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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2017)
SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 // 11 SUBMITTED PHOTO PHOTO BY INGRID RENAN SOUWESTERLODGE.COM NICK DELFFS JENNY DON’T AND THE SPURS KYLE CRAFT Take Nick Delffs, perhaps best known in the Portland music scene for his work as the lead singer of The Shaky Hands, a group that has been on pause for several years. Delffs said he tries to compose from different genres and thereby transcend them — a trait exhibited by many of his favorite songwriters, such as Paul Simon, who “takes from a lot of different kinds of music and makes it his own thing.” A father who now lives in Boise, Delffs, half tongue-in-cheek, described his music as “emo experimental dad electronic folk rock.” After The Shaky Hands, he released an EP and plays in The Tiburones. He recently released his fi rst album under his own name titles “Redesign,” bespeaking a process both exciting and daunting, he said. At the Sou’wester, he and a band formed around his latest work will play songs from the album, as well as newer songs. Get rowdy Jenny Don’t and The Spurs is sim- ilarly tricky to pin down; labels prove slippery. “No one really knows where to put us when they’re booking us,” band mem- ber Kelly Halliburton said, adding that “alt-country” is usually the easiest to write down. The band doesn’t play contempo- SOU’WESTER LODGE TICKETS SOUWESTERLODGE.COM The Sou’wester Lodge and avenue of trailers rary or singer-songwriter country, but a hard-edged, relentless, desolate-sounding “outlaw roots” country — “western with sprinkle of rockabilly in there as well,” Halliburton said. “We’re more like the barroom country western,” he said. “We like people to get rowdy,” Jenny Don’t, the lead singer-songwriter, said with a laugh. The band has said in interviews that their sound hearkens back to Hank Wil- liams and Johnny Cash. “I mean, people love it, but a lot of people don’t play it,” Halliburton said. “Or know what it is,” Jenny added. Incidentally, the cover for their fi rst LP was shot down the street from the Sou’wester. The band will play songs from both their fi rst, self-titled album, and their sec- ond, “Call of the Road,” released earlier this year. A special place Elder, who has lived in Portland for about six years, considers the artists per- forming at the Sou’wester to be family. But she began as a fan — as a someone who simply appreciated their work. She remembers when she discovered Aan: “They were one of the fi rst bands I ever saw in Portland, and I remember just, like, my jaw on the fl oor.” To share that kind of experience with other people — who may only know one artist on a bill but are open to new and revelatory musical experiences — is Lose Yr Mind’s goal. “It’s just a really good opportunity to share that kind of emotion, of just really, really raw and powerful songwriting,” $10 for Friday, $15 for Saturday, $20 for both. Accommodations at Sou’wester are not included and must be booked separately via phone 360-642-2542 with the Sou’wester (not on their website). The lodge has blocked out the most trailer, cabin and camping accom- modations for attendees of Lose Yr Mind. Door tickets will also be available for each day, but advance tickets are encouraged. For the festival potluck Saturday, Sept. 30, in the covered outdoor pavilion, bring something to share. A market is located a couple of min- utes up the road in downtown Long Beach. For more information, visitloseyr- mind.com/souwester-weekender/ Elder said. The Sou’wester Lodge attracts a cer- tain kind of artist, Ricci Ross said. “It’s not the place that makes sense for most touring artists,” she said. “You have to know how special the Sou’wester is to want to come play there.” CW
