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Travelers’ Rest Festival – day 1 review (part 2)

And we’re back for the second half of our review of the first day of Travelers’ Rest Festival, brought to us by the good folks at Knitting Factory Entertainment and our friends at Big Sky Brewing Company.

The third band to grace the Main Stage was the Tune-Yards, an electronic dance/trance band that mixes their unusual electronica with incredible lyrics over pervasive drums and a riveting bass track.  Based in Oakland, California, the band is composed of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner and signed by 4AD Records.  Although not my favorite kind of music, their electrifying performance stirred up the crowd and had most of them dancing around.  They have been touring in support of their latest album, I Can Feel You Creep Into my Private Life, which we suggest you check out on Spotify.

The Ponderosa Stage’s final performance for the day came from the undeniably gifted solo artist known as Waxahatchee.  Her real name is Katie Crutchfield, and she is signed to Merge Records, which will be releasing her new EP on September 7.  Her voice is like manna from heaven, and her simple accompaniment makes her songs seem like heirlooms passed down from generation to generation, as special the 100th time as the first.  She treated the crowd to a rousing solo set of new and old songs, and despite being a solo artist performing after a band, she held her own and gave the packed structure all it could handle.    As the final performer of the night on the Ponderosa Stage, she got an extra 15 minutes, but the time still passed by too quickly, for both me and the huge crowd gathered to catch her set.  Check out her latest single, “Chapel of Pines,” on Spotify, and definitely get her EP as soon as it becomes available.

The action returned to the Main Stage for Death Cab for Cutie.  This was my first exposure to the band, which is signed to Atlantic Records, although my wife and step-daughter (who attended the show) are huge fans.  The band is preparing to release their new album, Thank you for Today, and played songs from the new release, as well as some of their classic hits like “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.”  Here’s the lyric video for the first single from the new album, “I Dreamt we Spoke Again.”

Many of  the band’s oldest fans have not been impressed by the direction of the band since the departure of Chris Walla, and that attitude seemed to be present at this show.  However, as someone who had never heard the band perform before, I thoroughly enjoyed their new material, which is true indie rock and reminded me of the music of groups like The Plain White Ts and Snow Patrol.  I think Ben Gibbard and DCFC are amazing, and I was glad for the chance to hear them perform.  I  will definitely be checking out the new album when it is released on August 17.

Photo courtesy of Brian Bruemmer (Rubatophoto.com)

After a 35 minute break to set up the stage, headliners The Decemberists started their set, and performed for nearly two hours straight.   Although I had heard the name, I was not familiar with their material.  Needless to say, after watching them perform for nearly five hours over the two day festival, spending time with Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee and Nate Query backstage, and meeting Colin Meloy’s mom, I have become a big fan.  Their fans remind me of those that support another of my favorite groups, Blue October, since their musical style is similar and both bands have an amazingly close connection with their fans.  I thoroughly enjoyed the stimulating sound and the intellectual while still fun lyrics as much as the banter, and was pleased to see the energy the fans gave back to the performers.  The stories the band told were interesting, including the back story to “The Bicycle Song.”  Since the band has been together for 18 years, they had a wealth of material to draw from, including songs from their latest, I’ll Be Your Girl.  Sara Watkins lent her amazing fiddle and voice to a song about Butte miners, while Sarah Jarosz added her vocals to “We All Die Young.”

The band concluded their amazing performance with a very interesting song about a whale, which contained a lot of audience participation, and an inflatable whale that floated about the crowd.

Needless to say, the crowd loved every minute of their performance, and it was a huge job to get them to leave.  Fortunately for all of us, there was still another day of great music to come.  We’ll be back tomorrow with our review of day 2.

 

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Travelers’ Rest Festival – day 1 review (part 1)

One of my several jobs is working for a company called CMS to provide security for concerts.  As such, it was my privilege to work the entire Travelers’ Rest Festival, held for the second year at the Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheatre in Missoula, Montana, and produced by the incredible team at Knitting Factory Entertainment.  The entire team was a joy to work with, especially my old friend, Mandi Zilner, the Marketing Director.

At the time the Festival began, I was only familiar with a couple of the 17 bands playing, but by the end of the weekend, I had gained some new musical loves, and reconnected to a voice from my childhood.

I got the perfect assignment, covering catering and the backstage gate, which was also located next to the Ponderosa Stage, giving me a bird’s eye view.  There were nine performances each day, four on the Ponderosa Stage and five on the Main Stage.  Once the music began at 3:30 p.m. each day, it never stopped until around 9 p.m., when there was a break while the crew prepared the Main Stage for the headliner, The Decemberists, who also curated the Festival and selected all the participating bands.

The first band to take the Ponderosa Stage was local Missoula band Rotgut Whines.  They turned in an impressive 30 minute set which got the Festival off to a great start.  This duo has an impressive pop rock sound that got the audience grooving and ready for the rest of the bands to come.  Although the band normally plays a few cover songs in their local shows, this set was all originals, and the crowd seemed very appreciative of the band.

The action then turned to the Main State, where Richmond, Virginia based artist Lucy Dacus was the first artist to play.  Dacus is signed to Matador Records, and from her performance it is easy to understand why she is considered one of Richmond’s treasures.  She is a brilliant guitar player, and her sound is reminiscent of artists like Ingrid Michaelson, Ali Handal and Cindy Alexander.  She played songs from her latest album, Historian, and has been touring North America in support of the album.  She turned in an impressive 45-minute set that stimulated the crowd, and added fuel to the fire that was started with Rotgun Whines‘ set.

Everything changed when Portland-based band Lenore took the Ponderosa Stage.  The standing room only crowd swelled until they could no longer fit underneath the stage’s shaded section, and still they came.   Composed of native Montanan Joy Pearson and Portland’s Rebecca Marie Miller on lead vocals, Edward Cameron on guitar and Jessie Dettwiler on cello, this band has a sound that works its way into your heart and your head and never leaves.  The harmonies are heavenly and exquisite, as is the combination of guitar and cello that forms the musical accompaniment.  Their 30 minute set went by way too fast, and the audience didn’t want to let them go.

The band also turned out to be super nice humans, as we spent a lot of time talking as they came and went backstage.  It was an honor to spend time with them, and they became my favorite discovery of the weekend.

The music returned to the Main Stage for one of the few acts I was familiar with before the Festival began.  I was fortunate enough to meet Sara Watkins back in 1999-2000 at Fan Fair in Nashville when she and her band Nickel Creek were just getting started, and attended several of their shows over the years, including the 25th Anniversary Show at The Wilma in 2014.  She has joined forces with two other bluegrass phenoms, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan to form I’m With Her, and this super-group is one of the best in the world.  They released their debut album this past February on Rounder Records.  Their 45-minute set was amazing, as their voices joined together as one instrument, meshed with their individual virtuosity on a multitude of stringed instruments, including fiddle, banjo, mandolin and guitar.  The perform in the traditional bluegrass way, gathered round a single microphone, which also adds to their unique harmony.

I also got to spend a lot of time with Sarah J and Aoife backstage, and met Aoife’s famly and Sara W’s nanny.  They were as nice off stage as they are incredible on it.

Returning to the Ponderosa Stage, the next performer was Matt the Electrician from Austin, Texas.  Matt is a folk rock singer-songwriter, with a similar style to artists like The White Buffalo and Joe Purdy.  He performed alone with his wife providing backing vocals.  Although a solo artist, he still filled the stage with his powerful stage presence and gave the packed structure a show they would not soon forget.  He is an artist that I am sure will soon become a household name, as his music is head and shoulders above many of his peers.  He is another artist I’m so glad I met because I truly loved his sound and his well-crafted songs.  I look forward to the chance to hear him again soon.  His most recent album, The Doubles, is available here.

I’ll be back later today with part 2 of our review of the first day of Travelers’ Rest.

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Megan Burtt brings her Cure for Love to Idaho

Photo by Chelle-S Imaging

Megan Burtt and the Cure for Love are an indie pop band out of Denver, Colorado and are currently on tour throughout the northwest.  We caught up with the tour during a stop at the Slate Creek Brewing Company in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Photo by Chelle-S Imaging

I had the distinct pleasure of writing their artist profile when I was working with AXS.com.  I first met Burtt when I was covering the Durango Songwriters Conference a few years back, and have always enjoyed her music and her philosophy on life.

Photo by Chelle-S Imaging

It was a perfect night for music.  The stage was set up in the back parking lot, and the venue, famous for its local brews, was packed as the first notes emanated from Burtt’s guitar.  She was joined by her partner-in-crime, Justin Peterson for this intimate performance, and the combination proved to be the perfect remedy for the hot summer night.

The harmonies between Burtt and Peterson are the stuff of legends, as they beautifully blended both their voices and instruments into a love song to the universe.  Their voices are uniquely suited for those harmonies, and their dual guitars created the perfect melody for the songs that Burtt has so lovingly created.

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Even with just the two of them, Burtt and Peterson evoke more emotion and deliver more musical punch than a whole stage full of musicians.  Burtt writes songs that speak of real life, and draw the listeners into the mix with every note and word.  She is living proof of why some of today’s best music is coming from the indie side of the house.

Photo by Chelle-S Imaging

Burtt turned in two sets before darkness and the venue’s closing bade her goodbye.  She kept the audience, which included her aunt and friends from the local area, in total awe and amazement as they sipped their brews and ciders, and carried on muted conversations.  Burtt’s music was the perfect backdrop to this amazing and relaxing summer night.  She even did a request for me and played the perfectly lovely “Fast as I Go,” which I simply adore, as the final song of her first set.

Photo by Chelle-S Imaging

The tour continues until August 7, with stops at the Mississippi Sound Studios in Portland, Oregon on July 30; at Whirled Pies in Eugene, Oregon on July 31; at the Axe & Fiddle in Cottage Grove, Oregon on August 1; at the world famous Hotel Utah in San Francisco on August 3; the Bay of Pines in Monterey, California on August 4; at Hopmonk in Sebastopol, California on August 5 and Alleged in Ogden, Utah on August 6 before closing out at the Crested Butte Arts Festival in Crested Butte, Colorado on August 7.

For more info on Burtt, check out her website and Facebook pages, follow her on Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe to her YouTube channel.

Thanks to Chelle Stipe of Chelle-S Imaging for the photographs.

 

 

 

 

 

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Black Sheep Tour lands in Missoula

One of the joys in working as a music critic over the past 20 years is the chance to become friends with some of the artists that I have come across, and to get the chance to watch their career progress.  One of those artists who has become a special friend is none other than Iowa’s Midwestern songbird, aka Sara Routh, who we profiled in our Women in Entertainment series.

I have had the privilege of booking Routh at several venues in Los Angeles, including the Viper Room, the Derby, Genghis Cohen and the Burbank Film Festival.  She has always delivered, and her recent stop at Missoula’s Stage 112 as part of her Black Sheep Tour was no different.

On the road since March 17, Routh arrived in Missoula on day 15 of her tour, the next to last leg of her journey.  We had the privilege of hosting her, her tour mate Rae Davis, and Chad Taylor, a local Iowa blogger who was documenting the tour.  You can check out that blog here.

After getting them settled at our apartment, we headed downtown to grab some dinner, opting for MacKenzie River Pizza on Front Street, where we all grubbed out on some very delicious food before heading over to the venue for sound check.  Upon arriving at the venue, we found out that they would not be performing on the stage, but on a small riser in the lounge.

After sound check, we took Routh out for a walk around Missoula, ending up at Grizzly Liquor so that she could take home a bottle of our local whiskey from Montgomery Distillery.  Once back at the venue, we learned that Davis had met a female comic named Sara Reynolds and had invited her to open the show.

It being “First Friday,” the venue convinced them to postpone their show until 9 p.m. so that more people would be available, and as the appointed time arrived, that advice proved sound.  Reynolds turned in a good set with a few great laughs, and then it was time for Davis to perform.  Davis definitely has a way with words, and her music reflected her musical journey.  She has a great voice that comes from deep within, and her skills on her baby Martin were likewise good.  She turned in a set of about an hour that kept the locals listening and buying drinks, which was a good thing since they were being paid a cut of the bar.

Finally it was time for the star of the show.  I was impressed with the maturity in Routh since the last time we had seen her perform, more than three years ago.  Her new material, while different from some of her earlier stuff, still reflects the small town Midwestern girl who has spent some time in the big city and in another land, and the lessons she has learned along the way.  She honored us by singing one of the first songs she wrote in LA, “Hills of Gold,” the very song that made us fall in love with her music.  She continued with her calvacade of hits spanning the whole time we have known her, including one of our favorites, “Drinking with the Devil.”  The time went by far too fast, and once again we knew that we had been in the presence of greatness, even if the world does not yet know it.

We got up early the next morning and took them to Paul’s Pancake Parlor for a hearty breakfast before they headed off to Denver for the last show of the tour.  All too soon our brief visit was over, leaving behind more great memories of time spent with one of our favorite indie artists.  Thanks for your friendship and your music.  We love and appreciate both gifts.

For more on Routh, check out her webpage and Facebook, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to her YouTube channel.