All in-store performances are at Music Millennium 32nd & E Burnside, 503-231-8926.
For a complete list of upcoming in-store performances & events, please visit http://musicmillennium.tuneportals.com/InStore
COMMUNITY DAY featuring SONGWRITERS CIRCLE with ROBIN WASHBURN, MICHAEL CHARLES SMITH, and LEIGH MARBLE
FREE PERFORMANCE
Mon., Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.
Sponsored by KZME.FM
Record stores were the community centers for many cities and towns around the country, especially in the late ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. They were a place where community in the love of music brought people together. Friendships were made and partners in life were found as people shared their interest and love of music. On Community Day, there will be free refreshments, special one-day deals, live music, and a variety of unique events throughout the year. Monday, February 3rd, will be the next Community Day and will include the Songwriters’ Circle at 7 PM.
Robin Washburn is a Portland musician, filmmaker, and occasional film composer, who created RHODA Films to house his original webisodic miniseries, All Cats Are Grey, along with other film and video endeavors. He has directed music videos for Sub Pop Records, The Helio Sequence, The Prids, Here Come Dots, and Leigh Marble. Additionally, he has contributed music to film, commercials and documentaries, and his work is featured online in Consequence of Sound, Under The Radar and Filter Magazine. He is looking forward to releasing an album of new material under the moniker Séance School sometime this spring.
Michael Charles Smith is a marimba soloist, classical percussionist, composer, singer-songwriter, and teacher currently residing in Portland, Oregon. As a classical percussionist he performs with Portland Columbia Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and Portland Chamber Orchestra.
Michael currently fronts his band Charlie Blue and the Black Market which has been compared to a perfect marriage of Tom Waits, The Police, and Harry Connick Jr. Michael currently plays marimba Friday nights at Cinetopia Beaverton, performs at PDX airport, and runs his own private studio teaching lessons on drum set, guitar/songwriting, and marimba.
Don’t call Leigh Marble a singer-songwriter prefers the title Songmaker Rockbreaker Tomtom-pounder when crafting his particular brand of dark and stormy folk-rock. With major influences like Low, Tom Waits, Morphine, and Nico, it’s no wonder he gravitates toward the, er, low side of the road. His songs will leap for your jugular one minute, only to nestle softly into the corners of your brain the next. Originally from New England, Leigh moved to Portland in the late 90s to join the town’s rich songwriter scene. He is also an erstwhile MC with hip-hop ne’er-do-wells, The Buttery Lords.
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Listening Party
Tues., Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.
Listen & enjoy food & drinks by local, independent vendors!
Hurray For The Riff Raff is Alynda Lee Segarra, but in many ways it’s much more than that: it’s a young woman leaving her indelible stamp on the American folk tradition. If you’re listening to her new album, Small Town Heroes, odds are you’re part of the riff raff, and these songs are for you.
“It’s grown into this bigger idea of feeling like we really associate with the underdog,” says Segarra, who came to international attention in 2012 with ‘Look Out Mama.’ The album earned her raves from NPR and the New York Times to Mojo and Paste, along with a breakout performance at the 2013 Newport Folk Festival, which left American Songwriter “awestruck” and solidified her place at the forefront of a new generation of young musicians celebrating and reimagining American roots music. “We really feel at home with a lot of worlds of people that don’t really seem to fit together,” she continues, “and we find a way to make them all hang out with our music. Whether it’s the queer community or some freight train-riding kids or some older guys who love classic country, a lot of folks feel like mainstream culture isn’t directed at them. We’re for those people.”
Many of the songs on ‘Small Town Heroes’ reflect that decision and her special reverence for the city. She bears witness to a wave of violence that struck the St. Roch neighborhood in the soulful “St. Roch Blues;” yearns for a night at BJ’s Bar in the Bywater in “Crash on the Highway;” and sings of her home in the Lower Ninth Ward on “End of the Line.” “That neighborhood and particularly the house I lived in there became the nucleus of a singer songwriter scene in New Orleans,” she explains. “‘End Of The Line’ is my love song to that whole area and crew of people.”
The scope of the album is much grander than just New Orleans, though, as Segarra mines the deep legacies and contemporizes the rich variety of musical forms of the American South for the age of Trayvon Martin and Wendy Davis. “Delia”s gone but I’m settling the score,” she sings with resolute menace on “The Body Electric,” a feminist reimagining of the traditional murder ballad form that calls on everything from Stagger Lee to Walt Whitman. Shejuxtaposes pure country pop with the dreams and nightmares that come with settling down with just one person in “I Know It’s Wrong (But That’s Alright),” while album opener “Blue Ridge Mountain” is an Appalachian nod to Maybelle Carter.
NPR has said that Hurray for the Riff Raff’s music “sweeps across eras and genres with grace and grit,” and that’s never been more true than on Small Town Heroes. These songs belong to no particular time or place, but rather to all of us. These songs are for the riff raff.
Celebrate Lincoln’s birthday with LINCOLN’S BEARD
FREE PERFORMANCE – RECORD RELEASE EVENT
Wed., Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.
Lincoln’s Beard is an alternative/folk/rock band from Vancouver, Wash.
Since 2006, Lincoln’s Beard has been writing, recording, and playing their original tunes far and wide throughout the Pacific NW. Currently a four piece band, consisting of acoustic guitar, electric guitar/lap steel, electric bass/banjo, and drums, Lincoln’s Beard plays high energy shows that keep your feet tapping and moving.
“Vancouver, Wash. is a perfect place for alternative Americana. It’s a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, and a weird mix of blue collar, white collar and red … well, you get the idea.
Lincoln’s Beard is a folk rock band that appeals to all of the above. The group started playing in 2006 as an alternative bluegrass band. It moved more toward indie rock with each new release, and lately has settled into an alt-folk groove with a recent lineup change.
Lincoln’s Beard is one of those bands where individuals talented in their own right come together for a wholly different sound.” –Discover Yamhill Valley
“Amazing band! Elelments of rock, Americana, folk, mixed toether and played extrememly well!” –Terry Currier
Bring Your Kids to Music Millennium Day
Sat., Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
FREE GIFT BAGS FOR ALL KIDS UNDER 18
FEATURING FREE LIVE PERFORMANCES BY:
Mo Phillips- 1:00 PM
Teri Untalan & Friends – 3:00 PM
Sat., Feb. 15 will be Bring Your Kids to Music Millennium Day. Record stores have always been a place where community in the love of music brought people together. Most kids don’t get into record stores these days, as many prefer downloading to CDs. The kids who do make it into our store are totally fascinated with Music Millennium. In an effort to expose more kids to the kind of music community only found in record stores, we have created this special day.
All kids under 18 will get a free gift bag containing music and other gifts from businesses in the community, such as Cosmic Monkey Comics, Dark Horse Comics, the Oregon Zoo, the North Clackamas Aquatic Park, Bullwinkle’s, and more.
We’ll also be offering delicious snacks from Whole Foods, KIND, Black Sheep Bakery, and Franz Bakery.
1:00 PM: Singer/Songwriter, Violist & Educator, Teri Untalan brings rock & soul to her music with an acoustic/roosty edge & pop sensibility. Teri’s backed up a long & diverse list of California and Portland based artists from funk guitarist Miko (formerly of Prince’s NPG) to local indie favs Silk & Olive, Alan Singley, Appetite for Deception (GnR tribute) & punk-rock/neo country veteran Heidi Hellbender. She’s currently directing The Rocker Chixx Choir, an all-female rocking choir that empowers and brings women and girls together through voice: rock, pop, blues, soul/R & B, gospel, americana, alternative from Lorde to Liz Phair, Dolly Parton to Heart.
3:00 PM: Mo Phillips writes kids songs from his secret ninja laboratory in the Portland. In the old days, Mo played crazy jazz and psychedelic math rock on three continents to much acclaim. Mo grew up recreating Neil Young and the Rolling Stones in his bedroom, and after some university years trying (unsuccessfully) to cross D. Boon with John Coltrane, he fell back into his classic rockin’ ways. It has been said that Mo’s album Train Beard sounds like Black Francis joined Wilco to make a kids album.
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