Even though blackberry bushes are thorny and pervasive, there’s a lot to love about them. They bring on abundant fruit, sometimes tart, sometimes sweet, depending on when you pick them. The same could be said about The Blackberry Bushes string band. Some of their songs, like “Madrona,” are that summer-ripe combination of sweetness and sorrow, with a fiery rhythm and opening line, “I should have known, a love so fine / Would only leave this heart of mine.” Another track, “Darkness to Light,” from their newly released CD, Crow, is a more somber affair, reminiscent of that first-light in the morning when you pull a sweater against the chill and look to the rising sun, still a little contemplative from the night before. Regardless of the song, there’s always a feeling with The Blackberry Bushes that, like the slowly ripening blackberry, maybe things aren’t so good right now, but they surely will be better tomorrow. Fans of The Be Good Tanyas will find a lot to love in this Olympia quartet. The Blackberry Bushes formed in 2003 as four women who bonded over a shared love of old-time bluegrass. They recorded their first album in 2004. Now, they are two women and two men, each with an expressive voice and a simmering bit of wisdom to add to the pot: a skipping guitar, flirty banjo, bass that never sleeps, and “fire and rattlesnake” fiddle. In 2009, The Blackberry Bushes were the 2nd place winners of the Telluride Bluegrass Band Competition.
September 26, Sam Bond’s Garage (21+), 407 Blair Blvd., 541/431-6603, sambonds.com; theblackberrybushesstringband.com
Pink Floyd is one of those bands whose appeal never seems to grow old. As time goes on and new generations discover them, though, opportunities to see the real British band perform dwindle. Enter The Floydian Slips. What began as an unknown cover band in Eugene way back in 1997 has turned into a musical force that captures the essence of Pink Floyd live, and their audiences continue to grow every time they play. Which, unfortunately, isn’t very often either. They’ve never toured and have played only 23 times in their 12-year history—their first concert was Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety—and that scarcity has propelled them from small-ish venues locally to selling out the 4,500-seat Cuthbert Amphitheater. Rather than focusing on note-for-note reproductions of Pink Floyd concerts, the band approaches their shows with the same sense of freedom and exploration that the real Pink Floyd brought to their own performances, including using laser lights and stage props. No one can say what The Floydian Slips might play this time, but they’ve played Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall in their entirety several times, and also perform a “greatest hits” show, pulling plenty of material from the albums Wish You Were Here and Animals. Regardless of your age or how familiar you are with the Pink Floyd oeuvre, nothing beats the experience of a thrilling live show.
Listening to Built to Spill isn’t always pleasant. That’s not to say that the music isn’t enjoyable, just that it’s often a window into a private pain, like overhearing an argument. There’s a twist of the knife somewhere in there, always a vague unease, such as in these lines from “Saturday,” from their 2007 CD, Ancient Melodies of the Future: “There’s nothing you can do / There’s nothing you can say / To make my problems go away / Or to make me do the same.” Apparently, the writing is getting a bit harder for singer/songwriter Doug Martsch, as well. Built to Spill’s seventh album, There Is No Enemy, due out October 6 on Warner Brothers, took some effort to produce. This marked the first time the band chose to record digitally with effects, though they ended up scrapping most of that work because they didn’t care for how it turned out. For the final release, they remixed everything out of ProTools and back into analog. Their last couple of albums were a departure from most of their previous polished epic guitar work, more loose and jammy, a vibe they promise to continue. There was also some strongly reggae-tinged material. Martsch suggests that There Is No Enemy might have some soul-influenced moments, but that nonetheless it will still sound like Built To Spill guitar music. I’m hoping that means more of what I love about Built To Spill: more hooks, more swirls, more angst, and more breaks-ups and new beginnings.
October 15, WOW Hall (all ages), 291 W 8th Ave., 541/687-2746, wowhall.org; builttospill.com
