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Ethan Maffey

Both a writer and a fan of vinyl records since age 5, it wasn't until nearly three decades later that Oregon Native Ethan Maffey derived a plan to marry the two passions by writing about music. From blogging on MySpace in 2007 and then Blogspot, to launching his own website, 83Music, and eventually freelancing for publications in the Pacific Northwest, like Spokane’s alt-weekly Inlander, Ethan’s aim has been to provide fans of music alternatives to the mundane and overplayed. This included a nearly two year stint as the music editor for the Source, where he scoured the Bend music scene drawing attention to local talent and notable touring acts as they passed through town. In addition to deep knowledge of the local music scene, Ethan has an uncanny ability to quote lines from the television show “Friends.” He also has an eye for women’s fashion and feels a kinship with Lucky Day, Steve Martin’s character in ¡Three Amigos!

ethan@eightythreemusic.com
Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Hops University

Worthy Brewing is changing what you drink one experiment at a time
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There may not be an online distance-learning course for the experimental hops project at Oregon State University, but there is remote access to the vast knowledge being cultivated by the plant geneticists and fermentation scientists at the school; it’s called a phone call with program donor and hops aficionado Roger Worthington of Bend’s Worthy Brewing. […]

Posted inMusic

St. Vincent

St. Vincent
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No stranger to orchestral noise-pop (she was a member of dynamic singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens’ band in the first half of the last decade), St. Vincent once again glues together a rumpled collage of spacey beats, scratchy guitar and lifted vocals on her self-titled fourth album. Unsurprisingly, the semi-spastic pop singer even trumps her topsy-turvy 2012 […]

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The (Beguiling) Face of Rock and Roll

Boise band The Blaqks is a sexy bunch who melt faces with garage glitz
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Few men can get away with wearing tight, white jeans. But on stage, Boise rocker and heartthrob Cary Judd (who goes by his alter ego Danny Blaqk) sure can. In fact, he’s regularly referred to as “sexy” by music writers and fans in Boise. Men and women alike love his style. Most nights when The […]

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Explore and Retreat

Portland folk pop outfit The Cabin Project works best in solitude
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In order to get from Brooklyn to Portland, folk singer Katie Sawicki had to see the country. When she was done, she had to write songs about it. The trick for her was that as a solo artist, the music she was performing for people wasn’t the music she ultimately had a heart for. “I […]

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Let’s Get Serious

Portland rock band Hong Kong Banana is what happens when silly becomes earnest
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On the ridiculousness spectrum, a scale of 1-10 measuring absurdity, Portland garage soul band Hong Kong Banana should score an 11. The band name alone is worth seven points. But there’s a lot more to them than a goofy name and silly alter egos. Their lead singer goes by Nigel Bubblesworth, clearly a made up […]

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Poems-A-Plenty

Portland’s Anna Tavil is a poet…and knows it
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Even in silence—typically not the preferred way to experience music for the first time—the tunes crafted by Portland poet/songstress Anna Tavil expose themselves as tidbits of magical observations set to angelic melodies. That’s right, in silence, her words are musical. Hopping on the Internet to investigate the interestingly-named band, Anna and the Underbelly, ahead of […]

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