Happy Friday Portland. Tonight at the LaurelThirst Public House there will be some excellent live music happening which I would like to recommend so we can all meet up, dig the tunes, and enjoy a cold one together. If you are unfamiliar with this venue Ben Waterhouse from the WWeek bar guide has called them, "The leaders of the city's bluegrass, folk, old-time, gypsy jazz and Americana scenes, plus various combinations thereof…"
The show begins at 9:00 and features the understated alt-country expertise of Zeb Dewar and TWD's favorite old time revival band Jacob Miller and the Bridge City Crooners. So shine your shoes, grab your best gal, and let's get down. Additionally, there is a Facebook invite for tonight's performance so don't hesitate to RSVP and spread the love.
To begin, Zeb Dewar will be kicking off the evening's festivities. Zeb has been steady slingin' the kind of alt-country that makes me want to put whisky on rocks since 2004. The debut record was entitled Trouble In A Lovely Light and while it might have gone largely unnoticed by the public, it's immediately clear to anyone who has heard it that this debut heralded a new artist whose talents should be mentioned in the same breath with acclaimed artists like Lucinda Williams. Since then he and his band mates have released two additional full length albums entitled The Low Road and Low & Wild. The song featured below is entitled Black Lemons and was released on July 31st of this year. It is the single from their forthcoming project called Like Candy and if this tune with its quite conviction and satisfyingly gut wrenching alt-country ballad melodies is any indication of what's to come, then I am about to have a new favorite album. Thanks to the generosity of Zeb Dewar you can stream all of these projects before purchasing them by clicking on the links I have provided above.
Closing out the night is the incomparable Jacob Miller and the Bridge City Crooners who are still riding high from the July release of their self-titled debut full length album. Regular readers of Those Who Dig might remember my review of this album here. Jacob Miller and the Bridge City Crooners are a guaranteed good time and I'm even told they will be featuring a new band member on a few numbers tonight as well. I have featured the song East Side Drag below but if you would like to hear the album in its entirety click on the my review link to listen before your purchase.
Portland's music scene is as vibrant and diverse as the beautiful city itself and the best way to ensure that it stays this way is to support the local scene by coming out to shows like this and supporting the hardworking artists. I will see you there. You dig?