Bloglander

click to enlarge

I remember the first time I encountered Ben Klein. It was back in 2003, when I was the calendar editor here at The Inlander. He was a baby-faced 20-year-old who looked like he'd been forced into a funny Elvis costume and cajoled into doing a family variety show. Every now and then, an event featuring Ben "Preslee" Klein would come across my desk. I'd snicker every time.

So I was surprised when I returned to the paper in 2009 that Klein was still performing as Elvis around town. More than ever, I wondered: what motivates someone to dress up like someone else, act like someone else, sing like someone else. Is impersonation (or as I learned while reporting this story, tributing) the ultimate form of fandom? Or is it just really weird?

For this week's cover story, I decided to find out. When I met Klein after months of phone tag — at the Indian Trail Starbucks last August — I was shocked. Not only was he not creepy, but he was incredibly charismatic and reflective about why he does what he does. Being Elvis onstage, to Ben, means being able to show everyone all the amazing reasons why Elvis took the music world by storm so many decades ago. It's his job, he feels, to show the best parts of Elvis to the world.

But even more, I was shocked to find out that "being Elvis" is a family affair for Ben and his family. It's as much a part of their lives as being Christian — something both Ben and his parents are passionate about.

After all these years of celebrating this man — this one charismatic, trailblazing, world-shifting man — the Kleins have begun to worship him in some ways. And that, to me, was absolutely fascinating to hear about.

TONIGHT!

click to enlarge

When a band has been around as long as Charlie Butts and the Filter Tips, you’d think they would get tired of playing the same songs over and over again. But after 18 years in the Inland Northwest, the band performs with a fresh, youthful excitement. Tonight they’ll release their latest CD, More Peas. Check them out at 9 pm at Bluz at the Bend. $3. Gotta be 21.

The first of TWO nights of Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot starts tonight out at Northern Quest Casino. It's a tour, which has already been seen by huge crowds all over Europe and Japan. The show tonight is at 7:30 pm, and costs $70-$80. Tomorrow, the price goes up to $150. Gotta be 21.

TOMORROW! NEW YEAR'S!

Tired of sitting home alone on New Year’s Eve, watching the folks in Times Square have fun? Then get off your butt and head to A Club for a night of food, drinks and the Go-Go’s … well Go Man Go's, that is. The all-male Go-Go’s cover band (yes, you read that right) perform classic songs like “Vacation” and “Our Lips Are Sealed” with as much, if not more spunk, than the original group. Local favorites Whiskey Dick Mountain, rock-and-rollers the Camaros, surf rockers BBBBandits and party-starting extraordinaire DJ Jorgens. The $25-$30 tickets include access to a dessert bar, hors d’oeuvres and champagne. Gotta be 21.

Soul Proprietor, Spokane's nine-piece horn band will be rockin' on New Year's Eve from 9 pm-1 am. Doors open at 8. Full dinner available, and free champagne at midnight. Tickets: $25. The Luxury Box, 1512 E. Sprague Ave.

Head on down to Mootsy's for a show with locals Bandit Train, Summer in Siberia, Old Bear Mountain, the Soul and the Machine and DJ Bandit Bear. $10. Gotta be 21.

click to enlarge

TONIGHT!

Indisputably one of Spokane's favorite local bands right now, the Terrible Buttons (see our story on them from a little while back here) play the A Club tonight with Yukon Blonde and the Fling. 8 pm. $8. Gotta be 21.

Beloved longtime local pop punk band, Small Town Nation, calls it quits once and for all tonight at their farewell show at the Knitting Factory. Read our story about that break-up here, and check the band out tonight at 7:30 pm. $5. All-ages.

We had the pleasure of getting on the phone this week from the hilarious Eddie Spaghetti, frontman in the Supersuckers, last week. Check out our story on the band here, and see them tonight at the Red Room Lounge (521 W. Sprague). Geoff Johnson and His Model T Jesus opens. 7 pm. $12. Gotta be 21.

SATURDAY!

Mike Herrera, former frontman of the ’90s pop-punk band MxPx has strayed from his hardcore roots and adopted a bit of twang with his latest quasi-country outfit Tumbledown. The Bremerton, Wash., band’s American tunes are spattered with acoustic and electric guitar, punk-inflected riffs, upright bass and just a little bit of grinnin’ and a-pickin’. Check them out with Diamond Speedboat tomorrow at 8 pm at Carr's Corner (230 S. Washington). $5. Gotta be 21.

And, for the 300th time this year (we're not complaining), all-girl AC/DC cover band Hell's Belles returns to the the Knitting Factory. 8:30 pm. $13. All-ages.

Last, but not least, the Horse Thieves rock the house at Mootsy's tomorrow. Sure to be packed. 10 pm. $5. Gotta be 21. 

Headlines

Grammy Highlights: Kanye West got seven nods but none of them is Album of the Year. Those contenders are Adele's 21, Foo Fighters' Wasting Light, Lady Gaga's Born This Way, Bruno Mars' Doo-Wops & Hooligans, and Rihanna's Loud. Amy Winehouse received a posthumous nod for her Tony Bennett duet “Body and Soul” and Betty White is nominated for Best Spoken Word Album. (SPIN)

It’s the Grammys vs. whiskey? Bon Iver and The Avalanches went at each other on Twitter this morning sparked by Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon's comment in the New York Times that Grammy Awards are meaningless. On a related note, Bon Iver was just nominated for four Grammys. (Stereogum)

Adele's 21 has overtaken Amy Winehouse's Back To Black as the UK's biggest-selling album of the 21st century, with 3.4 million in sales. It has spent 45 weeks in the U.K. top 10, including 18 at No. 1. (Billboard)

Napster officially folded last week and is now a part of Rhapsody. (CNN)

Madonna has officially been named as the performer at the Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show on Feb. 5, 2012. It will be the first time the 53-year-old superstar will take the Super Bowl stage. (Billboard)

click to enlarge

TONIGHT!

You wouldn't know it's December from looking out the window, wouldja? Well it is, and it's First Friday — the monthly night of visual art and music and, if you're lucky, complimentary wine and cheese.

And downtown at Brews on Washington, see the Inlander's own Derrick King's "Derrick King Christmas Experience," with music by the Fabulous Chicken a la King. My god, is that not the best band name you've heard in years? I suspect this show will include chicken costumes. Gotta be 21. Artist reception starts at 6:30 pm.

Over at the Globe, check out the art by Scott Gyllstrom, and music by BBBBandits, the Camaros and Whiskey Dick Mountain. This one has the potential to be nutso. DJ Aphrodesiac spins records to get things started around 7 pm. Gotta be 21.

When we heard about the Kenny Werner Quintet coming to town, someone had emailed us to say that the band’s arrival in Spokane was as exciting as Kenny Chesney coming to town. We were baffled: Is that exciting? Or completely underwhelming? We translated that this show is huge news for local jazz freaks. Between Werner and his band, they've got two Grammys and have played with just about everyone from Steely Dan to Dizzie Gillespie. Ridiculous resume, really. Check them out tonight at 8 pm at Spokane Falls Community College. $15; $10, students and seniors. All-ages.

SATURDAY!

Monumental Booking throws its annual Nightmare Before Christmas showcase tomorrow night at the Hop! This year's bill features Yukon the Archer, Straight to Our Enemies, Light Up the Sky, A Death Among Heroes, All Starts Here, Prosper and What Kings Once Held. Starts at 5 pm and costs $10. All-ages.

Yes, in case you were wondering, there are TONS of similarities between Kid Rock (who plays the Knit next week) and Puddle of Mudd — who takes the stage tomorrow at the Knitting Factory. Oh the joys we had finding them. Read our story here comparing the irresistibility of Kid and Mudd's frontman, and then go see the splendor tomorrow at 7:30 pm. $25. All-ages. 

click to enlarge

Spokane native Tyrone Wells — who the Inlander wrote about last year — is currently featured on the homepage of independent music download site NoiseTrade. The singer-songwriter’s 2010 release Metal & Wood is available for download and the site also notes that Wells’ is working on his new album Where We Meet, due out in early 2012.

NoiseTrade is one of the many ways independent musicians have been able to connect directly with fans. Artists upload their music and anyone can download it in exchange for an email address and zip code. Fans can download the music for free or choose to leave a tip for $1 to $100.

Headlines

Many Detroit Lions fans were so upset that Nickelback would be the halftime performer for the big home game on Thanksgiving Day that they attempted to get the band kicked off the bill. Soul singer and Detroit native Mayer Hawthorne was unsuccessful in his campaign to replace Nickelback so he broadcast is own alternative halftime show from his parents’ house. (Rolling Stone) 

Hip-hop artist Vince P claims Kanye West stole some of his lyrics for the Daft Punk-sampling hit “Stronger." Naturally, Kayne invokes Nietzsche in his defense. (CNN)

British indie rockers Elbow were selected to write an original piece of music for the BBC’s media coverage of the upcoming 2012 Olympic games in London. (Under the Radar)

The Roots got snarky with Michele Bachmann on Jimmy Fallon's show last week, using Fishbone's "Lyin' Ass Bitch" as her introduction music. (EW) 

Debuts

Adele's Live At The Royal Albert Hall CD/DVD combo is out this week … in time to make it under the Christmas tree in a few weeks. You can stream the album today at Pretty Much Amazing

Up-and-coming indie band Summer Fiction has released a holiday song called “Christmas Eve for Two” on their Bandcamp page.

UK folk-pop duo Slow Club has shared a home video montage for “If We're Still Alive” off their sophomore LP Paradise.

Headlines

First there was the Amazon Cloud Player. Then Apple launched its iCloud. The latest cloud service to hit the market is Google Music, a combination streaming, download and social media service that stores up to 20,000 songs for free.

Taylor Swift and Adele were the big winners at last night’s American Music Awards. Swift won artist of the year, favorite female country artist and favorite country album. Adele (who was absent because she’s recovering from her recent throat surgery) won favorite pop/rock female artist, adult contemporary artist and favorite pop/rock album. (NYT)

Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb is battling liver cancer. (MSNBC)

Some X Factor UK viewers are not happy with the shoes Rihanna performed in on Sunday night. And France has banned her "We Found Love" video from being played before 10 pm. (MTV)

TONIGHT!

click to enlarge

We knew that Larry and his Flask — the bluegrass-y punk band that we wrote about in this week's Inlander — sounded good when we heard about them. But then we got emails from our friends down in Bend, Oregon (where the band is from) urging us — GO SEE THIS BAND. They did, after all, just get a nod in the New York Times. Check them out tonight at Mootsy's with locals Whiskey Dick Mountain and Third Seven (featuring members of the Flying Spiders). 10 pm. $7. Gotta be 21.

For something more brooding, head on over to the Globe for a DJ set by Brothers of Midnite. They play lots of gothy stuff like Siouxsie and the Banshees, witchhouse, drag, grime… happy stuff, ya know? 9 pm. $3. Gotta be 21.

SATURDAY!

For a two-piece, Portland band Talkdemonic sure does make a racket. The band purveys a peculiar band of chaos — but that's gotten them a lot of attention. The Inlander talked to them on the phone from Dallas, Texas this week where the band was playing in support of Modest Mouse. They'll play the A Club stage tomorrow with The Daredevil Christopher Wright and locals Dead Serious Lovers. 7 pm. $8. Gotta be 21.

It’s not clear why the word “hippie” is in Texas Hippie Coalition's band name. The only real tie to hippiedom may be that their name’s acronym is “THC.” They don't much like hippies though — they're a pack of scary-looking tattooed dudes who basically play totally mellow-harshing heavy metal. that blends hard rock and Southern sensibilities. THC plays with Candlelight Red, TALLBOY and Freak System at 8 pm at the Knitting Factory. Free. All-ages

For a solid indie rock show, head on down to Mootsy's tomorrow night for a show with two local bands, House of Ghosts and Summer in Siberia. 10 pm. $5. Gotta be 21.

SUNDAY!

A growing trend among independent musicians is “crowd funding” — getting fans to directly pledge money in return for exclusive updates and material — and Rachael Yamagata is officially on board. The pianist and singer-songwriter funded her new album, Chesapeake, with a Pledge Music campaign. Rather than the sorrow and heartbreak of her first two records, Chesapeake lets more of Yamagata's natural optimism shine through her sultry rasp. She performs with Mike Viola and Cathedral Pearls at 7:30 pm at the A Club.$13-$15. Gotta be 21 .

There are out-of-town bands and artists that Spokane just seems to adopt as our own. Horse Feathers is one of these bands. So is No-Fi Soul Rebellion. I'm pretty sure we're helping keep Tech 9ine's (many, from rumors) children in diapers.

On the roots reggae tip, Joseph Israel seems to kill in Spokane, enough to come back year after year. On youtube, his most hyped-feeling live video is from the Blue Spark (embedded below). It's good to have artists like this, not just for the killer concerts they put on in the 'Kane, but for the positivity they (presumably) spread about our town to other artists they meet. In that great, frustrating triumvirate of reasons for a healthy music scene — great local talent, great local fans, great touring talent — it's the one we have the least control over here.

It's good to see people like Israel returning year after year and being met by fawning crowds. It makes things better.

Tonight, Joseph Israel and the Jerusalem band will drop an evening of roots reggae with Toussaint Yeshua at the Lotus School (212 W. 2nd Ave) starting at 8 pm. It's $15 but organizer John Gardner (who spins and is a founding member of Real Life Rockaz under the nom-de-reggae as Yochanon) says that price is negotiable. " It’s not free, but we want people to come. The flexibility is there."

Lotus School is a non-traditional venue and this is an all-ages show, so bring the fam-dam-ily.