The Wailin’ Jennys sound like peace. Heather Masse, Nicky Mehta, and Ruth Moody’s distinctly different voices blend together so flawlessly that they create a seamless whole. The common ground between makes each of their records a delicate balance between alt-country, folk, and something altogether more ephemeral. The Canadian group started in 2002 when a guitar […]
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Midnight Sounds
Grace Potter glows with and without The Nocturnals
Grace Potter has had a wide and varied career so far, and she’s only 33. Whether it is her solo career, her work with The Nocturnals, or her collaboration with The Flaming Lips, Potter is a dynamic and powerful vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. The most surprising thing about Potter, though, is how different her sound is […]
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Twice as Happy on Half as Much
A conversation with Dave Wakeling of The English Beat
The English Beat have had a long and storied career since their 1978 debut, when they burst forth on the ska-punk/reggae scene in England. Technically, the band is called The Beat, but in North America they’re known as The English Beat, and in Australia they’re The British Beat. Consisting of Dave Wakeling on vocals and […]
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Behind the Mask
The legend of Buckethead lives on
Writing a story about Buckethead is like trying to do an expose on the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot. People know Buckethead exists and that he has a real name, but he hasn’t done an interview in a decade and doesn't talk to many people in general. I knew a phone or Skype interview would […]
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Park Parties
Munch and Music returns for its 26th season
Munch and Music is like that relative you only visit for a few days out of the year, but don’t realize how much you miss until you know they’re gone for a while. The weekly summer event has become a Bend institution in the 26 years it has been going with carefully curated bands, food, […]
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Ladies Night
k.d. lang, Neko Case and Laura Veirs
What happens when three of the most incredibly talented women in songwriting combine goals and dreams to create an album together? A self-titled album called “Case/Lang/Veirs.” It all started with an email sent years ago from k.d. lang to Neko Case and Laura Veirs, suggesting that the three make an album together. The successful, soulful […]
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Kicked It in the Sun
Built to Spill avoids the time trap
If you’re looking for impartiality, you won’t find it in this article, because Built to Spill is one of my favorite bands of all time. I’m biased. I was 20 the first time I heard “Perfect From Now On,” the band’s 1997 album. It helped me through many dark days, exposed me to what a […]
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Never the Same Show Twice
Widespread Panic keeps innovation alive
I’ve never seen Widespread Panic live, but apparently that’s the only way to really experience what they’ve got going on. Like Phish or the Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic’s music is more complex than the average jam band and the sound is just as playful and digressive. According to guitarist/singer John Bell, they never play the […]
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Persistence Pays Off for The Receiver
It shouldn’t be this hard to sell music
The Receiver, a synth-pop-centered duo from Columbus, Ohio, had to go quite a ways to get a stalled career restarted: all the way to England, in fact. Things got off to a reasonable enough start when brothers Casey Cooper (vocals/keyboards/bass) and Jesse Cooper (drums/vocals) started out a decade ago as The Receiver. Signed to a […]
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All Stars
The return of Smash Mouth
Smash Mouth came on the scene in 1997 with the album “Fush Yu Mang,” which is the noise you make make while screaming expletives at the person that just smashed your mouth. With that album, the San Jose, Calif.-based band jumpstarted a resurging Ska craze almost single-handedly, becoming totemic to the idea of a “Summer […]