Sharing vocal and songwriting duties, Birger Olsen, Mike Elias and Tom Bevitori are the heart of Denver, while the rest of the line-up has long included several of Portland’s finest players. Currently, the band consists of drummer Sean MacNeil, bassist Billy Slater (Grails) and the legendary Lewi Longmire on lead guitar. Past and future editions include Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Earley and Michael Van Pelt, Ben Nugent (Dolorean), Ryan Spellman (Quiet Life), Ray Raposa (Castanets), Tom Menig and many others.

Paste praised their 2012 self-titled debut’s “perfect tunes,” while KEXP hosted a live session and proclaimed, “sweet harmonies and tight arrangements abound.” Statements like these become all the more relevant with their upcoming release, Rowdy Love, as Denver teamed up with Earley and Adam Selzer (M. Ward, Norfolk & Western) for their first trip to a proper studio. Recorded live in just two days at Selzer’s Type Foundry Studio, Rowdy Love certainly showcases all the endless chops at Denver’s disposal.

The record’s true focus, however, lies in the rare way Olsen, Elias and Bevitori’s distinct voices co-exist. There’s a natural melding of styles that’s evolved from afternoons on Olsen’s back porch, late night’s around Elias’ fire pit, and every last time they’ve nailed “The Weight” harmonies at the old Triple Nickel. Denver’s three songwriters may come to the process with varying style and influences, but Denver’s songwriting is universally honest and bare, whiskey-fueled, sweat-soaked, and steeped in working class life. Some might call it country. Some might call it rock. Some might call it a few drunks on a stage. Either way, bullshit and irony have no home here.

Rowdy Love will be released on July 15th, via Mama Bird Recording Co.

http://denvertheband.com/

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Kele Goodwin has spent his life in three places: in Juneau, Alaska; on the Navajo Nation; and in the misty Pacific Northwest. He makes music that sings from bone marrow, from a life and landscape alternately charted and lost, crushed and rebuilt. It is music made familiar by the experience of pain and its lessons. It is music to live by.
Goodwin’s debut album Hymns was produced by Sean Ogilvie of Musé Méchanique and features guest performances from Laura Gibson, Alela Diane, Ogilvie himself, Douglas Jenkins of The Portland Cello Project, and many others. His lyrics are both observation and prayer, delicate lines built on an architecture of gratitude and disbelief of the world around him.

http://www.kelegoodwin.net/

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Dear Nora Live

Songwriter Katy Davidson (they/them) revived the band Dear Nora in January 2017 when Orindal Records reissued the thirteen-year-old album Mountain Rock on vinyl. The reissue received great acclaim and the band toured the west and east coasts last year. Spurred by the momentum, Davidson decided to create the first album of new Dear Nora material in a decade, Skulls Example (release date: May 25, 2018).

Davidson has been composing, recording, and performing for nearly twenty years. Davidson is from rural Arizona, has lived in Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and currently resides in Twentynine Palms, California. Davidson has played under a handful of monikers, but Dear Nora is the one most widely recognized. Dear Nora originally started in 1999, released a handful of enigmatic, compelling albums throughout the early 2000s, and toured across the United States, Japan, Sweden and Australia. Throughout the years, the Dear Nora live band featured a rotating cast of band members, though oftentimes Davidson played solo. Davidson retired the band name Dear Nora in 2008 and began making music under the names Lloyd & Michael and Key Losers. Davidson also was a touring guitarist/vocalist in the bands YACHT and Gossip. Davidson’s music represents a spectrum of styles encompassing classic rock, experimental music, ethereal pop, new age, punk, and R&B. Davidson writes lyrics with layered meanings that contemplate the vast realms and intersections of wilderness, humanity, morality, technology, late capitalism, and love.

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!!!

Shag Rock!!

Sallie Ford, Maria Kohler and Amanda Spring present their latest rock n roll outfit!!

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public

S P E C I A L   K I D S   S H O W

Mr. Ben!!!

Mr. Ben plays live music for kids and families in and around Portland, OR. His shows are the perfect blend of entertainment and education. Your child can participate as much or as little as they choose — they are free to explore new musical ideas and concepts at their own pace and in their own way.

So when you come to a Mr. Ben show, you can feel good about the fact that you are taking an active role in your child’s cognitive development, laying the foundation for their musical education, and helping to dispel the myth that only some people have musical potential. Who knew you could do all that just by attending a live children’s music show?

www.mrbenmusic.com

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Spring/Summer 2019 Workshop Series

How the Light Gets In with instructor Suzie Kassouf

It can feel unbearable to carry the pain of our world in this unprecedented era of social upheaval and ecological destruction. Luckily, the task of tending to our broken world can infuse us with life-affirming purpose, connection and joy. Through vinyasa, meditation, group activities and time spent in nature, we will learn to honor our pain as a precious signifier of our compassion and care for our world. Most importantly, we will develop in ourselves a robust and muscular hope, rooted in the very unpredictability of these times. Leonard Cohen implores us, “ring the bells that still can ring/ forget your perfect offering/ there is a crack in everything/ that’s how the light gets in.” I look forward to sharing this with you.

Suzie Kassouf is an educator, yoga instructor and climate justice activist. After 10 years of personal practice, she completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training at The People’s Yoga with Suniti Dernovsek in 2018. She has worked extensively on multiple campaigns including Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Presidential Run and the 2018 Portland Clean Energy Fund. Suzie believes strongly that our world is desperate for healing on multiple levels, and that true liberation can be found in community and service to others. She is passionate about marrying activism and spirituality and strives to courageously live the path of nonviolence in her life and work.

COST: sliding scale $40, $30, or $20

BRING:Pen, paper, yoga mat and a reusable bag. Please wear clothes comfortable for practicing yoga, walking on the beach and in the woods, and sitting for meditation. *optional: meditation cushion, blanket, yoga props. Sharing food is a powerful tool for deepening connection and building community. Please bring a dish to share as you are willing and able as well as an individual plate/bowl and utensils. Hot tea and coffee provided.

12 students max.

RSVP: souwesterfrontdesk@gmail.com or 360-642-2542 between 9am-9pm

The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644

This class is part of the Spring/Summer 2019 Workshop Series. All classes are open to the public and all skill levels welcome. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/art/workshops to see the full schedule of artist-led workshops.

Following the release of his latest album, Pearls to Swine, and his I Came to Sing the Song EP, both via Fat Possum in 2016 and 2017 respectively, Adam Torres has established himself as a powerful and poignant performer and songwriter. His explorations find him sitting equally within psych-folk and indie, and flavored by his affinity for his family’s roots in the U.S. Southwest. The resulting music offers deep, introspective journeys, both intimate and memorable.

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Spring/Summer 2019 Workshop Series

Carve a Wooden Spoon: A Carving and Green Woodworking Workshop with Emilie Rigby

canceled – Learn to safely use a myriad of hand tools in order to carve your own wooden spoon! In this class we will be splitting logs of freshly cut wood and using hatchets and knives to carve them into beautiful and useful objects. You will leave this class with a spoon and enough knowledge to continue the craft. Tools available for purchase at the end of class.

Emilie Rigby is a self-proclaimed “crazy spoon lady.” She carved her first spoon 8 years ago, while sitting around a campfire with some friends. After 4 hours she had a very ugly spoon and some blisters to show for her effort. She realized that she had spent those four hours living completely in the moment. 8 years and thousands of spoons later, she is teaching others how to carve so that they too can live in the moment. These days, you can find her in Portland, OR driving around in her camper van and picking up logs from development sites to turn into spoons. 

COST: $30 plus a $10 materials fee (Please pay material fee directly to the instructor.)

BRING:water and a journal, please bring a sack lunch and/or snack (Hot tea and coffee provided.)

This workshop is for students age 13 and up. Minors need to be accompanied by an adult. 15 students max.

RSVP: souwesterfrontdesk@gmail.com or 360-642-2542 between 9am-9pm

The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644

This class is part of the Spring/Summer 2019 Workshop Series. All classes are open to the public and all skill levels welcome. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/art/workshops to see the full schedule of artist-led workshops.

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Scott Taylor, crafts ethereal folk tinged with country funk & plastic soul influences. Following the disbandment of No Go Know, New Victorian sprouted roots as a pointed downshift into nuanced reflection. Self-recorded over a period of several years in between duties as a husband, father and mental health social worker, “High Mass,” presents a resonant song cycle detailing loss and reformation.

New Victorian are currently prepping two EPs for release in 2019, while continuing to tour throughout the Pacific Northwest.

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!

Shag Rock!!

Sallie Ford, Maria Kohler and Amanda Spring present their latest rock n roll outfit!!

This event is free, all ages, and open to the public!