Listen 'til the end.

ANDREW NORSWORTHY

Summer Solstice!

PARTY

If you have the chance to get out of town this coming weekend for solstice, stop by this event in Seward! :) You will dance like a mad man or lady!

Like a child, I'm holding on to you

Oh, Marcus Bently. I, for one, think it is time someone got him back to AK for a visit.

MARCUS BENTLY "Amelia's Roses"


MARCUS BENTLY with location location, "Papercuts"

"So Far Around the Bend"

Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National produced an album called "Dark was the Night" for the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture. The album features 31 tracks from some of my favorite artists. Bon Iver, Feist, Iron and Wine, Arcade Fire, Cat Power and the Decemberists to name a few. Here the brothers talk about how they got involved in the project and play a tune!

SPECIAL PRESENTATION Dark Was the Night The National - "So Far Around the Bend"

ehem...

I wouldn't typically recommend going to the Woodshed in Anchorage. In fact, I don't think I am right now. BUT The Moon Knights are back in Anchorage and they happen to be playing a show there this weekend. I've gone out to see them two weekends in a row at Bernies and it has been a good time. :)

And for you twitter junkies.

THE MOON KNIGHTS

The Old Believers

Two kids from Kenai, Alaska, Nelson Kempf and Keeley Boyle, make up The Old Believers, a duo that is getting some attention from Portland, their new homebase. NPR did a lil write up.

Photo By Mozzchops

Home for the holidays

Last December I spent the entire month in Hawaii with my family. It was beautiful and warm. But I missed one of my favorite things about the holiday season, all the music that rolls through town! So, time to do some research. Who is home for the holidays?

PORTUGAL. THE MAN

Upcoming Shows

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Dec 19 2008 8:00P	Downstairs at Club M	Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 20 2008 8:00P	Mat-Su Resort	Wasilla, Alaska

DELMAG

Upcoming Shows ( view all )

Dec 27 2008 10:00P Koots (delmag) Anchorage, Alaska Jan 3 2009 9:00P Koots (delmag) Anchorage, Alaska

MATT HOPPER

Upcoming Shows

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Dec 10 2008 9:00P	CHILKOOT CHARLIES (solo)	Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 13 2008 8:00P	PANDEMONIUM (solo - all ages)	Wasilla, Alaska
Dec 18 2008 7:00A	KWHL 106.5 BOB AND MARK MORNING SHOW	Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 18 2008 9:30P	THE AVENUE w/ Steven Bacon, Jared Woods, Evan Phillips, Matthew Dean Herman and more...	Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 20 2008 5:30P	THE VENUE / FOX 4	Television Zoo, Alaska
Dec 20 2008 8:00P	MAT-SU RESORT w/ Portugal. The Man	Wasilla, Alaska
Dec 28 2008 7:00P	WILDBERRY THEATRE w/ Evan Phillips, Steven Bacon, Dan Zoen, Keely Boyle, Crystal Hutchens	Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 31 2008 9:30P	BLUES CENTRAL w/ H3	Anchorage, Alaska

LIVES OF FAMOUS MEN

Upcoming Shows

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Dec 17 2008 8:00P	Chilkoot Charlies - HOLIDAY BASH	Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 19 2008 8:00P	The Downstairs w/ Portugal The Man	Anchorage, Alaska

Ray LaMontagne

I got to see him live in Portland a couple days ago. So good!

"SHELTER" and "HOLD ME IN YOUR ARMS"

Two more nights of music at my favorite bar!

"Cryyyyyyyyyy! I want to see your faaaaaaace. I need you to come hoooooooome."

So, Delmag is tonight at the Ave!

But I also must mention that tomorrow night Rebel Blues plays there and then Addverse (b. meyers) will get us up and movin' on Saturday!

So, there you have it. The Avenue has planned your weekend for you! All you have to do is show up. :)

Somebody got the power animal memo...

Or maybe it was ESP? OK, OK, I'll stop.

But everyone should get out and catch one on these ESP shows. Mindy and I are going to Palmer on Wednesday night.

We saw these guys at Vagabond Blues last time they were in town and had a pleasant time. The three have great stage banter. My favorite part was when Easton made fun of one of Phillips' new songs, comparing it to a male enhancement commercial or something, I can't remember. But it was funny. They basically take turns on lead vocals and harmonize well. It's a don't miss! I would even encourage catching the Friday night show at Snow Goose and then making your way over to the party at our place. It would be a perfect combo.

Upcoming Shows

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12 Aug 2008 3:00 P	KNBA 90.3 FM - LIVE On-Air Performance	Anchorage, Alaska
13 Aug 2008 7:30 P	VAGABOND BLUES record release show	Palmer, Alaska
14 Aug 2008 8:00 P	HOUSE CONCERT	Anchorage, Alaska
15 Aug 2008 8:30 P	SNOW GOOSE THEATRE record release show	Anchorage, Alaska
17 Aug 2008 9:00 A	KANTISHNA MUSIC FESTIVAL	Kantishna, Alaska
19 Aug 2008 7:00 P	Fairbanks House Concert	FAIRBANKS, Alaska
20 Aug 2008 8:00 P	THE BLUE LOON	FAIRBANKS, Alaska

'How strange it is just to be alive at all'

'LIFE IS A SONG' - PATRICK PARK

Definition of the week: Doppelganger

Urbandictionary.com
1. Doppelganger

Someone that looks the exact same as another person. yet not a twin. ghost identical to living person: an apparition in the form of a double of a living person

Example: yo i saw someone that looked just like u...could have been your doppelganger

LOOK-A-LIKE?

Rich Stromberg and Josh Harty

I knew this lady who had a twin, not by blood, in her own town. Her parents went to the local fast food restaurant and thought there clerk was their own daughter but she wasn't. "Jody! You never told us you got a job!" "I'm not Jody."

Once I was in Atlanta, Georgia and I swore I saw this kid from my brother's baseball team working at a water park. But the kid at the park swore up and down he had never been to Alaska and, for that matter, didn't know anyone who had.

My roommate Mindy has a twin in Fairbanks, they are exactly like each other in every way but looks. They both study infectious diseases, come from military dads and korean moms, have an affinity for local music and guys with guitars, the list goes on.

And then, last night I went to a BBQ/music jam and met this musician who looks like he could be the doppelganger of a friend Rich Stromberg, who I originally met working at the college newspaper at UAA. Josh Harty is a singer/songwriter originally from Fargo, North Dakota who is going to play a show at Humpy's tonight.

You tell me. They long lost brothers or what?

Guest spot on 'Natural Selection'

I got to guest host on Mindy's KRUA radio show "Natural Selection," Tuesday. Here is the recording of the show if you would like to listen!

PLAYLIST

Feist - "Brandy Alexander"
Matt Sheehy - "About Piano"
Kaki King - "Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers"
Andrew Norsworthy - "do you ever"
Patrick Park - "Life's a song"
Jaymay - "Autumn Falls"
Band of Annuals - "Ain't lookin' back"
The Devil Whale - "Dirty Mouth"
Marcus Bently - "Dimestore Return"
Wilco - "Hummingbird"
Sun Kil Moon - "Last Tide"
Portugal. The Man - "Telling Tellers Tell Me"
The Devil Whale - "Turn around this car"
Cory Branan - "Tall green grass"
Josh Rouse - "Streetlights"
The Owls - "Air"
Belle and Sebastian - "If she wants me"
Bright Eyes - "I woke up with this song in my head this morning"
The Beatles - "Here comes the sun"
The Shins - "Phantom Limb"
Paul Simon - "Me and Julio down by the school yard"
Lucero - "Tears don't Matter much"
Patrick Park - "Summertime"

I finished the book. Jimi is dead.

I just finished reading "Room Full of Mirrors" by Charles R. Cross, a journalist from the Seattle area, who specializes in the lives and deaths of the Cult of 27. The cult is a group of successful musicians who died at the age of 27, including Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Robert Johnson and Jim Morrison, among others.

"Room Full of Mirrors" is successful in that it feels complete. You don't feel like you are missing a single thing. Fact or fiction. Or fact so outrageous it seems like fiction.

Fact: Jimi had at least two children, Tamiki Carpenter and James Sundquist. Both were children of groupies he slept with. He never met his children. He was probably too much into free love to handle the responsibility. He was never DNA tested to prove that they were his kids but they look like him.

Fiction: Jimi killed himself on purpose. This book leads to the conclusion that if Jimi in fact wanted to kill himself he would not have left 40 sleeping pills in the bottle. He took nine probably thinking that European sleeping pills would not be as strong as American. And Jimi had a high tolerance for drugs.

Outrageousness: Jimi had a large one. In Chicago in the late 60s, there was a group of girls called the Plaster Casters. Jimi was one of the first to have his penis cast by them. Cynthia Plaster Caster is still casting penises and breasts of talented people in Chicago.

Elton :)

Here is a clip from the Friday night Elton John show in Anchorage. You can hear my sis Nati singing along in the background, silly.

BENNIE AND THE JETS


I went with my mom, brother, sisters and Sara and had a great time. Highlights were the flamboyant light show and how after almost every song he would jump up and confront the crowd, give some points, shout outs, muscle flexes, thumbs up, etc. How a 60-year-old man can play like that three nights in a row is beyond me.

The sound was Sully sound but he played with the reverb and seemed to have fun with it, especially on "Rocket Man," so I got over it. All in all, worth my Momma's money! :) Thanks Mom!

This girl...

JAYMAY "AUTUMN FALLS"

Final entry on Cory Branan (for a while)

Photo by Brian Adams

Cory Branan played some fun shows here in Anchorage last weekend. He fit in around here perfectly. We are all missing him already. Here is a final farewell to Cory with a video Marty Jones shot at the Snow Goose last Saturday night.

In the words of Evan Phillips, "Thanks (Cory) for being a breath of fresh air." :P

TALL GREEN GRASS

Erik Braund on Conan...

OK, so we all know Anchorage's Erik Braund of Jeb and Sleep Machine bears a striking resemblance to late night talk show host Conan O'Brien but seeing them together...CRAZY!

DEAD RINGER


Watch the break dancing scene with Jason Lee. Who knew Conan would be brushing Erik Braund's shoulders off? Ridiculous.

Les petits enfants aiment la musique!

Singing and dancing babies seem to be all the rage lately. I keep coming across these cute videos. You probably saw the "Hey Jude" one on MySpace, Tom posted it. But if you haven't it is a must see. And the Menomena one is so sweet.

HEY JUDE


MENOMENA

#62.3 - Menomena - Wet and Rusting
by lablogotheque

Why didn't I start this when I was 20?!

So, there is this group in town that has come up with a pretty darn cool idea.

Scott Thorpe and Britain Strah, 20 year olds from Eagle River, are two founders of the Alaska Music Alliance. My new teen media institute reporter Tiana Johnson, 19, produced this audio story about it. This is Tiana's first story. I am so proud!