Admittedly, I went home and looked up a few of the other artists I had heard that weekend and Joe Pug took a bit of a back seat.  It took me nearly three months before I got around to digging up some of Joe’s music – by then the luster of the other groups I heard at the festival had worn off a bit, and I was looking for something different – something a bit deeper.  I turned to the right place.

The track ‘Speak Plainly Diana’ jumped right out at me when I listened to the ‘Nation of Heat’  EP.  I remember connecting with the song instantly…

Speak plainly, Diana
There’s nothing to understand
Yes there’s mysteries in the basement
But there’s comic books upstairs

And there’s a wrecking ball in the front yard
But there’s blueprints on the couch
Speak plainly to me, Diana
We’ll build ourselves a house, said…

The contrasts introduced by these lyrics led me to connect that, despite some negatives in life, there’s always another way to look forward.  Every time I hear this song, I remind myself to keep looking up, and keep moving on – Life always presents plenty of new opportunities to live more.

After that, I was hooked.  And lucky me, Joe was would play Pullman again!  In 2011, he brought with him Strand of Oaks, a solo act by Tim Showalter that I swear must’ve been written to be played in venues exactly like the BellTower.  Showalter set the tone for what would be an amazing night of music.

Watch this next video for ‘Speak Plainly Diana’ - don’t just listen to it, watch it.  It was put together primarily from footage taken on the drive through Idaho, at the BellTower, and a hotel room in Pullman while Joe was in town for this show.  Watching it, you get a sense for how much fun this guy has playing music and touring the country.

Fast forward to Sunday night, and Joe was back in the Belltower to share with us some new music from his recently released album ‘The Great Despiser’.  And oh man, what a night it was.  Local favorite Bart Budwig set things off right, then Baliff, Joe’s Tour Support, took the stage.  I never know what to think about bands in tour supporting roles – it always seems to be hit or miss, and misses more often.  I had some high hopes after Joe brought Strand of Oaks, and I have to say, Joe is two for two…

Baliff was one of the best surprises of the year so far for me.  This three piece from Chicago packed a punch that hit you with such a force that you couldn’t help but stand up and be struck in awe.  The Lead guitarist, dare I say it, reminded me of none other than Jimi Hendrix – his nonchalant attitude to playing, but obvious intense dedication to the instrument  came across beautifully with a style I haven’t seen in quite some time.  I’d strongly suggest looking into these guys as I doubt this will be the last time we hear of them.

And then there was Joe Pug.  From his humble attitude and appreciating smile came a candor that seems to be shared by so many musicians that play the BellTower.  This place just must be fun to play – it sure as hell is a great place to listen.

As Joe started, the audience quickly quieted down and stayed that way for the rest of the night.  That’s always been my favorite thing about the BellTower – the audience always has a great deal of respect for those on stage - they tend to give their full and honest attention and that can create some magical moments for everyone involved.  Sunday night certainly was no exception as Joe progressed through his set.  Gems off the new album like ‘Ours’, ‘Those Thankless years’ and ‘The Great Despiser’ came over you with such passion that you couldn’t help to put a smile on and bounce along with the band.

These lyrics rang so true on Sunday -

So we spoke in lower registers
than the merchants and the ministers.
We were little more than whisperers.
But we found a couple listeners,
they were ours.

- Joe Pug, lyrics from ‘Ours’

Joe ended his set with my favorite song, ‘Speak Plainly Diana’.  As soon as he started into it, there was an incredible moment when nearly everyone in the venue stood up, left their drinks in the back, and came down to dance and sing along.  It felt like the entire place was unified through song and connected by smiles.  It was the first time I had experienced something like that at the BellTower.  Or anywhere, for that matter.

Every time Joe’s played, I’ve heard someone say that it was the best show they’ve seen at the BellTower.  On Sunday, everyone agreed.

-KH

The Fruit Bats have been around for a damn long time, and I mean they’ve really been

Diverse is right. Eric Johnson seems to have, for each of his fingers, a pie to put it in. The man regularly plays with The Shins, collaborates with Vetiver and Califone, among other artists, played a series of children’s shows for his “under-eight crowd,” and has written the scores for three feature films.

It makes a lot of sense, then, that the Fruit Bats’ latest album Tripper (2011) is one of transit. According to a writer from ROCKSUCKER, Tripper is “loosely based on a train journey from Chicago to Olympia that [Ben Johnson] made ten years ago alongside a hobo named Tony, who apparently offered him acid and threatened to kill him.” And Tripper is totally road music. Johnson says he gets his sound from 1970s pop rock bands mixed with country western, drawing from The Kinks, The Byrds, Neil Young, or, in his words, “the pastoral sixties and seventies shit I adore.” These are tunes for the top down.

In the band’s previous album, The Ruminant Band (2009), the sound got bigger and better than ever before, partially because Johnson really let the other musicians take the reigns artistically. He was in the back seat, enjoying having a real band with which to collaborate. However, on Tripper, Johnson once again assumed creative control, and restored the more intimate and focused style with a new sense of maturity and, well, direction. It’s an album from a band that’s going places and has been places. (Apparently the Fruit Bats’ touring van recently hit a quarter of a million miles.) With more reverb and tons of voice doubling, Tripper has a spacier sound than in the past, but I don’t mean “spacey” as in scattered or loose. It’s “spacey” like the uninhabited tracks of Middle America, and listening to Tripper feels like breathing good clean air. By which I mean it feels honest.

Don’t believe me? Check these lyrics from the single “Too Weird for Me.”

This is the good shit. And here’s the best part: Fruit Bats will be at the Belltower TONIGHT, for real. They’ve been through Pullman a few times—not a huge surprise, considering they’ve got 5 albums out now—but it’s particularly special knowing that this time they’ve travelled 250,000 miles to come play for us. So you’d better not miss it. 

Jason Pierce has had some hardships over the past handful of years – from fighting off double pneumonia and then undergoing chemo treatments for degenerative liver disease, this man is attaching himself to his music and allowing it to be a venue to pour out his soul.  This album swirls with raw emotion and a surreal effect that holds onto you – it makes you reach out to grab on to what you love, and hold it tight.  NPR’s Stephen Thompson sums it well:

In short, Pierce’s music is about living a big, flawed life with emotions that can’t be contained, edges that can’t be dulled, and an end in sight.

This band has really helped pull me through some tough times in my past.  I remember the first time I listened to them – a buddy had thrown Ladies and Gentelmen We Are Floating in Space  onto my iPod… It took me over five months to finally give it a chance.  I was in a bummed out space of mind, and for whatever reason, decided to give it a listen between classes.  I’ll never forget how it hit me – somehow giving me that little kick in the pants I had needed to help move past some of the times troubles.

Sitting here listening to Sweet Heart Sweet Light  it’s surreal how subtly perfect this album is.  The struggles of Pierce seem to rip at your heart through his songs.  Tracks like “So Long You Pretty Things” showcase his internal fights and have him openly asking for help and forgiveness.  This album feels exactly as it should – grounded and from the heart.

-KH

The Cave Singers are a three-pack outta Seattle.  Pete Quirk handles the vocals, guitar, melodica, and harmonica; Derek Fudesco plays the guitar and bass pedals; and Marty Lund covers the drums and chimes in with guitar from time to time as well.  They got together in 2007 and were quickly picked up by Matador Records, which released their first album, Invitation Songs later that year. They rolled out their next album Welcome Joy  about two years later.  In the summer of 2010, they were picked up by Jagjaguwar and released their latest album - No Witch – the following February.

As with most bands I write about on here, I thinks it’s hard to describe these guys’ sound (I think I am just bad at it…) but they say that their three favorite bands are the Replacements, the Pixies, and Fleetwood Mac.  Considering that, and imagining what a hybrid of what those groups would sound like, I can begin to see an influence take shape.  The vocals from Quirk remind me of what my imagination makes of mixing a young Dylan with Black Francis and adding a little bit of a sinus infection or something.  Yeah… I’ve thought about it.

This music is just plain fun to listen to.  It has that ability to take you over and absorb into your days.  Pretty soon, it’s a reminder of a time and place, or vice versa.  It applies itself into those moments in your life that always needed a soundtrack, and you’re totally okay with that.  Pop in any of their albums and see if that doesn’t happen (if it doesn’t, well then, you probably are that closed minded ass from earlier… why did you keep reading??  Ass.)

-KH

Typhoon is aptly named—performing with 10-14 musicians on stage, they’re a tsunami of sound. But not the kind of tsunami that massacres second-world villages so middle-class American church youth groups can go on “clean-up” missions. It’s the way we imagined tsunamis when we were kids: how AWESOME, a GIANT WAVE, I could surf right over my submerged middle school (fuck middle school!) and scuba in my living room. Typhoon has a sound that carries you, not pushes you, takes you along and takes you under with smooth, calculated orchestration. Like I said, it’s neo big-band folk; who said 12-piece groups were an outdated relic of an opulent past? They make old new, combining brass, strings, xylophones, rando percussion (hand claps?), with the inevitable “traditional indie instrumentation,” as their Wiki puts it (by which they mean “electric guitars and also ukulele”).  It’s an eyeful. As David Letterman said when they appeared on the Late Show, “You guys know you have two drummers, right?” There were also three trumpet players and two violinists. Redundant, or radical? You can be the judge at tomorrow’s show, when the band closes the Tender Loving Empire Festival at the Belltower.

Like the rest of the TLE crew, Typhoon is Portland-bred. Well, Salem, but that’s really just a borough, right? They’ve been playing together, under the leadership of Kyle Morton, since 2005. How do you keep a 10+ member band working and well-oiled for so long? For all I know it could have been blackmail, but from their videos, live performances, and interviews, the band seems to function out of collective and personal responsibility, and a pervading sense of kinship. Watching their music videos is like peeking into some kind of beautiful bucolic 1960s cult, where everyone’s growing root vegetables and braiding each other’s hair singing Kumbaya. They seem so much like a family, if you weeded out the ugos and disappointments. Come get converted, come get swept away.

The Horse Thieves started as a side project for Marshall McLean and Adam Miller.  I encourage you to go read the band’s bio here and learn more about how these two got started and how the band progressed into its sound today.  They have two debut albums – yes two – Outlaw Ballads and Valley of Decision.  Outlaw Ballads was written and recorded first, takes us on a journey through the struggles of life and love from Miller’s trials and tribulations told by songs written by both Miller and McLean.  Valley of Decision was what came out of McLean’s decision to pause his solo project and focus on the Horse Thieves – a decision that no doubt did not come easy.

This music is incredibly emotional.  This is the type of music that anyone can connect with at any point in their life… stories of frustration, love, loss, and tough decisions.  It’s a sound that has a down home feel, rooted in the experiences you instantly realize you share with the members.  Everyone has been through a low spot or a rough patch, and everyone eventually climbs back out.  This band opens their doors and invites you in to feel what they are feeling, to move through it with them.  It’s an incredible experience.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Terrible Buttons Bring a bit of a different feel.  On first listen, it’s easy to pick out at least one influence – Mr. Tom Waits himself. Wait now (terrible pun intended… doubled up!), don’t get all huffy – this seven piece has taken that influence and done something real with it.  Something beyond expectation, beyond the bland and often overdone typical band influenced by Waits.  Tracks like I Will Wake will have you nodding your head so subtly you won’t have even noticed that your tapping your foot now too.  Don’t believe me?  Well then, have a listen!

Like the Horse Thieves, this band brings about a raw sense of storytelling and aural flow with their music. They have two albums out on Plastic Horse Records, Brute Neighbors and Plates of Ether.  I strongly encourage you to pick up and listen to both of them.  If you think you’re impressed with the recordings, wait until you see them live!  If you’ve ever been to the BellTower before, you know how much you can be infected by the notes coming from the stage – now, multiply that by seven.  Literally.  These guys have that ability to get everyone up and off their asses, on their feet, and just *enjoying* the experience, whatever way their body decides to do that.

I don’t think I can ever say I’m surprised by how great my local music scene is anymore.  Thanks guys, you’ve successfully pulled another portion of my childhood-like luster out of me.  See you at the shows…

-KH

From Radiation City's Find It of Use

Radiation City started with two well-versed, well-immersed Portland scenesters who wanted to collaborate on a sound stemming from Brazilian jazz, ‘60s soul, ‘50s pop, and aught-gen angst. Scenesters? I meant that in a good way. Lizzy Ellison (vocals/keyboards) and Cameron Spies (vocals/guitar) have been neck-deep in Portland’s music community for years—you might recognize their previous projects like Soap Collectors or Spesus Christ, or Apes Tapes, the Portland cassette label they operate. The first album from Radiation City, The Hands that Take You, was released through the Apes, and last year record label Tender Loving Empire reached an agreement with the band to re-release THtTY as, you know, iPod fodder. Which means Pullman-Moscow will be lucky enough to have Radiation City appearing in this weekend’s Tender Loving Empire Festival.

So what do they sound like? I got such a strong Beach House vibe I thought I back at some college party where everyone is chain smoking and trying not to look anyone else in the eyes. But then I got the Portland spin—Radiation City has a tender, hopeful, insulated feeling that could never have taken root in the shit-pit murder-capital of the US. Maybe that’s what’s so 1950s vintage about their sound, it’s that baby-booming sense of prosperous momentum. Or maybe it’s the audio effect of a vinyl being played over a short-wave radio. However they did it, Radiation City has a nostalgic throw-back quality that is positively captivating, and, more importantly, it’s invigorating. It’s so rad to see a neo-dreamy pop synth restoration band that isn’t making an appeal to an under-employed and under-inspired generation’s ennui. It’s Apes Tapes all over again; with the label, Ellison and Spies were taking something old and breathing new life into it by using cassette tapes to record whatever was most exciting in emerging local music. I feel like that’s how they treat their sound—it’s nostalgic, but forward-thinking. It isn’t hyping the past as a way of mourning the present, but trying to restore to those down-trodden soul-zombie 20-somethings the big golden future-dreams they deserve. Watch some Radiation City videos—they’re enjoying their lives, in old Co-Op houses, eating fried-chicken waffles, smoking their organic cigarettes and looking thrift store tres chic. Their sound is as intimate as that pseudo-candid footage, like walking by a lit window on a rainy night and seeing, like, a decent party, with someone waving a tofurkey kebab at you from the front door, beckoning you toward a good time of relevancy and cold American lagers.

I first got to know these two bands after going to a show at The Vera Project in Seattle about a year and a half ago. I was seeing Typhoon, (who will be headlining the TLE fest) and did not realize that two other awesome Tender Loving Empire bands would be opening the show.  Aan was up first and I instantly fell in love with their sound.  I would describe their sound as complete experimental-rock with rich harmonies that make you move; and they were only a 3-piece at the time.  Now a 4-piece, they have made quite a reputation for themselves across the Northwest and I cannot wait to see them grow even more.

I was lucky enough to quickly interview the drummer of Aan in spirit of the fest!

SP: How did all the members of Aan meet?

Jon: By the wonderful world wide web.

SP: Can you reveal any future plans for Aan?

Jon: We have a few videos coming out and we are also very close to finishing our full length LP. that should be out this summer.

SP: What has been on repeat for you lately?

Jon: Appetite, Drake, Guards, Races, Interpol

SP: Can you describe a typical ‘day in the life’ or some ‘tour moments’ for you guys?

Jon:  Waking up with the breakfast boys, finding coffee somewhehere or drinking 1 of our 50 redbull’s that we have in the van. Jon drives a lot and we’re always looking for spicy legato.

SP: May I ask what Spicy Legato is?

Jon: It’s from longmont potion castle.  Kind of a band joke, haha.

These boys are full of fun, you won’t want to miss their set at the fest.

Check out their bandcamp here and a video below.

And And And also joined the stage on that cold evening in Seattle, and man did they bring energy to warm the crowd up.  They are super DIY punk mixed with instrumental and experimental infusions.  According to the Portland Mercury, “And And And might be the most lively, carefree rock act this city has seen in ages. Theirs is a completely effortless, unexpected, inspiring sound, one that seldom hints at the inexperience of their rapid incubation.” -Ezra Caraeff

I couldn’t agree more with that statement.  Check out this special Into The Woods video and you will be rocking out in no time.

Fresh off the stage at the hugely successful (and inaugural) Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho natives Finn Riggins will trek north to Pullman to rock the Palouse like they always do.  It’s too hard to categorize this trio into some sort of music mould.  They have a distinct sound and presence that you don’t often find in today’s music.  These three have been playing music together for years and it shows.  Their music has been popping up all over the place, from national TV spots for GoPro, to Chicago Bulls promos for the NBA.

I’ve seen these guys several times across the Northwest, and each time they seem to bring an energy that you just can’t quite put your finger on. They always seem to draw a great crowd, and tend to feed off the energy from the group surrounding them.  The shows in Pullman and Moscow have always felt like there was just a little more too… That could be because the all three of the band members are graduates of the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho.  The locals seem to turn out the numbers for them, and the energy is circular, insipiring and growing all night.

These musicians are some of the hardest working people I know in the industry – they were averaging over 200 shows a year before they took a brief hiatus of the road to stick around Boise and help build up the local scene, working together with other big names in the state to create more opportunities for musicians in Idaho to be heard across the world.  Did I mention they have also started recording again?  Their down home, DIY mentality and attitude has paid off big time.  Don’t expect for these folks to disappear any time soon.

Take a listen and realize just how much fun this is going to be -

Here’s another from one of my favorite Boise directors – Tyler Williams

Lastly, here’s a sample of a previous visit to the BellTower, in the first ever Green Room Sessions!

-KH

Yeah, it’s a last minute announcement. We’re sorry, but lay off us, alright?  We are just trying to bring in some good tunes for you, the glorious people of the Palouse. Just shut up about it already!

Anyways, Point Juncture, WA is Amanda Spring (vocals, drums) Victor Nash (keyboards, vocals) Skyler Norwood (guitar, vibraphone) and Wilson Vediner (guitar).  They are based outta Portland, OR, and they all live together, cultivating good tunes and vegetables (no, seriously) that they then take on the road to share with people (the music, not the veggies… grow you’re own s***).  These folks are the real deal.  They all went in together to buy their home, and then turned a barn on the property into their own recording studio!  They have always recorded their own albums, and they print their own records!  Rad, right?

I’m a big fan of this track – Chronological Order – off their latest album Handsome Orders which was released on Mt Fuji Records.

Come support some great Northwest rooted tunes and enjoy some good future memories!  See you there!