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Will Kennedy is a freelance writer and a senior music writer with Eugene Weekly. He lives in Eugene with his wife, daughter and two cats. All of whom politely accommodate his obsessions with Doctor Who and The Smiths.
Geographer exists somewhere between the emotive synth pop arias of Depeche Mode and the earnest coffeehouse-meets-arena-rock of fellow Bay Area acts Train and Counting Crows. With echoes of The Killers, Geographer’s latest release, Ghost Modern (out now on Roll Call Records) tries to sound big — U2 big, the kind of watershed record that burns up the charts while soundtracking a generation. Continue reading
“University cities are the best places to play,” says Jay Bentley, bassist for legendary Southern California punk band Bad Religion. “They’re full of students,” he continues, “and students are the best people.” Bad Religion has been busting establishment chops since 1979. The band returns to Eugene in support of 2013’s studio record True North. Bentley says in addition to touring, Bad Religion has started writing a new record. Continue reading
The building has stood empty for about a decade. Over the years, the spot has housed a variety of well-known drinking holes, notably Harvey’s and most recently Rascal’s — in fact, the signage still faintly reads “Rascal’s.” However, the interior has been transformed into the Whit’s newest nightlife destination — Old Nick’s Rock Pub, located at the corner of 2nd and Washington across from the WJ Skatepark + Urban Plaza. Continue reading
Jeff Tweedy was an integral member of Uncle Tupelo and is now the frontman of Wilco — putting him at the forefront of two of the most acclaimed American rock bands of the past 25 years. In 2012, Tweedy produced the Mavis Staples record One True Vine. Tweedy asked his teenaged son Spencer to play drums in the studio, and from these recordings came the father-son project Tweedy. Continue reading
New York rapper Michael Quattlebaum Jr., aka Mykki Blanco, is as much a performance artist as a musician. A published poet and art school dropout, Quattlebaum’s alter ego Blanco is inspired by teenage girls and drag queens — mixing the right-now youth culture of Rihanna, the decadent gutter of the New York art world, queercore and Riot Grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna. Continue reading
“You’re all a bunch of phonies” has long been one of punk rock’s favorite accusations. Providing a fresh and funny take on that old gripe are the firebrands from London, Ontario — Single Mothers. While first-gen punkers railed against flower power, Single Mothers take aim at the hipster, DIY and Etsy-crafter crowd, as well as any scene’s inevitable decline into self-parody. Continue reading
New York musician Marco Benevento recorded his 2014 release Swift about as far away from the big city as possible: Cottage Grove. Renowned producer and musician Richard Swift (The Shins, Foxygen) lives in Cottage Grove. Swift consistently supported Benevento’s shows at local venue the Axe & Fiddle. When Benevento heard Swift’s production work on Foxygen’s We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic (also recorded in Cottage Grove), he knew he wanted to work with him. Continue reading
Mike Doherty, bassist for Portland indie-rock outfit Future Historians, says what initially brought the band together was the songwriting of leader and primary songwriter Dave Shur. “It’s Dave’s project,” Doherty says. “He writes about a lot of small things,” adding that Future Historians started as a “folk-rock thing but morphed into something more eclectic.” Continue reading
It’s a shame Franco-American jazz singer Cyrille Aimée didn’t come through Eugene a little closer to Valentine’s Day, because her romantic brand of adorable and sugary jazz would be a perfect gift for that special someone. Aimée shares a resume on par with Edith Piaf. As a child, she was enchanted with gypsy jazz, going on to perform on the streets of Europe. She was an undiscovered diamond in the rough until appearing on Star Academy, the French equivalent of American Idol. Continue reading
Music has led Kevin Morby from Kansas City to New York and now Los Angeles: center, east and west. However, if Morby’s influenced by any one place over another, it’s New York — particularly the era when the Big Apple’s folk scene began to morph into early punk rock; the city of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Patti Smith and Television. “It’s the most important time in music,” Morby tells EW, “but also just the coolest.” Morby says that the song “Miles, Miles, Miles” from his solo debut, Harlem River, captures the sound of his influences most clearly. Continue reading