Portland School of Rock Pixies show w/ Frank Black from mark lewman on Vimeo.

Teenager of the year Frank Black joins Portland School of Rockers Hannah Lewman (guitar), Julian Hixson (guitar), Oscar Gayet (guitar), Nola Versfelt (bass), Max Griggs (drums), Jacob Weber (vocals), and Michelle Brayson (vocals) for Where Is My Mind.

The sold out show featured all the classics, and the energy between the kids on stage and the 500 kids in the crowd was so awesome. This was the first time performing for many of the students.

The So So Glos bring their punky rock to Portland alongside Portland’s very own Boy Eats Drum Machine. Tonight, Friday, at Backspace.

Stay up to date on Backspace events by following them on Twitter. @pdxbackspace

Mark you calendars for what appears to be a great [and free] show..
Sunday 4/5/09 @ Rontoms (600 E Burnside)
GROUPER / TINY VIPERS
FREE! / 9PM / 21+

Grouper.
“[H]ere I was driving in the morning past farmland north of Eugene, Ore… I kept seeing these small dirt storms form out in the unplowed fields to the left while the lovely “Fishing Bird (Empty Gutted In The Evening Breeze)” played on repeat. I’m not sure [Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, Grouper's third album] is the perfect road trip music for everyone– I’d certainly caution against playing it late at night when you’re already sleepy, or operating other heavy machinery as it plays– but since these songs seem to appear and then vanish into the air, the mini-tornadoes gathering themselves together lazily out of the wind and the dirt seemed the ideal, hypnotizing accompaniment.” - Mike McGonigal, PITCHFORK

“A psych-folk bent for harmonic discord and atmospheric dread finds something forever sinister lodged at the album’s heart: the kind of beauty that makes sailors run aground.” - MOJO

Tiny Vipers
“Being a solo acoustic female singer songwriter comes with its share of conspicuous baggage. And, Seattle’s Jesy Fortino, who records and performs as Tiny Vipers, has been spared little of it: she’s played coffee shops, on mismatched bills with by-the-book folkies, and fielded far too many questions that address her gender rather than her music. Fortunately for us (and, we can only imagine, even more so for her) these things all fall away when she plays. Inhabiting the space carved out by minimal guitar, gentle textures and stark, immediate vocals, Tiny Vipers’ music evokes the contrast and quiet, empty beauty of a grey northwest landscape.” - SUB POP

The Bronx - History’s Stranglers from Original Signal on Vimeo.

Here’s what Spin had to say of The Bronx at SXSW:
So it’s the Bronx, L.A.’s greatest current punk band, but in place of tautly melodic thrashing and Matt McCaughthran’s gritty anti-social bellow, you get a couple of acoustic guitars, a trumpet, stand-up drums, a big-ass guitarrón, and the band members all dressed up in full mariachi finery with studded charro outfits and ribbon ties — but, alas, no hats. Oh, and instead of screaming about your shitty future, dude’s singing (yes, singing!) about being stuck in prison, among other hard-luck scenarios. And it’s not a joke; it can’t be. They’re playing too well. The songs are too heartfelt. And McCaughthran’s mile-wide smile — and his own immodest acknowledgement of just how special it is for any band to attempt something like this nowadays — reveals a crew genuinely proud of what they’ve accomplished. Then they come back on stage three hours later as their Clark Kent selves and show just why they are L.A.’s greatest current punk band. — Doug Brod

An Interview with Ben of the band Arizona - part 1 from Dave Allen on Vimeo.

You may have noticed a dearth of new posts from me recently but I have a good excuse - Pop Asheville. Pop Asheville is an annual music festival and conference that takes place in Asheville, North Carolina and I believe this was their third year. This small but vibrant town in the NW of the state has a music festival that reminds me of the early days of SXSW and also of a smaller Portland-like music scene. Anyway I was invited to give the keynote speech this year. I spent an hour reminding the musicians in attendance that they are no longer in the music business, they are in the T-shirt business and they all seemed to agree. The music industry is not hurting, it’s the cd business that is in decline.

I’ll be writing later about the festival after I have gathered my thoughts. What I do want to say today is that I discovered a wonderful band while I was there. Arizona. There were many great bands performing over the weekend but Arizona stood head and shoulders above the crowded field. Perhaps it was just my own sense of the decline of standards in rock music that always leaves me pessimistic but I was shocked at how good these guys were playing live. The next day I had the honor of interviewing their lead singer Benjamin. It turned out to be a lengthy video so I will offer it up in parts. Part 2 will follow real soon.

Benjamin Morris Wigler, the self-described ‘Keith Richard Dreyfuss’ of rock, has much to say. And he says it very well and wittily too. Worth a watch. Listen as Ben talks about his four year old tub of urine that he collected from his stoned friends to load into super soakers to be used to hose down a local child molester. Listen to him sing a beautiful song a cappella and then talk about Dream Theater, Tool and Radiohead.

Arizona - Heath from the album Glowing Bird. Buy it here.