Friday, July 27, 2012

More weekend music options

So yesterday I provided some options on outdoor music for the weekend ... consider this the indoor edition ...

Friday
My favorite singer-songwriter from Tupelo, Mississippi, Paul Thorn and band will be at the Mission Theater ... Paul is touring to support his latest CD, What the Hell is Goin' On - a collection of tunes by other songwriters that he's always loved - he and the band pull it off so it is not only fun, but his interpretations and arrangements add depth and Paul's particular sensibility to the tunes ... 8 pm, $20



 Hard to believe the Secret Society Ballroom has been open for four years, but tonight is a free anniversary show with drink and food specials to boot. Catch Pete Krebs and his Portland Playboys, the Tezeta Band, and DJ Cookie Parker to help celebrate one of my favorite venues in town ... it all gets going at 5 pm ...

Thad Beckman will perform at Sip d'Vine in Multnomah Village ... 7 pm, $??

The Blue Monk has two excellent local jazz acts, The Quadraphonnes and Trio Subtonic ... 9 pm, $10

Put on your dancin' shoes and head to Duff's for the D.K. Stewart sextet with the Soul Survivor Horns ... 9 pm, $??

At Mississippi Pizza tonight it's Sarah Gwen Peters & Scott Weddle, with James Low doing an opening set ... 9 pm, $??

Saturday
Miz Kitty and The Midnight Serenaders will be at the Secret Society ... 9 pm

3 Leg Torso will be at Tony Starlight's ... 8 pm

... and the Devin Phillips Quartet will be at Wilfs ... 8 pm









Thursday, July 26, 2012

Winding down July ...midsummer music outdoors

The last weekend of July is already upon us ... summer keeps a moving, but there's lots of great outdoor music in the mix of our warm weather activities ... so with the weather beautiful, here's some good picks for the next few days ...

In the summer I do have a bias towards music outdoors - particularly the range of FREE outdoor music, so consider Wallace Park tonight for the Nancy King Band (6:30 pm), or the Ecotrust Building for The Builders and the Butchers and Kelli Schaefer (5:30 pm) ... or the Oregon Convention Center Plaza for Pepe & the Bottle Blondes (5 pm).

On Friday night, check out Kevin Selfe and the Tornadoes at Fernhill Park (6:30 pm).

Saturday brings a couple of street fairs - the Division/Clinton Fair and the Overlook Village Fair - both with live music all day. On Sauvie Island you can catch the Scott Law Band at Howell Territorial Park (5 pm), and at Glenhaven Park catch Pete Krebs & His Portland Playboys (6:30 pm).

For a lazy Sunday afternoon, you can catch music on the patio at the Doug Fir with Jake Ray & Ian Miller (3 pm), or at Mississippi Studios with Michael Jodell and James Low (3 pm).

And on Monday, Rich Layton & the Troublemakers will rock the final summer concert at Sellwood Riverfront Park (6:30 pm).  A number of the shows I mentioned are Portland Parks Summer concerts - you can find more free summer music in the parks (and their locations) here. And for other parks in the area, check my previous Summer Music post.

And, today kicks off the 25th Annual Oregon Brewers Festival, with free live music every day ...

BTW, at Edgefield tonight it's Emmylou Harris and Steve Martin (sold out, but you might find a ticket - 6:30 pm). Wish I was going, but going to have to pass ...

... and at Kruger's Farm Market on Sauvie Island it's Lisa & Her Kin (6:30 pm, $10 per car)

Next post will toss in a few picks if you want to be indoors on our delightful summer evenings ...

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Support your local filmmakers....

My friend, Beth Harrington is working on finishing her film about the Carter family, but in the meantime, you can catch her great film about the women in rockabilly at Mississippi Studios:



Monday 8/6/12
CINEBITCH FILM NIGHT
Welcome To The Club: The Women of Rockabilly

Tonight's film continues a film series with Bitch Media, who helm our favorite feminist magazine that now houses its offices in Portland. They continue the event that was such a success in their former homebase of Oakland with showing riveting and fun films that showcase a bevy of female talents. We couldn't think of anything better for our favorite Cinebitch. In the eye-opening film WELCOME TO THE CLUB - THE WOMEN OF ROCKABILLY, we meet four of the most influential rockabilly women - Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Janis Martin, and Lorrie Collins. Uniquely American artists, yet loved by enclaves of dedicated fans the world over, Wanda, Brenda, Janis and Lorrie were the queens of rockabilly - rock and roll's country cousin that had its short but influential heyday in the mid-1950s. For a few brief moments, they burst onto a predominantly male scene with an unprecedented musical message of female power and assertiveness. They not only bucked the staid notion of what was appropriate to sing as a country star, but also rejected the models of post-war femininity that were being marketed in the wider culture - models of suburban wedded bliss and a return to "traditional" motherhood. The women of rockabilly were anything but demure, defying the social order of the times and creating an unprecedented musical message of female power and assertiveness.
6:30 Doors, 7:00 Show
$5-$10 Sliding Scale DOS
Mostly Seated

And on Sunday, Aug. 5, on the patio at Mississippi Studios, starting at 3 PM, Matt Sheehy of Lost Lander will be playing acoustically.
Friday night, Ottmar Liebert at Alberta Rose, Aug. 4 Dan Reed at the Star, Aug. 9 at the Star will be Peter Murphy of Bauhaus
...and I may be off to Basque country to work on a video for Helio Sequence, but first, Monday in Sellwood Roverfront, Rich Layton.....hopefully he will do the song that my friend Duane Jarvis wrote with Ms. Lucinda....

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Two park shows for tonight - free music for a summer evening!

If you're on the west side (Beaverton vicinity), you might want to check out the Thad Beckman Band in Greenway Park ... music begins at 6 pm

Downtown? Excellent show at Ecotrust with Holcomb Waller and Sarah Jackson-Holman ... music begins at 5:30 pm

... and at the zoo, though not free, will be a rockin' show with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals ... music starts at 7 pm. 

It's summer ... get out to some live OUTDOOR music!

The OMN guide to the (new improved) Cathedral Park Jazz Festvial « Oregon Music News

Weather looks glorious for the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival this weekend  ... check out info about the festival here:
http://oregonmusicnews.com/2012/07/18/the-omn-guide-to-the-new-improved-cathedral-park-jazz-festvial/

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Shows for Thursday and Friday

So, what's up as we head into the weekend?  Here's a few to consider ...

Thursday
In residence this week at Al's Den in the Crystal Hotel is Ryan Sollee (from The Builders and the Butchers) with guests each evening (thru Saturday night) ... 7 pm, no cover

You can catch Laura Gibson at Ecotrust (721 SW 9th) as part of their free summer music series ... 5:30 pm

Steve Kerin takes your requests on the pipe organ at the Chapel Pub ... 8 pm, no cover

Vocalist Laura Ivancie is at Corkscrew, an intimate wine bar in Westmoreland (1669 SE Bybee) ... 8 pm, no cover

... and the always funny and engaging Steve Poltz is at Mississippi Studios tonight ... Rachel Taylor Brown opens ... 9 pm, $15 ... though this blog's co-contributer might have a free ticket if she hasn't given it away yet.

Friday
The Secret Society has Pete Krebs and His Portland Playboys at 6 pm (no cover), followed by Buoy LaRue headlining a three band show at 9 pm that is a fundraiser to support the Jeremy Wilson Foundation's 50/50 Music Scholarship Program. The JWF 50/50 Campaign’s goal is to bring together 50 sponsors in order to grant 50 full-scholarships to 50 deserving low income kids through the Blue Room Music Lessons Program Make an online donation to help create Blue Room Music Scholarships now at:  www.blueroommusiclessons.com ... come out and support a great effort for music education.

Lots of free music in Portland parks started up this week ... on Friday you can dance to Cuban sounds of Dina Y Bamba Su Pilon D'Azucar ... this is currently the premier Latin band playing weekly in town ... check them out at Ferhill Park (NE 37th & Ainsworth) ... 6:30 pm, free

One of my favorite performers, Lyle Lovett, pulls into the Schnitz with his acoustic group ... it will be one fine evening of tunes  ... 8 pm, $55-65



And remember ... this Saturday is the Mississippi Ave Street Fair ... lots of music going all day on five stages!

Free ticket..

Have free ticket to see Steve Poltz at Mississippi Studio tonight, Thursday at 9 PM.  Contact me at 503-516-6090 if interested.   Short notice, I just found out myself...
Woody Guthrie 100 birthday tribute (they do know he's dead, right?) at Trinity Episcopal Church, 147 NW 19th, Saturday, 7 PM...some great performers:  Holcombe Waller, Wendy and the Lost Boys, Rachel Taylor Brown (who is also opening for Poltz tonight.)

Friday, July 6, 2012

PDX Bridge Festival Block Party Saturday and happy hr reminder for today

If you're not at the blues festival on Saturday ... you might want to check this out:  PDX Bridge Festival Block Party.

Tonight is also first Friday ... so there's always some great happy hour shows - James Low Western Front at the Laurelthirst, Swing Papillon at the Secret Society, and Wendy & the Lost Boys at the Hawthorne Theater Pub .... 6 pm ... and no cover at any of them (but feed the tip jar!)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival recommendations

Ah ... July 4th ... sunshine, blue sky, and Portland gets the blues. Every year the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is the biggest fundraiser for the Oregon Food Bank and a ton of fun in Waterfront Park. And because the 4th has fallen midweek, this year's festival is five days long .... So what have I spotted this year that you should try not to miss?

If you like to catch the fireworks today and can hang with being in the crowd all day, there's some local stalwarts that are featured, with a couple of solid blues veterans and new national acts sprinkled in ... so if you arrive early, catch the four bands in the Journey to Memphis finals that kick things off at noon at the Oregonian Front Porch Stage. One of my fave acts, Tony Furtado, hits the north stage at 2:15, followed by the "second line" parade led by the Mysti Krewe of Nimbus and a host of brass and percussion players (this is gonna be fun!) and then the all-star tribute to the late Etta James.  The festival is giving a few locals the chance to put together "big" bands - today it's Kevin Selfe and Ellen Whyte with expanded lineups. If harmonica blowing is your thing, there's plenty today ... catch the great Charlie Musselwhite at 4:45 ... and then Bill Rhoades' Harmonica Blow-off on the Front Porch (from 6:15 until 10 pm) ... The evening finishes before the fireworks with Curtis Salgado.

BTW, both the Oregonian and Oregon Music News have a ton of fine articles about the festival and acts that are playing that you should check out.

As I look through the next four days, the acts that stand out for me are:

On Thursday, it's New Orleans' Stooges Brass Band, the Jesse Lege/Joel Savoy Cajun Jam (at the same time as the Stooges ... hmmm... choices), Reggie Houston's Crescent City Connection, Booker T, and Toots & the Maytals.

Friday, it's the Otis Taylor Band (Taylor is doing four sets in various settings through the weekend - catch this guy, he's a unique player and personality), the Mannish Boys, Pimps of Joytime, and the start of great lineup of Cajun and Zydeco music at the Front Porch Stage ... Corey Ledet, the Too Loose Cajun Band, Cedrric Watson & Bijou Creole ... and lots more to come on Saturday.

Saturday, it's Louisiana music fans and dancers' heaven with a full day of Zydeco Swamp Rock at the Front Porch - always one of the most fun places to be at the festival. The Otis Taylor Banjo Project with the outstanding New Orleans banjo player, Don Vappie, and Portland's Tony Furdado, perform on the north stage at 2:15 - and, yes, you'll love the banjo after hearing these three play together .... Lloyd Jones is another local great augmenting his sound with a bigger band - catch the fun at 4:30 on the north stage, followed by vocalist Betty LaVette on the south stage ... And later, New Orleans' Galactic will tear it up on the south stage to finish the day.

On Sunday, if you still didn't get enough Zydeco, you can kick the day off at 12:45 with Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, one of the best Zydeco acts in the world ... or check out some Jersey Soul with Kenny Lavitz and Judy Tint.  Either way, a great start to the final day of the festival. Sunday wouldn't be complete without Linda Hornbuckle's Old Time Gospel Show at 3. I'd also recommend checking out Roy Rogers & the Delta Rhythm Kings, James Hunter, and an evening of swing and dance at the Front Porch that begins at 4:15 with Devin Phillips.

There's also some killer all-star after-hours shows at the Marriott every night except Sunday, afternoon and evening blues cruises on the river, and just a general good vibe all through the festival. Wander about, check out the food and vendors, buy some music at the Music Millennium booth, festival clothing, pottery from the Oregon Potters Association, or a poster from Gary Houston .... and check out all of the cool stuff at the DME Louisiana Pavilion near the Front Porch stage .... it's all for a great cause - feeding people - that the Oregon Food Bank does so well .... for a few cans of food and a $10 donation each day, you can't beat this ... so ...

See ya at the festival!