Westin Glass is the drummer for the Thermals and last week when he checked in from North Carolina where he was visiting family, he wanted to talk about friendships. More specifically, he wanted to talk about his relationship with his two band mates.

It’s a soundtrack for a movie about being a teenager. In love. And beating the shit out of the world and shoving it in his pocket. At least, that’s what I gleaned from the trailer — and even more so, the soundtrack. The Twilight franchise

shocked everyone with its (admittedly) amazing soundtracks, and Scott Pilgrim’s tunes follow suit here. Beck happily throws himself back to his bizarre Midnite Vultures phase as the fictional band Sex Bob-omb for four super-fuzzed, video-blippy garage rock tracks.

Whether it’s by design or just a happy accident, the Les Schwab Amphitheater (LSA) concert series has managed to attract some of America’s foremost songwriters and storytellers over the past few years, a line-up that includes Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard on the country side and Beck and Bob Dylan on the pop and folk side with plenty of good natured (classic) rocking in between – think Lynyrd Skynyrd and Steve Miller.

 

Longtime local rocker and one-time Ranch Records employee Don Hoxie is so clear on his album opener, “Welcome,” that he’s not impressed by the lack of skill and hard work demonstrated on current records. I agree, music seems too easy to record and sell. Problem is, few artists with strong musical chops make memorable albums. Yes, Joe Satriani might wail on gee-tar…but his albums blow. Just because you can play guitar doesn’t necessarily give you the green light to record.