I've been off in some "never-never land" and have not been reading P2 for awhile,
but I woke up long enough to notice this:
At 02:53 PM 3/2/99 -0800, Jerry wrote:
...
>Let's see, no traditional country scene, that's particularly disappointing
>when I read about the stuff Honky Tonk Confidential is doing. Small
>bluegrass community. Horrible radio. Perhaps our Low Power FM project
>will help ease that Jones.
>
>Yes, I know....move back East, East Tennessee boy. I hear ya.
>I do like it here though and really wasn't trying to slag the entire
>scene at all. The sheer number of quality clubs never ceases to amaze.
>Need an acoustic, singer-songwriter place to hang on though.
>
>I'd prefer being neck deep in the Nashville or Austin scene than up here.
>Those scenes just offer more opportunity to enjoy the kind of music I
>really enjoy than Portland. I'm most certainly NOT knocking Portland
>for developing musical directions that differ from my own interests. It's
>a truly wonderful area (to visit...<g>). And to live.....
Well, Jerry, I think you're partly right. The Portland music scene excels in
other areas than P2-ish type of music, IMHO. I do believe the good stuff
is there -- you just have to dig for it. (And I haven't done a huge amount
of digging, I admit.) There's not much traditional country here. (I can give
you a names a couple of traditional country bar bands that are reasonably
decent, if that would be of interest to you.)
If you're bored with the alt country music, why not try Portland's jazz?
I've been working at KMHD about once a week, and I've got to tell you that
there's some really great jazz stuff out there in Portland. (For example:
Stan Boch is probably the best trombone player you'll've ever heard. I love
it when he's on the show!) Last week there was no Home Grown Jazz live show,
but the week before, it was a great group, Groove Revelation, that blended jazz
and rock into a rather fascinating sound. The week before that was the Portland
State University Jazz Band, and they were great. If you're interested, check
out the schedule at http://www4.kmhd.org/kmhd/music/specialty.html (The show
plays at 4 PM on Saturdays on 89.1 FM, or they simultaneously broadcast it on the
web site via streaming audio. I'll try not to make any serious audio boo-boos
this week!)
But for something more country-ish, I suggest you check out Dave Carter & Tracy
Grammer. I heard them at PSA (Portland Songwriters Association) and again 6
weeks ago at the Greg Brown concert in Corvallis. I'd say they're sort of
country-singersongwriter-folk blend. IMHO, their faults are that some of Dave's
songs are too "redneck," and sometimes, too "new age" (in subject matter). But
they have a real nice acoustic sound and their voices blend wonderfully. Tracy
plays fiddle, mandolin and more, and she has a beautiful voice; and Dave does banjo
and guitar and has an OK voice. I've got their cd if you want to hear it...
Back to hibernating...
Lianne
