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Jenny Lewis cruised into town on a rainbow Tuesday night, and she left a pot of gold. For a weeknight performance on the same night that Shakey Graves performed at McDonald Theatre, the WOW Hall was packed. Alt-country songstress Nikki Lane opened. Afterward, the stage was transformed into Lewis’ playground with the Monty Python-esque rainbow imagery from her 2014 album The Voyager. Continue reading
It’s fitting for a band obsessed with Anne Frank to be reclusive. After a 12-year vanishing act, Neutral Milk Hotel is touring again. The group has entered a gilded age, and rightly so. Continue reading
Austin singer-songwriter Alejandro Rose-Garcia, better known as Shakey Graves, wants to scratch all of your respective itches. Drawing from myriad sounds that prove difficult to solidly place a finger on, he dwells in a dusty sonic landscape somewhere between Two Gallants and M. Ward. However, Graves has never needed the aid of a Zooey Deschanel to lure out or take the blame for his pop sensibility. Continue reading
The May 26 show at WOW Hall is a bit of a rare bird as far as Eugene goes: The lineup features two badass acts, both women. Over the phone, I mention to singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis how unusual this is, to have a show here with nary a beard gracing the stage. “I’ve always tried to be fair with picking openers,” Lewis says. “It’s just cool to have all females on the bill.” Continue reading
The meteoric rise of Glass Animals was unexpected, especially for frontman Dave Bayley. In fact, the success of the indie-electro rock band feels much like a dream. Bayley produced many of the band’s early original recordings in his bedroom in Oxford, England. He tells EW that he never expected anyone to hear his music, adding that he was at first “too shy” to sing over his instrumentation. Continue reading
The Eagles are one of the most commercially successful bands in U.S. history, penning such classic rock staples as “Hotel California” and “Take It Easy.” But these days, The Eagles are equally well known for drawing The Dude’s ire in the Coen Brothers’ cult classic, The Big Lebowski. The Eagles are equal parts rock band and running punch line, symbolizing for many all that was bland and watered down about ’70s-era pop rock. And just why are The Eagles so divisive? Continue reading
Some of the most vibrant young voices in jazz and show music belong to women, and three of the most intriguing rising vocalists are coming to town in the next couple weeks. Continue reading
To the casual observer it might appear that, in 2015, every metal band in the known world is a doom metal band. To be fair, fans of the genre might share a similar impression. Doom is undergoing something of a revival, finally becoming as huge now as the Black Sabbaths and Saint Vituses (Vitae?) that spawned it. Enter Austin axemen Destroyer of Light. Though obviously not out to reinvent the wheel, these Texas metalheads damn well make it their own. Continue reading
Fresh-faced musician and visual artist Elspeth Summers plays psychedelic folk, modern Americana and country music. Her voice is feisty and youthful while also conveying a road-hard-and-put-away-wet wisdom and weariness. “A lot of my music has Old West-inspired themes and visuals,” the Reno, Nevada-based artist tells EW. “I am a country girl at heart and love the desert.” Continue reading
