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theGrade

A Prost to the High Desert

About Me


Musical musings

Future Jammers

When there's no jam, maple syrup works great

Instead of shakin' it at a show this past weekend, I spent the time connecting with my two nephews from Cali. I don't see them much, mainly because someone I know has an extreme fear of traveling to CA.

With family, we spent our time bonding at the ever so awesome Oregon coast in Yachats - "The Gem of the Oregon Coast" My family owns a cabin right on the coastline with a front yard of tide pools and water works. Spending time with the boys was great, and I even lost a few pounds trying to keep up.

The drive to the beach, and back, provided a great backdrop for the The Avett Brothers , Emotionalism. Lyrically, the Avett's just keep getting better from disc to disc. My Friend Linda pointed out this blog analysis of their song, "The Ballad of Love and Hate. " The Avett Brothers sing with such joy, passion, and drama, that even their ever improving musical skills, only enhance the vocal menu. I personally like the foot stomping Avett's as opposed to the tender balled Brothers, but Emotionalism provides a good balance of both. Graded: B+ (lyrically A+).

Here's a video from our 4 Peaks Experience. This is New Monsoon with Dan Lebowitz of ALO--a combo I hope to see lots of on Jam Cruise.



Music Venues

Dantes

The Aladdin Theater

The Goodfoot Lounge

Crystal Ballroom

Doug Fir Lounge

The Wonder Ballroom

Rock n Roll Pizza

Kells Irish Pub

Sabalas at Mt Tabor

Hawthorne Theater

Disjecta

Imbibe Lounge Berbati's Pan The Fez Ballroom The Bitter End The Live Music Section Music Listings Listed on Jambase Listed on Pollstar Listed in the Willamette Week Upcoming Shows


Date Band Location Price
18-Aug Jerry Joseph Dantes
18-Aug Yard Dogs Road Show Doug Fir Lounge
18-Aug Fareed Haque The Goodfoot Lounge
19-Aug Yard Dogs Road Show Doug Fir Lounge
24-Aug NW String Summit Hornings Hideoout
25-Aug NW String Summit Hornings Hideoout
25-Aug Skerik The Goodfoot Lounge
26-Aug NW String Summit Hornings Hideoout
28-Aug Matisyahu, 311 Edgefield $38.00
31-Aug Gogol Bordello Crystal Ballroom
8-Sep Patersoon Hood, Minus 5 Dantes
13-Sep BB King Edgefield
15-Sep MMW+Scofield Roseland
15-Sep Skerik, Chris Berry, Michael Kang The Goodfoot

Local Portland, Oregon Bands to Go See

Mars Retrieval Unit

- Jam Base

--Myspace

Best Place to see: Bitter End


My Interests

Music:


In the Player, on my phone, in the Ear:


Stuff I've been listening to


The announcement is made

Jam Cruise 6 -2008 is in full order, setting sail for the High seas and destinations of Honduras and Mexico. I know there'll be additional line-up additions, but I'm pretty stoked with the way it stands. Where else can you see the Meters, Warren Haynes, the Dark Star Orchestra, Toots and Metals, Franti, New Monsoon and the Motet, in one place? Let alone on a decent ship in the middle of the tropics. A few more additions like Skerik and Robert Walters would round out the talent, but for now, it's all good.

Check out this clip set to Pigeon John's Freaks...just a little taste of the craziness that is Jam Cruise.

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My Blog

Festival Life - 4 Peaks Edition

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Posted by theGrade on Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:08:00 PST

Festival Life - Notes from the Sasquatch Festival

..> Musical musings   festival life It's an odd world when the Beastie Boys are pitt...
Posted by theGrade on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:39:00 PST

The Kansas war on Oregon

You can't judge a book by it's cover, and I'm sure there are decent people in the State of Kansas, but as an Oregonian I can't stand the intrusion of a few into our State, our laws and our way of life...
Posted by theGrade on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:05:00 PST

theGrade's creditials

I've recently been asked the question, "So what makes you worthy of criticizing an praising others music?"  First off, I was a LEAD entertainment reporter for the Daily ...
Posted by theGrade on Wed, 01 Mar 2006 11:07:00 PST

New Release Recap: Week of Feb 21st

New Music News:So now I'm on 4 weeks in a row, and theGrade is on a roll.  Posted my first live music band review of Runaway Norm in the Blog section of the page...hopef...
Posted by theGrade on Wed, 01 Mar 2006 11:06:00 PST

New Releases Recap Week of 2/14/2006

The first solid week of new releases for the year.The week of 2/14 was valentines week, but there wasn't much music love to be found on the new release board this week.  A few ...
Posted by theGrade on Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:01:00 PST

Runaway NormLive at the Dublin 2/18, Review

Runaway NormLive at the Dublin, 2/19, deGraded The show started off with a sound check that gave a glimpse of the sets the band would play.  Combining an acoustic rhythm guitar, lead guitar,...
Posted by theGrade on Tue, 21 Feb 2006 05:21:00 PST

New Release Recap Week of February 7th

The first solid week of new releases for the year. The Avett Brothers-- Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions: Dedicated to the craft of music, and the artistry ...
Posted by theGrade on Thu, 16 Feb 2006 10:41:00 PST

New Release Recap Week of 1/31

Not a whole lot this week, but a few things of note. Scotch Greens Professional--these guys call themselves, 'American Roots Punk' which describes their...
Posted by theGrade on Thu, 09 Feb 2006 09:24:00 PST

To Download or Not to Download

To Download or Not to Download:A look at Internet downloading and a review of a few download sites A lot has been made about illegal downloading, and for most the Internet is like a virtual recor...
Posted by theGrade on Fri, 03 Feb 2006 05:16:00 PST