Eugene Weekly

Ryan Lella of Portland’s A Happy Death loves vintage garage rock like The Beau Brummels, The Sonics and The 13th Floor Elevators. The songwriter is also into stuff by Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall — contemporary artists leading the Bay Area’s recent garage and psychedelic rock revival: a movement that seems to be catching on up in Portland as well. “Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees kick ass!” says Lella, who sings and plays guitar in A Happy Death. “They totally reinforce how stoked we are to play the kind of music we do.”  Continue reading →

If I wrote a book about a dark and moody country-rock musician, I might name the main character Lydia Loveless. The real Loveless assures me it’s her real name while calling from her tour bus somewhere in the Midwest. Loveless’ 2014 release Somewhere Else (out now on Bloodshot Records) is full of dark and moody country-rock, positioning the young songwriter as alt-country’s next big thing — the heir-apparent to Lucinda Williams, a young and feisty Steve Earle with a broken heart or Tammy Wynette fronting The Replacements.  Continue reading →

“I get asked that all the time,” says Jelly Bread vocalist and guitarist Dave Berry about the band’s sound, adding that “moonshine funk and soul” is the usual fallback. “We cover a lot of ground,” Berry says. Continue reading →

Sorry, bro: tickets for the Tool show at Matt Knight Arena disappeared in, like, 10 seconds. But if you’re a Tool fan you probably already know this.  Continue reading →

Australian electronic musician Anna Lunoe grew up discovering music the old-fashioned way: digging through crates of vinyl records at her local record store. “I was trying to find stuff my brothers didn’t know so I could one-up them,” Lunoe jokes on her website.  Continue reading →

Songwriter Ari Shine met his wife, Adrienne Pierce, in L.A.; the two immediately connected over shared interests like Canadian folk-rock band The Grapes of Wrath. Shine says the two worked in the music business together for years as an “undercover duo.” “We co-wrote Adrienne’s records,” he explains. “We were doing a lot of music together [for soundtracks] but we weren’t a band.” Eventually Shine and Pierce struck out on their own, forming The Royal Oui. Continue reading →

Legendary British songwriter Nick Lowe has said of folk-pop musician Eleni Mandell: “She stole my band and my sound, but I’d still have her ’round for tea.” That quote is proudly displayed on Mandell’s website. Well, they say good artists copy and great artists steal.  Continue reading →

Getting to know Australian snotty-rockers Dune Rats via their online presence, you get a pretty clear picture of what to expect: The band’s Facebook page lists “max chillin” as an interest, describes the band’s sound as “dunecore stoner pop” and the members as “three hyperactive stoner cunts.” Digging into the music, you’ll find this all pretty apt. Continue reading →

Eccentric Nashville musician R. Stevie Moore has been writing music for more than 45 years, releasing 400-plus albums in media as varied as CD-R, cassette and digital download. And it’s all been done in essential obscurity. It makes one wonder: What keeps R. Stevie Moore going? “Music is good,” Moore answers via email. “I don’t understand the question.”  Continue reading →