Sound Stories & Interviews

Insert ego-stroking self reference. The phenomenon of the multi-platinum, mega-famous rap star is somewhat
of a dying trend, but you wouldn't know it by what's on the marquee at
Midtown for next week. The venue is host to not just one large-scale
rap show, but two in a row. It's former G-Unit member Young Buck
headlining a "Hip-hop Comedy Jam" on Tuesday night, then three members
of the storied rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony taking to the stage on
Thursday night.

We've spilled a good amount of ink in the past couple
of months about the influx in indie hip-hop making its way through
town, we haven't done the same for the big-name, commercial acts like
Young Buck and the Bone Thugs guys. This is largely because mainstream
hip-hop acts don't stop off in town too often. But this isn't to say
there isn't a want for these sort of tours. Hell, even if we're not all
that urban, we can still get all crunked up when we find it necessary.

If you need a reason to hit up this benefit, just look above.The news of the gruesome attack on Bendites Britt Leis and Lia Koehn as they traveled through Ecuador didn't take long to spread through town. The details of the assault were outlined in national news reports and now, weeks later, talk of Leis' miraculous survival has since been a steady topic around town, even though most residents had never met the two.

While Leis survived the more than 20 stab wounds he incurred during the attack, his path to recovery will likely be a long one, and the medical costs for his care (which included being airlifted back to California, where he continues to receive care) are nothing less than staggering. What happened to Leis and Koehn is a tragedy, but the response from the community has been refreshing, especially the reaction from Bend's music community.

You ready for These folks, Tower?It's just after 11am on a recent Saturday morning when Hannah Jacobs, Jason Costa and Andy Hoard of local prog-metal band Tentareign walk into Thump Coffee to talk about their upcoming CD release party on November 22. They've been up until 3am doing a full-blown dress rehearsal for the show and are exhausted and definitely in need of some caffeine. The band, known for their great live performances, stage sets and overall sound, are turning heads in Bend lately with their announcement that they will be debuting their first album - The Power Between - at the Tower Theatre. That's right, metal at Tower. The same place that you can also check out plays like Driving Miss Daisy and A Tuna Christmas or see musicals like In the Mood. Music acts that have played there this year include Taj Mahal and Béla Fleck … not exactly mosh-worthy bands.

Hip-hop fans in Bend know they don't have it as tough as one might think. Of course, there are a few quality local acts to feast on, but it's our proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area that makes Bend the benefactor of high-profile hip-hop tour stops.

The Dirty Words: Seeing through the trees.At times during the past two years, it seemed that there was only one
indie rock band in Bend. Well, let's just say there was only one indie
rock band playing shows in the city. While there were plenty of
burgeoning, still-in-the-garage acts, it seemed the Dirty Words were
the only band that would actually play a steady line of shows.

But in
the last year, the high school scene and the just-out-of-high-school
set have come forward with a number of bands and other veteran groups
have shored up their acts, and giving hope that there might be more to
be found in Bend than roots rock, metal, bluegrass and, surprisingly,
hip-hop. The influx of indie rock sounds is a splash of cold water to a
face largely hung over from too much of the same and it's with that in
mind that The Dirty Words release their debut full-length album,
International Machine, which has been in the works for the better part
of the past year.

Christmas music can drive you crazy. Actually it will almost certainly attack your sanity if ingested in large portions. Like eggnog, these tunes are reserved for only one month (or maybe month and a half if you're on the overly festive side of things) out of the year and also like eggnog, Christmas music is dangerous in large quantities.
I'll be upfront. I hate Christmas music (but love eggnog) and when a CD entitled Jingle All the Way landed on my desk on the last week of October, I nearly set it aflame. But before any rash actions could be made, I took a closer look at the CD and saw this wasn't just a mere Christmas album, but a holiday record from instrumental icons Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.