It all started in Portland, OR...
Now, Portland isn't traditionally referred to as a hotbed of hip-hop like Brooklyn or Compton is, but Aminé could very well change that perception.
"You don't ever think of a rapper or even a black guy coming out of Portland," he asserts. "That's just not a thing! However, there's a fairly diverse subculture in the city that few people know about. It's very different from what you would expect."
However, everything he does defies expectations. The rapper, artist, and director draws equal influence from his parents' Ethiopian heritage as he does from trailblazers such as Kanye West and André 3000. He's more likely to record in a remote AirBNB'ed wilderness cabin than he is in a posh studio, and he cites Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson as major inspirations. Building on a lifelong passion for music, he began recording in high school and quietly sharpening his mic skills. While attending Portland State University, he released his 2015 project Calling Brio.
Merging visual lyricism, swaggering production, and his clever, catchy bars, it became a phenomenon on Soundcloud, racking up over 1 million+ plays. In addition to praise from Pigeons & Planes, HypeTrak, and more, Complex spotlighted him as "one of the artists we're certainly checking for this year."
"I'm a fan of all genres," he explains. "My parents always played African music and Bob Marley. Then, I grew up on everything from Erykah Badu to John Mayer. I want to do something that reflects this diversity. My songs need to be good for the listener personally."
Representing that mosaic style, his 2016 single "Caroline" struts through a funked-up tribal bounce with the kind of grit and gusto that'd make Jules Winfield and Vincent Vega proud. Upon release, it quickly caught fire, garnering 10 million-plus Spotify streams, 8 million-plus Soundcloud plays, and 4 million-plus YouTube/VEVO views as well as reaching #1 on Spotify's Global Viral Top 50, #1 on the US Viral Top 50, and #1 on the Canada Viral Top 50. As the track took off, he inked a deal with Republic Records.
"With ‘Caroline,' I wanted to make an encouraging and fun record," Aminé goes on. "It really happened in the moment, and it's a feel good song."
It's also just the beginning. Aminé has a lot more surprises up his sleeve for Portland, hip-hop, and the world at large.
"I never want a basic reaction," he leaves off. "I want you to always have questions. I hope to challenge listeners to wonder why. Those are the artists I care about."
A2
Enigmatic rapper and producer A2 makes music that matters. Whether writing over soulful electronica or woozy R&B, the 26 year-old creates considered compositions bound by a sense of mystery, introspection and a streak of vulnerability.
To listen to A2 is to take a surreal journey through sensual soundscapes often unexplored; this is make-out, make-up, break-up music set to a rhythm and tempo of A2's very own. This is cinematic music that has something to say, and A2 says it beautifully, with a subtlety rarely found within such obviously killer, yet brilliantly understated, pop tunes.
Raised in Croydon, he points out the manor made the man and the musician. "I'm inspired by my estate," he says, slowly, of his influences. "My area and my environment definitely pays a part in who I am and the music that I make. My music is also based around conversations that I might have with a girl, or my mum, or my friends. I take pieces of a conversation and subliminally drop it into a song."
A2 and his two sisters were bought up by his mum, and she encouraged her children's musical inclinations. He learnt piano and would spend a lot of time listening to his mum and older sisters playing R&B, Jazz and Blues, trying to imitate them on the piano or keys. You can catch glimpses of those riffs within his own music, but as a South London boy he was also naturally drawn towards Battersea's So Solid, Stockwell Grime producer and MC Dot Rotten and seminal grime track, ‘Creeper', over which A2 and his mates began to practice MCing.
Though he's a British rhymer bought up around Rap and Grime, he gravitated naturally towards calmer compositions. "I just wanted something a bit quieter, more chill," he points out. "I was done with all the noise, you know? I wanted to create music that was much more about easy listening, dark in its own way, but enjoyable." Over the years, he's perfected his craft, working hard to learn the nuances within producing, engineering and songwriting; this is a multi-talented man who is able to move easily between various disciplines.
With his LP due to release in Spring 17; Blue which is the acronym for 'Before Love Undoes Everything' has massive support behind it. Partnering up with Beats, Boiler Room and being named on Red Bull's Sound Select 2017 - A2 is sure to deliver a remarkable project tapping into new audiences.
Last year we saw him perform at wireless, selling out a second headline show at XOYO and releasing a teaser EP in November called 'More Sleep 2' which A2 describes as "a wake up call" taking his listeners on a journey from 'More Sleep' which was "a period I was working late making songs but More Sleep 2 was me realising my dreams are reality so it's an oxymoron.. kind of". This year we have seen A2 premiere "a moving photograph" via highsnobiety 'X2', then later featured on the rising platform Colors Berlin.
With performances scheduled around the the world, 2017 is shaping up to be the year of A2. He's clearly a highly determined individual keen to make his mark on music in his own way, and on his own terms. "I want to be known as a master of my craft, and I want to create moments," says A2. "A lot of people don't seem to make music for the right reasons, or in the right way. I do this 100% for the love of music and art - that is what separates me for everyone else." A2's artistry isn't about chasing views, likes and retweets, it's about crafting a career within the creative realm that can last through generations. "This is about authenticity and longevity. Everything I do is about the passion that I put into it."
The Last Artful, Dodgr
Sometimes in life, you come across a voice so present and singular in its tone that it makes your entire world stop for a moment and all the hairs on your neck stand up. The Last Artful, Dodgr has proven to be one such phenomenon.
Born in Los Angeles and currently inhabiting Portland, Oregon - Dodgr's own unique brand of rap-singing, made up of casually delivered triple entendres, unforgettable melodies and an ever-changing stream of cadences, has begun to spread like a wildfire. From her noteworthy singles "Squadron" and "Oofda" topping Spotify charts, to her manifested-thru-song appearance on the legendary Sway In The Morning radio show, everything has been coming up Dodgr the last few years. And really, she's only just getting started - with all of that leading up to her collaborative concept album, Bone Music, with producer Neill Von Tally, released in early 2017 to critical acclaim from Pitchfork and fanfare alike.
She'll be pushing things even further in all directions this year with her upcoming debut solo album on Fresh Selects.
A few months back Lithics was voted “Best New Band” in Portland. As much as I despise these sorts of polls, I gotta say, the people got it right! Great to see them get some much deserved accolades. Olympia’s Angel Food are a killer, newish band comprised of comprised of Lillian Maring (Grass Widow, Ruby Pins) and Ange Duval (AKA Angelo Spencer/K records). Cool Flowers is a new Chris Sutton (Hornet Leg, Dub Narcotic Sound System) project with Jon (Bobby Peru) and Travis (Conditioner and a couple dozen others). Straight fire.
But mostly? That voice. It’s Shamir’s alien, androgynous voice that got people talking this year. Nothing sounds like Shamir, and nope, that’s not falsetto. As powerful as it is though, Shamir’s voice has a humble quality to it. He uses simple words and sings about relatable feelings. He knows which words to simmer on, and which ones to let go. Shamir can be exuberant, and his joy can be infectious. He can also sing of loneliness – and make us all feel less alone.
“On The Regular,” his first single on XL, is strictly the former – 100% pure id. It’s a hip-house tune that features Shamir rapping in a fast-paced early 80s playground style. His boasts are ridiculous. His taunts are absurd. A certain toy manufacturer does not come out looking good. As for the rest of us? It’s hard to listen to this song and not feel invincible.
He’s got 20/15 Vision, in the left eye, 2 be specific, and HB has his sights on U. Ascending from Los Angeles by way of the Bay Area, HB is fresh on the scene and ready 2 take U all the way up 2 space and back with his debut album, Contact, the follow-up to his 2014 EP, New Era.
Composed, arranged, co-produced and performed by your very own himself, Contact is a concept album about communication and the contact we purposely, accidentally and inherently struggle to make between friends, lovers and strangers, be them human or otherwise. What contact do we make with our higher being, that compels us to fall back and ground our asses when we get too high past them clouds? Or what is this fear we feel as a result of broken communication, a sorta paralysis in the face of a potential threat to our collected cool? These are the questions HB’s asking and communicating 2 U all.
And when it comes 2 the live show, HB will stun U. It’s an all-in-one package deal with sensual vocals, live loops, groovin’ drum machines, manic guitar lines and thick synths, all at the hands of one being. It’s no secret that this multi-instrumentalist and producer is influenced sonically and ethically by The Artist himself. And If Prince is his king, Sade is his queen, as they reside over an ever expanding court of every genre that falls in between.
He’s not what U’d expect and that’s what makes HB’s language all the more engaging. Cause its a language of disconnection, a speak that breaks down stereotypes and genres. He’s not all funk, he’s not all RnB, and he sure ain’t pure pop or rock either. Sexual and sensitive, ambiguous and androgynous, who is this alien creature, sending us encoded messages like we got ESP? Don’t U wanna know?
So what do U say,
R U ready 2 get EVER so Freaky with ya very own Harriet Brown?
Led by former Magic Mouth vocalist Chanticleer Trü, this project’s driving inspiration is to bring R&B back to the forefront of pop consciousness. To honor the funky dance floor jams of yesteryear—those soulful soul burners that defied genre and have now burned off into the ether—while bringing an element of futurism to the mix.
This has long been a dream of Trü, a lover of R&B that grew up on the vintage funk, disco, and boogie sounds of Prince, Patrice Rushen, Cheryl Lynn, and Klymaxx; and the productions of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and the Chic Organisation. It took him a little while to direct his energies toward it as he had to spend a couple of years burning up stages with Magic Mouth and in collaboration with beloved ensemble the Portland Cello Project. But after a small break, he began writing songs and clarifying his vision for what would become Chanti Darling.
To aid him on this journey, Trü has reached out to some friends he has made along his musical journey, finding welcome support from fellow sonic wizards Natasha Kmeto and Damon Boucher, both fearsome solo artists in their own right. With them in his corner, Chanti Darling became a reality, with a set of songs that are sexy, playful, fierce, and joyous.
True to the source of inspiration, the project has only been evolving since then, especially when it comes to its soon-to-be-legendary live performances. Trü has welcomed friends like Rebecca Cole (The Minders, Wild Fang) and Hannah Billie (The Gossip) to help bring these songs to life on stage. The only constant has been his collaboration with choreographer/dancers William Ylvisaker and Maarqui who provide the colorful and necessary dance moves and smoldering stage presence to accompany Trü’s songs of love, lust, and losing yourself in the sound.
The work is not going unnoticed. Chanti Darling was welcomed to the lineups of Pickathon, Treefort Fest, and What The Festival; played a host of shows with the brilliant Hercules & Love Affair; and shared the stage with Battles at a Red Bull Sound Select show. With these and their own soul-shaking gigs, the project has catapulted to the head of the Portland scene where their fellow musicians and local tastemakers anointed Chanti Darling the city’s Best New Band in the annual poll held by alt-weekly Willamette Week.
The next step is to let the rest of world know that R&B ain’t no joke. Plans are already afoot with the finishing touches being placed on the first Chanti Darling LP, to be released in 2017 by Tender Loving Empire (home of Willis Earl Beal, Typhoon, and Loch Lomond, among others) and venturing out to stages beyond the Northwest. And it couldn’t come at a better time.
“For a long time this music lived on the radio,” says Trü, “but it’s fallen off the radar and changed. Luckily, it’s starting to come back a bit now, right when we need it. It was serious but it had a lot of levity to it. I really want to go full force with that contrast. Everything’s gotten so dark, it’s time to bring some of that lightheartedness back.”
The Fixin’ To’s Twin Peaks tribute night gears up for the revival with tunes inspired by noted Peaks soundtrackers Julee Cruise and Angelo Badalamenti [MOURNFUL SYNTHESIZERS GO HERE]. Performers include Vexations, WL, the Other Place, and Stochastic Mettle Union. Sounds way more fun than a silent drape runner! It should be eerie and fun and emotional. Expect Coffee and Pie Specials. Costumes are highly encouraged!
Nao
Nao is known for her work with fellow U.K. underground producers like Mura Masa, as well as appearing on Disclosure’s Caracal. She was also touted by BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac as having the “Hottest Record in the World.”
Harriet Brown
Be ready 2 make CONTACT with producer, writer and performer Harriet Brown.
He’s got 20/15 Vision, in the left eye, 2 be specific, and HB has his sights on U. Ascending from Los Angeles by way of the Bay Area, HB is fresh on the scene and ready 2 take U all the way up 2 space and back with his debut album, Contact, the follow-up to his 2014 EP, New Era.
Composed, arranged, co-produced and performed by your very own himself, Contact is a concept album about communication and the contact we purposely, accidentally and inherently struggle to make between friends, lovers and strangers, be them human or otherwise. What contact do we make with our higher being, that compels us to fall back and ground our asses when we get too high past them clouds? Or what is this fear we feel as a result of broken communication, a sorta paralysis in the face of a potential threat to our collected cool? These are the questions HB’s asking and communicating 2 U all.
And when it comes 2 the live show, HB will stun U. It’s an all-in-one package deal with sensual vocals, live loops, groovin’ drum machines, manic guitar lines and thick synths, all at the hands of one being. It’s no secret that this multi-instrumentalist and producer is influenced sonically and ethically by The Artist himself. And If Prince is his king, Sade is his queen, as they reside over an ever expanding court of every genre that falls in between.
He’s not what U’d expect and that’s what makes HB’s language all the more engaging. Cause its a language of disconnection, a speak that breaks down stereotypes and genres. He’s not all funk, he’s not all RnB, and he sure ain’t pure pop or rock either. Sexual and sensitive, ambiguous and androgynous, who is this alien creature, sending us encoded messages like we got ESP? Don’t U wanna know?
So what do U say,
R U ready 2 get EVER so Freaky with ya very own Harriet Brown?
Chanti Darling
R&B comes in many different flavors. Perhaps you prefer the glossy, Auto-Tuned visions being mass produced on the modern pop assembly line. Or you just grin at the little morsels sprinkled into current rock and country compositions. But if you’re looking for something far more substantive and satisfying than all that, Chanti Darling is here for you.
Led by former Magic Mouth vocalist Chanticleer Trü, this project’s driving inspiration is to bring R&B back to the forefront of pop consciousness. To honor the funky dance floor jams of yesteryear—those soulful soul burners that defied genre and have now burned off into the ether—while bringing an element of futurism to the mix.
This has long been a dream of Trü, a lover of R&B that grew up on the vintage funk, disco, and boogie sounds of Prince, Patrice Rushen, Cheryl Lynn, and Klymaxx; and the productions of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and the Chic Organisation. It took him a little while to direct his energies toward it as he had to spend a couple of years burning up stages with Magic Mouth and in collaboration with beloved ensemble the Portland Cello Project. But after a small break, he began writing songs and clarifying his vision for what would become Chanti Darling.
To aid him on this journey, Trü has reached out to some friends he has made along his musical journey, finding welcome support from fellow sonic wizards Natasha Kmeto and Damon Boucher, both fearsome solo artists in their own right. With them in his corner, Chanti Darling became a reality, with a set of songs that are sexy, playful, fierce, and joyous.
True to the source of inspiration, the project has only been evolving since then, especially when it comes to its soon-to-be-legendary live performances. Trü has welcomed friends like Rebecca Cole (The Minders, Wild Fang) and Hannah Billie (The Gossip) to help bring these songs to life on stage. The only constant has been his collaboration with choreographer/dancers William Ylvisaker and Maarqui who provide the colorful and necessary dance moves and smoldering stage presence to accompany Trü’s songs of love, lust, and losing yourself in the sound.
The work is not going unnoticed. Chanti Darling was welcomed to the lineups of Pickathon, Treefort Fest, and What The Festival; played a host of shows with the brilliant Hercules & Love Affair; and shared the stage with Battles at a Red Bull Sound Select show. With these and their own soul-shaking gigs, the project has catapulted to the head of the Portland scene where their fellow musicians and local tastemakers anointed Chanti Darling the city’s Best New Band in the annual poll held by alt-weekly Willamette Week.
The next step is to let the rest of world know that R&B ain’t no joke. Plans are already afoot with the finishing touches being placed on the first Chanti Darling LP, to be released in 2017 by Tender Loving Empire (home of Willis Earl Beal, Typhoon, and Loch Lomond, among others) and venturing out to stages beyond the Northwest. And it couldn’t come at a better time.
“For a long time this music lived on the radio,” says Trü, “but it’s fallen off the radar and changed. Luckily, it’s starting to come back a bit now, right when we need it. It was serious but it had a lot of levity to it. I really want to go full force with that contrast. Everything’s gotten so dark, it’s time to bring some of that lightheartedness back.”
Ohmme: an experiment in voice and sound by Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart. Inspired by the Chicago improvisational music scene, Cunningham and Stewart joined forces in 2014. Their combined vocal and musical talents yield a dichotomy of harmony and chaos leaving the audience wanting more. Ohmme has been compared to PJ Harvey, Kate Bush and Tortoise, but their inane chemistry creates something uniquely satisfying and different from their predecessors.
Alina Bea: Progressive pop à la Bjork and Kate Bush
Amenta Abioto: Songwriter, producer, and actor, Amenta Abioto is on the cutting edge of all that is musical, theatrical, and literary. Her music is boldly mystical and soul-fired, and her raw live performances invoke elements of both theatrical surprise and magic through ancient African diasporic sounds and stories. Weaved into syncopated rhythms and dichotomies of comedic proportions, Amenta surprises and tantalizes audiences with mind bending ideas. She brings to the music scene funky academia while skipping vocally from soul shaking gospel to smooth jazz and then onto hip hop rhythms wrapped in West African beats.
Graduating from Idllywild Art’s Academy in 2010, she trained in musical theatre. Since graduating she has courted the music scene and produced one self-titled EP, Amenta Abioto , and one upcoming album, Opening Flower Hymns. Receiving inspiration from the best-seller work Women Who Run With the Wolves, mythological characterization and cultural stories are reflected in the original works of Amenta Abioto.
On June 16, Fleet Foxes will release Crack-Up (Nonesuch Records), its long awaited and highly anticipated third album. Crack-Up comes six years after the 2011 release of Helplessness Blues and nearly a decade since the band's 2008 self-titled debut.
All eleven of the songs on Crack-Up were written by Robin Pecknold. The album was co-produced by Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset, his longtime bandmate, collaborator, and childhood friend. Crack-Up was recorded at various locations across the United States between July 2016 and January 2017: at Electric Lady Studios, Sear Sound, The Void, Rare Book Room, Avast, and The Unknown. Phil Ek mixed the album, at Sear Sound, and it was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound. Fleet Foxes is Robin Pecknold (vocals, multi-instrumentalist), Skyler Skjelset (multi-instrumentalist, vocals), Casey Wescott (multi-instrumentalist, vocals), Christian Wargo (multi-instrumentalist, vocals), and Morgan Henderson (multi-instrumentalist).
Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut made a profound impact on the international musical landscape, earning them Uncut's first ever Music Award Prize, and topping numerous "Best of " lists, including Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of the 2000's and Pitchfork's 50 Best Albums of 2008. Fleet Foxes is certified Gold in North America and Platinum in both the UK and Australia. The follow-up album Helplessness Blues was met with the same critical praise as its predecessor (MOJO five stars, Rolling Stone four stars, Pitchfork Best New Music); that album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200, went Gold in the UK, and earned the band a GRAMMY nomination.
Lineup:
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Oddisee http://www.bandsintown.com/Oddisee/facebookapp?came_from=64
Oddisee http://www.bandsintown.com/Oddisee/facebookapp?came_from=64
GOOD COMPNY http://www.bandsintown.com/GoodCompny/facebookapp?came_from=64
Olivier St. Louis
Find Local Concerts: http://www.bandsintown.com/facebookapp?came_from=71
Grandaddy formed in Modesto, CA in 1992, and consists of Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Tim Dryden, Jim Fairchild and Kevin Garcia. The band initially broke through with 1997's Under the Western Freeway and the NME-praised single "Summer Here Kids." The band's sound,” atmospheric electronics meet warped Americana”, crystallized on 2000's Sophtware Slump, which was met with breathless hype and earned the band "Next Big Thing" status. Tireless rounds of international touring and mountains of fawning press led to 2003's Sumday, increasing album sales, more touring, more press ,T.V.show appearances, and a slot on the main stage at the Glastonbury festival. The band produced another EP and an album entitled Just Like the Fambly Cat, before disbanding in 2006. Following a brief live reunion in 2012, Grandaddy is set for a full return this year, including the first new music in ten years.
You can only go so far on cool points alone. Since Caveman first formed in 2010 they've claimed a spot for themselves at the center of the New York music scene, become in-demand DJs, toured the world (sharing stages with The War on Drugs Jeff Tweedy, and Weezer), and gotten love from everyone from Pitchfork to the New York Times. Now the band–Matthew Iwanusa, lead guitarist James Carbonetti, bassist Jeff Berrall, keyboardist Sam Hopkins and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Prescott Clark–is aiming higher.
Caveman is done being an indie rock band playing for indie rock fans alone. They have their sights set on bigger goals, so on their third time around they made their biggest-sounding album yet.
Otero War was created over the course of three years, completely inverting the ramshackle methods used to make 2011's CoCo Beware and their 2013 self-titled LP. This time frontman Matthew Iwanusa has taken the wheel of the creative process, bringing to it a level of patience, precision, and quality that exceeds anything he's ever done before. Iwanusa wrote most of these songs in the back of tour vans with a laptop and a portable keyboard, then spent years rewriting, examining every part to make sure it was exactly right, and eventually abandoning an album's worth of insufficiently killer songs before hitting the studio with the band. There the group refined the songs even further, filling them out with arrangements that bring together their distinctive musical personalities into one united whole, showing off the seemingly effortless collaborative energy that only comes with years of hard work.
It was more work, but worth it. The result is a whole new Caveman: The songs are stronger and more spacious, with carefully constructed melodies and a more judicious use of folksy four-part harmonies and washes of synthesizer pads, leaving more room for Iwanusa's instantly memorable vocal parts. Iwanusa's lyrics have also evolved from vaguely sketching a typical twenty-something's romantic frustrations to examining larger, more broadly existential matters, like figuring out your place in the world.
While Iwanusa's stepped further out front as a songwriter, arranger, and singer, Otero War is still a group effort made with contributions from the band's entire unofficial extended family. Albert Di Fiore, who engineered their last album, returns with an expanded role to produce. Iwanusa's father contributes string arrangements. Longtime friend and New York punk-scene legend Johnny T, who over the years has employed members as bartenders and DJ's at his bars, helped the band get signed as the first rock act on Cinematic Music Group, home to rappers Joey Bada$$, G Herbo and Cam'ron.
Otero War is clearly the most mature album the band has created, but that doesn't mean it's a drag–in fact it could be the most fun music they've made so far. Iwanusa's singular vision of blending Springsteen and Wilco's polished roots rock with the soaring emotional drama of Tears for Fears and the Human League has never seemed clearer, or stronger. From the buoyant vocal melodies that make the opening track "Never Going Back" take flight, to the hip-shaking rhythms that hold up "Life Or Just Living" (which Matt calls his best song yet), to the contagious, triumphant mood on standout cut "Lean On You," the album overflows with the joyous energy of a songwriter and a band finding their stride and flexing their newfound power for the first time. You can hear them enjoying the freedom from the confines of the expectations that have surrounded them until now, and looking out at a much bigger world to conquer.
PJ Harvey
From the outset of her career, the work of PJ Harvey has commanded attention. She formed the eponymous bass/drums/guitar trio in 1991 in Dorset, England and by the autumn had released the debut single 'Dress' on independent label Too Pure. Dry, released the following month was hailed as an astonishing debut album, not just in the UK but worldwide and particularly in the United States, where Rolling Stone magazine named Harvey 'Best Songwriter' and 'Best New Female Singer' of 1992.
In 1993, PJ Harvey signed to Island Records and released her second album Rid Of Me. The album, supported by a lengthy world tour which drew increasingly wide audiences, garnered Harvey her first Mercury Music Prize nomination. The original trio dissolved and Harvey's solo work '4-Track Demos' was released in the autumn of 1993. To Bring You My Love, an eclectic and starkly original album, followed in 1995, and was accompanied by a tour that saw Harvey explore a more theatrical edge to her live performance. She received her second Mercury Music Prize nomination, two Grammy Award nominations, and 'Artist of the Year' Awards from both Rolling Stone and Spin.
Her fourth album Is This Desire?, released in September 1998, attracted plaudits globally gaining several BRIT and Grammy Award nominations. The much anticipated follow up, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, was released in October 2000 and went on to win Harvey's first Mercury Music Prize. ‘Stories...' was supported by a sold-out worldwide tour. After a summer of live dates, including the first rock concert to be held at London's Tate Modern gallery, Harvey finished work on her next album Uh Huh Her. The supporting tour saw Harvey perform to sold out rooms in South America for the first time. White Chalk was PJ Harvey's critically-acclaimed seventh studio album, which marked a departure for Harvey as it was composed almost entirely on piano. It was supported by a string of notable solo performances including Manchester International Festival, The Royal Festival Hall, the Hay-On-Wye Festival of Literature, the New Yorker Festival, Sydney Opera House and a performance at Copenhagen Opera House for the Crown Prince couple.
In 2006 'PJ Harvey: The Peel Sessions' was released, a collection of Harvey's recordings for the veteran British broadcaster John Peel, spanning her career to date.
PJ Harvey's 2011 album, Let England Shake, was created with a cast of musicians and long-standing collaborators Flood, John Parish, and Mick Harvey. The songs focus on both her home country, and events further afield in which it has embroiled itself. The record evokes the troubled spirit of its time, whilst also looking back through our history. Let England Shake won Harvey her second Mercury Music Prize, setting her apart as the only artist to have won the award on two occasions, an achievement recognised by The Guinness Book Of Records. The album was also awarded ‘Album of the Year' at the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards and was named #1 Album of the Year by numerous publications including The Sunday Times, Los Angeles Times, Mojo, Uncut, Washington Post, The Quietus, The Guardian, NME, Spin, HMV, Sydney Morning Herald, Le Matin, OOR Magazine, Irish Times, Musikexpress, The Independent, The Sunday Telegraph, Stool Pigeon and BBC Music.
Harvey began collaborating on visual projects with respected photojournalist Seamus Murphy in 2011. Murphy, an award-winning photographer, has spent over two decades documenting the world through his lens. His work has taken him to Rwanda, Eritrea, Kosovo, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. 'Let England Shake: 12 Short Films By Seamus Murphy' served as a visual accompaniment to the album, with each track having its own short film.
PJ Harvey has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Thom Yorke, Nick Cave, Tricky, Björk, Hal Wilner, Howe Gelb of Giant Sand, Pascal Comelade, Gordon Gano of Violent Femmes, and Sparklehorse. She joined Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on his critically acclaimed 'Desert Sessions' project [2003] and worked with Mark Lanegan on his solo album, 'Bubblegum'. Harvey produced the debut album by American artist Tiffany Anders and also wrote, recorded & produced material for Marianne Faithfull's 'Before The Poison' [2004].
In 1996 she worked with John Parish on Dance Hall At Louse Point, both an album and a live accompaniment to the Mark Bruce Dance Company production of the same name. The follow-up collaboration with Parish entitled A Woman A Man Walked By, was released in 2009 ahead of an extensive tour of Europe and America. The video for the first single, 'Black Hearted Love', was directed by the acclaimed British artists Jake & Dino Chapman.
In 2009 Harvey composed the soundtrack for renowned Director Ian Rickson's New York production of 'Hedda Gabler'. They worked together again in 2011 on the music for Ophelia in ‘Hamlet' at the Young Vic starring Michael Sheen, and more recently collaborated to score the music for his highly acclaimed 2014 production of ‘Electra' at The Old Vic starring Kristin Scott Thomas.
PJ Harvey contributed original music to the soundtrack for Mark Cousins' film ‘What's This Film Called Love?' as well as for BBC television series ‘Peaky Blinders' starring Cillian Murphy, and BBC Radio 4 Drama productions ‘Eurydice and Orpheus' by Simon Armitage and ‘Orpheus and Eurydice' by Linda Marshall Griffiths. Other projects have included soundtrack work on the films 'Basquiat' by Julian Schnabel, 'Stella Does Tricks' by Coky Giedroyc, 'The Cradle Will Rock' by Tim Robbins and 'Six Feet Under'.
PJ Harvey also appeared as Mary Magdalene in Hal Hartley's movie 'The Book of Life' in 1999.
Harvey made a guest appearance on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show in May 2010, the week before the UK General Election. She was interviewed by Marr and performed 'Let England Shake' in front of Marr's other guest, the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. She was invited back on the show in April 2011 alongside Brown's successor, Prime Minister David Cameron, and performed the song ‘The Last Living Rose'.
A multi-instrumentalist, PJ Harvey is primarily a vocalist and guitarist while also an accomplished player of the autoharp. In addition to her musical career Harvey paints, draws, sculpts, and writes poetry.
Summer 2010 saw Harvey guest design Francis Ford Coppola's art & literary magazine; Zoetrope: All-Story. The issue featured her previously unseen paintings, sculpture and drawings.
In August 2013 PJ Harvey released a new song, 'Shaker Aamer', to highlight the detention of the then last British resident held without trial inside the US prison at Guantánamo Bay. The track was streamed exclusively on The Guardian's website and received positive worldwide attention.
She gave her debut public poetry reading at the British Library, and was a guest editor on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme in December 2013. Harvey was also awarded an MBE for services to music. In 2014 she was awarded an Honorary Degree in Music by Goldsmiths University.
PJ Harvey's first collection of poetry titled The Hollow of the Hand, in collaboration with photographer Seamus Murphy, was published by Bloomsbury UK in October 2015. To celebrate the release Harvey and Murphy presented The Hollow of the Hand show - an evening of poems, new songs, images and conversation - two sold out nights at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall as part of the London Literature Festival 2015.
On 4th November 2015, PJ Harvey appeared alongside Irish poet Paul Muldoon in a new experimental series of ‘in conversation' style evenings called ‘Soundings at the Byre', created by the University of St. Andrews' new International Writer in Residence, Reif Larsen, and Professor of English, Don Paterson.
In spring this year, PJ Harvey releases her ninth studio album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, documenting a unique artistic journey, which took her to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington, D.C. The album was recorded during a month-long residency, "Recording in Progress", in early 2015 at Somerset House during which audiences were given the opportunity to observe Harvey at work with her band and producers in a purpose-built studio housed in the basement of the iconic London building.
PJ Harvey will play a number of select festival dates across Europe this summer including Field Day in London on Sunday 12th June.
Doors: 7:30 PM
Show: 8:30 PM
All Ages
Portland rap promoter and professional MC Idris Oferrall, better known as “StarChile,” is hosting a benefit for Trail Blazers’ DJ O.G. One (David Jackson) at Holocene on May 7. Jackson, who has been the Trail Blazers’ in-house DJ for nine NBA seasons, has not yet been able to resume his role with the team following major complications from cancer surgeryon March 14. He has instead needed assistance with medical expenses while unable to work, which you can read more about on his GoFundMe page, here.
The benefit, presented by Holocene and XRAY.FM, will feature an impressive lineup of local artists with whom Jackson has built relationships over the years.
LOUDER THAN WORDS: A BENEFIT FOR DJ O.G. ONE
SAEEDA WRIGHT, MIKE PHILLIPS, FARNELL NEWTON & THE OTHERSHIP CONNECTION, VURSATYL, MIC CAPES, JON BELZ, DJ JUGGERNAUT, HOSTED BY STARCHILE
DOORS: 7:00 PM / SHOW: 8:00 PM
Tickets: $8.00 - $10.00
This event is 21 and over
The community is coming together to actively join David "DJ O.G. One" Jackson in his fight against cancer and recovery from post surgical complications. A benefit event will be held at Holocene Portland featuring some of the many artists O.G. has built with and mentored throughout the years, great musicians and artists from right here in Portland.
The outpouring of support for Jackson has been tremendous, with over 200 people contributing financially in the last three weeks. If you’ve been hoping to help, now is your chance. You can join the community of giving by showing your support at the upcoming event. For ticketing and venue information, visit the Holocene website.
Nathan Carson is a musician, writer, and Moth StorySlam Champion from Portland. He is widely known as co-founder and drummer of the internationally touring doom metal band Witch Mountain, host of the FM radio show The Heavy Metal Sewing Circle, and the owner of the boutique music booking agency, Nanotear. In recent years, Carson has turned his sights toward weird fiction, earning immediate accolades and publication via Word Horde, Stone Skin Press, Strange Aeons Magazine, Fedogan & Bremer, and Lazy Fascist Press. His Newest book is Starr Creek.
This event is free and open to all.
Open Signal's first Open House drew more than 800 Portlanders to see our newly renovated facility and find out about our new media-making programs.
In fact, it was such a great party that we've decided to do it again!
On Saturday, May 6 from 4 to 10 p.m., Open Signal staff will throw open our doors to the community. Come explore our space, see work by independent media-makers and learn how we can help you realize your vision.
In Studio A, XRAY.FM will be hosting a live hip-hop show, featuring Alexis Cannard, Neka Perini and Blossom!
We'll also be screening XRAY TV, a new, curated television block created by XRAY.FM and Open Signal; offering 10% discounts on class registrations; and showing projections by digital media students.
Come hear live music, get your photo taken in a video synth photo booth and chill in a ten-foot-tall, twenty-foot-wide electronic pyramid installation (created by middle school students at Open School North and Open Signal resident artist Kello Goeller).
We'll have pizza and alcoholic beverages available for purchase, and those who register via Eventbrite will get a FREE slice of pizza and drink ticket.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-house-tickets-29905165154
Often referred to as “The Hendrix of the Sahara”, Vieux Farka Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981. He is the son of legendary Malian guitar player Ali Farka Touré, who died in 2006. Ali Farka Touré came from a historical tribe of soldiers, and defied his parents in becoming a musician. When Vieux was in his teens, he declared that he also wanted to be a musician. His father dissaproved due to the pressures he had experienced being a musician. Rather, he wanted Vieux to become a soldier. But with help from family friend the kora maestro Toumani Diabaté, Vieux eventually convinced his father to give him his blessing to become a musician shortly before Ali passed.
Vieux was initially a drummer / calabash player at Mali’s Institut National des Arts, but secretly began playing guitar in 2001. Ali Farka Touré was weakened with cancer when Vieux announced that he was going to record an album. Ali recorded a couple of tracks with him, and these recordings, which can be heard on Vieux’s debut CD, were amongst his final ones. It has been said that the senior Touré played rough mixes of these songs when people visited him in his final days, at peace with, and proud of, his son’s talent as a musician.
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
CLINTON FEARON (acoustic)
Clinton Fearon is a composer, songwriter, singer and player of instruments since his early teens, and a professional since the age of 19.
He was born in Jamaica and become the bassist, vocalist and lyricist for the mythic Gladiators, as well as a session musician for Coxsonne Dodd in Studio One and Lee 'Scratch' Perry's at Black Ark, two of the main producers on the island at this time. He also composed some everlasting bass lines for well-known artists like Yabby You, Jimmy Riley, Max Romeo, Junior Byles and many others.
After leaving Jamaica 1987, Clinton Fearon start a new career from Seattle. With other musicians of the Gladiators, he decided to stay in the US and to found The Defenders. The band built a nice following in the Northwest. After five years the band split and Clinton Fearon formed the Boogie Brown Band with local musicians in 1993.
Clinton Fearon recorded eight albums with Boogie Brown Band and two albums in solo acoustic.
Each song of Clinton Fearon is a strong message coming from the heart of a man who dedicates his life to help a better world to come. With chiselled music and poetic lyrics, he opens reggae to a wider audience who simply loves his beautiful songs.
The Bridgetown Comedy Festival celebrates its tenth year of bringing the best in comedy to Portland. View the full lineup of over 100 performers and themed shows here.
2017 highlights include:
- Janeane Garofalo (Saturday Night Live, The Larry Sanders Show)
- Andy Kindler (Bob’s Burgers, Everybody Loves Raymond)
- Eugene Mirman (Bob’s Burgers, Delocated)
- Karen Kilgariff (My Favorite Murder, Mr. Show)
- Guy Branum (Talk Show The Game Show, Chelsea Lately)
- Baron Vaughn (Grace and Frankie, Fairly Legal)
- Jackie Kashian (The Dork Forest, Lady Dynamite)
- Laurie Kilmartin (Conan, Last Comic Standing)
- Kevin Avery (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver)
- Matt Braunger (Agent Carter, Big Dumb Animal)
- Brooke van Poppelen (Hack My Life, Girl Code)
- Nico Santos (Superstore, Chelsea Lately)
- Dave Hill (@midnight, Inside Amy Schumer)
- Eliza Skinner (The Late, Late Show with James Corden)
- Debra DiGiovanni (Just For Laughs, Last Comic Standing)
- Ahmed Bharoocha (Adam Devine’s House Party, Conan)
- Chris Fairbanks (Almost Genius, Conan)
- Annie Lederman (We Have Issues, @midnight)
- Shane Torres (Conan)
- Andy Erikson (Last Comic Standing)
Lock in your pre-sale festival now at a savings of $10 off of the standard price and visit bridgetowncomedy.com for performer and show updates.
*Note that festival passes do not include admission to the pre-festival special event Patton Oswalt show at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on May 2nd, ticketed separately atportland5.com, or any shows taking place at Revolution Hall, ticketed separately at revolutionhallpdx.com as they are announced.
***Performers and shows subject to change***
50 Song Memoir is the new album from songwriter Stephin Merritt’s beloved recording project, the Magnetic Fields. This personal album, containing fifty songs, one for each year of the artist’s life, is projected for a late 2016/early 2017 release on Nonesuch Records. The album commenced recording on Stephin Merritt’s fiftieth birthday, February 9, 2015.
To date, Merritt has written and recorded ten Magnetic Fields albums, including the popular and critically acclaimed album, 69 Love Songs. A song from that record, "The Book of Love," has been covered by Peter Gabriel, and has appeared in numerous TV shows and films; notably, the Nairobi Chamber Orchestra performed it at an official state dinner in Kenya, before Presidents Barack Obama and Uhuru Kenyatta delivered their toasts. Merritt has also composed original music and lyrics for several music theater pieces, including an off-Broadway stage musical of Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline, for which he received an Obie Award. In 2014, Merritt composed songs and background music for the first musical episode of public radio’s This American Life. Stephin Merritt also releases albums under the band names the 6ths, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes.
Unlike Merritt’s previous work, the lyrics on 50 Song Memoir are nonfiction, a mix of autobiography (bedbugs, Buddhism, buggery) and documentary (hippies, Hollywood, hyperacusis). There is one song per year for the fifty years since the songwriter’s birth in 1965. Musically, the sound ranges as widely and adventurously as possible, within the context of lyrics-driven music.
In concert, the music will be played and sung by seven performers in a stage set featuring fifty years of artifacts both musical (vintage computers, reel-to-reel tape decks, newly invented instruments), and decorative (tiki bar, shag carpet, vintage magazines for the perusal of idle musicians). The seven performers each play seven different instruments, traditional (cello, charango, clavichord) or invented in the last fifty years (Slinky guitar, Swarmatron, synthesizer).
In describing his approach to writing 50 Song Memoir, Merritt states: “The first song, ‘Wonder Where I'm From,’ explains that I was conceived by barefoot beatniks on a houseboat in St Thomas, Virgin Islands; born in Yonkers, NY, but never lived there; learned to talk in Baden-Baden, in the former West Germany (then called the BRD, for Bundesrepublik Deutschland), and moved around constantly throughout my childhood, so that when someone asks me where I'm from, I have no short answer handy. The musical treatment shifts to reflect each locale, as exemplified by Alvin and the Chipmunks' album Around the World with the Chipmunks.“
The stage extravaganza will be directed by the award-winning Jose Zayas (Love in the Time of Cholera, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter).
Born the middle of 5 children and raised by a single mother, Vice grew up in Oregon with dreams of becoming a filmmaker. She faced an unthinkable plot twist at the age of 15, though, when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and her kidneys began to fail. By 19, she'd begun what would turn into three-and-a-half years of dialysis, during which time she faced down congestive heart failure, dangerous weight loss, and a series of hospital-borne infections that could have proved fatal to someone in her condition.
"Instead of praying that I would be healed, I was just so tired that I would pray for death every day," she confesses. "But every day I woke up, I decided to live that day to the fullest."
When well enough to work, she put herself through medical assisting school and was blessed with a much-needed kidney transplant. The new lease on life encouraged her to pursue her dream of filmmaking, long-since put on hold in the face of her struggle to survive.
"I decided I was going to make films and put people of color in them with no stereotypes attached," Vice explains. "I wanted to make movies that encouraged people to go out and do something in their lives, that wouldn't make them feel limited because they grew up in a certain neighborhood or family situation."
While working in film, she began attending a new church in Portland and inexplicably found herself compelled to audition for the worship team, a small group of singers and musicians who led the young congregation in contemplative, folk-inspired songs. Overcoming her intense stage fright, she auditioned for Josh White, the pastor of the church and who wrote much of the material for the worship team, and their connection was immediate. Vice began singing in smaller, laid back services during the week, until one Sunday, Vice was called to sing solo in front of the full congregation of nearly 400 parishioners.
"I remember as I was singing, it felt like every pore in my body opened up, and I was just covered in sweat like I had water poured on top of my head," she says. "I was so overwhelmed with the adrenaline of singing a song of that magnitude by myself in front of that many people. It felt like I just went to a new place and everyone disappeared, and then the song was over. There was so much emotion happening I had to sit down. My friend walked onstage in tears and she said, 'What was that?' I looked at her and started crying and said, 'I don’t know.'"
It was a life-changing performance. White decided to give Vice songs he intended for his own solo project. After just one rehearsal, she and the band headed into Jackpot Studios to record all of the instrumentation live to tape. The buzz about the music they were creating was so strong that when they announced a local release show, it sold out almost instantly. Her riveting performance led to dates with Cody Chesnutt and St. Paul & The Broken Bones, as well as a slot at the prestigious Blues Fest, and now, an international release for the album on Ramseur Records.
'There's A Light' opens with the funky R&B of "Abide," Vice's voice sounding like something straight out of the Stax vault over top of a slinky bass and drum groove. On "Empty Me Out," the keyboards take over front and center as Vice's voice grows in rich, expansive layers of harmony. It was hearing the recording of the slow-burning "Entrance" for the first time, though, that convinced her she was creating something special with White.
"When I first listened to the final mix, as soon as it gets to the first 'ooohs,' I couldn't believe that voice was mine," she remembers. "It was the first time I ever heard the things that people kept saying they heard when I sang. I started tearing up and had this moment of, 'Can I cry to my own song?'" she laughs. "It felt like an out of body experience."
The wailing vocals on "The Source" are the stuff that goosebumps are made of, while Vice found herself channeling Michael Jackson on "Everything Is Yours" and pushing deep into the kind of questions about faith and spirituality that one rarely has the courage to ask in church on "Enclosed By You."
Though it's not filmmaking like she originally dreamed of, Vice has found music to be a vehicle for the same type of positive social influence she hoped to have as a director. She imagines the up-tempo gospel of "Pure Religion" as the kind of song a mother might sing to her children to keep them on the right track, and "All Must Be Well" is a message of resilience and survival through hard times. It's perhaps on the title track, though, that we hear the purest expression of love and hope, with Vice joyfully singing "There's a light shining over me" throughout the two-minute, feel-good album closer.
There is indeed a light shining over Liz Vice. It saved her all those years ago just when she thought her life was ending, and it shone down upon a new calling, one in which she gets up onstage every night and shares that light with the world. Come what may, Liz Vice is gonna let it shine.
50 Song Memoir is the new album from songwriter Stephin Merritt’s beloved recording project, the Magnetic Fields. This personal album, containing fifty songs, one for each year of the artist’s life, is projected for a late 2016/early 2017 release on Nonesuch Records. The album commenced recording on Stephin Merritt’s fiftieth birthday, February 9, 2015.
To date, Merritt has written and recorded ten Magnetic Fields albums, including the popular and critically acclaimed album, 69 Love Songs. A song from that record, "The Book of Love," has been covered by Peter Gabriel, and has appeared in numerous TV shows and films; notably, the Nairobi Chamber Orchestra performed it at an official state dinner in Kenya, before Presidents Barack Obama and Uhuru Kenyatta delivered their toasts. Merritt has also composed original music and lyrics for several music theater pieces, including an off-Broadway stage musical of Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline, for which he received an Obie Award. In 2014, Merritt composed songs and background music for the first musical episode of public radio’s This American Life. Stephin Merritt also releases albums under the band names the 6ths, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes.
Unlike Merritt’s previous work, the lyrics on 50 Song Memoir are nonfiction, a mix of autobiography (bedbugs, Buddhism, buggery) and documentary (hippies, Hollywood, hyperacusis). There is one song per year for the fifty years since the songwriter’s birth in 1965. Musically, the sound ranges as widely and adventurously as possible, within the context of lyrics-driven music.
In concert, the music will be played and sung by seven performers in a stage set featuring fifty years of artifacts both musical (vintage computers, reel-to-reel tape decks, newly invented instruments), and decorative (tiki bar, shag carpet, vintage magazines for the perusal of idle musicians). The seven performers each play seven different instruments, traditional (cello, charango, clavichord) or invented in the last fifty years (Slinky guitar, Swarmatron, synthesizer).
In describing his approach to writing 50 Song Memoir, Merritt states: “The first song, ‘Wonder Where I'm From,’ explains that I was conceived by barefoot beatniks on a houseboat in St Thomas, Virgin Islands; born in Yonkers, NY, but never lived there; learned to talk in Baden-Baden, in the former West Germany (then called the BRD, for Bundesrepublik Deutschland), and moved around constantly throughout my childhood, so that when someone asks me where I'm from, I have no short answer handy. The musical treatment shifts to reflect each locale, as exemplified by Alvin and the Chipmunks' album Around the World with the Chipmunks.“
The stage extravaganza will be directed by the award-winning Jose Zayas (Love in the Time of Cholera, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter).
It's time to debate rent control in Portland!
In response to the housing crisis, the state legislature is considering lifting the statewide ban on rent control, and members of Portland's City Council are openly discussing what rent control might look like in our city. We need more public discussion of this important and controversial set of policies that will shape housing in the city and the state for decades to come.
XRAY.FM and the advocacy group Portland Forward are hosting a spirited debate between advocates on both sides of the issue: Economist Dr. Gerard Mildner of the PSU School of Business Administration and Margot Black, an organizer with Portland Tenants United. Jefferson Smith of XRAY in the Morning will be moderating the debate and the whole conversation will be recorded live for future airing on XRAY.FM and KXRW Vancouver.
Come participate in democracy!
This event is ALL AGES (alcohol will still be sold, don't worry)
Tickets are $7 (all fees included) and proceeds go to XRAY.FM