Mike Bookey

What? We can’t find thick-rimmed glasses for all four of these guys?Chris Walla isn't merely a guitarist and songwriter in one of the most successful "indie" rock bands of all time, his solo career and record producing acclaim (Tegan and Sara, the Decemberists) have also transformed him into a major player in the Northwest music scene. The soft-spoken charmer chatted with us about Death Cab's new record, entitled Narrow Stairs, Britney Spears, and how he hopes his band breaks up before they start sucking.
 
How does it feel to have a new album out?
I just forgot about it weeks ago. I mean we had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant and all that on the release day, but the record is made, and it's out, and I'm happy it's out, but it's not like I've been holding my breath for the last three months.

Guess which one of these guys isn’t a member of the Shoe Club for Men.It's cutting late into a Friday afternoon in early May and Michael Franti is preparing to skip halfway around the world to Europe in only a matter of hours. The purpose: promote the forthcoming Michael Franti & Spearhead record, All Rebel Rockers, set to drop in September and, well, just be Michael Franti, an ambassador of peace and funky music.
 
Franti is a guy who raps about ending the war, sings about the search for social justice and takes jabs at the Bush administration whenever possible, but he's not as angry as his music might suggest. Anyone who's got down at a Spearhead show knows this. And Franti says All Rebel Rockers is hardly a lament of current times or a bitch session about what's wrong in the world.
"Well, it's our most danceable record that we've ever made. In terms of the themes of the songs, it's about trying to stay positive in a time when you turn on the news and it's like the world has gone…(makes explosion sound) … with all this talk of elections, natural disasters, and the economy going to hell," Franti says.

Mare’s got peeps in Bend. We'd like to spend a little time here discussing singer/songwriter Mare Wakefield and why you insist on mispronouncing her name. While on paper, it looks like Wakefield's first name should rhyme with "hair" or "bear," but in fact when said aloud, her name is the world that belongs in the following blanks: Peter, Paul and _________ or the Virgin _________, or perhaps ________ Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Some
 
Central Oregonians, might however, not have been caught off guard by the intentionally quirky and seemingly erroneous spelling of the Nashville-based artist's name. Those who've been here for a few decades (don't all raise your hands at once) might remember Wakefield as part of the band Sister Southpaw, a Bend-based troupe from the early 1990s. Or perhaps more recently, you might remember her set at the Silver Moon Brewing Co. last fall, a venue she's returning to on Wednesday during a grueling cross-country tour.

Bring on the night. Nightlife in Bend is peppered throughout the downtown area (and a few, but not many non-downtown locales) but for whatever reason, it's on the fringe of downtown that live music is taking hold. On Saturday, April 26, in only a matter of a block, or maybe a block and quarter, there were four venues, with four different musical acts all playing simultaneously. All four joints were pouring beers, and all four were pretty much packed.
 
As is standard on a Saturday night, the Domino Room was bumping. It wasn't a national touring act rocking the stage but rather Bend's own hip-hop super group, Person People. While the rumors we reported of Talib Kweli and KRS-One appearing on PP's new album turned out to be unfounded, it seems that the seven hip-hoppers and their live band don't need the assistance of rap legends to find greatness.

Mo’ Betta Blues. There are few artists who just keep coming back to Central Oregon, eventually emerging as local favorites, even if the musician already has all the national and international fame and respect of which he or she could dream. While it's understandable that big-name acts with big reputations and discographies would pull the 40-foot tour bus off of I-5 long enough to pack 5,000 sun burned, grass-stained fans into the Les Schwab Amphitheater, well-recognized names are also returning to Bend to pack the Tower, or even the Sisters High School auditorium, as in the case of blues man Keb' Mo'.