(B)east Coast to the West Coast

The Underachievers

The Underachievers

It’s Brooklyn rap at its finest, sprinkled with philosophical musing and psychedelic influence.   Often mentioned with Joey Bada$$ and Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers are at the forefront of new-wave rap from the other side of the country — known as the “Beast Coast” movement. When Issa Gold and AK spoke with EW, they briefly forgot Oregon was in the U.S., but, more importantly, they remembered there is “good weed” in nearby Portland, which is enough for me.  Continue reading 

Witch Glitch

Purity Ring

Purity Ring

On Oct. 4, newcomers to the electronic world domination, Purity Ring, will take over McDonald Theatre.  The Canadian duo, made up of Megan James (vocals) and Corin Roddick (instrumentals), has been on a steady incline since their 2012 record deal (following a separation from former band Born Gold). Continue reading 

Arts Hound

October 2 is will be a doozy in Eugene’s art scene: Walk like a slug: The new SLUG queen, Queen Markalo Parkalo, hosts First Friday ArtWalk Oct. 2. First stop is 5:30 pm at The New Zone Gallery for its annual “Salon du Peuple” show. Then follow the slime to Eugene Weekly’s distribution-turned-art boxes — ArtsHound on Broadway — at Bijou Metro, The Wayward Lamb, Tokyo Tonkatsu and Noisette Pastry Kitchen (read more in “Street Views” this issue).  Continue reading 

Scaggs Shuffle

A master of his unique craft, in whatever way that craft may be defined

Boz Scaggs

It’s likely that the moment little William “Boz” Scaggs met a new friend, Steve Miller, at their highfalutin Dallas boys’ preparatory school, neither knew that a page was turning in American rock history.  Each of them, 15 years old, had messed around with guitars throughout their little-boyhood, and they found they shared an impassioned interest in the blues — a trait rare amongst their demographic that would inform their musical trajectories. Continue reading 

Welcome Back Wakefield

It still feels like coming home

Mare Wakefield and Nomad

The now Nashville-based folk musician Mare Wakefield, along with her husband and musical collaborator Nomad, has had a pretty good year.  “We were finalists in two songwriting competitions at two pretty big high-profile folk festivals,” Wakefield tells EW. But what really excited Wakefield was the opportunity to meet folk-music icon and personal hero Judy Collins at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in New York.  Continue reading 

Nostalgia and Everything After

Counting Crows

Counting Crows

Talking to Adam Duritz on the phone is like watching nostalgia incarnate walk through the door. The idiosyncratic voice of the Counting Crows frontman is still as raspy and boyish as ever, a key to his charm. That voice helped define a post-Nirvana ’90s.  If you are old enough to remember that now seemingly quaint decade, you probably remember Counting Crows and how they blew up the pre-emo alt-rock scene — “Mr. Jones” and “’Round Here” blaring from every radio station in an age when that counted for something.  Continue reading