Music Badass. That was the word uttered by at least two different people to describe Black Joe Lewis & the Honey Bears after the band opened for Lucero last Thursday night at the Hawthorne Theater. One of the people with the reaction was my plus one for the evening, a friend who has been eager and anxi...   More

Music A pattern revealed itself during the course of the recording of this new version of These Are The Days: there's a whole lot of "new" going on around here. On this edition of These Are The Days, music by New Century School Book, one of Willamette Week's best new bands, Nurses, the Rainy ...   More

Music Deelay Ceelay blew a fuse at Gallery Homeland on Wednesday night. At least that's what the band joked when backing tracks suddenly stopped playing under the duo shortly into their set. It wouldn't be a surprise considering that over the last few days the group, in both their live and recor...   More

Music After an extended hiatus, it's great to be back with These Are The Days. Here we are in Spring, a time of renewal and change and our Portland music scene is in full bloom too. On this podcast you can hear brand new music from old favorites Cower and Starfucker, and a special live recor...   More

Music The epic onslaught of "Waves Of Change" from Cower's forthcoming full-length record, Cower's Land Before Time, begs the question: Is there a stereo powerful enough to do Cower justice? Let me know if you find one. Recorded with Pro Tools at bassist Jake Enger's in-house recording space, Richey Lane...   More

Music What the fuck is this shit? Some lost radio hit from the '60s that fell through the cracks before Nuggets could snatch it up? No, no, it's brand new, a recent recording by Vancouver, Washington's the Shivas. On their 2008 debut Where Have You Gone To?, the Shivas played a brand of garage rock t...   More

Music Walking down to where the mounted police keep their horses the other day, we had to wait for a train to pass. As it did, we waved out to the train engineer. I'm not sure who I expected to see driving that train, but when a man who looked like he could be our parents' age waved out, I suddenly wondered...   More

Music It's a pretty common sentiment in this town that we are lucky enough to be able to see bands grow over the course of their runs. This experience can be rewarding whether you follow the group all along or suddenly rediscover an old friend. In the case of Dirty Mittens, the transformation fro...   More

Music When approached about being a part of the MusicFest NW Covers project, the Rainy States responded with their usual mix of enthusiasm and eagerness. The resulting cover of Halo Benders' "Snowfall" is absolutely killer, with singer Betsy Johnson and singer/guitarist Kevin Morgan expertly emphas...   More

Music Hi. How are you? It's been awhile. I know you've been thinking of me, and I've been meaning to write. I've thought a lot about you too, and I've thought an awful lot about us. Things have been crazy this year. We've all been through a lot. It's been a difficult year in a lot of ways, an...   More