Isaac and the Awkward Situations

A fun time was had by all at Vanilla Jill’s ice cream shop and cafe. Sketchy the clown hosted and we had dance from Dark Lightly and Rainbow Dash, Izmagnus and Tryx, Jennifer Bucholtz and Heidi, Magic by Invincible Vince, Juggling by Artemis Sharpe, and comedy by Gabby Jesus, Lacie Wallace and James Wood. We were even visited by a baby possum!

James named the possum “waffles” and tried to get him to come onstage. (This photo is by Lacie Wallace)

The next vaudeville show is July 27! Performers to be announced.

This energetic reggae rock band runs a tight ship with many tempo changes and a smooth sound.

Check them out here.

This fantastic, Grammy nominated , traditional Brazilian guitar group played the Wow hall this spring. The music is very fast and peppy. The percussion is played on only a tambourine. Thank you Dudu Maia, Douglas Lora and Alexandra Lora.

Their percussionist Alex also played us some solo pan music with an instrument known as a ufo or a “hand pan.”

Wayward Ghost plays touching indie pop. I saw them open for Alok Vaid-Menon at the U of O Women’s Center. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Check them out on Spotify.

Kimya Dawson writes touching songs celebrating her lifestyle and her friends.

Some songs are so heartbreaking and others you can’t help but laugh out loud. She’s a warm and giving performer, even if she does forget her lyrics sometimes or her thumb is giving her a hard time.

I drew Kimya a few times before. Here are two I drew when she played an outdoor show in Fairbanks in the rain.

Here’s one I drew of her performing in Austin with Jeffrey Lewis.

This fantastic band played at Oregon country fair. They are on tour from Austin Texas playing Portishead’s “dummy.”

While some friends played a campaign, I made drawings. I asked them what color and kind of cloak or armor they wanted. I based the poses on some drawings I found in Dungeons and Dragons books and character images I found on the internet. The background is from my spray art style I’ve been playing with and using with my students lately.

Tennis is from Denver, Colorado. Alaina Moore sounds wise beyond her years and Patrick Riley always has his hair over his eyes. This band seems to be having a blast on stage. My favorite song is “100 lovers” which has a plodding baseline that reminds me of Beck. “Mean streets” is another highlight. Check out “Timothy” and “Bad Girls” if you like… I don’t know, good music! There are echoes of Blondie, the Cardigans, Madonna, The Beach Boys, Summer Twins, Belaire, Jenny Lewis, Rilo Kiley, etc…

Wild Ones from Portland play a darker version of pop, sometimes approaching Phantogram and electronica. They were also very good.