Design Example: Coursework - Get a Free Blog

ugene Mu
Music is a part of Euge
few decades, showcasiin
to bring music diversity to
peliqui odit quiatis ne nobit odicius

sic Scene
ne history. The city has hosted several diverse music events throughout the past
g well-known bands as well as local Eugene favorites. Today, Eugene continures
the town.aut resecto consecum qui ducim quis id molorianda nonse nam, ommod quatentur maiorro que non
doluptaquis moditaetrum as
Listen!
Those infectious tones you hear are a sonic reflection of Eugene’s
contemporary music scene. They’re the sounds of an
intriguing medley combining Eugene’s rich, musical past
with the rhythms of the town today...and harmonics
heralding the city’s musical future.
Consider Eugene history.
In the 1970s, guitarist Mason Williams’ finger-picking popularity
forever installed his song “Classical Gas” in Eugene’s
metaphorical Music Hall of Fame. The Grateful Dead’s traveling
circus found a spiritual home in blue-jean Eugene and in
the grass fields surrounding the annual
Oregon Country Fair. Composer-keyboard player Dan Siegel
and guitarist Richard Smith made their marks on national
jazz charts. And John Belushi belched up his post-Animal
House, Blues Brothers routine—inspired by Curtis Salgado
and Robert Cray gigs in the Eugene Hotel ballroom.
Photo by Brian Lanker
Cover Photo: The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies take the stage at
the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene’s Alton Baker Park.
30

31
Eugene Monthly
The ‘80s served up a
musical smorgasbord in
Eugene. There was Reggae
on the River, Cyril Neville’s
jam performances at Jo
Federigo’s, and a dominant
barroom blues culture
shepherded by KLCC
showman Gavin “The
Rooster” Fox. It was also a
time of scandalous, teenage
exploits by aspiring
hometown grunge princess
Courtney Love.
Eugene of the ‘90s recalls
a throng of seminal, West
Coast punk bands—most
raging through the WOW
Photo by Brian Lanker
Hall or now-defunct
Icky’s Teahouse. A potent,
underground rave scene
featured turntablism by the
emergent Raging Family.
Some bands traversed the
Eugene skyline like small
meteors: LaZoo, Crazy
8s, White Liberals. Other
‘90s bands—Satin Love
Orchestra, Floydian Slips,
Renegade Saints, Cherry
Poppin’ Daddies—retain
their brilliance today.
Now, in the wake of the
millennium shift, new
sounds and voices are
intermingling with older
favorites, breathing freshness
and even greater
diversity into Eugene’s
ever-morphing, musical
melting pot.
“There’s an incredible
wealth of talent in this tiny,
wonderful, sleepy-hollow
oasis of Eugene,” singer
Shelley James effuses,
“and a lot of musicians love
it for that!”
Cyndi Ingram, a booking
agent with a skyrocket reputation
for promoting the
local band scene, agrees:
“Eugene is amazingly
diverse, and the musical
Photo by David Loveall
Top Right: Bill Harkleroad split the Southern California music scene in
the late 1970s, settling on Eugene as a place to get sober, find a job
and establish domestic security. His reach for transformation came on
the back end of a decade of personal recording and performing notoriety,
spun out of a five-year stint as a trendsetting guitarist for the obscure
but highly influential experimental rock group
Left: Singer-songwriter Halie Loren’s music inevitably draws comparisons
to that of Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Jewel and
other pop divas of the Lilith sisterhood. Never mind that Loren is only
22. She is already a musical journeywoman with Nashville-bred chops,
studio savvy and prestigious songwriting awards dating back through
palate of the community
is pretty sophisticated. It’s
not uncommon for people
to go to a death metal concert
one night, and a few
days later go out to a place
like Sam Bond’s to listen to
almost anything from folk
to rock to jazz.”
LocaL Favorites
Eugene maintains a long
roster of proletarian players—favorite
sons and
daughters synonymous with
dedication to local music
culture. Consider Laura
Kemp, Marc Alan, The

Ovulators, Eagle Park Slim,
J.C. Rico, Walker T. Ryan,
Barbara Dzuro, Norma Fraser,
Caliente and The Sugar
Beets. And sidemen like
Skip Jones, Byron Case and
Paul Biondi.
Similarly, there’s a wealth
of venues. From the grandscale
Hult Center to established
and upstart clubs,
Eugene is graced with stages
of all shapes and sizes: Jo
Federigo’s, Luna, Luckey’s,
Sam Bond’s, the Vets Club,
Jaxx, Downtown Lounge,
the Black Forest, Samurai
Duck, Cozmic Pizza, John
Henry’s and the Wetlands,
to name but a few.
Yet in a community where
concert popularity can be
inversely proportional to
moisture collected at the
Deb Cleveland
has one
foot rooted in
the Sundayschool
gospel
influences of
her east Texas
Baptist upbringing,
the other in
classic pop and
rhythm-andblues
songs
from ‘60s AM
radio.
Photo by
Brian Lanker
Mahlon Sweet Airport
weather station, warm season
events reign supreme.
There are established favor-
ites: Art and
the Vineyard,
the Willamette
Valley
Folk Festival,
the Oregon
Country Fair,
the Lane
County Fair,
the Eugene
Celebration,
Saturday
Market. And
there are newer additions a
short drive from town: Cottage
Grove’s new venue The
Axe and Fiddle, the Springfield
Summer Concerts, the
spectacular Oregon Jamboree
and vineyard events like
the 2006 concerts at Secret
House and LaVelle wineries.
Until 2006, Cuthbert Am-
“There’s an
incredible wealth
of talent in this
tiny, wonderful,
sleepy-hollow
oasis of Eugene,”
-- Shelley James
phitheater
in Alton
Baker
Park was
a special
musical
environment
suffering
ill-favored
status. To
be blunt,
Cuthbert
simply wasn’t happening.
But last year’s city government
decision—to contract
with private businesses for
event management—has
contributed to a renewed
buzz.
January 24, 2012
Brendan Relaford of Big
Green Events coordinates
shows at the Cuthbert, as
well as the McDonald Theatre
and Eugene Celebration.
Relaford is optimistic
about the vitality of the
local scene. “Live music is
still undeniable,” he insists.
“If there’s a healthy stock
of good entertainment out
there, at some point people
latch on.”
in the hot seat
So who’s currently H-O-T
in musical Eugene? And
what’s buzz-worthy?
Over a few short years,
The Shedd has emerged
as an influential, highly
respected force. Its music
classes boast more than 700
students. The Now Hear
32

33
Eugene Monthly
This series has introduced
the intimate Jaqua Concert
Hall to a who’s who of
musical luminaries. Plans
are now afoot to expand the
Shedd Presents series into
a regular showcase, pairing
local stars with lesserknown
national talents.
“I’m hoping we’re leaders,”
says Ginevra Ralph,
Shedd’s director of education.
“It’s very important
that we’re filling a niche
that hasn’t been filled
before.”
Half a mile west, the WOW
Hall holds down an equally
impressive corner of the
music scene with its slant
towards all-ages hip-hop
and punk shows. Program
director Mike Hergenreter
attributes much of the
Hall’s success to non-conventional
booking, underscoring
the WOW’s 30-year
legacy of staging “whatever
is upcoming, cool or hip.”
A different kind of hot is
Eugene’s growing list of
artists primed for national
exposure. Count among
them guitarist/composer
Justin King, drummer
James West and singer/
songwriters Halie Loren
and Mat Kearny.
How about smokin’ variations
on rock-and-roll? Give
an ear to the tango-rock
fusion of Mood Area 52 or
the aggressive, politically
Jerry Garcia played to a maniacal
crowd when the Grateful
Dead performed near
Eugene in summer 1982.
Photo by Brian Lanker

charged anthems of Dead
Americans. Jam band favorite
Reeble Jar repeatedly
packs in fans. Eleven Eyes
showcases original, hiphop-influenced
jazz. Disco
Organica earns kudos for
its funk-a-fied groove rock.
And the Ginger Hustlers
proffer quirky, psychedelic
“gothabilly.”
If there’s a standout trend
on the club scene, the banner
is being carried by a
parade of hard-working, politically
engaged, businesssavvy
bands.
There’s also a trend exploring
theme-driven performance
series. Examples
include the recent, highly
successful GRRRRLZ Rock
series, the upcoming KIDZ
Rock series and the first
Eugene Women’s Music
Festival, scheduled for this
summer.
The local Musicians As-
sociation has cast an eye
toward innovative music
projects—especially those
fostering partnership with
businesses and government.
According to union officer
Violetta Tarpinian, immediate
plans include a series of
free community jazz shows
in April, staged as part of
National Jazz Month.
And so, the Eugene beat
goes on.
When it comes to variety
January 24, 2012
and innovation, passion and
promise, sophistication and
soul, the vibrant sounds
of Eugene’s contemporary
music scene are irrepressible.
They echo from the
core of Eugene’s reputation
for the arts and its clarion
call to music lovers.
Non core endae sitatias
entiisc imilit rehendestia
estio et rem nihiciae pos es
enis qui od quunt inveliqui
denis aspita sim elendunt
Photo by Brian Lanker
Vintage Guitar Magazine has described Don Latarski as “a guitarist of great taste and chops.” Latarski’s fluid, uniquely American
style incorporates genres from jazz and blues to rockabilly and swing. He can serve up a plate of steaming Cajun funk on a
Fender Stratocaster just as effortlessly as he dishes out Texas twang on an archtop acoustic.
Latarski’s original melodies have been a staple of the Eugene music scene since the ‘70s, when he first began mixing it up
with local players as his jazz-rock combo, Lon Guitarski, performed at prime local venues.
34