Birds on a Wire Festival 2010

Pullman, I know you can't believe. Pullman, you have a folk festival. It's a pretty good one too. The first annual Birds on a Wire festival takes place on the streets of downtown Pullman March 26 and 27. They were able to get a nice group of NW folk and alternative acts, including the Maldives and the Moondoggies. They also grabbed a couple Spokane acts like Joel Smith and Karli Fairbanks.

In Spokane, tickets can be bought at the Empyrean. Also at the Empyrean tonight, Jason Dodson from the Maldives will be playing a solo show with Kasey Anderson and Matthew Ryan.

Lineup:

Justin Townes Earle
Damien Jurado
Joe Pug
Rocky Votolato
Horse Feathers
Sera Cahoone
Frontier Ruckus
The Maldives
The Moondoggies
Cataldo
Laura Gibson
Al James (Dolorean)
Final Spins
Stephen Ray Leslie & the Crooked Mile
Super XX Man
Avians Alright (Jenna Conrad)
Goldfinch
Karli Fairbanks
Pablo Trucker
Mike Kelly
Joel Smith
Hueco
Samuel Dickison
Tony Kevin Jr.
Low-Fi

Joel Smith - Spokane, WA (2/13/2010)

Joel Smith put on another great show. Rauelsson, a Spanish folk artist, was a pleasant surprise. I was excited to see Nick Jaina again since I last saw him 2 years ago.

Rauelsson


Nick Jaina


Joel Smith and the Hands of Plenty


Flickr, Last.fm

2009's Best Music

1) The Maldives - Listen to the Thunder (stream)
2) Port O'Brien - Threadbare ("My Will Is Good")
3) The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
4) Joel Smith - The Filibuster
5) The Thermals - Now We Can See
6) David Bazan - Curse Your Branches
7) Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
8) Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
9) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
10) Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Joel Smith - Spokane, WA (8/11/2009)

Joel Smith brought together a host of Spokane musicians in the Spokane Masonic Temple to celebrate the release of his latest CD, The Filibuster. Complete with a Master-of-Ceremonies, this was an intimate showcase for Joel's new CD and the Spokane music scene.


Karli Fairbanks
Joel SmithFlickr, Last.fm

Blitzen Trapper - Kennewick, WA (7/25/2009)

Alex and I drove down to the Tri-Cities to see Blitzen Trapper a couple of weeks ago. Great show in an intimate venue. The guys were really nice after the show. They even played a couple new songs. There is a great live recording of BT at the Picador in Iowa City a few days before this show. The setlist is pretty similar to the one we saw.

Tonight I'm going to Joel Smith's CD release show at Spokane's Masonic Temple. Check it out if you're in Spokane.




Flickr, Last.fm

Setlist:

1. Sleepytime in the Western World
2. Saturday Nite
3. God & Suicide
4. Fire & Fast Bullets
5. Stolen Shoes & a Rifle
6. Big Black Bird
7. Canyon's Edge
8. Furr
9. Country Rain
10. The Man Who Would Speak True
11. Not Your Lover
12. Black River Killer
13. Lady on the Water
14. Gold for Bread
15. Jericho
16. Love U
17. Echo
18. Wild Mountain Nation

Encore

19. Country Caravan

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 from Furr
Tracks 18, 19 from Wild Mountain Nation
Track 9 from Field Rexx
Track 15 from Cool Love #1 EP
Track 6 from Black River Killer EP
Tracks 7, 10 are unreleased

Here's video of Marty and rest of the guys performing "Canyon's Edge" at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee.

Blitzen Trapper : Blue Ribbon Vision #11 from Pabst Theater on Vimeo.

Joel Smith and the Hands of Plenty - Spokane, WA (6/19/2009)

Joel Smith and the Hands of Plenty were opening for Ten Mile Tide at The Swamp last Friday. I first got to see them at Elkfest. We got to see Joel Smith before the thunderstorm drove us back in from the patio. Ten Mile Tide was beginning to setup inside when we left, but were no where near ready to play. The Swamp's patio is a nice place to listen to music when there isn't a downpour.

Elkfest 2009 - Spokane, WA (5/29-31/2009)

Elkfest was hot and fun this year. The Elk installed water misters in their tented area which were quite refreshing. All of the bands were pleasantly surprising. I was already looking forward to seeing the Moondoggies and I wasn't disappointed. I caught the very end of Shim's set on Saturday night. I'll definitely have to check them out in the future. I was able to grab CD's from the Moondoggies and Joel Smith.

The Booze Fighters

Silian Rail

Joel Smith and the Hands of Plenty

The Maldives

Pickwick

David Dondero

The Moondoggies

Flickr, Last.fm

Elkfest 2009 Lineup

Elkfest is taking over Cannon St. again for 3 days of music, sun, and beer. Elkfest runs Friday through Sunday, May 29th through May 31st. Artfest is also taking place down the street at Coeur d'Alene Park. Here's the Elkfest Lineup, check out the Elkfest page for artist links.

Friday May 29th

4 PM - The Booze Fighters

6:30 PM - Silian Rail

9:15 PM - The Globes

Saturday May 30th

2 PM - Kaylee Cole w/ Adam David, Dane Ueland, and Kevin Long

3:30 PM - Joel Smith & the Hands of Plenty

5 PM - Whiskey Dick Mountain

6:15 PM - La Cha-Cha

8 PM - The Maldives

9:15 PM - Shim

Sunday May 31st

3 PM - Pickwick

4:15 PM - David Dondero

5:30 PM - The Moondoggies ("Changing" MP3)

7 PM - James Pants & the Royal Zodiac

8:15 PM - Velella Velella ("Do Not Fold/Do Not Bend" MP3)