MONDAY, OCT. 21 2013 >>>
1. Before folk and bluegrass became a vigorously polished commodity with acts like Mumford & Sons and the Lumineers rising to take over the world, these were genres of lowly real people. These were songs of the masses, honest to a fault, and raggedly charming. Ex-Cowboy is a band that lets these tattered edges not only show, but shine. An errant discordant twang from a guitar string here, a missed beat there, a cracked voice on a high note - these imperfections add up to create something immeasurably more affecting than any plastic honky tonk Mumford & Sons could drum up. Influences from the likes of Sufjan Stevens and DeVotchKa make their presence known in the music of Ex-Cowboy, without detracting from the humble purity of the band. Catch the band with Joe Capoccia at 10 p.m. in Le Voyeur.
2. The 71 drawings in Marilyn Frasca's "Like This" at Childhood's End are stunning. Each picture tells a story, be it the story of Squaxin Indians recreating an historic canoe trip or depictions of Native American legends, be it a tender rendition of people with their animals, or art about the horror of war and the events of Sept. 11, 2001. They are memories and events real and imagined, created with sensitivity to form, balance, texture; and each picture, no matter how real or how detailed, began with what the Surrealists called automatic writing - marks on a surface derived from the artist's unconscious. There is power here. And love. And humanity. Read Alec Clayton's full review of Marilyn Frasca's "Like This" in the Music and Culture section.
3. Dean Reichert's soulful voice carries in it the history of American popular music: There's the down-home rhythm and testifying punch of gospel-based R&B, the snarl of the blues, the mournful rumination of honky-tonk, sultry jazz and the up-front sexuality of funk. Oh, and he's a talent guitar player, too. Reichert heads to The Swiss at 8 p.m. for the Tacoma joint's longstanding blues night.
4. Pianist Nate D., bassist Cameron and drummer Peter T. host a jazz jam exploring straight ahead, funk and space. Not all gigs qualify as a hang, but this one has the precise alchemy that could draw the area's best players: a high level of musicianship, a relaxed atmosphere and a sympathetic intergenerational crowd. It goes down at 8 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.
5. Want to feel like a rock star without all the pain and annoyance of having to be a fire-breathing demon that bleeds from the mouth? Then hit Jazzbones at 9 p.m. for Rockaraoke, where you can belt out songs like Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again," Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself For Loving You" and enough INXS tunes to make you feel like you're on a reality show, and other hits from the days when you made mixtapes by recording the radio, all backed by a live band.
LINK: Monday, Oct. 21 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area
