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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2018)
WHIRLED PIES Pau Hanna Fridays ft. Bryan Tolentino and Del Beazley—6pm; n/c WOW HALL Music’s Edge Summer Rock Camp Showcase—6:30pm; $5 YUKON JACK'S Justin Case— 8:30pm; n/c THURSDAY 8/16 5TH STREET PUBLIC MARKET Ritmo y Romance—6pm; n/c B&B LOUNGE Karaoke—9:30pm; n/c BEERGARDEN The Jivemasters— 7:30pm; n/c COWFISH '90s Night!—9pm; n/c DEXTER LAKE CLUB Karaoke w/ Jared—9pm; n/c HULT CENTER PLAZA Okaidja Afroso—5:30pm; n/c JAZZ STATION Chappell & Dave Holt & Christina Seaborn— 7:30pm; $12 LUCKEY'S Grateful Dead Family Jam—10pm; $3 MCSHANE'S BAR & GRILL Acoustic Underground Open Mic—7:30pm; n/c MULLIGAN'S PUB Karaoke— 9pm; n/c OVERTIME BAR & GRILL Westside Blues Jam w/Dave Roberts—7pm; n/c SAM BOND'S BREWING Rags and Bones—7pm; n/c SAM BOND'S GARAGE New Fame , Elena Leona, Hip Hop, Soul, R&B— 9pm; n/c MUSIC ROARING RAPIDS The Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble— 7pm; n/c SEASONS BAR & GRILL Karaoke w/ Sassy Patty—8pm; n/c TERRITORIAL VINEYARDS Live Music—7pm; n/c THE BARNLIGHT Karaoke— 7:30pm; n/c THE DRAKE BAR Flashback Drag Takeover— 10:30pm; n/c FRIDAY 8/17 5TH STREET CORNUCOPIA Daddy Rabbit—9:30pm; n/c AXE & FIDDLE Joe Goodkin, 8:30pm; n/c BILLY MAC'S Christie & McCallum—7:30pm; n/c BLAIRALLY Church of the '80s Night—9:30pm; DJ, $3 BRONCO SALOON Karaoke w/ Lindsey—9pm; n/c DOC'S PAD Karaoke w/KJ Power—9pm; n/c DRIFTWOOD BAR Karaoke w/ Slick Nick—9pm; n/c EL TAPATIO CANTINA Karaoke w/ KJ Rick—9pm; n/c FRIENDLY ST. MARKET Corwin Bolt—6pm; n/c HI-FI LOUNGE Zeta w/Muscle Beach, Petting Zoo & El Tocayo opening—8pm; $5; The Resinators - Rebelution After- Party—11pm; $5 JAZZ STATION Bob Ragan: Timeless—7:30pm; $12 JERSEY'S Karaoke w/Sassy Patty—9pm; n/c MOE'S TAVERN Barbara Dzuro Jass Duo (Piano/Bass)—6pm; n/c OREGON WINE LAB Blues, Soul & Reggae—7pm; n/c PFEIFFER WINERY RIFFLE— 6pm; n/c PUBLIC HOUSE Racetrack Romeos—7:30pm; n/c SAGINAW VINEYARDS Heavy Chevy—6pm; n/c SAM BOND'S GARAGE Small Skies, The Shifts, Graduating Class Future Pop —9:30pm $5 TERROTORIAL VINEYARDS Live Music—7pm; n/c THE EMBERS Rock 'n' rewind— 9pm; n/c SATURDAY 8/18 AXE & FIDDLE Caitlin Jemma and the Goodness, Joseph Hein Band— 7pmp; n/c BEERGARDEN The Firestarters— 8pm; n/c BREW & CUE Sassy Patty, BTM Karaoke—9pm; n/c CUTHBERT AMPHITHEATER Halestorm / In This Moment— 4:30pm; $5-50 DEXTER LAKE CLUB Heavy Chevy—8pm; n/c DOC'S PAD Karaoke w/KJ Power— 9pm; n/c DRIFTWOOD BAR Karaoke w/ Slick Nick—9pm; n/c HAPPY HOURS Ozone Baby— 8:30pm; n/c HI-FI LOUNGE Egotones w/ Smear, & Animalingo opening— 9:30pm; $5 JAZZ STATION McVay Highway— 7:30pm; $12 MOE'S TAVERN Barbara Dzuro Jass Duo (Piano/Bass), 6pm; n/c MOHAWK TAVERN Parish Gap— ppm; n/c OLD NICK'S I Want The Knife, Crushing Crayons, From The Future—9pm; $5 SAM BOND'S GARAGE Chain Station High Energy String Band 9:30 pm $5 SATURDAY MARKET 10 a.m Willamette Violin Company; 11am Rob Tobias; noon Lea Jones 1pm The Dirty Dandelions; 2pm Temple Under the Stars; 3:30; Dennis Smith Project; n/c UPTOWN MUSIC Richard Gilewitz Acoustic Adventures—7pm; n/c VANILLA JILL'S Maddie Bryant— 7:30pm; n/c WHITE HORSE SALOON Karaoke w/Sarah—9pm; n/c WOW HALL Eugene Noise Fest— 7pm; $8-10 SUNDAY 8/19 AGATE ALLEY BISTRO Karaoke w/ Breezy Bee—9pm; n/c COFFEE PLANT ROASTER Open mic/jam— 3pm; n/c CUSH CAFE Open Mic—2pm; n/c HOP VALLEY TASTING ROOM Amy Obenski: Ethereal Folk Rock Live Looping—5pm; n/c LOWELL ROLLING PARK David Rogers—12:30pm; n/c MOHAWK TAVERN Karaoke w/ Caught in the Act—9pm; n/c MULLIGAN'S PUB Open mic— 8:30pm; variety, n/c PUBLIC HOUSE Scott Austin— 4pm; n/c THE CIDER HOUSE Dan Mahoney—4pm; n/c THE DRAKE Karaoke—9pm; n/c THE EMBERS Karaoke w/Sassy Patty—7pm; n/c THE RIVER STOP Open Sunday Jam—6pm; n/c SAM BOND'S BREWING SongSmith Sunday—6pm; n/c SAM BOND'S GARAGE Karl Blau , Jesse Daniel , Kat Fountain—9:00 pm; $5-7 UNITY OF THE VALLEY Daniel Nahmod Concert—7pm; $10-15 WEBFOOT Karaoke w/KJ Power— 9pm; n/c WHIRLED PIES The Higgs—7pm; n/c WILDCRAFT CIDER WORKS Luke Bradbent Trio—4pm; n/c MONDAY 8/20 CENTENNIAL STEAK HOUSE Karaoke w/Crystal Harmony & Makada—9pm; n/c COWFISH Motown Monday w/DJ Kingsley Strangelove—9pm; soul, n/c FIRST NATIONAL TAPHOUSE Open Mic—8pm; n/c HI-FI LOUNGE Gazelle(s) w/X Suns and Red Cloud opening— 7pm; $5 OLD NICK'S PUB Service Industry Night & Irish Jam—9pm; n/c ROARING RAPIDS PIZZA Sean Peterson's Esstet—7pm; n/c BY WILL KENNEDY KID ROCK GET OVER YOURSELF Learning to love the new algorithmic country pop P op country music and hip hop have usurped rock ‘n’ roll for cultural relevance. The songs topping both the country and rock ‘n’ roll games have morphed into well-oiled machines with inter- changeable parts: written by algorithm with a kind of Mad Libs-style, small-town vernacular. Dial back on the twang and rearrange the fiddle out of the mix. Next, nix the chew-in-the-lower-lip, geographi- cally indistinguishable rural American accent for some rock ‘n’ roll growl. Just these simple fixes, and most con- temporary country chart-toppers could be rock hits. This goes both ways. From hookup anthems to arena choruses and schmaltzy love songs, if there was ever a time when you were, say, at a Loverboy concert wearing a Journey T-shirt, pop country is the place for you. ALABAMA The southern Willamette Valley is a pop country capital. Many of the genre’s brightest stars perform at our biggest venues, and the popularity of that Nashville sound is best experienced at the 4-day Bi-Mart Willamette Valley Coun- try Music Fest, a sort of Oregon Country Fair for RVers and glamping enthusiasts, held annually near Brownsville. Eugene musician Jacob Pruzynski, known for playing with local cow-punk band The Koozies, doesn’t consider himself a pop country fan necessarily, but when he checks out this year’s WVCM Fest lineup, he admits he’d kind of like to attend. “This year’s line-up covers all of those bases with Kid Rock exemplifying my guiltiest of pleasures,” he tells me. Yes, Kid Rock is country now, and performing at the Coun- ty Music Fest on Sunday, Aug. 19. Donald Trump is also president. It’s a mad world we’re living in. “I’ve seen Eric Church before,” Pruzynski continues. Church performs Friday, Aug. 17, at the fest. “‘Smoke a Little Smoke’ is everything fun and ‘cringe’ at the same time,” he adds, describing one of Church’s biggest hits. No question pop country songs can be catchy, and pro- duced with such air-tight precision they could be sent into space. This is either glorious or aggravating, depending on your point of view. After all, even a broken algorithm can turn out real inspiration once in a while. Pruzynski has some tips on learning to love today’s country music giddy-up. “The sum of its parts can be less than the cool factor of the individual parts,” he explains. “When it’s all put together and polished up, those parts add up to something a bit too on the nose.” “All pop music can suffer from this, but this pop country genre really exemplifies it to me,” he continues. “It’s a guilty pleasure in the same way as professional wrestling. You lis- ten to the artist and know what you are supposed to think. Like, ‘That’s outlaw,’ or ‘Those guys are wholesome.’ But it’s fun and satisfying even if a little predictable.” What I find most interesting about the rise of pop coun- try is how it has paralleled the descent of the American working class from sovereign citizenship to commodity and market demographic. Once, country music was played by people who lived the lives they sang. Nashville urbanized the sound. It now seems doubtful the oversized-belt-buckle-festooned country stars of today have ever touched a long-haul truck or a hay baler. But the country music audience is used to being conde- scended to about what’s left of the American Dream. Their politicians do it. Why shouldn’t their favorite pop stars? Pruzynski says I need to get over myself. “If you can simply have fun,” Pruzynski concludes, “and enjoy the music, a country music festival can be one of the best times you will have at a summer concert. It’s a whole lot of lyrics to an Eric Church song.” ■ The Bi-Mart Country Music Festival Runs Aug. 16-19 near Brownsville. For a full line-up of artists performing, including headlining slots from Alabama and Lady Antebellum, check out willamettecountrymusicfes- tival.com. eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 16, 2018 21
