It's been a charmed 365 days or so for the gentlemen of Blitzen Trapper. Portland's perpetrators of schizophrenic, psyched-out, new cosmic American music released Wild Mountain Nation to much acclaim far and wide last year, eventually getting picked up by Sub Pop records in the process, and have been riding the wave ever since. It's a bit of send off for them tonight with a hometown show at The Artistery before they embark next week on a North American tour highlighted by a stop at the South By Southwest Festival next month in Austin. In other words, it's the last chance for the locals to catch them in their natural habitat until April 19th. Whet your appetite with a listen to our in-studio session with Blitzen Trapper recorded last summer.

Also tonight, Seattle's Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands play Mississippi Studios in anticipation of the new release Cody's Dream, out March 4th on Bloodshot. While Pickerel came up as a drummer in the early 90's with the Screaming Trees, before going on to serve with acts like Neko Case and Mark Lanegan, it's his voice that takes center stage in his own music. His dark baritone is reminiscent of Lanegan's, and is perfectly suited for his musical noir-roots hybrid, as informed by the writing of Raymond Carver as it is the music of Lee Hazlewood. Also performing in the area tonight: The Everybodyfields wrap up the February leg of the McMenamin's Great Northwest Music Tour at the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. Watch and listen for an opbmusic in-studio session with the band coming soon. Meanwhile, Vancouver, BC's Clumsy Lovers bring their high-energy musical soup to the Doug Fir. The band has been on a seemingly never-ending tour for the better part of the last decade plus, winning converts one at a time here, a few at a time there. Their most recent release, Smart Kid, came out on Nettwerk in 2005.

Plenty more to come here-- we'll be blogging throughout the show. What's on your minds?

Posted by jpetersen on Saturday, February 23 at 8:46pm