Music
Hip Hop, Pop, Punk, Salsa, Blues oh my!
Music in Missoula this Weekend
All sorts of great musical happenings are going on this weekend. Here are a few that have piqued my interest...
Friday
Best Friends Forever, Good Neighbor Policy, The Apples of Dischord and Sleepeater @ The Badlander. Best Friends Forever are an all girl poppy rock band from Minneapolis. I had the pleasure of seeing these girls a couple years ago and I’ve been waiting for this return show for a long time. With songs about how much they love Abraham Lincoln and Orlando Bloom they will definitely have you laughing all night. Click here for Best Friends Forever’s Myspace page, here for Good Neighbor Policy’s page.
Zeppo @ The Union Club. Zeppo has been around for a couple years now and they just keep on getting better. Missoula has a shortage of good bluesy rock bands and these guys deliver on a regular basis. Chuck, the frontman for the band, has been playing shows since when you were still in diapers.
More after the jump...
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the gourds to headline
River City Roots Festival IIThe River City Roots Festival will be back for its second year, taking place September 15th and 16th, and this time it's looking to be much improved. Last year's one-day event brought in around 5,000 people to the city-wide event. This year the festival is two days and has something for everyone. For the art lovers there will be a juried art show in some of the downtown galleries. The more extreme festival goers can enjoy the inland surf invitational on Brennan's Wave or the skateboard demo at the Missoula Skate Park. All of that goes on before the music on Main Street with Corn Mash, Russ Nassett & The Revalators, Big Daddy the Blue Notes, Big Sky Mudflaps, The Mammals and Missoula's favorite band the Gourds all performing on Saturday the 15th. Sunday's music lineup will be The Shuffle Bums, Tom Catmull & The Clerics, Broken Valley Roadshow and Hot Buttered Rum. So mark your calendars cause this will be an event that you won't want to miss.
Colin Hickey is New West’s Events Editor. Keep an eye out for his “MVP Events” or check here to find your own: www.MissoulaEvents.net.
Harry Connick Jr. at the Idaho Center
Boise’s Wild About Harry
When Harry Connick Jr. sang his signature tune “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” last night at the Idaho Center, there was near-quiet from the crowd of almost 11,000. After some raucous jazz which had us ready to dance in the aisles, Connick’s tribute to his nearly-lost hometown seemed to inspire an empathetic mood.
But right back at us, he was off again to more crack big-band, honky-tonk, soul, Tin Pan Alley styling and New Orleans jazz, backed by his brilliant band -- three trumpets, three trombones, three saxophones, a drummer/percussionist, and a bassist. By turns, he and a few band members switched instruments in the middle of songs, with Connick having a go with drums, two different pianos, an organ, and bass.
I had my binoculars right on him when, mid-song, he handed the bass back to the real bassist, who said, “Man, you suck at that,” and Connick replied, “I know!”
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Roll on Kentucky Moon.
The Oblio Joes’ Final Show
I don’t remember the first Oblio Joes show I ever saw. I do know that I’ve probably seen them more than any other band on the planet (except for Volumen). I’ve cried watching the Oblio Joes. I’ve laughed so hard that I’ve cried watching the Oblio Joes. The Obes have been around for 14 years and they are calling it quits this Thursday at Caras Park. John Brownell, the main song writer for the Oblio Joes said he would give the band 14 years and if they hadn’t made it by then the band would throw in the towel.
I don’t know why the Oblio Joes aren’t as big as bands like Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Pavement and others like them. Maybe it’s because they live in Missoula and the big shots in the industry don’t knock on our doors that often.
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Country in the Country
Murder In The Mountains Tour Brings Honky Tonk to Montana
I’m not ashamed to say that I enjoy country music. But, my idea of country music and today’s standard of what country music is are probably two different things. I like Carl Perkins, Hank Williams Sr., Waylon Jennings ... you know, “real” country music. I’m not a big fan of what country music has turned into over the last couple decades. Recently I discovered Hank Williams III and fell in love on the spot. I like a country song that tells a good story about drinking, pickup trucks, shotguns, cheating girlfriends ... you know, “real” life.
So, fans like me of “real” country music are in for a treat because the Murder In The Mountains Music Tour is coming through Montana and it is full of “real” country bands.
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local music sound off
Listen: Martha Scanlan’s “The West Was Burning”
Martha Scanlan "is possessed of a voice of stirring but almost brittle calm and songs that plow and cultivate emotions in a sort of musical harvest," writes Walter Tunis.
She released her first solo album in February titled The West Was Burning, produced by and featuring Dirk Powell along with Levon Helm, Amy Helm and Glenn Patscha from the band Ollabelle.
Martha's playing a few shows this summer in Montana. Listen in for a preview.
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It's getting hot in here
Hot Hot Heat In SLCIf you live in Salt Lake City and you don’t have anything to do tonight I suggest going down to In The Venue to check out Hot Hot Heat. Hot Hot Heat is probably the best thing to come out of Canada since sliced bread. OK maybe the Canadians didn’t invent sliced bread but that’s just how good this band is. Uber poppy danceable rawk music with soul is one way to describe them. Lead singer Steve Bays’ infectious voice and keyboards will have you dancing all night, I can promise you that. If you have some extra scratch on you I suggest picking up a CD. My favorite is Make Up The Breakdown but all of them are worth the price.
Hot Hot Heat, Pride Tiger and The Oohlas @ In The Venue 6pm
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Stumbling the Walk
Raw Power in the Fun House
I think one of the expectations bequeathed on every parent is that, when posed the question, “What is your fondest memory?”, you are supposed to wax poetic on the beatific moment you first laid eyes on your newborn child. Of course I remember the first time I saw my son, all red-faced and wrinkly, but there was no golden halo around him and I did not hear harps, trumpets or the soft whooshing of angel wings. Mainly Sid grimaced distastefully up at me as I scowled down at him, and I read in his expression the same thought that was going through my head: “So this is what I have to work with?” I’m pretty sure he farted too. [more]
A Book About Both Kinds of Music: Country AND Western
Bret Bertholf’s “The Long Gone Lonesome History of Country Music”
I’ve only been a mother for under a year, but already I think I know a thing or two about children’s books: Any that you buy, you’re going to be reading repeatedly, so the words and drawings have to be as amusing to the parent as they are to the kid. Bret Bertholf, a Denver-based musician, artist, and children’s book author, seems to know this. Hilarious, informative, and quirky, Bertholf’s The Long Gone Lonesome History of Country Music was so enjoyable I felt like reading it aloud even after my baby was asleep.
Bertholf is an accomplished artist—his drawings are so detailed and imaginative that it’s possible to discover something new each time you look at them—and he knows a thing or two about country music. For several years, his alter ego has served as the yodeling front man for Denver country outfit Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams.
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Music Friday
August Spies Fit Pop-Punk Mold
It’s always interesting to note where punk has landed in music these days. It insinuates itself into so many areas, particularly pop. Now, that may seem odd to some. But the dirty little secret is that punk is and always has been quite pop. Take another listen to the Sex Pistols and you’ll see what I mean. August Spies fall into this pop-punk category perfectly. With a naturally youthful sound they pop as hard as they rock. Sort of an angry Jimmy Eats World.
But they’re leaving town for a while. Oh, don’t worry, they’ll be back. They are just heading out on a summer tour. But you can catch them before they leave and wish them luck on Friday, May 11, at Burt’s Tiki Lounge and on Friday, June 1, at the Cell Theater. After that you’ll have to wait until the western leg of their tour is concluded. Click here to listen to Pedaling Backwards
