7 HOME MUSIC NEWS
Atomic Clock about to go off
12/28/2007 | ID: Atomic Clock is a local band with veteran players, including a couple who teach music as a day job. Style: Progressive rockRoster: Guitarist and backing vocalist Kicho Forrest, bassist Rob Hazen, drummer Miah Knight, keyboardist Keith Brown and lead vocalist Michael Locati.
Time for Sominations
12/28/2007 | COLUMN | Danny Weber beat out Seaweed Jack for best live performance of 2006? Yep, that's what last year's Sommy Award says. But it turns out some people didn't agree with all of my calls for my annual music awards held in January.
Tribe making comeback
12/28/2007 | The last day of 2007 will be the first show in two years for Tha Lost Tribe. The local Native American rap group waited out a break from local shows after being charged with inciting a riot.
DJ J.A.H. remembers roots
12/21/2007 | ID: Jeremy Heward, aka DJ J.A.H., is a member of the Real Life Sound collective of deejays, musicians, poets and artists. Style: Universal organics Training wheels: "When I got into high school, to me, electronic (music) was another step up from hip-hop. Every weekend I'd be telling my mom I was going to stay at a friend's and then driving to Salt Lake City, Utah which was three-and-half-hours away and going to clubs and different house parties there. And the love for the music really caught on there, seeing the deejays and what they could do, it was amazing. It was like an instrument," Heward said.
Ohmega Watts: He's the real deal, kids
12/21/2007 | Ohmega Watts is hip-hop. He is not just hip-hop music; he is the essence of the culture, the feeling, the vibe, or whatever you want to call it. He is the emcee and producer; he writes and recites all of his own raps and makes his own beats. He is the history of the future; the link to funk, soul and jazz and the product of the unorthodox intermingling of all three.
The gift of music
12/21/2007 | Real Life Sound is beyond music. When the local artist collective's point man, John Gardner, started reaching out to like-minded movers and shakers; it was based on positive change through power in numbers. Now Real Life Sound is putting that same philosophy into action for the larger community by partnering with 7 for a weeklong food and coat drive called 7 Days of Giving. The event features seven opportunities to come out and shake your butt with local sound providers while lending a helping hand during the holidays.
Cross keeps it local
12/21/2007 | COLUMN | I caught myself chatting online at 3 a.m. with former Free Range Robot Jason Cross about the best Spokane bands of the year when I fell into the following interview.
Zombie Room resurrects B-Side days
12/14/2007 | Last year this time there was a lot of uncertainty about what was going down at 230 W. Riverside Ave. The former home of The B-Side has been through some serious growing pains, but it looks like things are finally stabilizing at The Zombie Room.
The ghosts of Character Flaw
12/14/2007 | ID: Character Flaw is an old band with new members. Style: Radio rockRoster: Singer Branden Whitley, lead guitarist Quinn Tanzer, rhythm guitarist Eric Varnell, bassist Rob Webber and drummer Paul RobinsonOrigin: "We started in 2003 with different members.
Empyrean holding holiday happening
12/14/2007 | Empyrean Coffee House is holding a concert following a glass art show this weekend. It's also a mutligenre holiday show with live area hip-hop, rock and DJs. All-ages music starts at 9:30 p.m., but the show turns to a 21-and-older event at 11 p.m.
Legacy spawns raw sound
12/7/2007 | Ky-Mani Marley shares a lot of similarities with his legendary father and famous brothers, the most obvious of which are his dreads and his drive to pursue a career in music. But while he still identifies his style as reggae and uses the Marley name as a lightning rod, Ky-Mani spouts his message with more of a thuggish, Americanized rap style.
Striving for timeless sound
12/7/2007 | ID: Formada is a new rock band that also runs its own recording studio. Style: Alternative rockRoster: Guitarist Seth Wolther, bassist Brian Brophy, guitarist Max Lathrop, drummer Seth Mead and singer Wyatt WoodMission statement: "The main thing would be a common thought in developing something timeless.
Bazan takes first solo step with Barsuk
11/28/2007 | Pedro the Lion pounced onto the bourgeoning Northwest indie rock scene in the late 1990s, making a name for itself on an international level with sincere lyrics and interweaving guitar lines before breaking up in 2005. And for lead singer David Bazan, well, life after the Lion is anything but tame.
A wordly experience
11/27/2007 | ID: Sky Like Static is an international experience featuring members from Spokane led by Glasgow, Scotland's, Andi Watson. Style: Electronic beat-heavy guitar rockRoster: Keyboardist and vocalist Watson, bassist Mark Rakes, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Ron Greene, rhythm guitarist Jae Choi and drummer Jim BruceOrigin: "(Watson) and I met at Christ the Redeemer Church in the West Central neighborhood.
Weber still in the loop
11/23/2007 | ID: Requiem is a three-piece band built around singer-songwriter Danny Weber. Style: Loop-based improvisation and melodic ghettotechRoster: Drummer and loops technician Travis Hurley; bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, vocodist and loops architect Travis Goulding; and singer, guitarist and loops specialist WeberOrigin: "I met Travis H.
Anberlin rolling into the Station
11/23/2007 | Tooth and Nail Records has a reputation for putting out impressive indie music with mainstream potential, and the third album from Anberlin upholds that tradition. The Orlando quintet has sold more than 100,000 copies of "Cities" after debuting on the Billboard Top 200 at No. 19 Tooth and Nail's second-highest debut.
Velella, Pants get together at Mootsy's
11/14/2007 | In local music circles we talk proudly of Velella Velella and James Pants as two of the strongest arguments that there's something worth downloading coming out of Spokane. OK, maybe it's a stretch because Velella moved to Seattle a couple of years ago, but still.
DJ Fade is bringin'
'80s back
11/13/2007 | ID: DJ Fade, aka Skillet Jones, aka Dennis Henderson talks about the 1980s as if they were his home planet. Style: '80s music
Origin: "It started in the '80s. I was in my 20s in the '80s," Henderson said. "I did a party a few months back. I have 300-plus songs from this era, and it's stuff I sit around and play at home anyway, I thought, 'Why not get out and make a party out of it.' "
Alter Bridge establishes identity with 'Blackbird'
11/7/2007 | When Alter Bridge first came to town in 2004 there was some speculation as to how Myles Kennedy would fit in with the former members of Creed. The album was mostly written before Kennedy, the Spokane native and frontman for the band, had even auditioned to be lead singer, and lead guitarist Mark Tremonti was essentially thought of as the bandleader.
Hot Club all about the music
11/5/2007 | ID: The Hot Club of Spokane is a new vintage jazz band affiliated with 6 Foot Swing and The Viktor Novorski Band. It was started by Garrin Hertel, who founded the annual Think Swing Jazz and Blues Festival.
NW's highfalutin hip-hop is clearly above the rest
11/2/2007 | The Blue Scholars are uplifting hip-hop, and they bring the Seattle music scene with them. Since the summer release of "Bayani," the Scholars' second full-length album, Seattle's dynamic duo of cerebral hip-hop has raised its stock through the roof.
On your toes, Spokane
10/31/2007 | COLUMN | Spokane bands: Ashley from the Wig is calling you out. This open letter to Spokane bands appeared in a MySpace bulletin last week from Ashley Graham, a music journalist, concert promoter, indie publicist and a loyal supporter of the Spokane music scene who lives in Seattle:"I'm taking time out of my work day to say this because it is important to me.
Get strung out on strings
10/30/2007 | Dane Ueland is a music major at Whitworth University who performs with a rotating cast of musicians. "I was in a band in high school called The Anomalies and we were pretty popular in our small town, which had 80 kids in our graduating class. We were the only rock band but I was really into it, and all those guys were, but they all went different directions with college," Ueland said.
In pursuit of perfect venue the small Big Easy works
10/25/2007 | COLUMN | I've seen Modest Mouse twice before, both times at music festivals at The Gorge. I'm told by longtime fans that's nothing compared to seeing Modest Mouse back in the day, when the band played small clubs and Isaac Brock was known for his freak-outs onstage.
Undead festival hits the movies
10/23/2007 | There's a slew of scarific and spooktastic parties for Halloween so let's get down to business. This first item has nothing to do with music but everything to do with awesome (so if you're not down with awesome feel free to scroll down). The dead shall walk the earth Friday the Month of Macabre VI in invites the public to take a walk with death as Spokane Zombie March commences at 7 p.m. at outside the south entrance of River Park Square. To join the parade of the fallen, dress up like one of the undead and bring a can of food for the living.
