Eugene Weekly

Happy 10th Anniversary Grrrlz Rock! Thank you to all the musicians, teachers, volunteers, parents and students who make music education and performance a priority during this month-long music and arts festival for the young girls and women in this town, especially when they may not be seeing much gender diversity on stages the rest of the year. Come celebrate with headliner, the Canadian-born, California-based rocker Lila Rose, who’s touring with new album WE.ANIMALS, 6 pm Friday, Nov. 6, at WOW Hall. Continue reading →

Grab some saddle shoes and head to the upstairs ballroom at the Vet’s Club (1626 Willamette) 7 to 10:30 pm Saturday, Oct. 10, for the three-year anniversary swing dance of Track Town Swing Club. We featured Track Town founder Nick Davis in EW’s September dance issue (“Swing Kid,” 9/10), and he’ll be leading an intro lesson with other Track Town members from 7 to 8 pm. Then show off your Lindy hop moves to the sounds of the 22-piece Blue Skies Big Band; $10 for lesson and dance entry. For more info, visit tracktownswing.com. Continue reading →

New releases: Hot off playing the mainstage at Oregon Country Fair, local blues-rock band Blue Lotus is gearing up for a six-state tour to promote its new album, Across the Canyon, recorded at Ninkasi Studios. The band’s fifth album is “a collaborative experiment that weaves elements of progressive rock, jazz and improvisational rock ‘n’ roll with hints of ’60s psychadelia,” the band says via press release. Catch them before they hit the road for a Grateful Dead set Saturday, Aug. 15, at Blairally Vintage Arcade, 245 Blair Blvd. Continue reading →

Black Forest hosts a free show 10 pm Thursday, July 16, featuring local singer-songwriter Jake McNeillie, who has a country-dusted baritone evocative of David Bowie, with his “dark roots” band. McNeillie and Company is joined by the folk blues of Utah “one-man band” Tom Bennett and Minnesota folk-rock musician Kevin James Pertinen.   Continue reading →

Coming on the tail (feather) end of Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous Carnival, Eugene Arte Latino and Students Helping Street Kids International (SHKSI) host the Carnaval Brasil! 7 pm Saturday, March 14, at Cozmic; $12, kids 12 and under get in free. Costumes are encouraged, so break out your glitter, feathers, sequins and, of course, rhythm: Samba dance lessons start at 9:15 pm. Continue reading →

Whether you celebrate Happy Singles Awareness Day or are sitting on a cloud of paper hearts and cupids with your boo, there’s lots of good music to embrace, or embrace to, Saturday, Feb. 14. Spread the love at the all-ages Valentine’s Day dance and karaoke fundraiser for KindTree Autism Rocks 1 to 3:30 pm at Cozmic. Continue reading →

Purveyors of dark folk, O’Death, were shacking up in Brooklyn and playing frenetic Americana stomp before either made hipsters drool. You may know them from their ethereal 2011 hit “Bugs,” but now you’ll remember them for the band’s haunting and beautiful fourth album, Out of Hands We Go, released in early October. “We wanted to explore a grittier sound but continue on this path of doing melodic music,” lead singer and guitarist Greg Jamie tells EW. Continue reading →

He luvs this shit: New Orleans hip-hop crooner August Alsina is bringing the “Testimony Live” tour to the WOW Hall Aug. 15. The year 2014 has been big for Alsina; in addition to releasing his debut album Testimony in April, he won BET’s Best New Artist award and the Viewer’s Choice Award for the single “I Luv This Shit,” and was placed on the roster for hip-hop magazine XXL’s Top 10 Freshmen list alongside Chance The Rapper and Ty Dolla $ign. Want to schmooze with Alsina? Continue reading →

#winning: Eugene Weekly’s sixth annual Next Big Thing music competition came to a close Friday, Aug. 1, at Cozmic with winners in three categories: funk crew Soul Vibrator took home the prize for Best Band, acoustic fingerstyle guitar virtuouso Will Brown nabbed the top spot in the Single/Duo category and Bailee Jordyn sang her self into first place in the Youth slot. Congratulations! Soul Vibrator went on to tear up the Cornerstone Stage Aug. 2 at the Whiteaker Block Party, drawing the praise of 2013 NBT winners Sol Seed. Continue reading →