Oregon Music News

February 12, 2015 Jessica Black in 2012, singer/songwriter Pilar French described herself thus: I guess I'm just somebody... a thoughtful, philosophical person. I think about life a lot. Life is kind of a struggle, but [there are] joyful experiences as well, and we just adapt to the changing environments. nyone who has heard her songs or talked with her knows how true that is. The 2012 interview was around her last album Deliver. She's not quite ready to release her new album. She'll tell you why in our conversation. She brought a new friend with her to World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan, where we do these things. It's a guitanjo. Kind of the Prius of musical instruments. A banjo body with a guitar neck. When she told me about it, I thought we had to hear it. And that's what we did. She kicked off our Conversation with a song which will end up on her next album.

February 5, 2015 Joining me today in the cupping room of World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan is Pink Martini percussionist, co-founder of Portland’s Lions of Batucada Brazilian marching band…and teacher of percussion the world over…literally...Brian Davis. We were lucky to snag him while he was making a stop back in Portland and just before he lit out for who knows where on earth. He’s a ball of positive fire and I have had much fun talking with him over the years but not as much fun as I had when I did a TV piece on the Lions and I got to march in the Starlight Parade It's a fast hour! Listen:

January 29, 2015 This Coffeeshop Conversation is special. For what Reggie Houston has to say for himself, but what he really says for all of us. Once again we were in the Cupping Room at World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan in Portland. Not that all of these conversations aren’t revealing, they’re designed to be, but today's was unexpectedly so. Saxophonist Reggie Houston, a New Orleans native, who moved to Portland the year before Katrina, and who played in Fat’s Domino’s band for twenty years became a very close friend and collaborator with the late Janice Scroggins. Her death affected many folks but I didn’t know how close they had become and how her death affected him until he sat down to talk with me. I thought we were just going to have fun and bullshit as friends like we usually do. Not today. Listen to what happened when I punched record.

January 22, 2015 In December of 2010, she unveiled a completely new side to her music. At the time I wrote: Laura Ivancie has a confession to make. She's not apologizing for all those sets she did with her acoustic guitar or for being mostly known as a singer/songwriter. She still does them. But her confession is that deep-down she's an Electronic music diva. A little background provided by OMN's Ana Ammann in a preview she wrote on Lilith Fair 2010. With a famous Portland last name, Laura Ivancie, whose grandfather served as Portland’s Mayor in the 1980s, is setting out to make a name for herself. Music has been in her blood for as long as she can remember, yet she is a relative newcomer to the Portland music scene. After a successful college basketball career, Ivancie spent 14 months backpacking across South America with nothing but her guitar in 2005. When she returned, she became a firefighter for the US Forestry Service and in 2008, after much pleading from her friends, finally took to the stage to shar

January 15, 2015 Skip VonKuske helped found Portland Cello Project, he's an original member of Vagabond Opera, he's in Groovy Wallpaper, he is cellotronik, He likes the way it looks capitalized and with a "k" on the end. This month he is celebrating his tenth anniversary of playing in weekly residency every Monday 7-9pm (free) at McMenamin's Edgefield. How is Skip regarded in the Portland music community? When he hurt his back and had to walk with a cane, people rallied around and held a benefit to help pay for his medical bills. He recovered from that. He seemingly never stops. His life is like his live samples, they just keep playing and adding to each other as he adds new layers.f This post is under the "Melting Pot" category. When OMN first started we held a contest to name it so we'd have a place for bands like PCP. Skip named it and won the contest. As always, our Coffeeshop Conversation took place at World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan in the cupping room:

January 8, 2015 The Winding Stream, Beth Harrington's documentary on the Carter Family tells a great story about American music. But the story of the making of the film ranks right up there. It's formal title is The Winding Stream: The Carters, the Cashes & the course of Country music. OMN's Ana Ammann wrote about her: Beth Harrington is a story teller. The stories she tells are about those people, places and things in our culture that need to be remembered, shared and passed on. As a documentary filmmaker for the past 30 years, Harrington has produced, directed and written her own films, as well as researched and developed shows for PBS, WGBH, and Oregon Public Broadcasting. The story she is currently documenting is one for the history books – it is the chronicle of a family and the music they made that sits in the heart of American culture, and you have an opportunity to help bring it to life. I've known her since 1998 or 9. We're not exactly sure how we met but I think it had something to do with Harpo

January 1, 2015 Robert Ham is the top music journalist in the state of Oregon and one of the best in the US of A. Now, I could be saying that to curry favor and get him to write more for us, but I'm not, although that would be a goal. Hell, I'd hand over the keys to the store, if I could afford it and he'd make a better OMN editor than me. One thing I've always liked about our relationship is that even though we've been in competition for the same dollars from various publications (the Oregonian, for instance), I have never felt a shred of competitiveness between us. That's a rare thing in journalism, especially given the shrinking marketplace and minuscule amount of money to be made compared to ten years ago. He's a splendid fella. We talked at World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan, where all of our Coffeeshop Conversations take place. Listen:

12/25/2014 He has always been a serious journalist, but let's face it, he may be best known for his coverage of visiting celebs, local celebs and who's who and what's what among the Portland glitterati. He covers the parties and events that most of us don't get invited to. Beck has written for The Downtowner, The Oregonian, Willamette Week and now for golocalpdx.com, where he's also an editor. While at WW he had the massive task of being "the gay writer" in the "straight media." It was not a unique position in the wider sense, but it was totally unique to be so identified and have the responsibility on your shoulders. He spent a half-hour with me in the Cupping Room at the World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan, where we do all of our weekly Coffeeshop Conversations. He's one of the busiest guys in town and one of the most prolific.

December 17, 2014 I met Art Levine when he was on summer break from Johns Hopkins University. We were roommates in 1970 in the two floor apartment leased by the Baltimore Underground paper of record, HARRY. I was a gritty city hippie with hair down to my ass and crabs and he was....he had an air conditioner. Nevertheless we became friends and remain so today. He became one of the top investigative reporters in America, still a Contributing Editor to the Washington Monthly. He is also a life-long music journalist and has contributed many splendid pieces to Oregon Music News. He was on Skype from Washington, D.C. and I was in the cupping room of Word Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan in Portland, which is where do these things. His new book (2017) is called "Mental Health, Inc.: How Corruption, Lax Oversight, and Failed Reforms Endanger Our Most Vulnerable Citizens," which we did not discuss when this was recorded. Listen to Art Levine and me:

December 11, 2014 It’s another episode of Coffeeshop Conversations. We’re in World Cup Coffee and Tea at Northwest 18th and Glisan, where we do all of these. This episode with Noah Mickens the impresario of Wanderlust Circus whom I have known since 1997. One thing I’ve never really asked him about is the period of time when he would publicly hang from hooks as part of his performance. Stay tuned for that! Let’s talk with Noah Mickens!

December 4, 2014 Spend an hour with one of the busiest, most versatile saxophonists in Oregon. You know her from the Quaraphonnes, Soul Vaccination and many other bands, but you've never heard her like this. So much of our lives seem to center around our favorite coffeeshop, that when I wanted to start a series of hour-long interviews with some of the most interesting people in Oregon, I thought, "Why not a a coffeeshop?" So here's the first, recorded, as they all are, in the "cupping room" at World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW. 18th and Glison. And before we go any further, yes I know that "coffeeshop" is usually two words. Well, I decided to change that. So there you have it. Mary-Sue Tobin is no stranger to OMN. You've seen our shorter video interviews, read about her with the Quadraphonnes and as a huge part of the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival. You know her from her years with Soul Vaccination and with countless Jazz bands including Andrew Oliver's bands and the Paxselin Quartet, even with the Oregon Symph