with geodesic eyes and your life on rewind

This is one of the more stunning things I have seen this year.

Damien Jurado might be the most talented, evocative, heart-wrecking musicians making songs today, and then you go and put him with a backing choir of some pretty angelic-sounding Seattle ladies and: forget about it.

Metallic Cloud (live, with choral backing) – Damien Jurado


This was apparently part of a recording session for a live album companion to his latest release Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son (Secretly Canadian, 2014). Filmed by my friend Tos in Seattle (he also did this one and this one), it leaves me breathless.

I can’t wait to see Damien in late July under the tall pines of the Timber Outdoor Music Fest, in Washington state, by the river. Tickets ARE still available, glad you asked.


DAMIEN JURADO TOUR DATES
05/14/14 Boise, ID: Neurolux
05/15/14 Provo, UT: Velour
05/17/14 Phoenix, AZ: Crescent Ballroom
05/18/14 Los Angeles, CA: Bootleg Theater
05/19/14 San Diego, CA: The Casbah
05/20/14 San Francisco, CA: The Independent
05/23/14 George, WA: Sasquatch! Festival

09/09/14 Amsterdam, AN: Paradiso

who wants to Timber! with me this summer?

The initial lineup for the second Timber! Outdoor Music Festival in Carnation, Washington was announced today (from the folks who bring you the incredible –and now incredibly hard to get tickets for– Doe Bay Fest). I am pleased to be heading to the festival again this summer with a commune of good music-loving friends to listen to songs under trees and float in the river. Last year was tremendous; we even saw a bald eagle. You can’t make that shit up.

Timber! Fest is July 24-26 this year (going home on the morning of the 27th, if you are a camper/yurt-dweller like us) and the initial lineup is ridiculous, with more artist announcements to come:

-Charles Bradley
-Damien Jurado
-J. Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr.)
-Rocky Votolato
-Mikey & Matty
-Cumulus

…and a bunch more bands impeccably curated by the Artist Home folks. One thing I so appreciate about Kevin Sur and his team is that for each one of their festivals I have attended, I show up only knowing maybe 1/3 of the artists playing, but I leave with a whole bunch of new favorites. They’re onto something magical and worth trusting here.

All that for $65?! Yes please. Tickets go on-sale February 25 (next week!) and I hope you will join us.


Many of these artists playing you may know from my blog and others’, but to draw attention to one lesser-known group (outside of the Seattle area/West coast): I’ve been meaning to post this song for months and months. Mikey & Matty Gervais are brothers who played in well-loved Seattle band Curtains For You, and whose album includes guest violin playing by Charity Thielen (of The Head and The Heart).

This recording is just such a joyous explosion, from last year’s Doe Bay Fest. I like how the song just cartwheels off on its own — it sticks in my head for days.

Second Son (live at Doe Bay 2013) – Mikey & Matty, with Passenger String Quartet

There’ll be moments like that x100 at Timber! Fest this summer, I am sure. Get a group together, and get early tickets. It will be one of the best festivals of the season; small, intimate, laid-back, and full of good people and wonderful music in our own little Eden.

Timber! Outdoor Music Festival lineup announcement

Timber! is name of the tremendously appealing new outdoor music festival from Artist Home Presents, the same good folks who curate both the Doe Bay Music Festival (which is now near-impossible to get tickets to) and the Summer Bonfire Series on the beach in Seattle.

This new endeavor will be held July 26-27 at Tolt-MacDonald Park in Carnation, Washington, and seeks to continue to delve into the warm and magical connections that we can create in music on a micro level. The site is at the confluence of two rivers, the stage is lit by bonfires, there might even be some guided stargazing late at night. It sounds like a formula for simple joy, absolutely loaded to the brim with terrific musicians performing both officially and, undoubtedly, unofficially everywhere you look.

One of the best features of Doe Bay for me the last two summers has been the feeling that I was at a music-centric summer camp for grownups, permeated at every turn with these organic, joyful musical connections. I am pleased to help announce the first batch of artists performing at this year’s Timber!

TIMBER! FIRST ROUND OF ARTIST ANNOUNCEMENTS:

HELIO SEQUENCE

FRUIT BATS

LEMOLO (playing my woodshop show tonight)

BRYAN JOHN APPLEBY

KITHKIN (they were jaw-droppingly vibrant and primal at Doe Bay last summer)

RIVER GIANT (I’ve been digging their album)

TEN-SPEED MUSIC (Isaac Pierce)

That is about 1/3 of the artists that are in the wings for this inaugural musical bacchanalia amidst the tall trees, but gives you a good flavor of where the organizers are taking this. There are some very very good announcements yet to come. If you are an artist interested in submitting to play the festival, please click here for the details on how to do that.

Tickets for Timber! go on sale March 19 at 10am. The link for tickets will be provided in advance on timbermusicfest.com. Tickets for the weekend (Friday afternoon through Sunday morning) are only $45, and kiddos 12 and under are free. Tent camping is $20/night for the two nights, and there are a very limited number of yurts, premium camping, and RV sites available (detailed info will be on the website). You should also follow the festival on Facebook.

This is where you should be this summer. We’d love to have you be a part of this special community.