RIVERS
OF SONG
The most recent album from Amos Lee, 2013’s Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers
of Song, focuses heavily on hard times. Much of the content was inspired by
Lee’s many trips across the country and the people he met along the way.
“There’s going to be hardships, and I think that goes for anybody who’s
been born onto planet Earth,” Lee tells me. “There are people who struggle so
mightily, and yet keep a lightness about them, and those are the people who
inspire me the most.”
But it’s not just the people putting on a brave face for the world that stand
out to Lee.
“The people who are struggling and you see the pain in their eyes every
day, that’s inspiring too because they still lift that rock up every day, the stone
still goes up the hill,” Lee says. “It goes up slowly, but it still goes.”
The Americana folk strains of “Johnson Blvd” depict a tiny town ravaged by
hard times, and “Tricksters, Hucksters, And Scamps” is a ragtime rock track
about people who take advantage of the less fortunate. But the roots rock
number “Stranger” touches on the transient nature of life, something Lee
closely identifies with.
“A lot of people are just trying to figure it out every day,” he says. “I’m one
of those people who wakes up some mornings and wonders, ‘Where am I?’
And not just geographically, but as a human being. ‘Am I here? Are we on Earth
together? What are we doing? What are our goals here?’”
Join Lee on Earth together Feb. 15.
Amos Lee plays with Black Prairie 8 pm Saturday, Feb. 15, at McDonald
Theatre; $36 upper balcony, $41 floor. — Brian Palmer
1 0 1 0 W i l l a m e t t e S t r e e t Û D o w n t o w n E u g e n e Û m c d o n a l d t h e at r e . c o m
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FEB 17
Hot Tuna &
David Lindley
7:00pm Doors || 8:00pm Show
RESERVED SEATING
ISAIAH
HARTZ-
DUKE
FEB 27
2/10/80 - 6/30/10
1027 Willamette
(541) 683-5903
Downtown Eugene • harlequinbeads.com
Fly On ‘Eyes’
Skeet,
Family
& Friends
Datsik
with Heroes and Villains
Jesiah & Friends
& MUST DIE opening
7:00pm Doors || 8:00pm Show
DJsiah, Rootdown, Caleb & Sol
MUST BE 16 AND OVER TO ATTEND
w/ Jackson Michelson; Little Rascalz;
Levi Bagge; Ryan Smith; Benjiman opening
presented by
Red Cube &
Kesey Enterprises
7:00pm Doors || 8:00pm Show
TIX AVAIL. BY CALLING 1-800-992-TIXX.
also avail. at
the EMU or online
..........
Unbelievable Beads
FEB 21
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Artistic Adornment
eugeneweekly.com • February 13, 2014
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