Eugene Weekly

Long before Mad Men there was How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, the 1961 musical that satirized American corporate culture via humor rather than pathos. Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows’ Pulitzer- and Tony-winning spoof chronicles the classic rags-to-riches story of a window washer who rises to the executive suite, providing plentiful opportunity for skewering the toadying, manipulative, deceptive behavior demanded by the system of ambitious greasy pole-climbers.  Continue reading →

California’s Dr. Know are no strangers to change. The early years of these godfathers of “nardcore” were filled with fights, going through no less than eight vocalists and some inarguably excellent punk rock. Their 1983 compilations We Got Power, Party Or Go Home and It Came From Slimy Valley are championed as classics, but also showcase a band riddled by constant change.  Continue reading →

Hailing from Chico, California, Cold Blue Mountain combines the simple, riff-driven approach of moderately paced doom, the frenetic energy of hardcore and the melodic elements of ’90s alternative rock to craft a highly accessible, unique brand of metal all its own.  Continue reading →

Kevin Seconds, founding member of veteran punk-rock band 7 Seconds, says punk needs young people.  “I always did say punk and hardcore is driven by the youth,” Seconds tells EW. “Whether or not I agree with what they’re doing with it ­— a lot of times I don’t — it’s in their hands.”  He adds, “A lot of us who’ve been at it a long time need to swallow our pride and say: ‘Fuck it.’”  Continue reading →

Born Jo-Vaughn Scott to parents from the Caribbean, Joey Bada$$ cofounded hip-hop collective Pro Era in 2010. He was just 15 years old.   “It started as a progressive movement,” the Brooklyn-born emcee tells EW. “Yeah, we was all into hip hop. But it just started with a group of friends with a bunch of similar interests: positivity for the youth, being anti-corruption. The simple shit, man.”   Continue reading →

Purists may shudder, but musical miscegenation has always been the rule.  “Enjoy hybrid music, because that’s all there is,” Oregon-born composer Lou Harrison often said. Regarded as the godfather of what became the world music movement, Harrison typically expressed this sentiment before demonstrating how just about every form of music emerges from encounters with the sounds of other cultures and times.  Continue reading →

Had Yelawolf never elevated his game beyond the flush of his furious 2010 mixtape Trunk Muzik, which contained at least one bona-fide masterpiece in “Pop the Trunk,” he’d yet remain a significant footnote in the history of modern hip hop — an Alabama-born rapper of manic intensity and talent who gnawed his initials into the rusty proud husk of Southern culture on the skids of the 21st century. Continue reading →

It’s a troubling contradiction that today’s music business — ostensibly an industry of songs — could make a quality songwriter like Ron Sexsmith feel antiquated and out of place.  “I feel like a guy who’s making antique tables and chairs,” the Canadian musician tells EW. “I’ve always felt out of place or unfashionable ever since my first record came out.” Continue reading →

Mischief Brew still makes music for the same reasons they did in high school. According to lead singer Erik Petersen, his guitar and the road are as addictive as a bad habit. “You’re angry; you need a release,” says Petersen, who also jams on guitar and mandolin for the folk-punk band. “We’re older now. We have jobs, houses, some of us have kids. But it never gets old, and it keeps coming back to you.”  Continue reading →