Columbia City Theater

Terms like Americana and Roots Music are two of the most used terms to describe Seattle’s most notable and celebrated new bands of the last few years.   On Saturday night here at the Columbia City Theater we will showcase three artists who will show that some of the best music being performed today are by artists who fully embrace what used to be in America. And with that, three artists will be gracing our stage that will be showing those many new artists throwing terms saved for Old Time music like “Americana” and “Roots Music” how its done.

In a recent conversation with local musician Phil O’Sullivan, Phil described seeing Baby Gramps perform as being taken to school. If seeing Baby Gramps perform seemed like school, than Saturday’s  show while will feature Baby Gramps, Frank Fairfield, and “Blind Boy” Paxton, will seem more like a master class.

Baby Gramps is an amazing amalgamation of everything that anybody’s ever heard including Mississippi John Hurt, Uncle Dave Macon, Charlie Patton, Blind Blake, Captain Beefheart, the Tuvan Throat Singers and Popeye. Baby Gramps has created a highly developed and completely original musical concoction that is easily the most intriguing synthesis to come out of the roots revival of the late 20th Century

Frank Fairfield, an exceptional banjo picker, fiddle player, and song smith, is a complete throwback to dust bowl era America. From his fiddle that he bows on his forearm to the very suit he wears, Frank Fairfield is an absolute delight for the music lover looking for an opportunity to travel back in time.  Below is a video Frank did with KEXP DJ Greg Vandy on a recent trip to Seattle.

Blind Boy Paxton is a blues pianist, guitarist, and banjo player who is from the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles. Barely 21, “Blind Boy” Paxton is a music prodigy whose ability to sing a song and tell a good story belies his age.  You can hear a wonderful interview with “Blind Boy” here on the great Down Home Radio Show.

The show this Saturday at 9pm is $13 and shouldn’t be missed.  You can get your tickets in advance here on Brown Paper Tickets

Enjoy this video and interview we made with Grand Hallway on June 26th when the played our Grand Opening!  You can purchase Grand Hallway’s debut album, Promenade as well as their recently released DVD “Live at the Triple Door” by visiting their website on Grandhallway.com

Curtains For You play our theater this Saturday the 17th with Ravenna Woods for a bit of a Doe Bay Fest preview. Enjoy these two live videos of Curtains for You filmed live for Crackle & Pop! You can buy advance tickets for this amazing show here on brown paper tickets.

“Bands are weird things. They’re the most complicated relationship ever,” singer/guitarist Jace Krause said in an e-mail a few days before the final show of his band Friday Mile at Columbia City Theater on Friday. Of course no band has a perpetual life, not even The Rolling Stones, and their time must end at some point. It will still be a bittersweet feeling to watch a band I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and become close to play their farewell show.

Hannah Williams of Friday Mile

Friday Mile is a straight-forward, five-piece indie rock band from here in Seattle that excelled because their pop sensibilities are overt and there’s a genuine beauty in the way that the voices of lead singer/guitarist Jace Krause and keyboard player Hannah Williams play off of each other. Sometimes there’s a tension in their harmonies and other times they compliment and complement one another. It’s a decidedly power pop with the hooks out front. The boy-girl vocals gave them a favorable comparison point that some of the greatest power pop bands ever lacked (think Squeeze, Big Star and Fountains of Wayne); that’s only meant to illustrate one reason I found their sound so appealing, not to make any unfair comparisons.

When the band (self-)released what would be the final Friday Mile album, Good Luck Studio, in November of 2009, music journalist Paige Richmond wrote in the Seattle Weekly, “[Krause] mentioned to me that Friday Mile’s fanbase has grown organically. There hasn’t been much buzz about the band — a positive review on Three Imaginary Girls, a few write-ups here and there — but the band has been growing in popularity mostly by word of mouth and the musicians’ own motivations.”

The review in TIG she may have been referring to was this one, a review of their 2007 EP Love & Gasoline that I wrote, though it wasn’t the only time the band was mentioned on the site favorably. I may have the timeline off by a bit, but if I remember correctly, Love & Gasoline came across my radar around the same time I met Krause for the first time after learning we had a handful of mutual friends (unless you never leave the house, it’s an inevitability that you meet someone who knows someone in a band in Seattle). I don’t remember if my score of that (positive) review was lower because EPs are graded on a more difficult curve or because I was cautious of writing about a band whose lead singer and I share friends. Still, Friday Mile was recommended to me because people familiar with my taste in music knew a power pop band with boy/girl harmonies was likely to be a band that I would enjoy. They were, of course, correct.

Friday Mile in Mountain View, CA

Since then, I became friends with the band, and they played the one show I booked (it was on Inauguration Day, three days before I turned thirty). Another happenstance put the band and I in San Diego at the same time a few months later, quite randomly. As that happened, I wrote about them less and less, partially because of that and partially because I was confident that Good Luck Studio would cause the other Seattle music writers, my friends and peers, to reach the same conclusion I did. Aside from the Weekly’s Richmond (who has written about the band favorably several times), it didn’t happen that way but they did play bigger and bigger shows to bigger and bigger crowds, including building a sizable following up and down the west coast.
And now those shows will come to an end on Friday.

Guitarist Phil O’Sullivan was the last member of the band to join, establishing it as a quintet while making Good Luck Studio, but also ironically noted in an e-mail that “Jace and I are actually the only two remaining original members of Friday Mile. Friday Mile played its first show on campus at PLU circa 2002. I was on bass.” He said he joined when “Hannah and Jace asked me to consider joining FM one night after I sat in with them for a song at Jazzbones in Tacoma. I initially was pretty cool to the idea, but after a few more conversations and hearing some of the basic tracks for Good Luck Studio, I realized that I could make a good contribution to the band.” His guitar parts do give the band a fuller sound with a second guitarist to complement Krause’s guitar parts. Or as Williams noted, “I think our sound evolved and became more complete when we added Phil. Phil is a really good guitar player and I’m not just saying that because he’s my boyfriend.”

Krause said the band evolved as “we started off with a little more folky and jangly slant to our music. I think that’s still embedded in there, but we were starting to go for a more straightforward pop sound in the past couple years”

Williams joining the band, though, was the most crucial change as it gave a female voice to the band and led to a softer dynamic. She said it happened when:

I knew Jace a little in college at PLU. We had a jazz theory class together and he sat in front of me. I think we maybe said hi to each other and I remember commenting on his Jimmy Eat World t-shirt. When I moved to Seattle after graduating, I re-met him in a group of people at the Crocodile during a John Vanderslice show and invited the group back to my apartment where we passed around a guitar. After hearing me sing, I think I probably sung “A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell, he did the whole “we should get together and sing some songs” thing. He also handed me the first FM record, which I listened to and immediately liked. We got together the next Wednesday, learned 3 songs and walked to the nearest open mic and played them. A few weeks later, I was invited to the garage where I met Chad and Jake. The next rehearsal, I brought a keyboard. And that was it!

Friday Mile is a great local band whose sound and fanbase has grown substantially over its existence but one thing the band never has was a time to strike while the iron was hot, or there was never a scene that similar bands could play shows with and tour together the way there is for Americana/roots rock or hip hop. That’s not any one’s fault, it’s just the way things are in the music business; lots of great bands don’t “make it” as big as they hope. The Weekly wrote about some tension between Williams and Krause, not to mention Krause recently becoming a new father, so it made sense that the band would see this as a time to let go.

Drummer Chad Clibborn told me via e-mail that “I think everyone has a sense that we’ve accomplished a lot and want to go in our own directions for awhile. You put some pressure on yourself (at least we did) as a band and I think for me personally, I just think it’s time to see what the next chapter holds for each of us.” Williams noted more succinctly, “our muses weren’t musing.”

Friday Mile at Doe Bay Fest 2009

Krause explained “I think Good Luck Studio was so ambitious that it slowed us down in a way. We spent a lot of time on it; time not spent working on new stuff. By the time we were ready to put out the album, it felt like the songs were old already. Then the mechanisms we used for making new songs weren’t happening like before, and other ways felt too forced, which started to make things less fun.”

Each of the members of Friday Mile will continue to make music. Hannah Williams has another band with three of her brothers called Youth Rescue Mission and she said they plan to record their debut album next month at the Columbia City Theater with producer Gary Mula. Phil O’Sullivan said “I’ll be doing a run of solo dates with a big band of some of my favorite musicians in August. Paul Christensen of Wienland, Jay Beaman of Blood Cells, Andrew VanZandt and Ben Roth will join me. We’ll be trying out new songs and causing trouble between here and Idaho. Paul and I have an ever growing pile of songs that we’ll record at some point and I’ll continue to harvest songs and play out by myself from time to time”.

"Funny Thing" recorded live and filmed by Tyler Kalberg

The remaining members of Friday Mile, Chad Clibborn, Jace Krause and bassist Jake Rohr (who is also in the promising band Goldfinch) are working on a new project that’s an as-of-yet unnamed power trio. Clibborn said, “Jace, Jake and I are working on some new tunes.  The goal being to step back and work on stuff with no expectations and let them evolve organically.  They’re sounding really cool and there’s some booty shakers in there for sure…and that’s the goal.  We’re not sure yet what we’re going to call our new project, but we’re going to record in batches and release small pieces rather than go the full length route.  I’m pretty stoked to get some of these songs going in the studio.”

When Friday Mile takes the stage on Friday at Columbia City Theater, likely for the last time, their press release says “we plan on playing every song we know, until they kick us off the stage. We’ll have a few guests to join us. We’re going to do this right.”

Although Friday Mile is splitting up and they had issues in the band (as everyone does), they do seem to have a genuine fondness for one another. Clibborn said “I absolutely love everyone in this band and will be best friends with them forever and I really wanted to have a night to celebrate with them on stage.” O’Sullivan noted “we all love each other (really) too much to try to force anything. That would be lame.” And then he jokingly added “also, Jake was sleeping with everyone in the band, causing lots of unnecessary riffs. He’s pretty much the cause for all of this.”

Special thanks to contributing writer, Chris Burlingame. You can read more wonderful stories by Mr Burlingame at anotherrainysaturday.com

Luke Burbank gives a video tour of our theater as he prepares for this weekend’s back to back shows that feature the likes of: The Long Winters, Blue Scholars, Lonely Forest, Rachel Flotard, Ken Jennings (Jeopardy Champ), Sir Mix-a-Lot, and more.

TBTL: Tour of Columbia City Theater – These bloopers are hilarious

We’re very excited to be hosting the lovely and amazing Abbey Simmons from Seattle’s Sound on the Sound Blog this Thursday in the Bourbon Bar.  Abbey will be given the chance to take part in our weekly “Spin Class” series in which we highlight people behind the scenes in the local music industry that are really making a difference.

Abbey was kind enough to come by the theater this week and have a sit down behind the piano with our own, Kevin Sur.

It’s the last of our four Grand Opening Shows and it proves to be one with some historical significance.  Local punk staple, the Whore Moans, will be playing their final show tonight (at least under that name).  Upon talking to them some months ago the band conveyed that they will be changing their name to the Hounds of the Wild Hunt.  It seems that the band feels their music has evolved in such a way that they felt it appropriate to leave the Whore Moans name behind.   It’s a significant show and no matter the name, we’re happy to have these guys on our stage. You can read an in depth interview that our very own Abbey Simmons conducted with them about the name change on Sound on the Sound.

Also gracing the stage tonight are local metal stand outs,  Lesbian who will no doubt bring the roof down, and the two piece rock instrumental outfit, Chinese.

For those who like things loud, this is your night.  And its FREE

Here’s a glimpse of what happened here last Friday night as our stage was christened by Mash Hall, Cloud Nice and DJ Suspence. Be sure to check out the review of the show written by our friends at Sound on at the Sound. Look here for more videos to come from the rest of our Grand Opening nights including performances and interviews from some of the Northwest’s top musical acts.

Don’t miss the second half of our Grand Opening celebration with FREE shows from The Maldives tonight and The Whore Moans tomorrow! As always, doors open at 9pm.

A couple weeks ago Jeremiah Hayden, drummer for Kelli Schaefer and Drew Grow & the Pastors’ Wives, sat down to chat with our very first Thursday Night Spin Class DJs Adam Ydstie, Doug Stoeckicht, and Katie Lowery – the folks behind The Warehouse. The closing of their venue – and home – was a tragic loss to Tacoma’s music scene, but the Warehouse lives on as Adam, Doug and Katie have continued to put on incredible all-ages shows at various venues as they search for their new permanent home. So come down to the Bourbon Bar this Thursday to enjoy some of our specialty drinks and hear these guys play some of their favorite tunes. We serve Tutta Bella pizza as well!

photo by Andrew Waits

Jeremiah Hayden: Okay, so we have Adam, Doug, and Katie, from The Warehouse.

Adam Ydstie: The Warehouse as it stands.

JH: Yeah, whatever that means, right? This was formerly a venue that I had played on a few occacsions, and had loved to play, and most of all the sense of what a promoter should be doing for artists who come into their venue is what really struck me. We got paid, which was amazing. There was food there for us. There was a schedule that was abided by and those all seemed like very important things to you – that artists feel comfortable when they come in. And then somebody ruined it.

Katie Lowery: Yep. Pretty much.

AY: Yeah, some old guy that didn’t really get what we were doing. He was the landlord and he felt like we were getting too much publicity and were too much of a liability so he ordered us to vacate. For those who don’t know, it was actually our residence. It was a 3000 foot warehouse in downtown Tacoma so we actually got to live in the space and hold events there. So now that we got kicked out we’re moving from venue to venue.

JH: And you’re looking for a permanent spot, right?

AY: Ideally, that’s what we’d like.

Doug Stoeckict: Yeah. As it stands right now we’re jumping from space to space but we’ve also got some big community partners like the City of Tacoma and Spaceworks, which is a current program and initiative of Shunpike which is, I think, based in Seattle, right?

KL: Puget Sound

DS: Puget Sound. They’re actually, for the next six months, going to give us a space to use for free to help ourselves expand and help them expand the program. So we’ll be able to start producing more shows in a space we can call our own and actually start creating an environment almost to what we had before, which is ideally what we’d like to be in the future.

JH: An all ages space?

AY: Yeah, no question about that.

KL: That’s always been a goal of ours. To bring music to all ages. Music is for everyone and not just the 21 and over. Everyone deserves to hear good music and in Tacoma you don’t get that and that’s what we’ve really strived to do – to provide music for all ages.

AY: I mean, I look at my youth and when I was 16 I got to go to an awesome show by myself and in many ways the reason I love music to this day – the reason I play music and promote shows – I trace back to those early years when I was able to go to kick-ass shows in downtown Minneapolis. But kids in Tacoma don’t really have that option. There’s just a couple all-ages venues but they’re very isolated in their genre and not really branching out. But kids in Tacoma don’t know that there’s even this opportunity for them because there so used to not having a venue to go to that most of our crowd right now is 21+ but we’re really working hard to promote to the youth.

JH: So that’s next, opening a new space.

AY: That’s next. And we’ve got a big show coming up here on July 15.

JH: That’s my birthday.

DS: Well, you can come for free.

AY: Yeah, that’s our gift to you. (Laughs) We’ve got The Head and the Heart, who are blowing up in Seattle right now. They really want to do a show down here. They just played the Round which is another great thing happening in Tacoma and I know Seattle’s got that too. And then we’ve got a band from Modesto, CA called Not an Airplane that is coming up so really it’s pretty amazing that we’ve been doing this 6 or 8 months and the draw that we’re having from bands is pretty incredible. To have a band from California and to be contacted by bands in Minnesota and the east coast already is pretty cool and encouraging.

KL: It’s nice knowing that the work we’re doing is paying off and that we want bands to feel welcome in Tacoma and if that’s what we can provide it just means a whole lot to us. I mean, when I found out a band from Minnesota said “We want to come play for you,” I was thinking, “What!?”

DS: The ridiculous story with that band that is that I actually went to high school with one of the guys who had no idea I was even out in this city. When he contacted us I had just heard about them and actually bought their cd on iTunes and I was like, “Really? Shut up.”

JH: Yeah, the music community, I think, just get’s smaller and smaller all the time.

AY: I say that about Tacoma and I think that one of the benefits is that Tacoma makes the world smaller. It’s incredible how connected people are and how by a few degrees of separation people know each other from around the country. It’s a really networked city and surprisingly open to outsiders willing to come in and love Tacoma because a lot of people think Tacoma is a hard city to love. And that’s primarily…

JH: Because of traffic?

AY: (Laughs) Yeah, because of traffic. And the smell and all those things that really aren’t true. It’s a great community down here and we love this city and so we want to give something to her and we love the music and think that Tacoma deserves high-quality bands coming through town.

DS: Yeah, it’s really interesting having Seattle north of us and Olympia and Portland south of us, all cities that have great music, and yet the same vibe to them. You know, it would be amazing if all four cities could connect with each other and network and bring the same shows so we could all work together. The type of music we could do in the Pacific Northwest would be amazing.

AY: I’ve been amazed we’ve actually had a group of people from Ballard, this epicenter of music, coming to our shows. If I lived in Ballard I’d probably stay in Ballard, you know, but for some reason we’re doing something that they’re really attracted to and they’re committed to coming to our shows and like the bands that we book. So it’s pretty cool to see that.

JH: Well, it’s different too. There’s a thing that’s behind the thing. The second thing being shows that are happening and the first being, it seems, the attitude that goes into that, the care for what’s going to happen at the show and what sort of moments that you’ll create for people.

DS: Yeah, we were just in Seattle and met with a really good band called Pablo Trucker and chatted up with them. And the one place they had a experience with here in Tacoma they were kinda done with. They had heard about us a little bit and they were excited to network with us this summer and try to get out here for a show. It’s really cool for us to hear these established places that have been around for a long time, that have a name in the community and people know they can go there for music, you know, and these bands that are bringing people to these events are saying, “No. We got treated like crap.”

JH: Right.

DS: The fact that we are so gung-ho and always making sure there’s a home-cooked meal and there’s a space for the bands to relax and that we can treat them just like family, that’s so vitally important to the music scene. And for the artists that travel so many hours of the day just to come play music for a few hours that’s really important. If only we can feel some of the stuff they go through. And if they need a place to stay, we’ll find a place for them to spend the night, too. You know, it’s about them and making sure they’re taken care of. It’s really what we’re about.

JH: Well, I think you guys are doing a great job.

AY, DS & KL: Thanks.