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I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when the collaboration between perpetually cool David Byrne and doe-eyed avant-pop upstart St. Vincent was hatched. If you aren’t familiar with Byrne, let me first waggle a disapproving finger at you, and then list his resume: “Once in a Lifetime,” Stop Making Sense, “Burning Down the House” and “Psycho Killer” to only skim the surface. Continue reading
The last time EW checked in with the rollicking indie-grass rockers The Harmed Brothers was in the summer of 2010; hot off Cottage Grove’s Jug-R-Not festival, the band was about to kick-off a cross-country tour. Ray Vietti (guitar, vocals) and Alex Salcido (banjo, vocals, harmonica, piano) are still the faces of the band, but a lot has changed in the past three years. Continue reading
Legacies can be a blessing or a curse. How often do you see children wilt under the pressure of trying to be just like their parents? Can you imagine the number of times Holly Williams has been compared to her father and grandfather, Hank Jr. and Hank Sr., throughout her life? But Williams has risen to the challenge over the last decade and established herself as a notable singer-songwriter on her own merits. Continue reading
It’s easy to overlook some of the hidden — and often less expensive — gems amid the many choral and orchestral treasures the Oregon Bach Festival offers each summer. Continue reading
Matt Bishop, the lead singer of Hey Marseilles, likes to keep things free-flowing. Nowhere is this more evident than in the content found on the band’s latest release, Lines We Trace, which expands on the folk and orchestral elements found on their debut album, To Travels & Trunks, and incorporates heavy doses of dreamy pop-rock aesthetics a la Death Cab for Cutie. Continue reading
Way to go, Eugene-area musicians. EW’s Next Big Thing racked up 113 submissions by 75 artists and bands. On to phase two: On an undisclosed day this week in an undisclosed location, NBT judges will gather to pick which 16 acts will move on to the semi-finals at the Lane County Fair July 26-28. Look for smoke signals and announcements in our July 11 issue. Continue reading
Imagine what a band called Diarrhea Planet sounds like. If you’re guessing juvenile pop-punk — an auditory equivalent of a Seth Rogen movie — you’re pretty spot-on. The Nashville, Tenn.-based group’s 2013 release Loose Jewels (out now on fellow Nashville garage-rockers JEFF The Brotherhood’s label Infinity Cat Recordings) is 10 blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em nuggets of Ramones-esque punk; each track on the record clocks in at 2 minutes or under, with shouted choruses and breakneck guitar solos delivered at breathless speed. Continue reading
Whether you revere the red, white and blue, or just love a day off to drink a beer and eat a hot dog (real or tofu) — July 4 is a time to celebrate independence. And this year Eugene-based troublemakers PORK Magazine are putting the indie back in Independence Day with an all-day lineup of rock ‘n’ roll bands in The Whit. Continue reading
Neko Case with The Head and The Heart is at Cuthbert Amphitheater Sept. 19, and Rufus Wainwright is at The Shedd on Oct. 25. Continue reading
Franco-American Madeleine Peyroux’s background is worthy of Edith Piaf: Raised in the arts by bohemian parents, Peyroux spent time in Southern California, Brooklyn and Paris. She toured Europe at the tender age of 15; inspired by street musicians in Paris’ Latin Quarter, Peyroux passed a hat through the crowd for spare change. Continue reading