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Originally out of Austin, Texas, the now The Dalles-based musician Ben Ballinger says if he had to pick another artist’s song to introduce himself it would be Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” The song’s words and melancholy tone, alongside a fierce determination, resonate with him, he says. Continue reading
Don’t hate Alexander Cardinale because he has it dialed in. The songwriter, who also sometimes goes by Xander, is coming off a tour with Melissa Etheridge. Cardinale says the exposure afforded him by touring with an established artist like Etheridge was intoxicating. “It’s a performers dream to get to take over a huge stage and have use of full expression,” Cardinale tells EW. “Literally, your expressions get bigger; your performance in general gets bigger; thus your energy is higher, you’re jumping around; the audience is on their feet. I love that.” Continue reading
Comedian Brian Regan is beloved for the same reasons Jerry Seinfeld became a household name: He does observational comedy without relying on profanity to edge-up his act. But don’t confuse “clean” jokes with boring — fellow funnyman and f-bomb launcher Marc Maron has said Regan is the favorite comedian of other comedians. Need a refresher or an introduction? Regan’s appearance on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Seinfeld’s latest show, is a good start (watch at wkly.ws/1vj). See Regan’s act 7:30 pm Thursday, Jan. Continue reading
Cheryl Strayed’s Wild is a story in which many of us can find a hook that reaches out and sinks into our skin, whether it’s the delicately imploding marriage, the rage, the grief, the attempts to find a way out of oneself, the knowledge that you’ve lost your way or the satisfaction that comes from letting go. Continue reading
In 1929, surrealist painter René Magritte scrawled under his painting of a pipe, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”), in his famously enigmatic painting The Treachery of Images. Continue reading
San Diego punk band Drug Control evokes the glory days of So Cal bands like Black Flag and Circle Jerks. “We take influences from older East and West coast bands and blend them into our style,” says vocalist Danny Lyerla. And Drug Control’s 2014 debut demo is quintessential American hardcore: short, pummeling, unrelentingly aggressive and athletically angry. With song titles like “Enough is Enough,” “Fried” and “About To Snap,” the record seeps with the revolutionary nihilism hardcore music is known for. Continue reading
You know how your head always starts bobbing and your toes start tapping whenever you hear that certain song? Maybe it’s a Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry tune. Whatever it is, it makes you want to move. Daddy Rabbit falls into this category. Songwriter Robert Jacobs also writes catchy, poppy love songs with local band Long Tall and Ugly and folky roots music for Crooked River, but Daddy Rabbit gets him to the source of his love for music. Continue reading
Editor's note: EW was informed by Bijou Art Cinemas after the paper went to press Tuesday that The Interview will start screening at Bijou Art Cinemas (492 E. 13th Ave.) 10:30 pm Thursday, Dec. 25. City Lights Cinemas in Florence has informed EW that they will begin screening The Interview noon Thursday, Dec. 25. Continue reading
Who — or, rather, what — is the Babadook? And why is it that, once you let the Babadook in, you can never get rid of it? First and foremost, The Babadook is an Australian horror film by writer-director Jennifer Kent, a former actor who apprenticed with Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier during the making of his 2003 film Dogville before going on to make her own short film, Monster, upon which The Babadook is based. Continue reading
Gypsy acts are known for their rowdiness; their raw, cigarette-smoky, patched-clothing, dented-brass impurities. Above all, gypsy acts are known for their stage presence. Seattle-born folker Jason Webley is no different. Continue reading