin’ Daddies! / Great Waves / Brian Vogan / Johnny Bregar with more to come, including comedy, performing arts, film, literary and visual arts!
Turning ten this year, MusicFestNW 2010 has just announced their preliminary, 70-band festival lineup including performances from hit indie acts like The National, Okkervil River, Major Lazer, Wiz Khalifa, The Walkmen, Surfer Blood, Washed Out, and Ted Leo, plus local favorites such as The Decemberists, Menomena, Red Fang, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, and The Thermals.
The 2010 festival will take place in 17 venues across downtown Portland for four nights from Thursday, September 9th through Sunday, September 12th including two new outdoor showcases on Saturday and Sunday in Pioneer Courthouse Square. The Decemberists and The National will headline these open-air gigs.
All-inclusive festival wristbands go on sale June 5th for $90. This wristband gets you into both outdoor shows and the rest of the four-day festival. A second $65 wristband is valid for one of the two outdoor shows (The Decemberists or The National) and the rest of the fest. Individual tickets for shows at Pioneer Square, Crystal Ballroom, and The Roseland Theater will also be on sale June 5th. More ticket information can be found here.
The complete lineup includes:
The Decemberists
The National
Okkervil River
Major Lazer
Sleep performing Holy Mountain
Menomena
The Thermals
Wiz Khalifa
Ra Ra Riot
The Walkmen
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
The Helio Sequence
Justin Townes Earle
Baroness
David Bazan
The Tallest Man on Earth
The Gories
No Means No
Man Man
Laura Veirs
Bobby Bare Jr.
Titus Andronicus
Surfer Blood
Akron/Family
Crooked Fingers
Shonen Knife
Japandroids
People Under the Stairs
Cold Cave
Frank Turner
The Builders and the Butchers
Phantogram
Washed Out
Black Prairie
Thee Oh Sees
Abe Vigoda
Big Freedia
MEN
Laser Sword
From Ashes Rise
Devin Phillips
The Suckers
Trash Talk
Scott Kelly
Rocky Votolato
Blue Giant
The Minus 5
Dan Mangan
Jeff the Brotherhood
Marc Olson
Red Fang
The Zeros
Let’s Wrestle
Pierced Arrows
The Bellrays
Weinland
Portland Cello Project
The Magic Kids
DJ Beyonda
Richmond Fontaine
Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside
Tu Fawning
Death by Stereo
Princeton
Kisses
White Hinterland
BOAT
Damion Suomi
Typhoon
Y La Bamba
Colin Meloy, lead singer and wordsmith of hyper-literary band The Decemberists, has signed a deal with HarperCollins to publish Wildwood, a three-book series illustrated by acclaimed artist Carson Ellis. The middle-grade series takes place in an alternate version of modern-day Portland telling “a classic tale of adventure, magic, and danger.”
Wildwood is Meloy’s first foray into children’s literature, and the deal was negotiated by Donna Bray, Co-Publisher of the Balzer & Bray imprint at HarperCollins. Bray says, “Wildwood is both incredibly original yet timeless–nothing less than an American Narnia. We’re thrilled to introduce such an exciting new voice in children’s literature.”
Meloy is excited to be working with Ellis. “For me, this is the culmination of a long-term collaboration with Carson, matching words and art. I grew up on a steady diet of Lloyd Alexander, Roald Dahl, and Tolkien; this is our humble paean to that grand tradition of epic adventure stories.” Ellis helped craft the Decemberists iconic visual look and has illustrated bestselling books like Lemony Snicket’s The Composer Is Dead.
The first book is scheduled for publication in fall 2011. For now, Meloy is still performing and will be playing solo tonight, April 29th, at Make it Pop! a benefit for PDX Pop Now! Tickets are already sold out, but some may still be available at the door.
A Benefit for Jessica Schleif on April 30th at Astoria’s Liberty Theater is the only concert The Decemberists have scheduled this year. The concert will be hosted by the writer and performer Moe Bowstern and singer-songwriter Michael Hurley will perform as well. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 2nd at 10 AM here.
The official release states:
Jessica Schleif, a local artist and dear friend of the band, and one of the uninsured millions in America, recently suffered a tragedy that left her with unmanageable medical debt. All proceeds from the concert will be donated towards Schleif’s medical bills. A limited number of Gold Circle tickets that also include a limited-edition silkscreened poster by Decemberists illustrator Carson Ellis will be available for $75. Floor and balcony tickets are $35. For more information please visit http://thedecemberists.com/.
Everyone knows about the annual PDX Pop Now! festival held every summer–now in its seventh year–and the wonderful compilation CDs featuring local artists.
But an important part of PDX Pop Now!’s mission to celebrate and promote “Portland’s vital music community” is also community outreach.
The non-profit has announced their outreach program will partner with Parkrose Middle School, for the third year, on April 15th to bring 6th to 8th graders the experience of live, local music.
Their release states:
During the school day, students will have the opportunity to experience the power of picking up a musical instrument for the first time in workshops with representatives of Spun Academy and Ethos Music Center, and local musicians. Representatives from My Voice Music, Music in the Schools, and Mayor Sam Adams’ Arts and Culture Department will also be present. Students will share the thrill of live music performed by Portland bands – Blue Cranes, Grey Anne, and Hives Inquiry Squad.
The event will give students the chance to learn about live music opportunities available around Portland and how they can become involved as artists and advocates. In the past, PDX Pop Now! outreach programs have successfully worked with “the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, local businesses, schools and the broader community to make more safe all-ages concerts possible and allow young Oregonians to participate more fully in the local arts community.”
This year’s PDX Pop Now! festival will be held at Rotture on July 30th, 31st and August 1st but to support event the organization will throw the all-ages Make It Pop! fundraiser in the Cleaners at the Ace Hotel in Portland (403 SW 10th Ave) on April 29th at 6:30pm.
Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, The Alialujah Choir, Ah Holly Fam’ly, and Musee Mechanique will perform. Drinks, hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and a silent auction of Portland music-related items will be available. Tickets can be purchased for $35.
After an 18 year break, Portland’s the Dharma Bums returned for an incredible night of rock’n'roll at a packed Crystal Ballroom last Saturday. The reunion was part of the celebration of Music Millennium’s 40th anniversary and coincided with the band’s release of Dumb, a collection of 4-track recordings from 1987.
As tight and polished as they sounded, it’s hard to believe the Dharma Bums ever stopped playing.
They tore into a career-spanning set with an early single, the hard-hitting “Haywire,” and never let up. Joined by Derby and longtime friends the Young Fresh Fellows, fans new and old were treated to a night of energetic, melodic rock.
The Dharma Bums were surprisingly heavy for a group of guys now in their 40s. But these mature musicians, playing songs they wrote in their teens and 20s, have as much heart and style as they did two decades ago. Hearing John Moen’s drumming, Eric Lovre’s guitar, and Jim Talstra’s bass, you were struck by just how good these musicians are. They could tear it up with the best of them.
More than anything, though, they played with the pure joy of people returning to something they loved.
Jeremy Wilson (vocals, guitar) looked ecstatic, jumping around the stage like a much younger man, and at one point, kissing Lovre on the head between songs. You couldn’t wipe the smile from Wilson’s face. Who knew that a guy that’s been playing around neighborhood open mics was secretly a rock star in a past era.
The long set was bookended by their strongest material. Hits like “Pumpkin Head,” “Light in You,” and “Walking Stick” were played with so much energy and passion that the crowd couldn’t help but grin along.
Where the Dharma Bums really stood out, though, was their encore.
After a set which so accurately captured their past, they were finally free to just play. You could see both what they’ve done and what they’re still so capable of. They swapped instruments, with Lovre playing guitar, Talstra on drums, and Moen (also a member of The Decemberists) picked up the accordion. They were also joined on stage by friend Scott McCaughey, whose band the Young Fresh Fellows put up an earlier set of solid, poppy, post-punk.
The show was as much a celebration for the fans as it was a reunion for the band.
Wilson joked, “How’s everyone been doing the last 18 years?” He thanked his family, friends and fans who made the trek up from Salem, the band’s original stomping grounds. A woman from Molalla, and an old fan, reminisced about the “innocence and the love” the Dharma Bums brought to the Portland indie scene when they first started playing.
If you missed the show, it sounds like you may have a chance to see them again soon. Lovre revealed that, “It won’t be another 18 years before we play for you again.” There are plans for more shows, probably before the end of the year.
At the Crystal Ballroom, though, all that mattered was the music. As much as this show was about a band reconnecting with its past and with its fan base of aging hipsters, the music itself was alive again Saturday night. Hopefully the younger ones took notice.
Chamber pop sensation Loch Lomond will be visiting the Doug Fir Lounge on Thursday night, and with the way the quintet has been shattering venues for the last two years, it should be another rousing live show guaranteed to instill their magical music into anyone in the vicinity… and stay there well past the show.
Vocalist Ritchie Young is the driving force behind the band with his high-pitched, poppy falsetto echoing above a proper orchestra. Loch Lomond takes you to a place, and then one-ups that place, continuing to build upon the sound with a vast array of instruments throughout each song. Instruments include: guitar, percussion (Young); clarinet, bass, ukulele (Scott Magee); keys (Dave Depper); vibraphone, banjo, and various other sounds (Jason Leonard).
Lomond’s latest release, the five-track EP Night Bats, is a sign of the band evolving. As Young put it talking to OMN in November, it is a cross between their old recordings and a full-length album they hope to release sometime this year.
Over a year ago, Loch Lomond opened for The Decemberists for a month. Young said it was an eye-opener to play in front of that many people. But Loch Lomond already has people opening their eyes and ears to the wonderful world of chamber pop, and before long, grand crowds will be a regular occurrence for the Portland band.
Listen to “Wax and Wire” on their MySpace page and you will have a good idea of the breadth and beauty of Loch Lomond’s music.
December’s Christmas weekend You Who show, while not sold out, was well attended. This busy holiday weekend got a big lift from headline band, Blue Giant’s performance, sweet and soulful like a baked yam casserole.
Blue Giant is a band melded of members of other great bands, Viva Voce, Swords, Golden Bears and The Decemberists. From the get go, it’s clear that the members of Blue Giant really enjoy jamming together. Put a band like Blue Giant together with an auditorium full of children and you have a genuine love fest, pure hearts and pure music. While this may sound quite sappy, I can assure you the music was anything but sugary sweet.
December’s installment of You Who began with the fun and festive Eastern sounds provided by DJ Anjali. While some kids danced around with their friends, parents and the twin giant You Who owl mascots, other kids swarmed to the activity center. This month’s craft involved creating different kinds of maracas, which the children got to put to use for the Portland Maraca Project, an audience song-a-long.
Other highlights included The Cardboard Songsters, performing a mariners song, complemented by life-size cut outs of sea life and vessels, another great video by Cartoons Exprez and a lively and inspiring performance from The Lifesavas’ Vursatyl, all masterfully hosted by Vagabond Opera’s Eric Stern.
If you’ve yet to catch an installment of You Who, I highly recommend this affordable and exceptional family event!
To quote me: “Velella Velella sounds like a booty-blasting, repetitive slam-jam of electronic funk… or some kinda Beck.”
And I’m not sure what Arch Cape sounds like, but it is Rachel Blumberg who gets around with Norfolk & Western, M. Ward, The Decemberists, She & Him, and a host of female drummers. So you’re just gonna have to show up early and find out.
Beware: Your shirt will turn into dust at the stroke of midnight.
In 2004, ex-Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty and filmmaking partner Christoph Green hit on a singularly brilliant idea: find a house that was about to be burnt to the ground or otherwise destroyed, invite a bunch of bands and musicians to perform inside of it, film the live performances and the house’s subsequent destruction. The results have been collected as the Burn To Shine series of DVDs.
So far, only four volumes have seen commercial release, though there is two in the can waiting for the economy to perk back up so they can be finished and distributed. This year’s Reel Music is presenting the two NW chapters of this series, starting tonight with the edition filmed in Portland (well…technically Tualatin).
The bands for this session were selected by Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk, and, at the time in 2005, represented a fairly substantial cross section of the best indie music that our town had to offer. It’s a fantastic snapshot into this period of time, when Portland was just gaining a great deal of momentum in the press and blogs of the world. It captures Sleater-Kinney, Wet Confetti, and The Planet The before they broke up, fantastic performances by not-yet-superstars like The Decemberists, The Gossip and The Shins, as well as a sweet pop tune written by a pre-teen band called The Ready.
I’m sure we could argue for days about the bands that were left out of this project (surely the best litmus test as to the bands that are really causing a stir in Portland is the annual PDX Pop Now Festival), but the groups it does include are ones that we can all be proud to call our hometown sons and daughters.
Burn To Shine: Portland will be preceded by a screening of the Sufjan Stevens art/music film The BQE: The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. For more information on that film, click here.
Casey Neill and the Norway Rats. Photo by Inger Klekacz, stemmamedia.com
Walking into Mississippi Studios without knowing a thing about the featured artists, one would have a hard time guessing the genre by the crowd. Hipsters in skinny jeans and thick-rimmed glasses; the free-spirited bohemians, their long hair wrapped in colorful scarves. Girls wearing skirts and boots, lace tights and heels, a flower pinned in their hair; guys with braided beards in black t-shirts, waiting for the opportunity to rock out.
All three bands that performed Saturday have a wide range of song styles, and a vast following. Young and old, hard-rockers and indie followers intermixed on the Mississippi Studios floor anxiously awaiting what the night had in store.
Opening the show, Blue Horns lead singer Brian Park sat alone on stage with his guitar, his melodies drifting across the room, quietly serenading those remaining in the bar on the other side of a closed garage door. Reminiscent of a bohemian-hipster Justin Long, with a toned-down-fumanchu-style moustache and a slouchy knit beanie, Park soulfully sang a few acoustic ballads before motioning to his fellow band mates blending in among the crowd to join him on stage.
Blue Horns
Immediately after the remaining members arrived on stage Park announced to the crowd that guitarist Colin Howard had a “bum wing” that night, an injury to his left hand; a sort of disclaimer that the members would be taking on different roles than usual. Howard started the set playing tambourine before, in a wonderfully literal act of musical chairs, he proceeded to play “one-handed keyboard,” as Andrew Stern took over on bass guitar.
While the rotation was unintentional, the band’s execution was flawless suggesting that it was all part of the show, choreographed specifically for our entertainment. Although after the show Park described that their tone is usually closer to “glam rock,” his voice flutters with steady, uninterrupted rhythm throughout the varying style of songs: slow ballads, folky-acoustic-rock, pop infused island-reggae.
Park has been writing songs for several years, the band coming together in 2007 with an unquenchable passion to “send each song running head over heels at the listener.” Their distinct and unquestionably likable sound is bound for success: being featured on local indie stations and touring cross-country in the future. Catch them for yourself when the Blue Horns play on January 30th at the Doug Fir Lounge with Morning Teleportation and AAN.
The crowd thickened as Sassparilla set up to play the second set with fans fighting to get a front-row view of the amazing bayou-inspired heavy rock band. The 6-person group casually prepared their harmonica, banjo, washtub bass, and washboard, as if they are instruments we see played everyday.
From the second they began there was a not a dull moment or a still body in the house.
Ross MacDonald wailed on the harmonica, performing several solos during the songs, without showing any appearance of fatigue, impressing us all and receiving cheers of ecstatic appreciation. Fondly referred to by band members as Pappy, and, at one point during the show announced as the “Dagger,” MacDonald is one of the original founders of the Sassparilla Jug Band, along with lead singer, banjo, and box guitar player, Gus Richmond.
One wouldn’t believe she had only begun playing washboard 5 months ago (when she joined the band) when front-woman Naima Muntal expertly beat the washboard she wore around her neck and torso without missing a beat. Using her whole body as she thrashed with the rhythm. Halfway through the set, her red ringlets began to loosely cascade around her face unable to stay pinned back any longer. Radiating happiness, when Naima wasn’t singing she was smiling, laughing, making faces at the cameraman, and dancing with brand new member, Maura, who performed with the band for the first time that night.
This unconstrained, fun-loving energy oozing from within each member of the band was contagious, the audience catching and embracing the disease. As the fast paced rhythm seeped into their bones, the fans in the crowd were soon unable to restrain themselves from uncontrollably breaking into full-body dance.
Between songs, Richmond dazzled us with his charismatic personality, wooing us with random trivia bits accumulated from the combination of lots of time in an RV and an iPhone. Encouraging audience participation, he asked, “Do you know what a group of penguins are called?” Soon the “did you know?” game of informative facts became an in-between-songs tradition the audience came to expect. When he didn’t immediately offer up a new fact, a fan begged for more, calling out, “more animal trivia!” Unable to come up with a tidbit to share on the spot Colin, the bass player, chimed in with his own piece of trivia.
“Did you know this is my dad?” he said pointing to MacDonald standing behind him, who confirmed it with a kiss on the cheek, winning all our hearts.
Even though they have only been playing for a relatively short period of time, the Sassparilla Jug Band has a very strong following, as evidenced by their ability to draw a crowd. At the beginning of the very dynamic “Do you understand me?!“ a group of women who had secured a place on the floor directly in front of the stage, turned to each other in excitement, one declaring: “This is the best song ever!” During the song, audience members were encouraged to shout out, “WHAT???” along with the other band members in response to Richmond’s incomprehensible ramblings. In keeping with his love of involving the audience, he grabbed a megaphone mid-song and wandered into the audience. ”Do you understand me?” he sang in his gravely heavy metal voice. “Yeeeeeeaaaah,” we all cooed back at him.
In between sets, I met Walt–a fan who fears he may be becoming a Casey Neill groupie. After Richmond described what an honor it was to be featured right before Casey Neill and the Norway Rats, and Walt raved that I was “in for quite a treat,” I realized that even though Sassparilla threatened the steal the show with their non-stop, feel-good rhythm, the fans would never be able to replace Neill so easily.
Walt told me what an “extraordinary songwriter” Neill is, and filled me in on all the details of the band while they set up: Jennie Conlee from The Decemberists is the accordion and keyboard player, and the female singer and guitar player is Little Sue, who also has her own band. We all swayed and enjoyed the variety of the band’s music, from slow and contemplative to fast, punk rock songs. Neill’s style has hints of The Decemberists’ sailor sound with a pirate-esque gruffness in some songs, alongside story-telling lyrics similar to Bob Dylan with a soothing sound, evocative at times of Elliott Smith. Yet his music is unique, making it hard to pinpoint exactly where they fall on the genre axis.
Playing their last show until they release their new album in April, the audience begged to be satisfied with an encore song; as an added bonus, Sassparilla’s Richmond joined them on stage. They rewarded us with two more songs, and we left with smiles.
Willamette Week’s 
Colin Meloy, lead singer and wordsmith of hyper-literary band 
A Benefit for Jessica Schleif on April 30th at Astoria’s Liberty Theater is the only concert 
Everyone knows about the annual 
Chamber pop sensation 
To quote a wise man: “
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