Eugene Weekly

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 →

Giraffage, the moniker of beatmaker Charlie Yin, just wrapped up a tour with one of the most popular names in electronic music: Porter Robinson. On his current tour, however, he is the headliner. In a recent story on indie music blog Pigeons and Planes (run by Complex Magazine), Yin was named one of the “14 Rising Bay Area Artists You Should Know.”  Continue reading →

The Garden is not really a band, but more like genre-rejecting performance art by bass-and-drums duo — the 21-year-old twins Wyatt and Fletcher Shears. Continue reading →

There was a time when Eugeneans had to venture up I-5 if we wanted to catch the top touring classical and jazz pianists at, say, Portland Jazz Festival, Portland Piano International and other events. No more. While PJF, which starts next week, is indeed featuring one of today’s most inventive jazz masters, pianist Vijay Iyer, he will also bring his DownBeat-award-winning trio with drummer Marcus Gilmore and bassist Stephan Crump to The Shedd 7:30 pm Thursday, Feb. 19. Continue reading →

“We sound like Brit Pop with Americana trappings,” says Chris Masterson of Austin-based husband-and-wife duo The Mastersons, who are touring in support of their latest LP, Good Luck Charm.  But just because he plays in an Americana band, Masterson doesn’t feel like he has a grasp on what Americana means. “Johnny Cash? Coca Cola?” he posits, continuing, “One of the beautiful things about it is how open it is. What we do is just as informed by Ray Davies as it is Ray Price.”  Continue reading →

The Bearer of Bad News, the latest release of Canadian songwriter Andy Shauf, is now out on Portland taste-making record label Tender Loving Empire. Working with a Portland label is appropriate for a songwriter who lists legendary Portland songwriter Elliott Smith as an influence.  “I’m a huge Elliott Smith fan,” Shauf tells EW.  The sway of Smith can be heard on “You’re Out Wasting,” a song bearing more than a passing resemblance to Smith’s classic “Needle In The Hay.”  Continue reading →