Near the end of the first half of the Portland Trailblazers’ first round playoff Game 1 last year against the New Orleans Pelicans, I noticed on the scoreboard that Damian Lilliard and CJ McCollum had combined for a total of 3 points. It looked like a misprint, but in fact it turned out to be …
The Portland Diamond Project is a group of wealthy investors dedicated to bringing Major League Baseball to Portland. Most of those loaded individuals and corporations are secret, but two of the backers known to the public are this lovely singer, Ciara, and her even lovelier Seahawks Quarterback Husband, Russell Wilson. The more you watch this …
After years working as a full-time musician in Portland, OR and touring with The Portland Country Underground, Blue Giant, Bobby Bare, Jr., and Quiet Life; and supporting tours with The Dandy Warhols and The Decemberists, Beck decided to go back to grad school. His studies eventually took him to Paris and during this period of …
If Brit-pop and the Pacific Northwest made sweet, dirty love, you’d get The Hugs. Their angst-ridden, get-up-and-dance sound is cut with a dose of nostalgic indie and garage rock that only comes as a product of slightly off-centered creative types and too many consecutive days of rain. Based out of East Portland, OR, this spunky …
On Friday night March 29, I trekked out to West Seattle to see Natalie Wouldn’t. It’s been about 18 months since I last saw them. For some reason I kept finding out about their gigs after the fact. The last time I remember seeing them was Halloween Eve 2017 and I left a bit early because …
(March 29, 2019) Modest Mouse will participate in Record Store Day on April 13th with an exclusive triangle 7″ featuring their first new music in over four years. The release includes A-side “Poison The Well” and a bonus for fans, the B-side, “I’m Still Here”. Find participating stores HERE. Modest Mouse recently announced a fall …
This is a great album, a must hear. Clara Baker’s voice is able to spin loss into beauty while her guitar playing and new approaches to sounding out and recording acoustic instruments give her songs an extremely contemporary context. Please listen. Destined to be one of the best albums of 2019, Clara Baker’s Things To Burn is said …
The Portland-based indie folk group Shook Twins have released their 4th full length album, Some Good Lives. Everybody in your life will write his or her own chapter in your story. Take a step back, and you’ll see the influence of your loved ones, mentors, and friends in your decisions. Shook Twins refer to these folks in the title …
After their face plant in the first round of the NBA playoffs last season against the New Orleans Pelicans, it was widely expected that the Portland Trail Blazers would acknowledge the competitive ceiling of their roster and trade one or more of their stars in the hope of finding a path at least to the …
The Portland Literary Festival was a hopping place a few weeks ago. Its biggest event was a visit by Tom Hanks, who last year had published Uncommon Type, a book of short stories with a recurring theme of antique typewriters. His talk, which required special tickets, was sold out weeks in advance, and the line …
Portland’s own Randal Wyatt drops his latest solo offering “Ones”, produced by Draft Drumz and it is SMOOTH BABY SMOOTH. This summer, while on the road with his band Speaker Minds, Randal Wyatt ended up sharing a bill at a show in Tempe, AZ with beatsmith Draft Drumz. He played a variety of beats to …
I cannot sit by and watch the legacy of Bill Walton be tarnished by valid criticism of his diminishing mental faculties. This is the man that gave birth to Luke Walton. If he wants to drop acid and do color commentary, by all means, just turn his mic off. Put on a Beach Boys cassette …
Did I say it might take me a while to keep up with a thread? I just wanted to respond to your comment, most excellent Theophilus, that I was really happy to get excited about a new band in this case. Unlike you, I liked the new music coming out in the ’90s, but I’ve …
People are already starting to debate Paul Allen’s legacy. Some admire him, some disliked him (mostly because of his wealth) and some don’t care at all. I can honestly say his generosity had a major impact on my life as well as countless other people in this region. He used his wealth to try and …
David Rovics lives in East Portland. You can hear it in his music and commentary. He has recorded many songs in the course of his career but he recently started a podcast. This Week with David Rovics is a 5-minute (or so) chunk of music and commentary on history and current events, available for anyone …
Youtube is alive with fantastic vids of Simrit Kaur performing at various places around the world. The Keeper (below) is a particularly arresting introduction to Simrit’s siren blend of trance-world-classical with alt-folk vocals. This music has texture and, when given voice in the right venue, will ebb, flow and echo around the audience, hypnotizing, beguiling, …
Pacific NW! On May 14, 15 and 16 the motherf___ing Afghan Whigs are in your general vicinity. Dates here – looks like the first Seattle show is sold out but Portland tickets are still available as is the last night of the whole tour on the 2nd night in Seattle – do not miss this …
I love this tune. Dig the guitar leads on the back end. Tents, a Portland band, claim to have shot this video in three days in their own backyard. I don’t know where the yard is, but by looking at the flat ground and the style of houses, my best guess is that this took …
One of the best parts of playoffs in the NBA is that teams step up their pageantry a notch. The banners are more plentiful outside the arena, the excitement of the crowd is more palpable, and the lights out introductions are astounding. In this case, the fans were all issued, in addition to T-shirts draped …
Most natives of Portland don’t need to be told that they live in a sea of natural beauty, but they may not be aware just how close some of the outdoor wonders are to their doorsteps. One of these is the Tualatin RIver National Wildlife Refuge, just off of Highway 99W a few miles southwest …
So Portland has a grammy-winning artist now. Portugal. The Man won folk/pop duo/group performance for “Feel It Still.” Portugal. The Man locks down pop/duo performance Portugal. The Man at Grammys 2018: ‘We’re All About Hard Work’
After the Portland Trailblazers’ win over the Indiana Pacers last Thursday night, comedian Cedric the Entertainer got up from his courtside seat afterward and took Coach Terry Stotts’ place at the podium for the postgame press conference: Thanks to the graciousness of the Trailblazers, I’ve been in that briefing room a couple of times. Usually, …
Company of Thieves is back after taking six years off. Their new tune, “Treasure,” is pretty cool and you can hear it below. The band had a music industry story you hear about in the movies – founding members Marc Walloch and Genevieve Schatz met on a train station platform in Chicago and bonded over …
For those who love seeing their literary heroes in the flesh and obtaining their signatures on the title pages of newly purchased books, Wordstock is a paradise rivaling any other such event in these United States. This year’s festival took place the Saturday before last over a three-block area of downtown Portland, and while it …
For those of you who didn’t follow the Portland Trail Blazers last season, their biggest story was their February trade for Jusuf Nurkic, the Bosnian Beast and the West Coast’s answer to New York Knick sensation Kristaps Porzingis. With his shooting and rebounding, Nurkic turned around the Blazers’ season, helping them to an 18-8 record …
Ken Stringfellow is coming to Portland with his new supergroup, Tears of Silver, on Wednesday night, Sept. 27 and to Seattle the following day, Sept. 28. There’s more info at the Facebook event page below. It will be a pop-up all ages show at a location which will only be revealed to ticket holders on …
Filmed in Portland, with city leaders and local residents appearing as themselves, this is a 1957 CBS movie presentation narrated by actor Glenn Ford which shows the supposedly orderly manner with which Portlanders would react when they found out Russian planes are on their way to drop a hydrogen bomb downtown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Day_Called_X Here Is Portland’s …
Photos posted today in The Atlantic of wildfires in the West. Portland residents may be particularly interested in those of the Eagle Creek fire along the Columbia River. The first two, taken from the Washington side of the river across from Cascade Locks, are quite dramatic. https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/09/wildfires-rage-across-the-american-west/538977/ – Chuck Strom
The recent EP from Championships is a delight. It has six carefully crafted pop classics all written and sung by Cameron Heger, the Championships mastermind. Gifted as he undoubtedly is, Heger gets by with a lot of help from his talented friends. On his last recording, an eponymous debut in November of 2015, it was …
Austin’s self-described “freak parade,” Sweet Spirit, harnesses the force of their eight-piece band to create a high-energy, soulful, gritty, and just-straight-up-fun soundscape. Sabrina Ellis’ (A Giant Dog) standout vocals provide the anchor for the array of pop, rock, glam, soul, and blues that blend together seamlessly. St. Mojo, the sophomore album, came out on April …