Everyone is an Artist

Always

And We’re in it Together.

Unloading: We all do it. It’s worth it. It can help give peace of mind in a lot of situations and help people understand who you are. If you want to stay closed up fine- but recognize you have help as much as you may not want to admit it. Humans are a social species and need interaction inherently. Hell, even in a prison full of murderers the worst punishment is being put in a hole where there is NO human interaction. Remember that you are part of something bigger.

                I am basically talking to myself and you guys. I want the message to get out there but I realize as I continue that I could use the same advice. Really everyone has an opinion and it isn’t necessarily going to help to tell you mine because what do I know? I am on the same journey as you- we’re just writing a different book. We are a product of our environment since before we’re even conscious. In the womb it is believed that we become absorbing of our stimuli and overall environment even then- perhaps those moments being the MOST formative.

                So what does right now have to do with anything? Well right now you can help me by remembering that if you need help know that you can get it if you just ask. Some people are easy to read and others are not, so in the name of health and love, just say something. Okay you don’t have to do it for yourself if you think that’s not important, but start by doing it for your family and friends- I think at least one of them deserves it.

                Eventually maybe you will find that you deserve it. I think it is worth pursuing to find something that you can sink yourself into. Most of the time fittingly enough music is a point that almost everyone can agree helps them: a true inspiration most of the time unifying and interesting regardless of language, race, belief system, or sex.

                Silence is also good. The sound of the river or the crickets is music in a way as well. Everything that you need is as it sits. Herman Hesse wrote, “Meaning and reality were not hidden somewhere behind things, they were in them, in all of them.” Contemplating the previous sentence is what keeps me going. Reality is a song and each of ours is beautiful. Some of us are at Crescendos when others are at points of Pianissimo. It’s dynamic and can be terrible. We are all in it together though; much more connected than previously theorized.

                SO…. Be inspired and live life by the drop. This is a true currency of human experience. You have the ability to reflect your inside voice through whatever mode you like, to trade these ideas with others and share in the experience of your perception and definitely shape it. You have the most powerful voice of all time.

Hello Music Lovers!

   Several quality shows are coming up around town and this email is to highlight some of the shows coming to Level B Theater Pub on 445 High Street!

  Saturday August 16: Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee and Dharma Bum- THE ERIC LOVRE BAND will perform the all ages theater pub with new group PEPPERBOX featuring Todd McPherson from the Kingsmen, saucy vocalist, J Saucy, drumstick fury, Rod Steward, and guitar player, Casey Nova.

  Friday August 22: Federico Fellini's peculiar feature film "8 1/2" shows at the theater pub scored not by its inherent track but by Portland instrumental/ surf/ lounge/ garage group, AUDIOS AMIGOS! This is a multi-sensory experiment that we invite you to expand your live entertainment pallet with. ooooh! JEREMY CROFOOT may even stop by and showcase some of his own soundtrack work!

  Saturday August 23: Local popular young dream pop duo PSYCHIC ECHO showcase their brand of layered rock and soaring vocals with folk and garage rock partners ADIEU CARIBOU! This one is a great night to go to with your kids to expose them to talented young people expressing themselves in a positive way and expanding their ability!

  Saturday August 30: The next installment of Level B's Versus shows will rock your socks off with a tribute to Pacific Northwest Rock and Roll Pioneers MODEST MOUSE VS. BUILT TO SPILL!! Our cover acts are including but not limited to ALLIES FROM NOWHERE, I AM A ZOMBIE, MITCHELL MYERS, and more! This show each group will perform several songs by either one of the bands that they've chosen to embody! This is a great night for nostalgia and Cascadia pride! Sing along!

  Friday September 5: One of the most powerful voices in Indie Rock, SALLIE FORD joins us at Level B in anticipation of her new album, SLAP BACK, to be released in October!! Slap Back is her debut on Vanguard Records and was produced by Chris Funk (Decemberists, Black Prairie, Red Fang). She is joined by imagery-inducing and heartfelt singer SLATER SMITH of his project THE WEATHER MACHINE and local boys done good who you may remember from the Beatles vs. Stones show, THE INDIGO BOYZ! Be prepared to step up to the next level with us, Salem!

  Saturday September 6: In the name of world class entertainment and men whose career is to keep it spooky, THE PECULIAR PRETZELMEN return to Salem with their patented brand of weird instrumentation and crooning, growling voodoo! To excel our vision of darkness and old world mysticism, YAQUINA BAY and FAERABELLA will accompany this troupe to complete the picture of a transporting peculiar magik.

  Populate Level B Theater pub and get in touch with your inner Bohemian! Full show and details are offered at

levelbtheaterpub.com

xosalem

Be Entertained!

-Doug Hoffman

spacecraftmusicevents.com

The following is the livebeat for Salem Weekly out the week of July 24th, 2014. Edition cancelled due to logistics. Here's the meat and potatoes though:

Loretta’s birthday party Montclaire brother july 24

Chances are you’ve seen BROTHER on NBC’s ‘ER’, maybe heard their music on the classic ‘Baraka’ soundtrack or UPN’s ‘ Twilight Zone.’ The band has shared stages with Joe Walsh, John Entwhistle, Linkin Park, and Alicia Keys and are the only independent band to have played the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Fusing signature vocals and guitar with the deep pulse of the didgeridoo, the soaring highs of the bagpipes, and tribal percussion, BROTHER is wholly original. The band’s powerhouse live performances are an energetic celebration, captivating and engaging the audience from the first song to the last.

Triangle loija transcendia the other band on earth july 24

Oakland’s native group The Other Band On Earth is touring through and local artists are here to support! Join the 3 groups on Thursday evening at the South Salem staple venue for an evening of heavy and progressive rock and roll! You may access these groups at theotherbandonearth.com, reverbnation.com/transendia, and facebook.com/lojiaband.

Gov cup happy otherwise july 25

Quaint stick clicking, poignant and at moments even comedic vocal lines happen into piano runs and dual harmonies on Happy Otherwise’s song “Man-Made Woman”. You can hear them live Friday night at the bar venue converted coffee shop! The Governor’s Cup shows are a great staple in the downtown core and provide a great opportunity to hop around and find out what’s going on! The owners certainly have their fingers on the pulse of our city. Access happyotherwise.com for music samples and information!

Level b live soundtrack july 25

The brainchild to perform a live music soundtrack to a feature length film has come to fruition on Friday night at the theater pub. Local acts will echo the film, “My Name is Nobody” with their instruments- weaving an alternative soundtrack for the movie as the original sound will be muted. This can provide for a great new way for audiences to experience music and movies! The heavy string passages of Orchards meld with the ‘country eastern’ style of Jeremy Crofoot as they perform live onstage during the movie’s projection!

Duffy’s Red Elvises july 31

Russian influences take a rockabilly spin this evening at the South Salem venue for what the band dubs themselves as… “Siberian Surf Rock”! The infamous relentlessly touring Red Elvises bring their ‘International Rockenrol Party’ once again to Salem! With songs such as the fittingly and comically charged cold war (and now once again relevant) song- Rocket Man and the more tender crooning tune- “My love is killing me” you are sure to experience something you’ve never heard done in a well- practiced and convincing fashion. Access redelvises.com for more information on the band!

Level b overlook hotel… july 26

Two of Salem’s original Blitzen Trapper members Marty Marquis and Erik Menteer shall team up with local prolific grim duo Overlook Hotel and Seattle’s John Totten for a night of songwriter projects showcased at the local theater pub! As a rarity Marty and Erik will stage their side project tunes for Salem! Overlook Hotel will perform their latest and freshly recorded dark Salem biopic, The Death of Daniel Delaney, and John Totten will open the show with his unique folk songs.

Blitzen Trapper is a Subpop/ Vagrant Records artist having recently release their 7^th studio album aptly titled simply “VII”. It features the single Thirsty Man. With the band broadly encompassing country, experimental, psychedelia, and thick beats all their albums have had extensive replay value- whether each song creeps into your mind as you awake in the morning or contagiously flooding your senses at a gathering. One of their earlier singles “Wild Mountain Nation” was also listed as one of Rolling Stone’s top 100 songs of the year!

                Bringing members of Blitzen Trapper to perform in Salem is a benchmark for your city as these world renowned international travelling major record label musicians have been touring and creating music for over a decade. Having two of them performing together on the same night with area troubadours is truly a treat for a local audience! One could say this bill is a match made in heaven as the night promises to burn like hell with a profoundly creative fire and accessible sound. This skilled cadre of performers is all in one specially designed chamber of creative juices, Level B!

                

Lesser Lord

Marty Marquis

Some of my friends when I ask them to be on the Sons of Salem radio record show they ask me what genre of music to bring. I imagine that there are so many well developed sides of them musically and emotionally that they want to know what kind of songride I wanna go on.I tell them whatever they want- their instinctual picks are what make the show.
http://www.picgifs.com/graphics/j/jukebox/graphics-jukebox-381337.gif

my love for local music is unparalleled. hearing folks from around here interpret the world in their own uniquely Salem way is something that attracts me like eating at a buffet of all my favorite foods, for free. even if i have to pay a door to hear and watch a live show it still feels free. Lucas DeWilde is a talented guy. he just sent me some demos of new music projects he's involved with. I am A Zombie (J.Peters/ LD) and Higgans and Merryweather (Josh Smith/ Jack Gloe/ LD) respectively. the first 'zombie track' i listened to: 'God's Gift' reminded me of David Bowie fronting a raw rock and roll project like the Kiss-offs. the first 'H&M track'- 'Hello Hello' was more withdrawn in its intensity and i sank into my work as it played. then about three-quarters into the song i noticed i was still listening, as if it had been with me all morning since i'd awoke. a tender opening in the vein of Silver Sun Pickups' Rusted Wheel (my fave) that reminds me of a song off Superchunk's lighter album whats it called again mixed with some kind of bastardized Neil Young. i plan on booking them just to watch the show even if i'm the only one.

http://data.whicdn.com/images/28934994/525825_3596594767607_1655636407_2783672_1448268260_n_large.jpg

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=563357317046922&set=pb.170586736323984.-2207520000.1392222954.&type=3&theater

I tend to melt down during the winter. It starts around my birthday and goes through the end of the year. Its beautiful and terrible. Beautiful because I think I am starting to be able to understand from an objective point of view that it happens and in order to be happy you must be sad. Terrible because when I am actually inside of it- it tears me apart and I blame, argue, fight, yell, cry, hurt, and right now as I list these it becomes too real. So I'll stop listing. ANYWAY the reason I am writing next is to post a feature piece I wrote for the Salem Weekly that didn't get published due to some miscommunication. I think it really captured the idea of its subject and I am practicing making a long term habit of this blog so here you go...also people just need to know what Freddy is up to and the kind of person he is. Go meet him.

Freddy Ruiz Jr.’s

“WE ARE ROCK STARS”

By Doug Hoffman

If you aren’t accustomed to the original DIY music terrain of Salem this book will introduce you through Freddy Ruiz Jr.’s camera lens to what his experience in the later part of the last decade was. Freddy has been a local staple in the Salem art and music scene for years. Many know his work on the Red Crown Review without maybe even realizing it. Hundreds of photographs of bands and their fans have entered the shutters of his cameras. Lighting, angle, shutter speed, and a fearless attitude in finding the right shots are some of the formula he utilizes for these pictures. If you are involved in Salem’s music efforts- paging through the We Are Rock Stars book is like looking through a photo album of close family, extended family, and family that you’ve never met. It is difficult to separate yourself from images in the promotional photography endeavor turned photo-journal. As a veritable visual quarry this tome of non-captioned snapshots subjecting energetic performers and their crowds will repeat forever. Among many; The Falcon, Agape, Typhoon, The Nodding Tree Remedies, The Apheliotropic Orchestra, Quandry, Jack Inferno, Shepherds of Ontario, The Funhouse Strippers, Kid Espi & the Garden Entertainment crew, and even the infamous ‘Shark Guitar’ are all showcased. One of several evolving hey-days in Salem yielded the legendary sites where this era became very important to Freddy and he immersed himself in it. Sites like the Columbus Club, Stitches, Ike Box, The Triangle Inn, Boon’s Treasury, Café Noir, and more are all backdrops for these historic shows. And now by heading to freddyruizjr.com you can own a piece of our local homegrown and sweat drudged pursuit. The stout thick and hard bound book is in its first pressing but will be reissued in a magazine style option soon and would be perfect for any Salem households’ coffee table. It is an authentic piece of our heritage and the sound of Salem over the past recent years. Perhaps this document will inspire future photographers and even modestly spark great conversations about common musical threads: the contagious conversations themselves in the comfort of your home- performances of their own.

http://freddyruizjr.com/