Bloglander

He’s back! Sir Elton John will perform at Spokane Arena on Sept. 17 as part of a 10-city tour.

This time he’s on an All the Hits tour — as if he didn't play all of the hits before. Many of these big singles, like “Bennie and the Jets” and “Candle in the Wind,” come from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, just re-released in honor of the album’s 40th anniversary (yes, it has been that long). Rolling Stone, in all of its wisdom, even gave the reissue a 5-star rating. And why not? Over the course of his five-decade long career, John is one of the best-selling solo artists of all time, racking up Grammys, an Academy Award, a Tony and an induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In short, he’s a living legend.

For those who can’t make it down to Las Vegas to see his The Million Dollar Piano show, now is your chance to watch him tickle the keys and belt out all your favorites. After all, at 67, the Rocket Man has still got it.

Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased starting Monday, May 5, at 10 am.

Check out John when he performed at the Arena before:

FRIDAY (TONIGHT)

Portland rock four-piece the Hague features an electric violin, but don't expect them to sound like Yellowcard. They bring their folkish, alt-rock ways to the Bartlett tonight. Local acts Drag Like Pull and Moon Talk open the show. The show is all-ages and $8 at the door.

SATURDAY

Dead Serious Lovers put out a new album nearly a year ago and it’s still pretty great. They play the Bartlett Saturday with the Echolarks. Expect to hear much off that album but hopefully some new tracks as well.

Are you trying to help save the Big Dipper or what? Show up at the venue Saturday to hear local acts Blackwater Prophet, Pyramids of Panic, Bandit Train and T & the Beav for free. All donated proceeds directly benefit the venue, which plans to have its grand opening in May. The event is 21+.

Snoop Dogg, man. He’s back. It seems, says Leah Sottile, that the kids responsible for Washington State University’s annual Springfest have hit the jackpot this year, nabbing Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion) to headline the event. The only thing that could go wrong? The longtime rapper could perform a set entirely of his terrible reggae songs under his newly assumed “Lion” moniker. Give the people what they want, man: gin, juice, endo, murder — none of this hippie-dippy bullshit. $44/public; $29/WSU students.

The Red Room Lounge meanwhile, has Oakland rapper A-Plus along with Jay Tablet and Knobody, DJ Harlo and IMperfect Cody performing. The show starts at 9 pm and is $10.

SUNDAY

Pat Benatar and her husband Neil Giraldo may have been rocking for a long time, but rest assured that Benatar can still belt as high as any rafter will allow. They take on the Coeur d’Alene Casino Sunday. Tickets start at $50.

Giving CdA Casino a run for its money this Sunday is Northern Quest Casino, pulling in seasoned rockers Blue Öyster Cult. It’s been 13 years since BÖC released a new album, so you can guarantee they’ll play all of your favorites. The show starts at $35. More cowbell!

As the 40th anniversary of Expo ’74 approaches, we’ve been poring through over old photos, memorabelia and news coverage from the time. We’ll have more in print in the coming weeks, but print just can’t capture one amazing part of Expo — the music.

The ambition and importance of Expo is clear when you start looking at the music performers who came to town that summer: Harry Belafonte, Ray Charles, the Carpenters, Chicago, John Denver, Merle Haggard, Diana Ross, Up With People and dozens more. But there were also a few songs written about Expo, each one now like an audio time capsule of Spokane’s shining moment.

Here a few that we’ve been passing around the office. (And, yes, getting stuck in our heads a little.) Would any local bands like to cover these? Because that would be amazing.

1. A promotional jingle.

“Take a ride over the faaalls … Come join the fun, magic and muuuusic!” Start at 0:45 in this old TV segment that includes the vintage commercial.

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2. A song for teaching people how to pronounce our fair city’s name.

“You can’t in Santa Fe, they just nervous and run away. But you can, yes you can, in Spokane. ... You can in Spokaaaaane! You can in Spokaaaaane! At the fair in Spokaaaaane!”

Listen to a clip here, and read an interview with Bob Bellows about how it came about from a slogan the city council put on pins. Songwriter Reg Fulton died last October.

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3. A folksy song about our fresh new environment.

“Spokane will show the world how we’re cleaning up the land, your water and fresh air from sea to sea. We’re trying to make the land a better for all to live. We’ll teach the world about ecology.” The song, from Dale Miller’s record with two Expo songs, is featured in this new video made by Business Talks producer Barrett Rossie. Here's also an interview with Miller.

Today, Ryan Lewis launched an Indiegogo campaign to jumpstart the 30/30 Project, a funding network to build and run health care centers around the world.

But let’s step back: Back before Ryan Lewis was half of the Grammy-winning, fur-coat-wearing, world-famous Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, he was just a kid growing up on the South Hill in Spokane. And his tight-knit, middle-class Christian family had a struggle that set them apart from other South Hill families: His mother, Julie Lewis, was HIV-positive.

The cause was a blood transfusion in 1984, a time when the stigma of HIV and AIDS made it something the family didn’t share for years after the diagnosis. In our cover story about Ryan Lewis last year, he spoke candidly about growing up with that perspective.

“I think it really just opened up the door, as a kid, to life experiences that most of my friends didn’t know anything about,” Lewis says. “On one hand, you could look at it as a really hard, shitty life thing; on the other hand, she’s been healthy for years. I didn’t get it, my sisters didn’t get it, my dad didn’t get it. It could’ve been a totally different thing. I could not be here. And she could not be here. But she is.”

And it’s out of that experience that Lewis and his family are taking on the 30/30 Project in partnership with Macklemore and Construction for Change, a Seattle-based nonprofit. In the campaign message, Lewis says:

Thanks to advanced medicine and healthcare available here in the U.S., my mom has lived despite her odds.

To honor the thirty years my mom has been a survivor, our family is raising funds to build health centers worldwide that will stand strong for at least thirty years.

The campaign launched today and has already raised more than $14,000 of the $100,000 goal. Its first project is a health center in Malawi, where a high percentage of the population is HIV-positive, and additional centers are tentatively planned for Kenya and Uganda. In each location, the 30/30 Project is working with an established nonprofit already involved with delivering health care services.

Rewards for donating start at $5 for getting a selfie posted to the 30/30 website — the modern equivalent of a donor wall? — and include levels for T-shirts ($35), handmade bracelets ($100), VIP concert tickets and more. After the three signed set lists for $250 were immediately claimed, they added a few more for $300.

Check out the campaign and video here.

Once again the Inlander's own music festival, Volume, is back May 30-31. Featuring 80-plus mostly local acts, including multiple Volume veterans and past Inlander Bands to Watch, the two-day event offers everything from hip-hop to old-school country.

Two of the regional acts playing the festival are Seattle’s the Flavr Blue, the backing band for Hollis who was featured in the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis song “White Walls,” and Rose Windows, which just completed a tour with the Head and the Heart.

This year's participating downtown venues, many of which are all-ages, include Red Room Lounge (21+), Irv's (21+), Club 412 (All-ages and 21+ stages), Big Dipper (All-ages), Mootsy's (21+), nYne (21+), Neato Burrito (All Ages/21+) and the Bartlett (All-ages).

Purchase your tickets now and get the best deal on a two-day pass here. The music festival schedule is still to come.

Get ready; the 2014 Volume lineup is as follows:

THE FLAVR BLUE
ROSE WINDOWS
JASON WEBLEY
THE GRIZZLED MIGHTY
KITHKIN
TWEAK BIRD
CAMI BRADLEY
THE PHARMACY
THE HOOT HOOTS
SECRETARY
STRANGLED DARLINGS
LURES
THE DIGITAL WILD
CLOUD PERSON
X SUNS
FLEE THE CENTURY
PUFF PUFF BEER
PSYCHIC RITES
PAPER MACHE
SHADES
ASH REITER
DEADKILL
DUST MOTH
SUN BLOOD STORIES
DOWN NORTH
BOY EATS DRUM MACHINE
GAYTHEIST
WIMPS
MONOGAMY PARTY
GRENADES
MAMA DOLL
BLOODY GLOVES
BLACKWATER PROPHET
NORMAL BABIES
SAM PLATTS & THE KOOTENAI THREE
SEA GIANT
LAVOY
BEAUFLEXX
MARSHALL MCLEAN BAND
HOOVES
LOSING SKIN
THE HOLY BROKE
IAN L MILES
PINE LEAGUE
DAETHSTAR
BOAT RACE WEEKEND
BBBBANDITS
TERRIBLE BUTTONS
NOBE
OUIJA BORED
SILVER TREASON
CURSIVE WIRES
NAILBASTARD
FERAL ANTHEM
JACOB JONES
THE RUSTICS
MALLOWS
SCOTT RYAN
THE CAMAROS
SUMMER IN SIBERIA
TEEN BLONDE
CASE
FOLKINCEPTION
M.AKERS
MIRROR MIRROR
FUN LADIES
WATER MONSTER
HARD TIME
COLD BLOODED
BREEZY BROWN
RAISEDBYWOLVES
WAX N DRUMS FEAT JAEDA
BRISTOL
CEDAR & BOYER
BIAS
BLVCK CEILING
BITWVLF
CREEPSHOW
DEAD SERIOUS LOVERS
THE SMOKES
TWIN TOWERS
MJ THE IN-HUMAN BEATBOX
SUPERVILLIAN
THE STATIC TONES
THE BETTYS
66BEAT
CLVSTERFCK
HEAVY SEVENTEEN
CLOAK & DAGGER
BUFFALO JONES
BULLETS OR BALLOONS

Check out last year’s Volume photos here.

FRIDAY

Tonight, on this glorious Good Friday, it may just be the time to listen to some folky singer-songwriters. At the Bartlett, John Craigie (you’ll want to hear his “Naked Skype” above) headlines and Mama Doll and Bart Budwig open. The show starts at 8 pm and is $10. Over at the Baby Bar, Feral Anthem and Jacob Jones play at 10 pm for free.

SATURDAY

4/19 is Record Store Day. Not only can you buy limited-edition vinyl, some record stores are also bringing in live music to make the day even more special.

Shovels & Rope’s Bartlett show is technically sold out, but a limited number of tickets will be offered at the door. It’s always fascinating watching two people unabashedly in love play music together on stage. In the case of married couple Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst of Shovels & Rope they keep their stage persona raw and engaging, never making their audience feel like unwanted Peeping Toms. A ragtag duo if there ever was one, the South Carolina-based band plays their haunting folk melodies on instruments they literally scrounged from trash heaps. Hearst’s voice elevates the band above all those other acoustic-couple duos — her voice is one of the best out there (see below). It’s soulful, throaty and glorious. Listening to it will give you chills every time. The show starts at 8 pm and Parker Millsap opens.

Saturday, Switchfoot plays at the Fox with thankfully healed frontman Jon Foreman. Their Fading West tour was nearly delayed after a surfing accident meant nearly 30 stitches to put his face back together. The show is $28-38 and starts at 7 p m. The Royal Concept will open.

The Red Room Lounge hosts the Seattle duo Iska Dhaaf, which is also playing Sasquatch! later this year. The new Spokane band Ouija Bored opens. Tickets are $5 and the show starts at 9 pm.

She combines opera, blues and jazz into one original package. Check out Madeline McNeill along with the Converters at the Baby Bar Saturday.

SUNDAY (Easter and 4/20 come together)

The Still Burnin’ 420 Show held at the Lincoln Center features more activities than you probably want to imagine. Expect two rooms of live music from acts like the Nadis Warriors and Kalya Scintilla and many more, but also things like live painting, belly dancers, breakdancers, and live improvised EDM. All proceeds go to Meals on Wheels. Must be 18+ to attend.

Calypsos Coffee, an all-ages venue, brings in the Savannah, Ga., band Circle Takes the Square Sunday for a crazy, head-banging show. Openers include Hooves, A God or an Other, The Hallowd Ground and Blacktracks. The show is $7 with doors opening at 6:30 pm. Do arrive early to secure a spot as space is limited.

There’s no way around it; country music is huge. Responding to what the people want, the Spokane Arena has booked Blake Shelton's Ten times Crazier Tour to play the venue Sept. 18. The show includes country’s favorite siblings the Band Perry along with Dan & Shay and Neal McCoy.

Shelton, an Oklahoma homeboy, came to prominence in mainstream America in 2011 after landing judging gig on The Voice — his bromance with Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine brought him a whole new slew of fans. But before that, he had torn up the country charts for a decade.

Despite a running joke (propagated by himself, see video below) that he spends a lot of time drinking, Shelton had three No. 1’s in a row on the country charts last year, continues to serve as a judge on The Voice, has won the CMA’s Male Vocalist of the Year award four years in a row and is married to country star Miranda Lambert. Drunk or not, the man keeps busy. Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, April 25.

Elkfest, the venerable music gathering that takes over a significant amount of Browne's Addition June 6-8, announced its lineup a few weeks ago, and it was a strong one. It even included local hero James Pants.

But they were saving the headliner announcement for last, and if you've already procured a copy of this week's Inlander, you might have seen the ad. Now headlining the festival is Seattle's technical rockers Minus the Bear.

The band, known for its mathematical take on indie rock, complete with wacky changes and the sort of time signatures music geeks will drool over, is touring sparingly this summer, including a couple shows celebrating the 10th anniversary of their quintessential EP They Make Beer Commercials Like This.

It's a nice booking for Elkfest, which, believe it or not, is celebrating its own 10th anniversary this year. The festival is still free and still all ages.

On July 12, KYRS-Thin Air Community Radio will be holding its second annual music festival at Glover Field just below the Spokane falls in Peaceful Valley. This event will highlight independent groups and local talents from around the Inland northwest.

“Everyone had so much fun last summer,” says KYRS station manager Lupito Flores. “This year’s festival will be bigger and better, with awesome local talent [and] a big headliner.”

Called KYRS Music Fest for its first year, the event has been renamed “Marmotfest.”

“We wanted a catchier name,” says Flores. “And Glover Field is teeming with marmots.”

The family friendly event includes nonprofit booths, food court and activities. Marmotfest can also boast that it is the only solar-powered music festival in the Northwest, with all the sound equipment, stage and lights being powered by solar panels. On top of that, there will be a bike corral for those who don’t wish to drive and everything will either be recycled or composted. The focus on being environmentally friendly speaks directly to the goals and message of KYRS.

There are no age restrictions on any concerts, so families are allowed to roam freely and enjoy the food services, art exhibits, poetry slam, free yoga sessions and the community village. (There will be a beer garden for anyone over 21.)

“Families will have fun in the park,” said Flores. “Bring your Frisbee, sun umbrella and hula hoops.”

One new thing this year is the addition of a small side stage to allow acts to play during intermissions and while bands are setting up. This will include acoustic acts, drummers and spoken word performances.

KYRS is extremely excited about who they have to headline the festival, though they have yet to make an announcement.

“We do have the line-up nearly complete, but we are waiting to finalize it and have tickets ready for sale before announcing,” said Flores. “I can tell you the headliner is great and should be a big attraction for people. We also have some great local and regional bands booked.”

The tentative release date for the band schedule is May 2, which will include the band announcements, prizes, music and early bird ticket sales. Tickets will be available at all Ticketwest outlets.

UPDATE: The MarmotFest 2014 lineup includes headliners Rogue Wave out of Oakland. Also featured are Seattle bands the Hoot Hoots and Fly Moon Royalty, Marshall Poole from Boise, the Vaughn Jensen Band from Tri-Cities and Spokane groups Folkinception, Floating Crowbar and the Angela Marie Project. Tickets are now available here.

Excitable Boy put Warren Zevon on the map, so if you know him, chances are you’ve heard this album. I first found it as a teenager going through my dad’s old vinyl records, but it’s made a comeback for me recently. Some people have placed Zevon alongside artists like Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young, and that’s probably fair, but the morbid humor in many of his lyrics sets him and especially this album apart. The record’s two best tracks, “Excitable Boy” and “Werewolves Of London” are pure weird — somehow dark, terrifying and charming at the same time. Among the other tracks are historical tales, ballads and the very dancey “Night Time In The Switching Yard.” It’s available on iTunes, Spotify and probably in your nearest record store.

— HEIDI GROOVER

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I’m counting down to May 13. Four weeks and a day. That’s when the Black Keys are releasing their new album, Turn Blue, after a three-year gap with no new material from the Akron, Ohio (now Nashville-based) rock duo. Until then, the Keys are keeping my appetite for new tracks sated by releasing two songs from the new record on their website/YouTube channel: “Fever,” the first single, followed by the title track “Turn Blue,” which dropped just this morning. Critics are already saying this album is a bit of a departure from the hooky, fast-tempo rock of 2011’s El Camino — instead the band’s going with a more psychedelic rock vibe. Four weeks is a ways out, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the chance that Turn Blue previews on NPR’s First Listen before then. And, of course, I’m also impatiently waiting to see what stops the Keys may have planned for Turn Blue’s expected, upcoming tour.

— CHEY SCOTT

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When it comes to good stories, I’m a reader, not a listener. And I like my narratives uninterrupted, which is why I’ve remained a skeptic of the mindset that all multimedia is good multimedia when it comes to journalism. Video! Audio! People will love it! But when it all comes together, as it does in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine cover story by John Jeremiah Sullivan, “The Ballad of Geeshie and Elvie,” about “phantom women” of the early 20th Century music and their two known records still in existence — oh man, it’s so good. Most readers will never even notice how brilliant it is to embed sound clips right into the text with the lyrics, and that’s the point. It’s infinitely better than encountering this story in print, in a way you don’t even stop to think about. It’s seamless. I read this story, I listened to this story — I don’t even know the difference. The music is worth it even if you don’t read the whole piece.

— LISA WAANANEN

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With his band the Pharmacists, nice-guy indie rocker Ted Leo of New Jersey typically hammers out frantic, buzz-distorted rhythms over desperate, politically-charged vocals. He carves out a sort of punk, indie fuzz and insurrectionist pop with lyrics calling out the media and the CIA. But he's recently teamed up with renowned singer-songwriter Aimee Mann to form The Both. Mann's soft authority anchors the jumpy panic in much of Leo's music. Political themes continue through the new project with songs about Monsanto and other subjects as the self-titled album swerves from Leo's punk to Mann's acoustic-based harmony, crossing the tenuous middle ground in surprising and rewarding ways. It doesn't all work, but it's worth listening for the moments when both Leo's and Mann's strengths align into unfamiliar beauty.

— JACOB JONES