Theo Craig (Rontoms Sunday Sessions)

Meet the man who made a Burnside bar the epicenter for Portland music.

Music Stories Theo Craig is one of Portland’s biggest music fans. In January 2012, the chatty, affable 35-year-old became the sole talent buyer for the free Sunday Sessions at Rontoms, which have since tran   More

 

Wednesday, February 6, 2013 EMILEE BOOHER

The Lost Year

In 2011, Ruban Nielson created Unknown Mortal Orchestra. It almost killed him.

Music Stories Ruban Nielson thought he was going to die.  Not in the metaphorical sense, either: In his first year touring with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, his blog-approved psych-pop group, the 32-year-ol   More

 

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 MATTHEW SINGER

Primer: Ben Folds Five

Music Stories Formed: 1993 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Ended Sept. 11, 2001, the day leader Ben Folds’ first serious solo record, Rockin’ the Suburbs, came out. Re-formed a decade later to record a few songs. Folds,   More

 

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 MARTIN CIZMAR

Cody Chesnutt: Friday, Feb. 1

A singer repents and returns.

Music Stories [REDEMPTION SONGS] “I used to smoke crack back in the day.”  That blunt admission is how Cody Chesnutt begins “Everybody’s Brother,” a song from last year’s Landing on a Hundred,    More

 

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 MATTHEW SINGER

Halsey “Halseycaust” Swain

The wild life and wildlife of Portland’s most extreme visual artist.

Music Stories Illustrator Halsey Swain speaks in a matter-of-fact, almost backwoods drawl. Though she has called Portland home for five years, she was born in Marblehead, Mass., not far from the other Salem.&nb   More

 

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 NATHAN CARSON

The Basement Tapers

Banana Stand’s eternal house party.

Music Stories A lot of people know where Aaron Colter and Louie Herr live. It’s a nondescript white house in a Southeast Portland neighborhood they would rather not have publicized, even though, at this poi   More

 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 MATTHEW SINGER

Cat Doorman: Saturday, Jan. 26

Julianna Bright gets childish.

Music Stories [KIDZ POP] Folks in the indie world recording music for children is not new. For the past 10 years or so, dozens of artists and bands have taken either a quick detour into    More

 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 ROBERT HAM

Primer: E-40

Music Stories Born: In Vallejo, Calif., in 1967. Sounds like: A sugar-tongued gangster with a flair for the dramatic. For fans of: Too Short, Rappin’ 4-Tay, Spice 1, 3x Krazy. Latest release: History: Function   More

 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 REED JACKSON

Red Wanting Blue: Thursday and Sunday, Jan. 24, 27

After 15 years on the Midwestern college circuit, Ohio’s consummate bar-rock band arrives in Oregon.

Music Stories [COLLEGE ROCK] If you attended college anywhere between Buffalo and Chicago in the last decade, you need no introduction to Red Wanting Blue. Founded when Tupac was still alive and Bob Dole wa   More

 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 MARTIN CIZMAR

The Many Bands of Papi Fimbres

How culture shock created Portland’s busiest musician.

Music Stories When David “Papi” Fimbres’ mother was pregnant with him, she knew her child was special. A shaman told her so. She already had two children, but this one, she was told, would be born with pr   More

 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 MATTHEW SINGER