SUNDAY, JUNE 8 2014 >>>

1. You mooned Bus #37 outside Oakbrook Elementary School in 1978. You depantsed Sid at Lakes High School in 1981. You streaked down Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma in 1983. You skinny-dipped at Owen Beach in 1985. You went to law school in 1988. You have had a life-full of truth or dare games. May we suggest the Stand-up Truth or Dare game at 8 p.m. in the Tacoma Comedy Club. Jubal Flagg hosts five comedians who will perform stand-up, then spin the Wheel of Terror to find out their fate. The other comedians get to come up with questions and challenges, and the audience gets to decide what they have to do. It should be old school for you.

2. The huge Maritime Gig Festival in Gig Harbor continues. Today's activities include the traditional Blessing of the Fleet at 1 p.m. and the popular Wheel's on the Water Car Show from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Gig Harbor Farmers Market will also be featured at the Gig from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

3. Two worthy stage shows wrap it up this afternoon. Olympia Family Theater continues to make amazingly high quality family theater with 3 Tales with 8 Tails, a phenomenally fun show that has the actors singing, dancing and puppeteering. Catch its last show at 1 p.m. Tacoma Musical Playhouse presents its last La Cage aux Folles at 2 p.m.

4. Tacoma is a working-class town and the only success weekly music showcases in this town center around working-class music - blues. Today, Tacoma's blues musicians go to work. The Northwest's "Swampabilly" blues band Junkyard Jane play B Sharp Coffee House's 2 p.m. blues show. Tim Hall and his crew hosts the weekly Sunday night blues jam at 8 p.m. in Dawson's Bar and Grill. Legendary guitarist Jerry Miller is tonight's Sunday night blues concert series performer at 7 p.m. in The Spar in Old Town Tacoma. Across town in Spanaway, Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill hosts its Sunday Blues Jam at 7 p.m.

5. The popular Jazz LIVE at Marine View concert series wraps up today, taking the summer months off. Oh, but it is going out strong. The Mel Brown B3 Organ Group out of Portland will go off at 5 p.m. inside the Marine View Church. Mel Brown has been described as the "quintessential jazz drummer" of the day. Louis Pain is Portland's Boss of the B3.

LINK: Sunday, June 8 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

B Sharp Coffee House Tacoma - Downtown. Ty Elwin. All Ages. 8 pm.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Coolio, The Staxx Brothers, Xperience, Mr. Von. 8 pm. $15.

• Tonight, you might want to "slide, slide, slippity slide" to Sixth Avenue as hip-hop luminary Coolio makes the party go sideways. "New booties" will call him a one-hit wonder, which is false and, as Chris Rock would say, "IGNINT." Coolio's hip-hop heritage is rooted in authentic LA hip-hop with the likes of Low Profile, WC & The Maad Circle and many others who respected him during the era of "County Line" and "Mama I'm In Love With A Gangsta" and, of course, the WC & The Maad Circle classic, "You Don't Work, You Don't Eat." These are his credits prior to the "Fantastic Voyage" and "Gangsta's Paradise." Thirty million records sold later ... Coolio is OG as they come and his talent on the microphone and charts speaks for itself. - Jose Gutierrez
  

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Darkmysticwoods, Gunslinger, Incanus. All Ages. 7 pm. Chastity Belt, Broken Water, Judson Claiborne. 9 pm.

• Taking a smoke break with my co-worker in the alley behind the bar, we de-stressed from our shift and speculated the amount of tips we may have made. Just as we were about to go back in and finish our busy Olympia Arts Walk shift, we caught a sound barreling down Fourth Avenue and into our ear holes. It was a Judas Priest cover being rocked to a T. "Hell Patrol" was executed with the precision of skilled guitarists and grounded by the hands of a pure bassist. Momentum was driven with pounding drums and it was all topped with vocals that are well tuned, one where you can tell the singer belts it out in the shower, car and every chance they get because it's what her loves. We continued to listen. The rest of their set rocked originals in the same vein of classic metal. "Wow, that was awesome," said my co-worker. "Yeah, that's Gunslinger, my brother-in-law's band," I said. "They totally rule." - Nikki McCoy
  

• No Regerts, the recent (and hilariously titled) album from Chastity Belt, is a quietly brilliant and important document of feminism and sexual insight, disguised as remarkably surefooted indie rock. With lyrics that vacillate from the winking to the serious - though always trenchantly well-observed - Chastity Belt build solid, simple punk-leaning songs that serves the ideas on the table, without the music or the words ever coming into conflict. Musically, no boundaries are necessarily being pushed, but everything comes across energetic and effortless. Their most thrilling moment comes in "James Dean," with its bracing stop-start dynamics, and wailing proclamations like, "You're a slut! I'm a whore! We've fucked everyone before!" There's a real effort, all through No Regerts, to call hypocrites out on their bullshit, and to hopefully move toward a more even playing field. - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

Louie G's Pizza Fife. Jar Of Flies (Alice In Chains tribute), Outshined (Soundgarden tribute). All Ages. 5 pm.

Maxwell's Restaurant + Lounge Tacoma - Downtown. The Kareem Kandi Band. 8 pm. NC.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Young Evils, Deep Creep, Show & Tell. 9 pm. $5.

Rock & Roll Lodge and Steakhouse Tacoma - Eastside. The Logan Foundation Benefit Show featuring Stupid Juice Crew, Pooji Tran, Q Dot, A King and others. All Ages. 7 pm. $5.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. The Groovetramps. 8 pm.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. Magical Strings. All Ages. 8 pm. $10-$15.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Uncle Sam's Epic Two-Day Metal Show. 7 pm.

LINK: More live music Saturday, June 7 in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Bob's Java Jive Tacoma - Central. Dead To Fools, Zook, Ain't Got Time to Bleed. 8 pm.

• The first, discordant sounds to come squealing out of "Necrophilia" legitimately caught me by surprise. Up until that odd guitar sound, Dead to Fools were setting up this song as another tossed-off bit of chugging garage rock - but that modest curve ball reframes the band and suggests slightly more ambition than you might expect. While the rest of the song is the sort of charmingly sloppy Nirvana pastiche you might it expect it to be, there's still a glimmer of inventiveness as play that might reveal itself more as this still-young band grows to find its footing. The casual button-pushing subject matter of their music is hilariously on-the-nose, but Dead to Fools is the kind of band that makes mindless moshing seem like the only proper response. - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

Doyle's Public House Tacoma - Stadium District. Polecat. 9 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Fortunate Youth, Los Rakas, The Approach, True Press. 8 pm.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Hysterics. All Ages. 7 pm.

Louie G's Pizza Fife. Nolan Garrett, Caspian Coberly. All Ages. 8 pm. $10.

Maxwell's Restaurant + Lounge Tacoma - Downtown. The Kareem Kandi Band. All Ages. 8 pm. NC.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Ancient Warlocks, Mos Generator, Hobosexual. 9 pm.

Northern Olympia - Downtown. Whelp, Hemingway, Four Minute Mile, Harvest States. All Ages. 8 pm.

Rhythm & Rye Olympia - Downtown. The Blackberry Bushes Stringband, Oly Mountain Boys. 9 pm. $5.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. High & Lonesome. 8 pm.

Swing Wine Bar & Cafe Olympia - Westside. Vince Brown. 7 pm. NC.

The Swiss Tacoma - Downtown. The Hipsters. 9 pm.

Track House Olympia - Downtown. Metal at the Tracks featuring The Vatican, Countless The Dead, Eusapia, A God Or An Other. 8:30 pm.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. Kendra Shank, John Stowell. All Ages. 8 pm. $10-$15.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Hambone Blues Band. 9 pm. NC.

LINK: More live music Saturday, April 26 in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Doyle's Public House Tacoma - Stadium District. SweetKiss Momma. 9:30 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. The Original Wailers. 9 pm.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Mercurial. 9 pm.

Louie G's Pizza Fife. Pariah's Revolt, Sanction VIII, Letzter Geist, The Rikk Beatty Band, Amadon, Mr. Von. All Ages. 5 pm.

Metcalf Manor Olympia - Eastside. Elbow Coulee, Purr Gato, Death By Stars. All Ages. 8 pm.

Morso Gig Harbor. Peter Case. 8 pm. $25.

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Res Deus, Rainier Dust Can. 9 pm.

Northern Olympia - Downtown. TisDass, Angelo Spencer, MGK Ultra. All Ages. 8 pm.

• Kildjate Moussa Albadé is a singer-songwriter from Tuareg, Niger. He's currently touring through the U.S. under his TisDass moniker. What distinguishes Albadé is his soulful and pristine guitar work. Finger-picking out a melody that slowly insinuates itself into your head, he's content to let that progression ride out and form a groove. He doesn't sing in English, but everything that he needs to convey is communicated through his nimble guitar and endearing voice. When he performs in Olympia, he'll be backed by the experimental pop outfit Brainstorm, as well as iconoclastic K Records alumnus Angelo Spencer. It all sounds like an eclectic night of merging cultures, which is something that doesn't happen frequently enough in the indie scene. I'm thrilled to hear the new sounds made by TisDass and company. - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

Salty's at Redondo Beach Des Moines. Kurt Lindsay. 8 pm. NC.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. Champagne Sunday. 8 pm.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. Jim Page & Citizens Band. All Ages. 8 pm. $10-$15.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Belles Bent On Leather, Adrian Connor. 9 pm.

LINK: More live music Saturday, April 19 in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, APRIL 19 2014 >>>

1. Record Store Day is a holiday devoted to encouraging music fans to leave their bubble of predictable downloads and entering a world where the skip button doesn't exist. To browse through the shelves upon shelves of lovingly pressed vinyl, immaculately illustrated covers, essential liner notes, and magically enlivened grooves. Record stores have been threatening to disappear for years, but they've survived through the gauntlet of CD's and evil Pandora. In the past few years, records have even begun to regain some of their old popularity. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full thoughts on Record Store Day in the Music & Culture section.

2. The heavy, four-piece Pariah's Revolt from Olympia has all the badassness of ear-splitting chords, metal riffs and black clothing that you'd expect from the genre. And they're taking their community involvement to the next level with a fundraiser to help the Thurston County Food Bank at 6 p.m. in Louie G's in Fife.

3. Pasties and butt cheeks and hip-hop Toto, oh my! Expect all three - and more titillating fun - in The Gritty City Sirens' Adventures in Oz, a Wizard of Oz-inspired burlesque production at 7 p.m. in the Temple Theater Ballroom. We attended the dress rehearsal.

4. After disbanding the Los Angeles new wave/power pop group the Plimsouls, bespectacled, gruff-voiced frontman Peter Case launched a career as an important American singer/songwriter specializing in the flat-pick guitar style and semi-autobiographical stories of drifters delivered in a narrative style. Case has been writing and recording as a solo act for much longer than he was ever in the Plimsouls, or his first band, the seminal '70s punk band The Nerves. Case will bring his dynamic Americana-inspired blend of blues, folk and rock to the intimate Morso wine bar in Gig Harbor at 8 p.m.

5. Soaked in dark grunge and '90s alt rock, Adrian has the power trio of powerful female vocals, slick guitar notes and great production behind the release of the band's new album, Be Your Own Saviour. Frontwoman, guitarist and songwriter Adrian Conner, who plays lead guitar in AC/DC all-female tribute band Hell's Bells, has orchestrated a band full of infectious pop wrapped around electric, bombastic rock and roll. Catch the band at 9 p.m. at Uncle Sam's in Spanaway.        

LINK: Saturday, April 19 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area.

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Dawson's Bar and Grill Tacoma - South. Fingertips. 9 pm. NC.

Forza Coffee Company Gig Harbor Gig Harbor. Joe Cugno & Mike Shea. 7-9 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Blues Theater Presents: Guitar Shorty. 8 pm. $15-$18.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Cosmopolites, Skrill Meadow. 9 pm.

• As of press time, I'm not even sure if I like the Cosmopolites, but they do, blessedly, give me pause. What I know for sure is that they're compelling. There's something at once cheesy and subversive about the music they make. Blending a syrupy mixture of light jazz and provocative experimentalism, the duo arrives at something akin to progressive rock (which can essentially be synonymous with the more divisive "jazz fusion" label), but with a giddier, geekier bent. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's interview with the Cosmopolites in the Music & Culture section.

Maxwell's Restaurant + Lounge Tacoma - Downtown. Lance Buller Combo. 7 pm.

Midnight Sun Olympia - Downtown. Captain Jack Fest 2014 featuring The Straws, Hot Hoodoo, Mosquito Hawk, Captain Algebra, Them Dogs, Tidals, Fruit Juice, Wauby, A Friend. All ages. 4:30 p.m. $5.

Rhythm & Rye Olympia - Downtown. Oly Mountain Boys. 9 pm.

Rialto Theater Tacoma - Downtown. Hawaiian Heritage: George Kahumoku Jr., Stephen Inglis, Waipuna. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $19-$39.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Led Zeppmen. 9 pm.

Ted Brown Music Company Tacoma - South. Rock and Roll Clinic with guitarist Jerry Miller. All Ages. 6-8 pm. $5.

Treos Tacoma - Old Town. Mike Couloules. All Ages. 7 pm. NC.

• I can't remember when I met Mike Coucoules. Years and years ago at Cole's in Ruston is my guess, well before it burst into flames, before his auto accident benefit jam at Seafarers Sports Bar in 2006, and before I became a groupie when Coucoules played bass in Malcolm Clark's blues trio. For certain I wasn't in the picture when Coucoules picked up a guitar at 14, studied Hendrix, Cream, Zappa, CS&N and Steve Miller during high school, before a friend turned him on to jazz and CTI Records. "He showed me some jazz chords and changed my world. He told me I was going to be a good musician because I had a lot of feeling, something that took years to understand. My music is all about feeling, from the heart," Coucoules tells me. He's shared his heart with too many bands to count over the last 40 years, and holds a piece from every one, but his heart grew three sizes when he met horn player John Croarkin during a gig with the Blues Bentley Band. Blown away by Croarkin's chops and comps, Coucoules knew he was the missing piece to the CD churning in his head. The resulting Latin jazz blues country CD can be purchased, and the duo heard live, the next two nights.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. 18th Birthday Bash, with Hambone Blues Band, Amigos. 9 pm. NC.

LINK: More live music Friday, April 11 in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

MONDAY, MARCH 31 2014 >>>

1. There are nature people, and there are not-nature people. But a not-nature person living in a place such as Washington state is sort of a tragedy. Something should be done about this - a slow transition to the outdoors. Just think of the world beyond your walls as a gigantic, interactive television. Introduce yourself to the concept of nature through Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium's Animal Scavenger Hunt. Each day of this spring break week will focus on one superstar species: red wolves Monday, sharks Tuesday, elephants Wednesday, polar bears Thursday and wild cats Friday. If the Zoo's hands-on activities and animal action doesn't make you want to be outdoors and in nature, you're hopeless. If it does - you're in the right place.

2. Recalypso, a steel drum party, will kick off at 1 p.m. in the Parkland/Spanaway Library.

3. The Monday night jazz has fired up at the new Rhythm and Rye in downtown Olympia, kicking off with the Hot Club Sandwich at 8 p.m. Founded more than 10 years ago, Hot Club Sandwich began with a deep reverence for Gypsy jazz of the '30s and '40s, growing to incorporate classic jazz and folkloric influences from around the world.

4. Saxophonist Wayne Christopher Swanson joins the house band at 9 p.m. for The New Frontier Lounge's weekly jazz jam.

5. Jazzbones has amped up its weekly live band karaoke. Every Monday at 9 p.m. for the next five weeks it's hosting a singing contest with the grand prize being two nights and flight to Las Vegas. Jazzbones will choose three finalists from each night to compete in the finals. The competition will be judged by the applause-o-meter.

LINK: Monday, March 31 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Bob's Java Jive Tacoma - Central. CZAR, Breag Naofa, A God or An Other, the Vatican. 8 pm. $5.

• Recently, a band called Skinny Puppy sued the U.S. government for playing their music at Guantanamo Bay. The price? $666,000. The crime was to use Skinny Puppy's music as a form of torture. We've heard many stories of these practices, over the years, of various bands (Metallica, Van Halen and Red Cross have all reportedly been used to break down interrogation subjects). I'll admit something right here: A 50-second song from CZAR played twice is enough for me to give my Social Security Number. I'm a perfectly decent fan of loud, aggressive, compositionally strange music, but CZAR take it to a different degree. The vocals make my throat hurt, the music pummels my tender ear drums, and it all leaves me crawling for an easy listening station. That being said, I'd spill all of my secrets if "Piano Man" played on repeat, so there's that. - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

The Half Pint Pizza Pub Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Marcha Marcha Marcha Birthday Bash with live funk. 10 pm. NC.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. The Reallionaire Beat Battle Part 2, hosted by Bruce Leroy, with LRoc, Frankie Hustle. 8 pm. $10-$15.

Le Voyeur Café and Lounge Olympia - Downtown. Benefit For Shilo, with Captain Algebra. All Ages. 7 pm.

Louie G's Pizza Fife. Ted Brown Music Fundraiser featuring Stolen Society, Fistful of Dollars, Nolan Garrett Band and SweetKiss Momma. All Ages. 7 pm. $10, include spaghetti feed.

• Ted Brown Music Outreach was introduced in 2007 by Ted Brown Music store in Tacoma, with the mission to provide children throughout the South Sound access to music through scholarships, instruments and education. Saturday, at Louie G's Pizzeria in Fife, TBMO is throwing a fundraiser and instrument drive. The event is all-ages, and features the Nolan Garret Band, SweetKiss Momma and two of TBMO's Live Out Loud! alumni bands - Stolen Society and A Fistful of Dollars. In addition to the awesome music, expect a raffle, silent auction and a dessert auction, with all proceeds going toward the 501c3 nonprofit TBMO, which works to put music in the lives of young people. The $10 cover includes an all-you-can-eat spaghetti feed. For more information visit www.tbmoutreach.org.

McCoy's Tavern Olympia - Downtown. Endino's Earthworm, Hellbelly, Mosquito Hawk 9 pm. $3.

• It's been nearly a year since Endino's Earthworm played Olympia. I'm stoked they are making a much-needed return. Jack Endino, whose music-producing career includes Nirvana, Zeke, Soundgarden, etc., takes his ear for detail and his soul for sound to his own band, Endino's Earthworm. Blistering? Heavy? Punk/grunge/old-school? Sometimes words are too bland for what good music does. While reading about an awesome band is a static experience, what should really be done is to watch a band live, and let your being tell the description. Is it the cosmic rocking of neurons? The physical sensation of vibrating chords? The internal centering that shifts into play when a band has your full attention, keeping you from worry of the daily grind, allowing a more authentic existence to emerge? Show up to McCoy's Saturday night and find out. - Nikki McCoy
  

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. The Purrs, Trees & Timber, People Under the Sun, DJ Melodica. 9 pm. $5.

• There was a moment in my conversation with Jima, frontman of Seattle band the Purrs, when I expressed how inadequate it is to simply call the Purrs a psychedelic indie rock band. While that might be ultimately accurate, it just doesn't quite do justice to what the band does. Let's take a moment, for instance, to consider the bands that the Purrs have shared stages with: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Pearl Jam and Okkervil River, just to name three markedly disparate acts. The Purrs are able to drift among scenes in a manner befitting of their intangible sound. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's interview with Jima in the Music & Culture section.

Northern Olympia - Downtown. Rise Of The Underdogs, with Third Eye, Taylor Martin, Jason Redd, Kidd Jurnee & Trace, Sky Scraper, Vette, R.E.A.L., Taylor Made, B-Lethal, K-Dawg The Ace, DJ Ben Pasquan, hosted by Heretic & Remex. All Ages. 7 pm.

Oly Ballroom Olympia - Downtown. Olympia Acoustic Fest, with Shawn Smith, Oly Mountain Boys, Aaron English, Bradford Loomis, Science, Juniper Circus, Paul Mauer, Samsel & The Skirt, James Coates, Kat Jones, Mark Macminn, The Grey Wharf, Kari Newhouse, The Brothers Jim, Anna Gordon, Elk &. All Ages. 1 pm. $12-$15.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. Tatoosh. 8 pm.

Stonegate Pizza Tacoma - South. Rumble Underground. 9 pm.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. Pearl Django. All Ages. 8 pm. $10-$15.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Hambone Blues Band. 9 pm.

LINK: Live music Saturday, March 29 in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT IN THE SOUTH SOUND >>>

Bob's Java Jive Tacoma - Central. The Heels, The Jilly Rizzo, Needles & Pizza, Gold Records. 8 pm.

• "Whether they admit it or not, everyone's got a bit of a heel fetish." So proposes the bio of Seattle glam-power-poppers the Heels. For a band as preoccupied with aesthetics (sound-wise and clothing-wise), it's easy to see why they'd think that. Further, on their Joan Jett-esque anthem, "Fetish," they name-check leather, pencil skirts and angora sweaters. Coming from the rock scene of Los Angeles, frontwoman Paula Spas relocated to the Pacific Northwest, where she uncannily assembled the type of band that you might see play a booze-soaked set at the Whiskey a Go Go in the '70s. This is playful punk at its finest - winking and sexy in equal measure. The Heels exist in a world where everyone has a little secret (which they might be wearing right now, underneath their civilian clothes). - Rev. Adam McKinney
  

Capitol Theater Olympia - Downtown. UpWest Arts Presents: An Evening With Slack-Key Guitarist Keola Beamer & Moanalani Beamer. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $20-$25.

Doyle's Public House Tacoma - Stadium District. The Bog Hoppers. 9:30 pm. NC.

El Potrero Tacoma - Eastside. Banda La Pachanga, DJ Sunami. 9 pm.

Jazzbones Tacoma - Sixth Avenue. Grayskul, RA Scion, Xperience, Rockwell Powers. 9 pm. $7.

La Gitana Olympia - Downtown. Red & Ruby. 6:30 pm.

Louie G's Pizza Fife. Eclectic Approach, Amadon, Clear The Chaos, Static. All Ages. 5 pm.

Matrix Coffee House Lewis County. Just Plain Bill, Patrick Storedahl. All Ages. 7 pm. $10.

Maxwell's Restaurant + Lounge Tacoma - Downtown. The Kareem Kandi Band. All Ages. 8 pm. NC.

Morso Wine Bar Gig Harbor. Michael ONeill CD Release. 8 pm. $25.

• Forged in the ‘70s renaissance of popular Americana, Michael ONeill is a paragon of the ways in which art and life mutually influence one another. He was singing about the dusty trails and the tear-strewn beers and the fast women before he'd ever really spent time with them. So many years on, his music is imbued with the post-world-weary resign that comes with being a man of a certain age, with all the regrets and the fond remembrances that come along with that. Read Rev. McKinney's interview with Michael ONeill.
  

The New Frontier Lounge Tacoma - Dome District. Cottonwood Cutups CD Release Party, with Rusty Cleavers, McDougal. 9 pm. $5. 

Pantages Theater Tacoma - Downtown. Ann Hampton Calloway Presents The Streisand Songbook. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $35-$79.

Rhythm and Rye Olympia - downtown. The Brown Edition, DBST. 9 pm. $5.

Slavonian Hall Tacoma - Old Town. Ed Taylor Band CD Release Party for It's Complicated. All Ages. 7:30 pm. $35 includes dinner.

The Spar Tacoma - Old Town. North Country Bluegrass. 8 pm.

Traditions Cafe and World Folk Art Olympia - Downtown. April Verch. All Ages. 8 pm. $15-$22.

Treos Tacoma - Old Town. The Alex Worland Trio. All Ages. 7:30 pm. NC.

Uncle Sam's American Bar & Grill Spanaway. Fun Police. 9 pm.

Vaeth Mansion Tacoma - Northend. Bluegrass and Old Time Jam & Feed, benefit for Lyn Neal who had her instruments stolen. All Ages. 3 pm. Donations.

LINK: More live music Saturday, March 22 in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

It's great to be appreciated.

Hundreds of service members and their spouses turned out March 15 to enjoy a Him & Her Appreciation Day at the Marymount Event Center in Spanaway, hosted by The Ranger and Northwest Airlifter newspapers, and sponsored by USAA.

The center is home to part of the LeMay Classic Car Museum, and the event was held in the midst of priceless, classic automobiles.

"I came by for the free haircut," Spc. Jason Litschauer said with a grin as Rashawnada Rowley from the Olympia Barber School clipped away.

"I think it is so wonderful to be here and meet these soldiers," commented Rowley. 

Read more...