WOW Hall Notes - February 2010

8
On Friday, February 26, KRVM welcomes the Asylum Street Spankers as they debut their new CD God’s Favorite Band and take it on the road with the Salvation and Sin Tour! The Asylum Street Spankers defy expectations again with their latest release, God’s Favorite Band. Following their award winning 2007 kids album Mommy Says No! and the two disk live cast recording of their 2008 Off-Broadway show What? And Give Up Show Biz?, Austin’s postmodern jug band take a wide left turn with the world’s first agnostic gospel album. Mixing raucous old traditionals with wryly humanistic originals from co-bandleader Wammo and closing with a stunning take on the Gershwin’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” the album is a homage to one of America’s seminal musical styles, but it stakes out a theology of healthy skepticism leavened with tolerance. To those who know the Spankers primarily through their many odes to alcohol and weed, or their antiwar politics, or their hilariously bawdy hits, this batch of spiritual songs, passionately played, might seem surprising, but from their earliest days, the group played a regular Sunday Gospel show and in their 15-year career have often sprinkled rollicking traditional gospel into their sets. Leading the charge into the realm of agnostic gospel, Christina Marrs, co-bandleader, multi-instrumentalist and astonishingly combustible vocalist can now add album producer to her list of credits. As a singer who loves to sing gospel songs, Christina whipped the band and its arrangements into miraculous shape. As a producer, she wanted to show off a seldom acknowledged but crucial side of the group: it’s incredible vocal technique. Not only have she and Wammo recorded their best lead vocals to date here, all five vocalists shine in rhythmically intricate and harmonically varied group arrangements. While on maternity leave with her third child, Christina culled over 20 hours of carefully recorded live takes - no overdubs! - then mixed them down in her home studio. The result is a witty, warm collection of wonderful songs, joyously sung. In other words, it’s another great Asylum Street Spankers album. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Tickets for special $25 reserved seats are available at WOW Hall only. Doors open at 7:30 and showtime is 8:00. by Tessa Pierce The unmistakable voice, the gift of a true performer, the experience to move her audience – this is Maria Muldaur and KRVM is proud to be bringing her to the WOW Hall in a very special benefit concert and live radio broadcast on Sunday, February 28! Now in its 62nd year, KRVM 91.9 FM is Eugene’s original variety in music radio station. This is KRVM’s 6th annual live broadcast from the historic WOW Hall and promises to be another fun night filled with live music, community and support for KRVM. Maria has been touring in support of her new jug band album, Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy. Special guests on the album include John Sebastian, David Grisman, Taj Mahal, Dan Hicks, and formerly of Eugene’s Inkwell Rhythm Makers – Kit Stovepipe – who Maria says, “plays absolutely amazing ragtime guitar!” Kit is featured in Maria’s touring “Garden of Joy Jug Band” along with Devin Champlin and Lucas Hicks from the Crow Quill Night Owls on multiple acoustic instruments – mandolins, fiddles, banjos, jugs, tubs, kazoos, harmonicas – you name it! And laying down that solid jug band groove will be Kurt Jensen on the bass and washtub. Maria Muldaur’s musical roots run deep. Born and raised in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Muldaur was surrounded by bluegrass, old-timey, jazz, blues and gospel music, but her very first musical influences were from the records of country and western singers. As pop radio became less soulful, Maria spent many years exploring the wealth of American roots music that was being rediscovered right in her own backyard. In 1973, Maria was given the opportunity to make her first solo album. It went platinum in two years and forever enshrined Maria in the minds of baby boomers the world over with the megahit “Midnight at the Oasis”, which remains to this day a staple song on multi-format radio. In the 1980s, Maria recorded two critically acclaimed jazz albums, two gospel albums and one album of swing tunes for “kids of all ages.” In 1992, Maria’s dream came true when she recorded an award-winning New Orleans blues album with special guests Dr. John, Aaron and Charles Neville, and Zachary Richard. Maria recorded four subsequent blues albums featuring more brilliant friends- in-the-blues. Maria’s 2008 release showcased the work of some of the most socially conscious songwriters of the past half- century: Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Allen Toussaint, Earl King and Garth Brooks, to name a few. A prestigious ensemble of well-known progressive voices, collectively dubbed The Women’s Voices for Peace Choir, joined Maria on the album, including Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, Odetta, Phoebe Snow and Holly Near. Last spring, Maria decided to get back to her jug band roots and is currently touring in support of her new album, Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy. The Conjugal Visitors will be the supporting band for our show. We’re not referring to them as the “opener” because they’re actually playing during the break in the middle of the show, rather than opening the show. Maria is graciously making herself available for a “meet and greet” in the WOW Hall lobby during the mid-show break. Fans will be able to purchase her new CD and have Maria sign it! KRVM merchandise will be available for purchase, and volunteers will be on-hand to take new and renewing memberships, and to provide information about KRVM and its specialty programs. This is must-see show for fans of acoustic music! You and your family won’t want to miss this great party. Proceeds from this fundraising event will benefit KRVM-FM, our student broadcasting program, and help us to Keep Real Variety in Music alive in Eugene! Tickets are $18 advance, $20 door, and $25 for VIP reserved seating. Doors open at 6:00 pm, show at 7:00. FEBRUARY 2010 VOL. 22 #2 WWW.WOWHALL.ORG Community Center for the Performing Arts 291 West 8th Eugene, OR. 97401 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Eugene, OR 97401 Permit No. 303 Asylum Street Spankers: God’s Favorite Band KRVM Presents Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy Jug Band INSIDE THIS ISSUE EVERCLEAR P.2 VAGABOND OPERA & JASON WEBLEY P.3 THE ALBUM LEAF P.4 EYEDEA & ABILITIES P.5 SWOLLEN MEMBERS P.5 TEA LEAF GREEN P.6 JAMES MCMURTRY P.7

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The Community Center for the Performing Arts monthly newsletter.

Transcript of WOW Hall Notes - February 2010

On Friday, February 26, KRVM welcomes the Asylum Street Spankers as they debut their new CD God’s Favorite Band and take it on the road with the Salvation and Sin Tour!

The Asylum Street Spankers defy expectations again with their latest release, God’s Favorite Band. Following their award winning 2007 kids album Mommy Says No! and the two disk live cast recording of their 2008 Off-Broadway show What? And Give Up Show Biz?, Austin’s postmodern jug band take a wide left turn with the world’s fi rst agnostic gospel album.

Mixing raucous old traditionals with wryly humanistic originals from co-bandleader Wammo and closing with a stunning take on the Gershwin’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” the album is a homage to one of America’s seminal musical styles, but it stakes out a theology of healthy skepticism leavened with tolerance. To those who know the Spankers primarily through their many odes to alcohol and weed, or their antiwar politics, or their hilariously bawdy hits, this batch of spiritual songs, passionately played, might seem surprising, but from their earliest days, the group played a regular Sunday Gospel show and in their 15-year career have often sprinkled rollicking traditional gospel into their sets.

Leading the charge into the realm of agnostic gospel, Christina Marrs, co-bandleader, multi-instrumentalist and astonishingly combustible vocalist can now add album producer to her list of credits. As a singer who loves to sing gospel songs, Christina whipped the band and its arrangements into miraculous shape. As a producer, she wanted to show off a seldom acknowledged but crucial side of the group: it’s incredible vocal technique. Not only have she and Wammo recorded their best lead vocals to date here, all fi ve vocalists shine in rhythmically intricate and harmonically varied group arrangements.

While on maternity leave with her third child, Christina culled over 20 hours of carefully recorded live takes - no overdubs! - then mixed them down in her home studio. The result is a witty, warm collection of wonderful songs, joyously

sung. In other words, it’s another great Asylum Street Spankers album.

Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Tickets for special $25 reserved seats are available at WOW Hall only. Doors open at 7:30 and showtime is 8:00. ★

by Tessa PierceThe unmistakable voice,

the gift of a true performer, the experience to move her audience – this is Maria

Muldaur and KRVM is proud to be bringing her to the WOW Hall in a very special benefi t concert and live radio broadcast on Sunday, February 28!

Now in its 62nd year, KRVM 91.9 FM is Eugene’s original variety in music radio station. This is KRVM’s 6th

annual live broadcast from the historic WOW Hall and

promises to be another fun night fi lled with live music, community and support for

KRVM. Maria has been touring

in support of her new jug band album,

Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy. Special guests on the album include

John Sebastian, David Grisman, Taj

Mahal, Dan Hicks,

and formerly of Eugene’s Inkwell Rhythm Makers – Kit Stovepipe – who Maria says, “plays absolutely amazing ragtime guitar!”

Kit is featured in Maria’s touring “Garden of Joy Jug Band” along with Devin Champlin and Lucas Hicks from the Crow Quill Night Owls on multiple acoustic instruments – mandolins, fi ddles, banjos, jugs, tubs, kazoos, harmonicas – you name it! And laying down that solid jug band groove will be Kurt Jensen on the bass and washtub.

Maria Muldaur’s musical roots run deep. Born and raised in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Muldaur was surrounded by bluegrass, old-timey, jazz, blues and gospel music, but her very fi rst musical infl uences were from the records of country and western singers. As pop radio became less soulful, Maria spent many years exploring the wealth of American roots music that was being rediscovered right in her own backyard.

In 1973, Maria was given the opportunity to make her fi rst solo album. It went platinum in two years and forever enshrined

Maria in the minds of baby boomers the world over with the megahit “Midnight at the Oasis”, which remains to this day a staple song on multi-format radio.

In the 1980s, Maria recorded two critically acclaimed jazz albums, two gospel albums and one album of swing tunes for “kids of all ages.” In 1992, Maria’s dream came true when she recorded an award-winning New Orleans blues album with special guests Dr. John, Aaron and Charles Neville, and Zachary Richard. Maria recorded four subsequent blues albums featuring more brilliant friends-in-the-blues.

Maria’s 2008 release showcased the work of some of the most socially conscious songwriters of the past half-century: Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Allen Toussaint, Earl King and Garth Brooks, to name a few. A prestigious ensemble of well-known progressive voices, collectively dubbed The Women’s Voices for Peace Choir, joined Maria on the album, including Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, Odetta, Phoebe Snow and

Holly Near.Last spring, Maria decided to

get back to her jug band roots and is currently touring in support of her new album, Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy.

The Conjugal Visitors will be the supporting band for our show. We’re not referring to them as the “opener” because they’re actually playing during the break in the middle of the show, rather than opening the show.

Maria is graciously making herself available for a “meet and greet” in the WOW Hall lobby during the mid-show break. Fans will be able to purchase her new CD and have Maria sign it! KRVM merchandise will be available for purchase, and volunteers will be on-hand to take new and renewing memberships, and to provide information about KRVM and its specialty programs.

This is must-see show for fans of acoustic music! You and your family won’t want to miss this great party. Proceeds from this fundraising event will benefi t KRVM-FM, our student broadcasting program, and help us to Keep Real Variety in Music alive in Eugene!

Tickets are $18 advance, $20 door, and $25 for VIP reserved seating. Doors open at 6:00 pm, show at 7:00. ★

FEBRUARY 2010VOL. 22 #2 ★ WWW.WOWHALL.ORG

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Asylum Street Spankers:God’s Favorite Band

KRVM Presents Maria Muldaur& Her Garden of Joy Jug Band

INSIDE THIS ISSUEEVERCLEAR P.2

VAGABOND OPERA & JASON WEBLEY P.3THE ALBUM LEAF P.4

EYEDEA & ABILITIES P.5SWOLLEN MEMBERS P.5

TEA LEAF GREEN P.6JAMES MCMURTRY P.7

On Wednesday, February 17, KNRQ, KZEL and KFLY proudly welcome back Everclear along with Six Lifter 7.

Led by guitarist/vocalist Art Alexakis, Everclear, whose only other appearance at the WOW Hall was in February of 1995, is well known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. The band formed in Portland in 1992 and, for most of its existence, consisted of Alexakis, bassist Craig Montoya and drummer Greg Eklund. With the exception of Art Alexakis, Everclear’s personnel overturned in 2003 and again in 2009. So please welcome the third lineup of Everclear.

Art Alexakis played in rock bands in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the late 1980s before relocating to Portland, Oregon. There, he placed an ad in local music weekly The Rocket which got two responses: bass player Craig Montoya and drummer Scott Cuthbert. The new band, dubbed Everclear, began recording in a friend’s basement. The sessions culminated in two

releases: the Nervous & Weird EP and the band’s fi rst full-length World of Noise; both were released by Portland’s Tim/Kerr Records in 1993.

In 1994 Everclear was signed to Capitol Records by Gary Gersh, who was responsible for signing Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Counting Crows to DGC Records. Just before their signing, Everclear brought in former Jollymon drummer Greg Eklund. In May 1995, the band released their fi rst album for the label, Sparkle and Fade. Its fi rst single, “Heroin Girl”, received some modest airplay, but it was the second single “Santa Monica” that found a strong audience. Sparkle was followed in 1997 by So Much For The Afterglow, whose third single, “Father of Mine”, catapulted the album to mainstream success. It went double-platinum, got a Grammy nomination and won Billboard’s Modern Rock Band of the Year Award.

Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile, released in July 2000, yielded the band’s most

successful single, “Wonderful”, and eventually reached platinum status. Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 2: Good Time for a Bad Attitude was released just four months after Vol. 1 in November 2000. Their sixth album, Slow Motion Daydream, was released in 2003. Following the support tour, Montoya and Eklund decided to pursue other interests. The following summer, Everclear ended its relationship with Capitol Records.

After a solo tour in the fall of 2003, Alexakis decided to continue with Everclear, organizing a new band that made its debut in March 2004. The new lineup released its fi rst recording, a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”, that summer. Alexakis, an Oregon delegate, performed the song with an acoustic guitar during a CNN interview at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

In 2006 Everclear released Welcome to the Drama Club. The Vegas Years, a collection of cover songs, was released in 2008 by Capitol Records. That year the band traveled around Iraq in support of the troops and the USO. They stopped at Camps Liberty, Shield and Slayer, FOB Echo and many other FOBs around the country. In March 2009, Art went on a solo acoustic tour as a benefi t for the charity Musicians on Call.

On October 6, 2009 Everclear released In a Different Light, a collection of re-recordings of old Everclear songs in a more acoustic fashion. The new band will be recording the next album for an August 2010 release.

Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 day of show. Doors open at 7:00 pm and showtime is 7:30. Listen to KNRQ, KZEL and KFLY for more details. ★

WOW HALL NOTESThe Community Center for the Performing Arts is located in the Historic Woodmen of the World Hall (W.O.W. Hall), 291 W 8th, Eugene, Or 97401, (541)687-2746, [email protected], www.wowhall.org, Box office hours Mon-Fri, 12-6 PM. Printed monthly by Western Oregon Webpress, Circulation 4,400, General Support made possible by a grant from Lane Arts Council with support from City of Eugene Cultural Services Division, Copyright 2009 All rights reserved Notes Staff: Copy Editor & Advertising Representative - Bob Fennessy, Layout & Design - James Bateman CCPA Staff: Program Coordinator - Calyn Kelly, Membership Coordinator & Publicist - Bob Fennessy, Publicity Assistant & Office Manager - Lexy Clark, Stage Manager - Cameron Clark, Stage Assistant - Mike Blampied, Bookkeeper - Carole Goerger, Volunteer Coordinator & House Manager - Kayte McDonald, House Manager - Hannah Finley Concessions Managers - Angela Lees, Jessica Syverson Volunteer Coordinator Assistant - Travis Weaver, IT Asst - Sam Harmon Volunteer Staff: Lauren Taich, Dan Wathen Art Gallery Director - Robert Adams CCPA Board of Directors: Chair - Mike Tugwell, Vice Chair - Paul Perez, Secretary - Michelle Smith, Treasurer - Michael Zarkesh, Members - Sean Cannon, Mayo Finch, Sherry Franzen, Colin Quisenberry

Everclear Revival

2 FEBRUARY 2010 WOW HALL NOTES FIND US ONLINE: WWW.WOWHALL.ORG

Sponsored by Fri - LeRoy Bell & His Only Friends

Sat - Ty Curtis Band

KKLCC MICROBREW FESTIVAL February 12 & 13

5-11 p.m. Lane Events Center 796 West 13th, Eugene

$12 ADMISSION Includes souvenir glass! 21 & OVER

MEGA MUSIC SALE! Used Records & CDs!

A benefit for KLCC

On Thursday, February 25, Mike Thrasher Presents welcomes G. Love & Special Sauce along with special guests Redeye Empire.

On their second release for Brushfi re Records, the Philly boys offer up Lemonade, a series of soul drenched tracks pouring out their blues infused hip-hop, which people have been trying to label for years. The best advice - don’t try to tame it or claim it; its simply their sonic trademark, instantly recognizable and addictively delicious.

“The whole thing about lemonade for me was, when I fi rst set out from Philly to make it in the music world I went up to Boston, and I would just sit on the front porch of my place after playing the streets or practicing and make myself a big pitcher of lemonade,” recalls G. Love. “It just symbolized old time porch loungin’ for that’s where I did a lot of my shedding and writing. It was so simple and great, I said, if I ever get a record deal I’m going to get Lemonade tattooed on my arm.”

It’s there all right, and seven albums, thirteen years, and over a million worldwide units later, Lemonade is the most cohesive and rewarding album Garrett Dutton - a.k.a. G. Love (guitar, vocals, harmonica, sweat and tears) has ever delivered. Produced and engineered in the womb of Philadelphonic Studios by

Chris DiBeneditto (Electric Mile & Philadelphonic) and faithfully anchored by the Sauce, Jimi “Jazz” Prescott (acoustic bass), and Jeffrey “Thunderhouse” Clemens (drums, percussion), G. pairs up with some of the best players in the game including Ben Harper, Donovan Frankenreiter, Jasper, Dave Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Blackalicious, Marc Broussard, Tristan Prettyman and Jack Johnson on a fourteen song celebration of his iconic career.

“I’m in a real comfortable place musically and in my life; I’m cruisin right now and it feels good,“ says G. “So when I set out to make this record, I wanted to take my sound, base it on the groove and really get into a deeper pocket. Lyrically, I wanted to talk about what I always talk about — fi nding love, making love, losing love, life and lemonade.”

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, available at WOW Hall and TicketsWest. Doors open at 7:30 pm and showtime is 8:30. ★

G. Love& Special Sauce

On Friday, February 19, KRVM welcomes two of the WOW Hall’s most popular attractions — Vagabond Opera and Jason Webley — performing both alone and together, plus special guest belly dancer Elena Villa.

Vagabond Opera, based in Portland, is kicking off their 2010 West Coast Tour at the WOW Hall and bringing Jason Webley as special guest and co-headliner. Jason will open with a solo set, followed by VO, then all the musicians will hit the stage together and no one knows what will happen. But it will happen here and one time only!

If the word opera immediately brings ‘elitist’, ‘stuffy’ or ‘boring’ to mind, it’s time to expose your senses to the neo-cabaret phenomenon that is Vagabond Opera! Kicking off their 2010 North American West Coast tour at the WOW Hall and fi nishing up at the Livermore Performing Arts Center February 27, this insanely talented sextet takes classical opera and pumps it full of raw energy, enormous stage presence and undeniably addictive melodies.

Incorporating trained operatic tenor and soprano vocals, accordion, tenor saxophone, two cellos, musical saw, standup bass, drums and lyrics in fourteen languages, a Vagabond Opera show delivers fl awless musicianship and theatrics

reminiscent of vaudeville’s glamour and drama but with a contemporary edge.

The May 2009 release of The Zeitgeist Beckons marks the third full-length release from the band to date. Having performed across the USA and in Europe, Vagabond Opera have shared stages and players with Pink Martini, Devotchka, The Decemberists and the Oregon Symphony, proving their easy crossover appeal.

Notes the Seattle Times, “This sextet has fi ne voices, unbelievable musical chops and a huge and humorous stage presence. They know how to dress, how to make an entrance and how to craft an instantly hummable tune.”

Vagabond Opera is at the vanguard of a growing popularity in the neo-cabaret phenomenon, and they have been featured on NPR, in the Washington Post and Jazziz Magazine. The group was created in 2002 by European-trained opera singer

and composer Eric Stern. Then disillusioned with the classical opera world, Stern created a new context for opera: Performance on a more intimate scale incorporating not only opera but elements of Weimar Cabaret, Arabic and Balkan forms, and the original music that springs from the ensemble’s fertile creative work.

Punk accordionist and world troubadour Jason Webley is described by the Seattle Times as “one of Seattle’s most talented musicians, a singer-songwriter with a rare gift for crafting timeless songs that approaches Waits and Leonard Cohen territory.” His relentless touring schedule has built him a cult following all over North America, Europe and Australia, as well as a bizarrely large and loyal following in Russia. Known for bellowing out apocalyptic dirges in a sandpaper baritone to the accompaniment of his squeezebox and the stomping of his feet, Webley’s true specialty is involving his audience in his music. Webley frequently tours with his friends the Dresden Dolls and has shared stages with Architecture in Helsinki, the Avett Brothers and Regina Spektor. His fi fth full-length album, The Cost of Living, was released on his own independent Eleven Records label.

Voted the WOW Hall’s Favorite Male Performer of 2007, Jason has performed here many times as a soloist and in collaboration with artists including Sxip Shirey and the Reverend Peyton. Jason’s most recent WOW Hall show was last summer’s Monsters of Accordions, which also featured Eric Stern of VO, but this time Jason and Eric will play together and have the whole band behind them.

Tickets are $13 advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 8:00 pm and showtime is 9:00. ★

Vagabond Opera & Jason Webley

FIND US ONLINE: WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WOWHALLNOW WOW HALL NOTES FEBRUARY 2010 3

Vagabond Opera

Jason Webley

4 FEBRUARY 2010 WOW HALL NOTES FIND US ONLINE: WWW.MYSPACE.COM/WOWHALLEUGENE

On Saturday, February 13, the CCPA and University of Oregon Campus Radio 88.1 FM KWVA proudly welcome back YOB along with special guests The Rye Wolves.

Founded in Eugene in 1996 by guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt, YOB returns in support of their fi fth album, The Great Cessation (released on Profound Lore Records). The Great Cessation was named one of 2009’s best albums by The New York Times, The Village Voice, Stereogum and Popmatters.

“Oregon’s YOB have carved out a niche of ‘cosmic doom,’ which is a descriptor, not a subgenre,” says Pitchfork. “Few bands do what YOB do — marry Black Sabbath’s heavy and psychedelic sides.”

The Times notes that YOB, “makes long songs earn their length.” They better. The fi ve songs on The Great Cessation clock in at over 60 minutes. The songs, “are played slowly, with meticulous care,” the Times states, “the trick of this music is that the composed details, the subtle craft and narrative texture of it, come at you not through quietude but enveloping, mind-stud volume.”

YOB’s fi rst three-song, self-titled demo was submitted to Stonerrock.com in 1999, sending shockwaves into the doom metal scene worldwide. In 2001 YOB recorded its fi rst full-length for 12th Records in Spokane, titled Elaborations Of Carbon. This offering received dozens of rave reviews from magazines and fans worldwide.

2002 saw YOB secure a recording contract with Lunasound/Abstract Sounds. Their fi rst CD for this label, Catharsis, featuring three songs running fi fty minutes, hit the streets in 2003. That release was followed by the infamous doom metal albums The Illusion of Motion and The Unreal Never Lived.

YOB’s classic lineup of Mike Scheidt, Isamu Sato (bass) and Travis Foster (drums) lasted almost ten years before the inevitable breakup. 2006 saw Scheidt opening for Isis at the WOW Hall with a new band named Age. That short-lived project was followed by another, Middian, which lasted about two years and released an album, 2007’s Age Eternal, that sparked a lawsuit from a different band named Midian.

“Dragging the friendly, well-meaning West Coasters into a prolonged legal battle that cost Scheidt loads of money, a record deal, the band name, a damn fi ne album (which is now out of print as a result of the lawsuit) and, in the end, his band,” reports Popmatters.

Now Mike has resurrected YOB with drummer Travis Foster and new bassist Aaron Rieseberg. The band headed back to Dogwood Studios (where many of the previous albums were recorded) to track out their latest material and then fi nished up with mixing/mastering at Gung Ho Studio, both in Eugene.

“Hail the return of the mighty YOB, Eugene OR’s heaviest, most monolithic thing since forever,” notes Decibel, calling them, “one of the most forward-thinking and idiosyncratic bands in all of doom-dom.”

Eugene’s Rye Wolves just fi nished recording their second full length record — which sees Rye Wolves expanding on epic songs that urgently transport the listener to a private realm where they may encounter everything from slow sprawling doom to blackened riffs that charge the listener with a trance inducing journey through all that is nothing short of universe expanding psychedelic genre defying metal of the purest form.

The band is hopefully going to try to make this show a formal vinyl release show, but are waiting on their label, Aurora Borealis out of London, to help make that happen.

Tickets are $7 in advance, $8 at the door. Doors open at 8:00 pm and showtime is 8:30. ★

The Return of YOB

On Tuesday, February 9, U. of O. Campus Radio 88.1 FM KWVA welcomes The Album Leaf with special guests Sea Wolf.

The new Album Leaf album, A Chorus of Storytellers, marks the decade milestone for the group led by Jimmy LaValle. In those 10 years, LaValle went from initial improvised home recordings to fi ve complete studio albums, from opening slots to leading an incredible world-touring band to the stage at Red Rocks, headlining the Metamorphose Festival in Japan and performing at the Hollywood Bowl with the Incredible String Band.

LaValle’s well-earned reputation as a crafter of impeccable sonic imagery even led to a critically-acclaimed show at the Seattle International Film Festival where The Album Leaf performed a live score for the 1927 silent fi lm Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.

That the completion of A Chorus of Storytellers coincides with the 10th birthday of the fi rst Album Leaf album, over three years on from the release of the last album (the late-2006 release Into the Blue Again), can be chalked up to two unrelated, but important, events: LaValle’s wedding, and his conquering a bad case of writer’s block.

“I took about a year off after everything was said and done with Into the Blue Again,” LaValle admits. “It was the longest period I’ve been inactive since I was 15 or 16 years old.”

The fi nished album refl ects its diffi cult journey to creation. For instance, when LaValle had trouble meeting his mixing deadline in San Diego, he narrowed his focus to vocals. As a result, especially on tracks like “There Is a Wind” and “Falling From the Sun”, the vocals on A Chorus of Storytellers are more prominent than on any other Album Leaf record to date.

But A Chorus of Storytellers does something even bolder. LaValle’s distinctive, dreamy, cinematic soundscapes are often jarred out of reverie, particularly on “We Are”. This late addition to the track list, with its skidding beat moving under LaValle’s

bounding Moog line and insistent vocals is the closest thing to a pop song The Album Leaf has ever produced.

LaValle also made the decision to bring his entire touring band in to record live, a fi rst for The Album Leaf. Recording as a band, with multi-instrumentalist Matthew Resovich, guitarist Drew Andrews, drummer Timothy Reece, bassist Luis Hermosillo, an Icelandic horn section and a few symphony players, allowed LaValle to act more like a conductor.

LaValle called the album A Chorus of Storytellers because the title perfectly captures his new approach to The Album Leaf. Recording with the full band created a feeling of unity and shared purpose, as well as an expanded sonic breadth that he wanted to express in the title.

“I wanted to name it according to what happened with the whole process,” he explains. “It took two-and-a-half, close to three years to make. There were so many different things that went into it and there’s a lot of storytelling behind it.”

Taking its name from novelist Jack London’s 1904 seafaring adventure, Sea Wolf has evolved organically from its hermetic origins in Alex Brown Church’s living room into a muscular, full-bodied musical entity with passion to burn. After adopting the sobriquet, Church burst onto the music scene in two-fi sted fashion with the EP, Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low,

and the subsequent full-length debut album, Leaves in the River, about which Interview magazine observed, “His music is both erudite and unvarnished, a blend of swirling melodies, literary balladry and damaged art-rock composition.”

And now, Church’s singular vision has led to the creation of the eloquent and expansive new album White Water, White Bloom, which not only fulfi lls the immense promise of the initial musical diptych but conjures up its own cosmology.

“Lyrically,” says Church, “I like to incorporate what one would construe as classic imagery, and even infuse the songs with elements of mythology, but also delve into more contemporary themes. I’m interested in the way words look and feel, not just when you hear them but also when you read them.”

White Water, White Bloom was recorded at the Omaha studio of Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, M. Ward, Monsters of Folk), with Church handling vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, as well as some of the air organ and pump organ sounds that were such a big part of the sonic signature of the earlier records. Joining him were the three core members of the six-piece Sea Wolf touring lineup: keyboardist Lisa Fendelander, bassist Ted Liscinski and drummer Joey Ficken.

Tickets are $12 in advance, $14 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 pm and showtime is 8:00. ★

The Album Leaf Story

For the month of February, the CCPA Lobby Art Gallery will feature The Surreal Art of Phable.

Phable has lived in Eugene for six years now and Eugene has taken very good care of him, fully nourishing him on every level of his being.

Phable has been training and making art his whole life. He studies the concepts of Heaven, Earth, and The Hereafter by searching the various Sacred scriptures to get inspiration to fashion his works.

He believes there is a language of human need which all people speak: that everyone needs healing / Food / Shelter / Water / Love / Education / Organization / Clothing / and Transportation, and when everyone has these things the suffering of life will be almost fully diminished. Thus, it is Phable’s mission to provide all these things for himself and

then for the rest of all sentient life (whichever world they may be from) and this art is symbolic of the process.

Keeping in the tradition of the masters like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, he integrates Sacred Geometry beneath his works to grant beautiful symmetrical proportions which relate to The Human Archetypical Blueprints and The Genetic Code. These proportions are also found in and throughout all of nature, forming the basis for all of creation as well.

Phable prays that his works will help bring peace and understanding to the world and the hereafter.

NAMASTE INLAKESH HARIBOL AS-SALAM SHALOM

An Artist’s Reception will be held on Friday, February 5, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. The Lobby Art Gallery is open for viewing during offi ce hours, noon to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday. ★

In The Gallery

FIND US ONLINE: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM KEYWORD: WOWHALL WOW HALL NOTES FEBRUARY 2010 5

On Sunday, February 14, Square Peg Concerts welcomes P.O.S. with special guests Grieves plus Budo + Dessa.

P.O.S. returns with Never Better — his follow-up to 2006’s critically acclaimed Audition. P.O.S. produced more than half the beats on Never Better, which bears his unmistakable signature. The album enters the room like a bombshell with a black eye — badass, noisy and impossible to ignore.

Most of P.O.S.’ recent album was written in a moving car. On it, he raps at full-clip to rolling drums and revving distortion. There’s an urgency that he keeps in careful check, and then unleashes for spring-loaded verses that represent his best work.

P.O.S. built his reputation as an innovator, with an unlikely

punk rock past and expressive, honest content. He re-earns the accolades with every release. His records capture his charisma — they’re driving and sincere, the dark moments counterbalanced by some giggling banter with the engineer. On Never Better, the new disc, he conjures getaway cars, racing chariots, the pursuit of sirens, and the occasional rueful nighttime drive.

P.O.S. was born in Minneapolis as Stefon Alexander, where everybody still calls him Stef. As a teenager, he fell hard for punk rock and played in a series of hardcore bands, sometimes as a drummer, sometimes on guitar and vocals. Simultaneously, he pursued hip hop, rapping in the hallways and after school with classmates who would eventually found Doomtree Records.

P.O.S. released his fi rst rap record, Ipecac Neat, on Doomtree in 2003. Shortly after he signed with Rhymesayers, who reissued and widely distributed the album on Rhymesayers Entertainment. Two years later, critics and fans devoured his melodic sophomore release Audition, which featured collaborations with heavyweights like Slug from Atmosphere, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, and Greg Attonito of The Bouncing Souls.

Like many great rappers, P.O.S. creates his own self-contained little microcosm — his characters become familial to us; we get in on his slang and inside jokes. His mother and his son Jacob emerge as familiar personalities. We know his politics too: P.O.S. doesn’t hesitate to call out the compounding absurdities of pop culture, either with a little friendly ribbing or with a Molotov cocktail. On Never Better he drops deft one-liners that cut to the quick of America’s stuff-obsessed culture.

Some critics will be eager to categorize Never Better as a hybrid — some kind of crossover project. But it’s probably not. P.O.S. is a rapper with range, he’s a real musician and an unstoppable performer. For him, genres are as they ever were: permeable.

Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 7:00 pm and showtime is 8:00. ★

On Sunday, February 21, U. of O. Campus Radio 88.1 FM KWVA welcomes back Swollen Members.

Just in case you missed them in October (or want to see them again), Swollen Members return and they are ARMED TO THE TEETH!

Actually, Armed To the Teeth is the name of the Members latest CD, released in October just after the gig here with Souls of Mischief and Common Market. Armed To The Teeth includes guest appearances from Tech N9ne, Everlast and Slaine from La Coka Nostra, Glasses Malone and Talib Kweli.

Based in Vancouver, B.C., Swollen Members have become Canada’s all-time top selling urban act. Founded by two of the game’s sickest MCs, Mad Child and Prevail, along with the help of DJ Rob The Viking, Swollen Members quickly became one of the most talked about groups in the west coast underground. In 1996, at the B-Boy Summit in San Diego, California, Mad Child won several rap battles and was initiated into the Rock Steady Crew — held in great respect as hip-hop’s highest collective.

After a series of 12” singles and live performances, Swollen Members released their debut album Balance through the group’s own label, Battle Axe Records. The album quickly

became a cult classic, selling 90,000 copies. Their sophomore effort, Bad Dreams, caught the attention of both underground and mainstream audiences and earned them a 2001 Juno Award (the Canadian version of a Grammy) for Best Rap Recording.

Since then the group has amassed an impressive back-catalog of albums, won numerous awards, and collaborated with some of hip-hop’s biggest names while rocking stages from Tokyo to LA, performing hundreds of shows a year. They have sold over a million albums worldwide without ever having a record deal.

While Swollen Members may have enjoyed a successful career, when it came time to record their sixth studio album they were forced to confront the skeletons that had been hiding in their closet. During the time the group’s new album was taking

shape, Swollen Members’ record label had collapsed, while Mad Child was struggling with drug addiction and was embroiled in legal battles. His association with motorcycle clubs provoked police to swarm his house in full riot gear.

“It’s been a crazy few years for not only me, but also Swollen,” says Mad Child. “I was in a very bad state for the last three years; drugs and an abusive lifestyle had gotten the best of me. What I now realize is that I put the lives of many people on hold during my addiction. There are a lot of people that count on me and I know I let them down. The only good thing that came out of the last three years is the album.”

Recovered, revitalized, focused and stronger than ever, Swollen Members are armed and ready for war.

Tickets are $12 in advance, $14 at the door. Doors open at 8:00 pm and showtime is 9:00. ★

Swollen Members Return

On Monday, February 8, U. of O. Campus Radio 88.1 FM KWVA proudly welcomes Eyedea & Abilities back to the WOW Hall along with special guests Dosh, The Illusionists and Undermind.

After a fi ve year break, the dynamic duo of Eyedea & Abilities return with the follow up to their 2004 critically acclaimed sophomore album E&A. With biting guitars, fuzzy keyboards, melodic choruses, and some of their most intricate turntable work to date, By The Throat cuts right to the vein and advances far beyond Eyedea & Abilities battle tested history (winners of HBO Blaze Battle, Rocksteady, Scribble Jam and the DMC’s).

Released last July 21st on Rhymesayers, By the Throat proves that Micheal Larsen and Gregory Keltgen (Eyedea and Abilities) are back and better than ever. The new album is laced in subject matter ranging from coping with loss and the hardships of addiction, to Micheal’s signature fascination with neuroscience and quantum mechanics.

Minneapolis native Martin Dosh is supporting his fourth record, Wolves And Wishes.

Dosh was a touring member of Andrew Broder’s Fog, and a full-time player in their instrumental counterpart Lateduster. In 2003 Anticon released Dosh’s virtuoso debut, Dosh, a loop-building collage of shimmering Rhodes, atypical drumming grounded in groove, fi eld recordings and spontaneous performance. By then he’d developed his untouchable live one-man show — swiveling on his drum stool between a kit, his modifi ed Rhodes piano, a few pots and pans, and a simple looping pedal with a 12-second recording limit.

Dosh’s second full-length, Pure Trash, was instrumental, yet it emoted all the warmth and anticipation, fear and relief that comes with building a family. His third album, The Lost Take, showcases the man’s unique approach to sound with an expanded musicality and growing guest list including Andrew Bird and members of Tapes ‘N Tapes.

For the last year or so, The ILLusionists have been making a name for themselves. Playing to audiences from hip-hop (KI Design, Endr Won) to metal (I’m A Tornado, Death Rides A Horse), this punk-hop trio has developed an eclectic group of fans.

After only two months together, The ILL produced an 18-track epic (and often hilarious) debut, titled Sleep Rocking. Proclaiming “Anti-Wack” status, they were outspoken against the generic, mainstream hip-hop that plagues the radio waves today.

Reports Eugene Weekly, “With three original members consisting of Sammy Warm Hands (Sam Wartenbee, vocals), Web the Free Range Human (Gabe Morley, samples and arrangements) and E Ville (Evan Vaught, vocals), the trio put together an album after being together for only two months, titled Sleep Rocking and given away for free. Then the band added new members Crosby Kneale (bass and synthesizer) and Mike McCarthy (keyboards, synthesizer and guitar), fi lling out their sound and creating new layers for live shows and their most recent album. Since then, the group has added a few members and taken their samples to the stage with a live band. Hundreds fi lled the WOW Hall to see their new lineup this summer. And with all the anticipation before the show, it was captured on tape.”

Now, The ILLusionists will return to the stage with a brand new album. Boasting their brand of shameless ambition, ILL IS ALL features a studio disc full of brand new material and a second disc of the entire live recording.

Undermind, “that beatbox fl ute kid” from Eugene, has released an impressive series of recordings: 100 Miles from Fame (2003/2004), Bump in The Night (2004), Unidentifi ed Thoughts (2004/2005), The Voices in Your Head (2005), Dangerous Thinking (2006), Reality Hurts (2007), Undermind Music (2008/2009) and now BeatBox Recorder Kid (2009).

Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 pm and showtime is 8:00. ★

P.O.S. for the Cause Eyedea & Abilities

6 FEBRUARY 2010 WOW HALL NOTES FIND US ONLINE: WWW.SONICBIDS.COM/WOWHALL

On Saturday, February 27, the Solidarity with Earth Defenders Concert features music by Los Mex Pistols Del Norte, Blackbird Raum and Samba Ja with special guest speakers Jeff “free” Luers and Ramona Africa in a Benefi t for the Civil Liberties Defense Center.

Los Mex Pistols Del Norte combine elements of traditional Paso Dobles (music played at bullrings), Tejana, Conjunto, Banda, Ranchera, Norteno, Spaghetti-Western and instrumental rock and roll to play to a wide variety of audiences. They have opened for several Grammy award-winning acts, including Los Lobos, Flaco Jimenez, Ozomatli, the Neville Brothers, as well as Pink Martini, Dick Dale, The Reverend Horton Heat and Jonathan Richman. The band has played with famous Mexican acts such as Banda Los Lagos, and has won “battle of the bands” contests at Latino festivals. Music from the band’s cd, Esta Noche We Ride, has been featured in six fi lms and one commercial.

Incorporating traditional instruments such as guitarronne, mandolin, accordions, trumpets, sousaphone, tympanis and concert chimes with electric and acoustic guitars and drums, as well as an organ, it is no wonder Los Mex Pistols Del Norte can play with almost anyone; they simply have other acts outgunned.

Blackbird Raum formed out of a squatter community living in abandoned buildings and greenbelt tree houses in Santa Cruz, CA in the early 2000’s. Finding themselves living without electricity, they began to learn to play folk instruments from each

other and other members of the traveling punk/folk culture.

Refusing the retro clichés of many of their contemporaries, Blackbird Raum writes entirely original music that is refl ective of the world they live in: a world of abusive police, ecological devastation, creeping ambiguity and vague fear, but also a strong community sense and a deep love of a natural world constantly

on the verge of collapse. They jump back and forth between extremely fast metal infl uenced jug band dancers to quasi-medieval chant and drone and to herky-jerky hardcore infl uenced time signature gymnastics.

Samba Já is Eugene’s own bateria — a thirty-member mobile percussion ensemble. They specialize in playing wild, funky, infectious and incredibly danceable street music from all over Brazil and the Americas, from the sounds of Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro to hip-hop tributes. Diverse, playful and innovative, Samba Já recently celebrated its eighth birthday as a not-for-profi t groove cooperative.

Ramona Africa is the sole

adult survivor of the May 13, 1985 massacre of eleven members of the MOVE organization. The FBI and the City of Philadelphia dropped a C4 bomb on MOVEs 6221 Osage Avenue home in West Philadelphia. Carrying the young Birdie Africa (the only other survivor) with her, Ramona dodged gunfi re and escaped from the fi re with permanent scarring from the burns.

Eugene’s Jeff “free” Luers is a environmental activist (and Fall Creek tree-sitter) who was sentenced to twenty-three and a half years in prison for making

a political statement about global warning. He was recently released after serving ten years of that sentence.

The Civil Liberties Defense Center is a nonprofi t organization focused on defending and upholding civil liberties through education, outreach, litigation, legal support and assistance. The Civil Liberties Defense Center strives to preserve the strength and vitality of the Bill of Rights and the U.S. and state constitutions, as well as to protect freedom of expression.

Held in conjunction with the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon, this event is a benefi t for the Civil Liberties Defense

Center’s activist defense programs, as well as for Green Scare ecoprisoners Marie Mason, Briana Waters, and Eric McDavid.

Tickets are $10 advance, $12 at the door, available at WOW Hall or by calling 541-687-9180. Doors open at 6:30 pm and showtime is 7:00. ★

On Thursday, February 18, KRVM welcomes back Tea Leaf Green along with special guest Jerry Hannon.

A four-piece jam band from the San Francisco Bay area, Tea Leaf Green is comprised Josh Clark (guitar and vocals), Trevor Garrod (keyboards, vocals, guitar, harmonica), Reed Mathis (bass and vocals) and Scott Rager (drums). The group began in the fall of 1996 on the campus of San Francisco State University. Founding member Ben Chambers was the group’s original bass player but left in 2007; he is featured on the fi rst four albums.

Drawing inspiration from The Grateful Dead, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Band and Neil Young, Tea Leaf Green began gigging throughout San Francisco, becoming the de facto house band at the Elbo Room for a period in 1999. The eponymously titled fi rst album was released that year and featured twelve original compositions.

Tea Leaf Green released its second album, Midnight on the Reservoir, in 2001 and followed up with a live release from the Great American Music Hall often referred to as the “Green Album” because of its all-green cover. In 2002, the band embarked on its fi rst national tour, using the High Sierra Music Festival as a springboard. Their third studio album, Living in Between, was book ended by two live releases: Slim’s (2003) and Live at the Independent (2004). The title track from the band’s fourth album, 2005’s Taught to Be Proud, earned Tea Leaf Green a Jammy Award for Song of the Year.

Filmmaker Justin Kreutzmann, son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, directed a documentary entitled Rock ‘n’ Roll Band that interlaced live footage from a May, 2006 concert at the Fox Theatre in Boulder with individual and group interviews with each band member. The fi lm emphasized the struggle facing a young band, capturing footage of the members as they discuss the hardship and sacrifi ce inherent in the pursuit of a dream.

In 2007, original bassist Chambers decided to leave the band, citing exhaustion and a desire to be with family. The remaining members agreed to persist and signed with Surfdog Records, which subsequently released a three CD boxset, named Seeds, that combines the fi rst three releases into a single volume.

In late 2007, Tea Leaf Green introduced Reed Mathis, of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, as its new bass player. Mathis had earned renown for his contribution to the neo-jazz, avant-garde JFJO, which he helped form in 1994. He performed at the WOW Hall as member of The Steve Kimock Band in 2005.

In January 2008, Tea Leaf Green entered a Richmond, Virginia recording studio with producer David Lowery, taking one week to cut a fi fth album, Raise Up the Tent. Most recently, the group displays its acoustic side on Coffee Bean Brown Comes Alive, released late last year (Coffee Bean Brown is the group’s acoustic pseudonym).

States a Jambase review, “TLG ... are tight as hell right now, dovetailing beautifully together, and working up fi ne new material that speaks to a promising future for this lineup.”

Described as, “shades of Dylan, John Prine and Van Morrison...very Americana with a faint Irish lilt”, Jerry Hannan’s songs speak of our everyday lives and the magic that we sometimes miss. He’s a storyteller who loves to stir the crowd. He’s been called a “three chord wizard” with guitar, lyrics and harmonica, often funny, sardonic in a good-natured way, while dealing with issues like ecology, friendship and love.

Jerry’s recording of his song “Society” with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder is featured in Sean Penn’s fi lm Into the Wild. The song “DaDaDa”, from the 2003 CD Sounds Like a Story, was featured in the fi lm The Pledge starring Jack Nicholson.

Hannan performed in Sam Shepard’s play, The Late Henry Moss, at San Francisco’s Theatre on the Square along with Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Cheech Marin and Woody Harrelson. He also appeared as a raucous singer who offsets a romantic conversation between Harry Connick Jr and Sarah Jessica Parker in Sony Picture’s Life Without Dick.

Jerry has just fi nished recording Wild Card, an unplugged solo record which will feature his latest gems including his own version of “Society”.

Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 8:00 pm and showtime is 9:00. ★

Solidarity with Earth Defenders Concert

Tea Leaf Green

Los Mex Pistols Del Norte

Blackbird Raum

Samba Ja

FIND US ONLINE: WWW.CAFEPRESS.COM/WOWHALL WOW HALL NOTES FEBRUARY 2010 7

Tickets at WOW Halland at wowhall.org

KRVM Presents

DOGinaBOX

All proceeds benefit KRVM

Sunday February 28th

15 Varieties of bagels boiled & baked daily

• Soups• Sandwiches

• Coffee2 locations

Eugene 810 WillametteSpringfield 5768 Main Street

On Saturday, February 20, the CCPA and KLCC proudly welcome James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards with special guest Jonny Burke.

It’s been almost a year since James McMurty last played the WOW Hall. In the interim he’s been traveling, and is bringing us his new CD, Live in Europe, so you can share the experience.

James McMurtry’s recent studio albums, 2005’s Childish Things and 2008’s Just Us Kids, earned him formidable accolades. The Village Voice called him, “a poet of the people.” Stephen King, writing in Entertainment Weekly, pronounced him, “the truest, fi ercest songwriter of his generation.”

Yet a lot of current McMurtry converts were introduced through the 2004 release Live in Aught-Three. Live albums aren’t typically greeted with rave reviews, but McMurtry’s rockin’ treatments of songs like “Choctaw Bingo” and “Out Here in the Middle” in concert made an uncanny translation to record. The Austin Chronicle proclaimed, “This is no-frills, freak-fl ag rock. Turn it up!” PopMatters called it, “a snapshot of where McMurtry is now, [marking him] as a legitimate inheritor of the Texas songwriting tradition.”

In October, Lightning Rod Records released Live in Europe, a document of McMurtry’s recent European tour, on which he was joined by keyboardist Ian McLagan and fellow Texas songwriting legend Jon Dee Graham. The set is available as a CD with a bonus DVD, or as a deluxe vinyl LP package with a CD and DVD insert.

In early 2009, James McMurtry and his trio traveled overseas to play their fi rst European tour. The guys played for enthusiastic crowds in Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland and Belgium. The best recordings from the Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Geislingen (Germany) concerts were combined to create Live in Europe. The album includes a bonus DVD featuring performances from the Amsterdam show. This marks the fi rst time fans will be able to purchase video footage of McMurtry live in concert. Fellow Austin-based songwriter Jon Dee Graham opened the shows and joins the band on a version of his tune “Laredo” on the bonus DVD.

The son of acclaimed author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment), James grew up on a steady diet of Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff records. His fi rst album, released in 1989, was produced by John Mellencamp and marked the beginning of a series of acclaimed projects for Columbia and Sugar Hill.

In 2004, McMurtry released the universally lauded Live in Aught-Three on Compadre Records. 2005’s Childish Things garnered some of the highest critical praise of McMurtry’s career and spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Americana Music Radio Chart in 2005 and 2006. In September 2006, Childish Things and “We Can’t Make It Here” won the Americana Music Awards for album and song of the year, respectively. McMurtry received more Americana Music Award nominations for 2008’s Just Us Kids.

Live in Europe has won positive reviews in the national press. Rod Ames of New Depression reports that, “There is not a soul in the house who is sitting down. McMurtry’s vocals are perfection and his band compliments every bar, ever word, every stanza of every song. They work as the perfect ensemble.”

Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 pm and showtime is 8:30. ★

James McMurtry Live

On Friday, February 12, Roots Organics and Aqua Serene present Rootz Underground with special guests Marko and Monk.

Rootz Underground is here to channel the musical vibration that rings true in the heart and soul of all the conscious Rebel Rockers, Late Night Revelers and Soul Seekers! Many infl uences have borne their ‘rootz’, including their homeland Jamaica - birthplace of Rastafari and other radical movements, JAH - creator of all things, family, the earth in all its glory, the revolutionary 70’s, Dub and Roots Reggae music.

The last nine years have brought Rootz Underground from small underground club

shows in Kingston all the way to the largest stages in Jamaica including Sunsplash, Rebel Salute, Welcome to Jamrock, Reggaelution, Sumfest and Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues. The band consists of six core members: Stephen Newland (lead vocals), Jeffrey Moss-Solomon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Colin Young (bass), Leon Campbell (drums), Paul Smith (keyboards, vocals) and Charles Lazarus (lead guitar).

Rootz Underground performs lyrically conscious original ‘roots’ reggae music. Over the last decade they have won their fans and the respect of their contemporaries one explosive show at a time. The year 2008 saw them touring America

extensively on joint bills with foundation powerhouses such as Gregory Isaacs, Israel Vibration, The Wailing Souls, Dean Fraser as well as acts such as Anthony B and Tarrus Riley, and most notably they also released their debut album Movement.

The year 2009 saw the release of the second studio album entitled Gravity as well as a touring focus on Europe and South America.

In an effort to get the live vibration on stage out there faster than they can travel, the band is offering a full length live CD for free which can be downloaded from the E-store of their website. The album is titled Alive and was recorded on the “Reggae Train Tour” Fall ‘08 across America.

Performing with members of the Ashland band Monk, Marko has an exciting Oregon grown style that draws on an array of infl uences including Yellowman, Brigadier Jerry, Sublime, Pinchers, Barrington Levy and Pato Banton. He has just released his fi rst full length debut album titled All the Love that I’ve Found.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. Doors open at 8:00 pm and showtime is 9:00. ★

Rootz Underground

★ FEBRUARY ★

Audio recording for demos and albumsCD mastering Vintage tape restoration and transfer to CD

Pro Tools HD3 ACCEL+ Analog 2” 24-track. Vintage tube pre-amps/compressors. 48-channel Sony DMX-R100 console. Steinway grand piano. Comfortable, professional recording studio built from the ground up. Studio design by Chris Huston.

All the tools and experience to create a great project for you!Competitively priced donrossproductions.com343-2692

Eyedea & AbilitiesDoshThe IllusionistsUndermind7:30 PM$10 Advance$12 doorHip-Hopwww.rhymesayers.comwww.myspace.com/

eyedeaandabilitieswww.myspace.com/

doshanticon

YOBRye Wolves8:00 PM$7 Advance$8 DoorRockprofoundlorerecords.comwww.myspace.com/

theryewolves

Rootz Underground

(Roots Organics & Aqua Serene rental)8:00 PM$15 Advance$18 DoorReggaewww.rootzunderground.comwww.myspace.com/

rootzunderground

Board of Directors6:30 PMMeets at Growers Market525 Willamette

Demystifying Dundunba Dance with Alseny Yansane

6:30 - 8:30 pm

The Album LeafSea Wolf7:30 PM$12 Advance$14 DoorElectronicawww.thealbumleaf.comwww.myspace.com/

thealbumleaf

P.O.S.Grieves Budo & Dessa(Square Peg Concerts rental)7:00 PM$13 Advance$15 DoorHip-Hopwww.squarepegconcerts.com

James McMurtryJonny Burke7:30 PM$15 Advance$18 DoorRockwww.jamesmcmurtry.comwww.compadrerecords.com

Vagabond OperaJason WebleyElena Villa8:00 PM$13 Advance$15 DoorCabaretwww.vagabondopera.comwww.jasonwebley.com

Tea Leaf GreenJerry Hannon8:00 PM$13 Advance$15 DoorRockwww.tealeafgreen.comwww.myspace.com/

tealeafgreen

EverclearSixLifter7(KNRQ/KFLY rental)7:00 PM$18 Advance$20 Day of Showwww.nrq.comwww.everclearonline.com

Volunteer Orientation

6:30 PM

Swollen Members8:00 PM$12 Advance$14 DoorHip-Hopwww.myspace.com/

SwollenMembers

Los Mex Pistols del Norte

Blackbird RaumSamba JaRamona AfricaJeff “Free” Luers6:30 PM$10 Advance$12 DoorSolidarity with Earth Defenders Concertcldc.org/

Asylum Street Spankers

7:30 PM$18 Advance$20 Door$25 Reserved SeatingString Bandasylumstreetspankers.com

G. Love & Special Sauce

Redeye Empire(Mike Thrasher Presents rental)7:30 PM$20 Advance$25 Doormikethrasherprsents.com

Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy Jug Band

Conjugal Visitors(KRVM rental)6:00 PM$18 Advance$20 Door$25 Reserved SeatingAmericanawww.krvm.orgwww.mariamuldaur.com

Only NightmaresMonday With A Bullet

New World SinnerCarrion RemainsDitch Digger6:30 PM$6 Advance$9 DoorHard Rock

CB-3 (Chris Berry Trio) & Steve Kimock

8:00 PM$15 Advance$18 DoorJam Rockwww.myspace.com/

chrisberrytriowww.kimock.com

A Call To RemainHunter GrayPedro LunaBetty & the BoyWaNiBraThe AutopsiesRun Like the Dickens

Barreleye(Nemesis rental)6:00 PM$10 Adv / $12

Art Reception for Phable

5:00 - 7:00 PMFree

Facilities Committee

6:30 PMMeets at The Beanery152 W. 5th St.

TICKET OUTLETSWOW HALL BOX OFFICE

CHARGE BY PHONE: (541) 687-2746

MON-FRI NOON-6PM

CD & GAME EXCHANGE 30 E. 11th 302-3045

CD WORLD 3215 W. 11th 683-6902HOUSE OF RECORDS 258 E. 13th 342-7975

TICKETWEB www.ticketweb.com

U of O TICKET OFFICEU of O Campus - 346-4363

THANKS TO OUR MAJOR SUPPORTERS

Amber Rohrer LMT • Anatolia • Aqua-MetricsBagel Sphere • Buy & Sell Center • Cafe Mam

Carmen’s Chips • Catamaran Trading LLCCindy Ingram Booking & Promotions LLC

City of Eugene • Cozmic Pizza • Deep Sea DelightsDon Ross Productions • Doug Wilson Sound

Essex General Construction • Eugene Folklore Society • Eugene Weekly • Floater

Global Focus Digital Media • Gung Ho ProductionsHerbal Junction • Holy Cow • Howard Ingber

Construction • KLCC • KRVM • KWVALane Arts Council • Latham Remodel

Leung Martial Arts AcademyMetro Affordable Housing • MKB Gardening

Mueller Home Insulation Co.Native & Urban Gardens • Novax Guitars

Oregon Country FairOregon Event Enterprises • Organicaly Grown

Company • Pro Sound & VideoRainbow Optics • RD Olsen Construction Co.

Saturday Market • Springfi eld CreamerySprout City Studios • Studio Coburg

Sundance Natural Foods • The Bier SteinThe Kiva • Taco Bell • TicketWeb

Valley Vinter & Brewer • Waldport Realty Co.

UPCOMING3/9 Mike Doughty

3/11 EOTO

3/12 The Pack

3/25-26 Devil Makes Three

3/27 Every Time I Die

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

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Classes Meetings and Workshops for February:Every Saturday: Elements of Ecstacy with Grace Llewellyn 9:15 am - 10:45 am

West African Dance with Alseny Yansane 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Every Sunday: Coalessence: Community Ecstatic Dance 10:30 am - noon

West African Dance & Drum Work Out with Abdoulaye Thioub 12:30 - 2:00 pm

Every Monday: West African Drum Study (free) 1:00 - 2:00 pm

Every Wednesday: Guitar with Steve & Richard (free) 2:00 - 3:00 pm