Posts from — September 2009

Founding member of Grisman Quintet, Turtle Island String Quartet, & Psychograss returns to the Northwest

Since his first major gig with mandolin master David Grisman in the mid-1970s, through his long tenure as a founding member of the jazz-infused Turtle Island String Quartet and his work with neo-grass ensembles such as Psychograss and Newgrange, Anger has spent a quarter-century in the vanguard of an international movement of string players steeped in traditional musical styles but eager to push into uncharted territory.

His latest project with guitarist and Pacific Northwest native Scott Law celebrates the simple beauty of guitar and fiddle with a series of Oregon and Washington gigs, including performances at Portland’s newest intimate venue – The Woods, Eagles’ Hall in Olympia, Green Frog Acoustic Tavern in Bellingham and a headlining slot at the Issaquah Salmon Days festival outside of Seattle.

Exceptional among modern fiddlers for his versatility and depth, Darol Anger has helped drive the evolution of the contemporary string band through his involvement with numerous pathbreaking ensembles such as his Republic Of Strings, the Turtle Island String Quartet, the David Grisman Quintet, Montreux, the Duo and other ensembles. Today Darol can be heard on NPR’s “Car Talk” theme every week, along with Earl Scruggs, David Grisman and Tony Rice. He has recorded and produced scores of important recordings since 1977, is a MacDowell and UCross Fellow, and has received numerous composers’ residencies and grants. He is a featured soloist on dozens of recordings and motion picture soundtracks.

Visit Scott’s website for the complete list of Anger-Law tour dates coming to the Pacific Northwest and enjoy a free download from Darol & Scott’s last Portland performance in January, 2009!

Darol Anger & Scott Law
Thu, October 1
The Woods
Portland, OR
Time: 8PM / Tix: $12/$15

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArQkBX1MwQY]

Sondre Lerche is one of the hottest young artists on the scene today. Only 27 years old, Sondre now lives in Brooklyn after being born across the pond. Somewhat of a child prodigy, Sondre has put together his best album to date with Heartbeat Radio. We are lucky to have him come to the Doug Fir on Monday!

BIO: Born and raised in Bergen, Norway, Lerche was inspired by the music he heard emanating from his older sibling’s bedrooms – be it A-ha, Elvis Costello or classic rock. Inspired, he picked up the guitar at the age of 8, and as a teenager performed at open mics at the club where his sister worked. Before his 16th birthday, he was signed to Virgin/EMI. “I had to start singing to get all these songs out there,” he says. “No one else was going to!

Lerche’s triumphs and travails of the last few years certainly left a mark; he moved to the U.S. and dealt with various practical matters (including some green card issues), forcing some delays. But he also recorded the soundtrack to the hit movie Dan in Real Life (”The director wanted a musician to work with and he convinced both me and the Disney Corporation that I was the only one who could do it.”) And, most importantly, Lerche left his major label home and struck out on his own.

Heartbeat Radio, his most current offering, is certainly Lerche’s boldest and most challenging record. While it maintains the studio polish of his groundbreaking debut, Faces Down, there’s also a sense of musical adventure that stems from his later work. The songs mix acoustic guitars with grand gestures of orchestral pop, with elements of anything from 50s Jazz, via 60s and 70s Brazillian psych-folk to state-of-the-art 80s pop masters such as Prefab Sprout, Scritti Politti and Fleetwood Mac.

Although Radio presents a variety of moods and sounds, the opening track “Good Luck” may best describe the story behind the record. “That was inspired by parts of my last year or two,” admits the singer, who went through some drama (good and bad) to get to a finished album. “Sometimes it’s really hard getting the songs to the level of excitement you have, and still defining your everyday life. But in the end, considering how unfair this world often appears, it’s really about how goddamn lucky I am to make a living writing and performing my songs!”

URL: http://www.sondrelerche.com

PRESS: NPR / New York Times / StereoGum

MP3/Download: Sondre Lerche – Heartbeat Radio
MP3/Download: Sondre Lerche – I Cannot Let You Go
MP3/Download: Sondre Lerche – Good Luck

Doug Fir
Monday, September 28
SONDRE LERCHE
plus JBM
Time: 9PM /Tix: $13 advance, $15 day of show

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGMAT_-TN7U]

The 2nd Annual Siren Nation Festival has been announced for November 5-8th.

Siren Nation’s mission statement is this: be the only women’s collective in Portland to produce it’s own local festival, highlighting the achievements of women in the arts. Showcasing music, film, performance and visual art, this year’s lineup—just announced today—features some impressive local talent. It looks like this:

“Thursday, November 5th: The festival kicks off with a huge all-women art show at the Olympic Mills Building (107 Se Washington St.). This art opening will feature the DJ talents of DJ Safi. “The Journey” is Siren Nation’s 2nd annual fine arts exhibit. Through a variety of media “The Journey” expresses, both the overall journey of women and the personal journey of over 50 Portland Artists. All Ages. 6-10 pm. Free.

Friday, November 6th: The first of two spectacular nights of music at the Someday Lounge: Grey Anne, Star Anna, Emily Wells and Lovers. 8pm. 21+. $12/15.

Saturday, November 7th: A day of documentaries about Four Female Pioneers in Politics, Performance, Poetry and Partisanship at the Hollywood Theater Noon – 5:30 p.m. $5.

Saturday, November 7th: The Someday Lounge: The I’s, Y La Bamba, Tender Forever, Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside. 8pm. 21+. $12/15.

Sunday, November 8th: The festival wraps up with a huge art and craft sale featuring 40 women artists and free workshops for women and girls at the McMenamins Kennedy School. 11 am – 4 pm. All ages. Free.”

Festival passes will cost $25, available at sirennation.com from October 1st. These will be good for all events, while tickets for individual shows will also be available on the door.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fro7Ck3W-bI]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ9OQqY81-I]

PDX’s finest, the Portland Cello Project, will finally hit the road for a national tour this fall. Finally, the rest of the country can see this amazing band/project. Tell your friends around the USA!

Portland Cello Project – 2009 Fall Tour Dates

• October 15 Santa Barbara, California- SOhO Restaurant and Music Club
• October 16 Los Angeles, California- The Echoplex
• October 17 Santa Cruz, California- The Crepe Place
• October 22 Seattle, Washington- Chop Suey
• October 23 Vancouver BC- The Biltmore Cabaret
• October 24 Spokane, Washington- Empyrean Coffee House
• October 27 Minneapolis, Minnesota-Cedar Cultural Centre
• October 28 Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Turner Hall
• October 29 Urbana, Illinois- Canopy Club
• October 30 Chicago, Illinois- Empty Bottle
• October 31 Detroit, Michigan – Majestic Cafe
• November 1 Toronto , Ontario, Canada- El Mocambo
• November 2 Montreal, QC, Canada-Il Matore
• November 3 Cambridge, Massachusetts-Middle East Downstairs
• November 4 New York, New York- Bowery Ballroom
• November 5 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – First Unitarian Church
• November 6 Washington DC- Black Cat
• November 7 Richmond , Virginia – The Canal Club
• November 9 Atlanta, Georgia- The Earl
• November 11 Houston, Texas- Warehouse Live
• November 12 Austin , Texas- The Mohawk
• November 13 Fort Worth, Texas – Lola’s
• November 14 Lubbock, Texas- Jake’s
• November 17 Phoenix, Arizona- Rhythm Room
• November 18 Tucson, Arizona- Plush
• November 19 San Diego, California- Casbah
• November 20 Pomona, California- The Glass House

URL: http://portlandcelloproject.com/

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8wksl0MAm8]

A great night was had my all downtown last Friday night @ MusicfestNW! We hit up 4 venues (Ash St, Berbati’s, Someday Lounge & Dante’s) and saw some great local & national talent including Mike Dean Damron & David Lipkind (duo) > Say Hi > Shaky Hands > Long Winters > Two Cow Garage & more! It was great to see Portland out in full force & it felt like the fall concert season was officially kicked off. Cheers to MFNW for a great line-up & festival this year. More reports from the new venue in Sellwood (The Woods) to come…

Say Hi To Your Mom
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaVDnx9zkss]

Mike D & Loyal Bastards
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcXI-MTgy0o]

Shaky Hands
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZU0eVsjXac]

Long Winters
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQCcSeEZ_R0]

Two Cow Garage
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmjs02jzXew]

Michael Dean Damron has been fine tuning his band, Thee Loyal Bastards, the last few years since I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House broke up. Here in the Basement, we desperately miss the good ole days of ICanLick, but it’s nice to see MikeD resurface with this cast of all-star PDX players including Allen Hunter on the bass guitar. Mike’s most recent album, Bad Day Ahead is his best yet & he continues to develop as a song-writer. See you tonight @ Ash Street to kick off the MusicfestNW weekend!

BIO: With songs that tip their hats at his heroes (Steve Earle, Alejandro Escovedo, Townes Van Zant and Waylon Jennings, for example), Bad Days Ahead is an avalanche of brash truths and dark stories set to his own Americana landscape.

The truth can be a downright ugly and thankless business, but one that Michael Dean Damron takes great pride in conducting. As the frontman for I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House, he spent the first half of this decade cutting his teeth on the finer points of delivering sermon-like epithets and exposing his own personal demons that has resulted not only in an impressive body of work but the art of truth telling, for better or worse. After 4 albums (three studio and one live), half of one in the can and a plethora of tours, Mike up and pulled the plug on Sonofabitch.

Somewhere in between, however, he provided us with a glimpse of what to expect after the dust settled. In 2005 he released a solo album, Perfect Day For A Funeral that gave some indication that he may have needed some breathing room. Now his restlessness is to come to a boil with Bad Days Ahead, his first post-SOB release with his new backing band, Thee Loyal Bastards.

Thee Loyal Bastards include Allen Hunter (Eels) on bass, Sam Henry (The Wipers) on drums and Morgan Geer on guitar, as well as Kelly Gately (Fireballs of Freedom) on guitar and Kristen Holovnia on cello.

In a market so over-saturated with singer/songwriters pressing to pimp their wares with watered-down musings, where mediocrity is often congratulated with heavily moved units and radio play, and whose climate doesn’t take too kindly to those who stand up barrel-chested in defiance to such, Damron has his work cut out for him. With songs that tip their hats at his heroes (Steve Earle, Alejandro Escovedo, Townes Van Zant and Waylon Jennings, for example), Bad Days Ahead is an avalanche of brash truths and dark stories set to his own Americana landscape. Like many of his songs prior, he has a penchant for targeting his subject with sniper scope eyes. The target most commonly aimed at on Bad Days is Damron himself. “I’ll show you, baby, how bad I can hurt myself”, he snarls on I Swear To God, a bruising number about his divorce. It seems Damron has picked enough bones to open his own graveyard and Bad Days Ahead is a well honed viewing of the bodies he has buried.

URL: http://www.mikedamron.com/

PRESS: NPR / Ink19 / Wweek

MP3/Download: Michael Dean Damron – Andy Gibb
MP3/Download: Michael Dean Damron – Father’s Day
MP3/Download: Michael Dean Damron – By the Time I Get to Heaven

Ash Street Saloon
225 SW Ash St (MapQuest) 503-226-0430
Wristband or $6.00 at the door.
In Music We Trust Present

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vwuKD9uGjA]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E66p1NXOpvc]