Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Wednesday, May 11th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I stayed in Bringhampton, New York. Y La Bamba starts our tour with Neko Case, today. It is pretty hard to believe. Anyways, here are the Portland shows that look good to me tonight:

Laurelthirst is having it's Wednesday happy hour show with Michael Hurley. I have written about Michael Hurley a few times now. I saw the folk legend play once at Holocene with Alela Diane. It was really cool. I was looking at the line up for a music festival in Nelsonville, Ohio aptly named TThe Nelsonville Music Festival. It looks like Michael plays on the same stage right before us. Pretty cool. anyway if you can't make it out to Ohio, then you can continue to see him at Laurelthirst every Wednesday this month. The show is FREE and starts at 6 PM.

Rotture is having a show with Autopilot is For Lovers, Mike Coykendall, and Alameda. Autopilot is a band that we here at Crappy Indie Music are fans of. I think that Adrianne Hatkin's voice is cool. I have been informed that it is a love or hate voice. She writes songs on the accordion, piano and guitar and therefore switches between them all. Interesting fact: Alameda features a few members that used to play in Autopilot. I am not sure if they will, but it would be awesome if they joined Adrianne on a few numbers. Mike Coykendall is probably best recognized from the liner notes of several great artists. Most notably M.Ward. I believed he was also in the She and Him band. Anyway his solo stuff is good. It is in the Americana rock vein. Though sometimes he uses his studio knowledge to mark dark sounding elements most don't ever get. Alameda is a group that creates lush backdrops of traditionally orchestral instruments like strings and such for indie folk. It is nice when it all comes together. They have a few releases under belt that you can check out. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

Mississippi Studios is having a show with Empty Space Orchestra (Bend, OR), Brouhahaand, and Yeah Great Fine. Empty Space just released their self titled debut album yesterday. It is an exploration of their many and varied influences. I am not sure, but from what I can tell the music is instrumental and leans towards loud. Apparently all the members are actually trained, that means they know how to break rules. Broughaha is a band that spans the distance of Portland and Seattle. They too are instrumental and seem to be somewhere between a post-rock band and a jam band. The reason am writing about this show is because of Yeah Great Fine. They have vocals in their music and they are oh so sweet. Their music is summery fun and catchy as hell. Their are elements of progressive music in there but it never compromises the pop elements of their music. You really should check them out. The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.
The Knife Shop is having a show with Harlowe & The Great North Woods, Pat Hull (Brookyn, NY), and Kelly Blair Bauman. Harlowe & The Great North Woods are make shimmery arranged folk pop music. One of the dude vocalists reminds me a bit of Horse Feathers' Justin Ringle. That and the uses of similar instruments lead me to want to make the comparison to the two bands, but honestly I think they take opposite approaches. Harlowe goes big where Horse Feathers goes small (or stark or whatever). Pat Hull is a guy and an acoustic guitar. His voice is strong and relatively high and piercing. I think if you are a Jeff Buckley fan you will find a lot to like in his music. Kelly Blair Bauman is an Americana Rock guy who does what he does perfectly. I really like it. The music mostly has a country feel to it like on "I Made It Up", but occasionally it is just jangle rock like on "I See Stars. The show is $4 and starts at 9 PM.
Al's Den is having a show with Nate Lacy (Mimicking Birds). Nate Lacy has been booked to play every day this week at the happy hour time of 7 PM. I will say it again like I did yesterday. This is a promotion to get you into Al's Den. I can guarantee you that if I were in Portland I would fall for this ploy. Because ultimately everyone wins. You get to see Mimicking Bird in a super stripped down setting for FREE. Cool. They get you into their new place. Cool. Honestly it is hard to imagine the songs of Mimicking Birds in a none intimate way. Over the last year I have grown quite fond of the Issac Brock produced self titled album. It reminds me a of his side project Ugly Cassanova. The show is FREE and starts at 7 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "hi". But you can't cause I am on the opposite coast.

Ben


Mike Coykendall plays tonight at Rotture!