by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS Ideally, duos should possess the kind of magnetism and presence that let you forget the lack of a big backing band. Simon and Garfunkel clearly had that quality. After a listen to Sundae + Mr. Goessl, one can hear their love for each other melding with their musical prowess …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS Sometimes it’s easy to hear the connection two artists share with each other, meaning they’re so on the same page that the authorial voice seems to be coming from one mind. Blaze and Kelly have been writing and performing together since 2004, and that history comes across in the …
by Christian Carvajal for OLY ARTS The Olson brothers of Olympia, Isaac and Luke, formed a country act in 2011. They won the 2013 Capital Lakefair Battle of the Bands and a national songwriting contest with “Sunrise,” an original song they performed at the Grand Ole Opry. That song was inspired by the natural beauty …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS While there are certainly plenty of talented country artists in America these days, there was a golden age for country music that ran from roughly the late ’50s through the ’70s. It was in these times that the so-called “outlaw country” of people like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Get ready for a toe-tapping extravaganza from old-style-blues band Blues County Sheriff. Band members say they live to have fun and put on a great show. “Forget the myth that blues is sad music,” they say. “Our blues will make you dance. Expect humor and lots of audience interaction. …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Spike and the Impalers, the classic-rock, alter-ego band comprising radio hosts Spike O’Neill and Bob Rivers of The Bob Rivers Show on KJR (95.7 FM), brings pure entertainment to the stage. Along with Rivers and O’Neill, the Seattle-based cover band includes Scott Adams, Steve Hanna, Jeff Kathan, Susan Kendall-Morais, …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Some bands are as diverse in their musical abilities as their members are. The Brass Patriots, a 16-member, military-music ensemble led by Chief Warrant Officer Scott Pierson, is absolutely one of those bands. The ensemble plays a wide variety of music, including formal and ceremonial music, street brass-band music, …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Nationally known pianist Scott Cossu, who recently received a lifetime-achievement award from One World Music Radio, was one of the original Windham Hill artists. He keeps a sense of humor about his place in the new-age canon, describing his music as “new-and-improved age” and “heavy mental.” His latest recording, …
by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Three Rivers, California at the entrance to the Sequoia National Park is a long way from New Orleans, but it’s home to The High Sierra Jazz Band. Listeners to the band can focus on the stage, close their eyes and be transported into Preservation Hall on Bourbon Street to …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS Few genres inspire more passion and reverence for tradition than jazz. A quintessentially American art form, jazz and its permutations have been around in one form or another since the late 19th century, with roots in New Orleans. In the ’40s, jazz found a vibrant resurgence in the form …