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Rhonda Vincent brings tour to Spokane
8/15/2008 | Rhonda Vincent is relentless. By the year's end the bluegrass superstar singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist will have been on the road for 250 days nearly without pause.
MC Squared equals rockin' benefit
8/15/2008 | ID: Jade (aka MC Squared) is using music to help support the nonprofit summer academic and social program for kids with Autism he co-founded with his wife, Charissa Cardwell.
Anderson fleeing local music scene
8/15/2008 | The tattoo of Hulk Hogan being attacked by UFOs is no joke. Hulkamania is running wild in Erik Anderson's bloodstream. The lead singer and bassist for one of Spokane's most distinct indie bands is calling it quits to pursue a career in professional wrestling.
These guys don't rock
8/15/2008 | COLUMN | Fleet Foxes are not your typical toast of Seattle. For starters, they don't rock. At all. Not even slightly. Frontman Robin Pecknold describes the sound as "baroque harmonic pop." It doesn't sound like anything from this hemisphere or even this generation, as concertgoers will find out when Fleet Foxes opens for Wilco on Thursday at the INB Performing Arts Center.
Festival not so blue
8/8/2008 | The headliner at this weekend's Blue Waters Bluegrass Festival is comprised of two Australians and one Englishman who don't at all consider themselves bluegrass. "We haven't considered ourselves a bluegrass band for a very long time," said Kym Warner, the mandolin and bouzouki player for the Grammy nominated Greencards, one of the festival's main attractions.
Lighter side of black metal
8/8/2008 | I Am Ghost isn't so much black metal as grey metal. The L.A.-based quintet is a part of that rare breed of post-emo-core metal bands that gracefully run the line of powerfully technical speed metal that is both skin-shredding raw and intricately melodic.
No longer just a one-man show
8/8/2008 | ID: Jacob Butcher is no longer just a man, it's a band. Style: Folk rockin' bluesRoster: Guitarist, harmonica player, and lead singer Butcher; violist and vocalist Kim Wescott; drummer Ian Reeves, keyboardist Morgan Lynch, and violinist Rajah Bose, who is a photographer for The Spokesman-Review.
Acoustic Explosion
8/1/2008 | Acoustic music is folking up the local scene.Since 7's inaugural Acoustic Explosion in 2006, singer-songwriters have stolen the spotlight from hard rock bands that once defined live music in Spokane. While bands and venues come and go, acoustic music is thriving. Check out these video clips.
Natural place for live music
8/1/2008 | COLUMN | One of the best-kept secret jewels for acoustic music doesn't even charge admission. There is a lot of talk about the local acoustic renaissance in Spokane, and it usually points to Caterina Winery or Empyrean Coffee House.
'Fasciinating' and fresh
8/1/2008 | The Faint is fascinated with finding different ways to do the same things. Keyboardist Jacob Thiele was nearly speaking in tongues about the new gear set up at the new studio where the band recorded its new album on The Faint's new self-run Blank.wav imprint.
Electric self-taught fusion
8/1/2008 | ID: Self taught musicians in Yvonne Archer and Alutra have been playing music together in some capacity for the past 13 years. Style: Cerebral electronic-folk-pop"Our music is a fusion of sounds and ideas, often mixing live sources with electronic ones, using natural and artificial sound," Archer said.
Music for the dog days
7/25/2008 | COLUMN | Lotta folks like dogs. Lotta folks like music. Only some folks like folk music. Some ambitiously open- minded folks like both dogs and music. If you flock to that last category then you might agree this is going to be an atomic dog show.
Post-grunge experiment
7/25/2008 | At the end of every rock 'n' roll dream is a greatest hits record. So when Rhino Records decided to put out a Candlebox greatest-hits compilation during the band's dormant period, guitarist Peter Klett thought, "Maybe it's time to get the band back together.
Ready to unleash their Fury
7/25/2008 | ID: Wicked Stitch has been around for 15 years and is releasing its eighth album, "Sonic Fury," at a show tonight. Style: Metal/punk/rockRoster: Lead singer Jeff Kenley; lead guitarist and vocalist Craig McQuain; guitarist Brian Holland; bassist and vocalist Jason 'Durb' Durbin; and drummer Chad BurkUnleashing the fury: "Sonic Fury" – like all of Wicked Stitches recordings since 1999 – was recorded by Lee Stoker.
Testing his chemistry
7/18/2008 | For a revered folk balladeer who is often compared to the likes of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen, Josh Ritter is kind of a nerd. His fifth full length album, 2007's "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter," show the Moscow, Idaho, singer-songwriter's penchant for historical heroines with lyrical references to Florence Nightingale, Calamity Jane and Joan of Arc.
Bluegrass brothers hit stage at Mootsy's
7/18/2008 | ID: For the last decade Palms co-founder and elder statesman of the local scene "Downtown" Tony Brown has played in local bands The Meadowbrook Oval, Coburg and Fife, Raccoon, Hurt Laverne and Bastard NoiseStyle: Experimental bluegrassRoster: Multi-instrumentalist Tony Brown and his brother, multi-instrumentalist Jon Brown.
Spin Cycle: Making a name for themselves
7/11/2008 | ID: My Pinky Has A Name is named after Hannah Reader's pinky, Mordekye, which has two eyes and mouth (beak? ) drawn on it. Sound: Indie-synthRoster: Singer/keyboardist Reader and drummer Bobby HattenburgPublic practice: My Pinky Has A Name practices at Blue Spark's open mike on Monday nights.
Motion City Soundtrack crafts a keeper of an album
7/11/2008 | Upon listening to Motion City Soundtrack's third and latest full-length album, it's clear "Even If It Kills Me" is a producer's record. Instrumentally, the songs seem to have nothing in common.
Indie infatuation
7/11/2008 | COLUMN | It was a typically bizarre Monday night open mike at Blue Spark this week when I ran into Aaron Bocook, who fronts the Spokane band Shantasina.
Campfire shows promote free exchange of ideas
7/4/2008 | COLUMN | American folk music, in its purest form, comes down to voice and guitar. There is no reverb to hide behind, no delay cover up, and no compression to beef out. It's the songwriter and the song, singing, strumming, and maybe some pats, stomps, and claps for rhythm.
'Exile' reissue brings Phair back to stage
7/4/2008 | CHICAGO – Now that Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville" is being repackaged on its 15th anniversary as an indie-rock landmark, it's easy to forget what a ruckus it caused when it first came out.
Bringing Mayhem to town
7/4/2008 | Underoath is in overdrive. After a decade, and despite multiple membership changes, the Florida Christian metalcore band is at the top of its game playing major festivals in the U.S., Europe and South Africa, in anticipation of the release of a new record.
Varela leaving the nest
6/27/2008 | COLUMN | Joe Varela is money. Local singer-songwriter Pat McHenry and I were sitting on the patio at Caterina Winery last week debating the coming departure of the Spokane music- ian/recording engineer and that was one thing we could agree on.
Seattle trio a slam dunk
6/27/2008 | It's fitting that there's a slammin' hip-hop show Hoopfest Saturday at The Zombie Room. Before it was The Zombie Room, The B-Side's anniversary was Hoopfest weekend, and there would usually be a selection of top-shelf hip-hop at the spot.
Deadhorse Express: Trying to fit in to the Spokane scene
6/27/2008 | The Deadhorse Express: Bassist Mike Grimm, guitarist Paul Patton; singer Chad Stroh; drummer Sam Nichols; and guitarist Ryan MillerStyle: Christian metalOn the local scene: "It could be better but it's flooded with shows.
