Posts by Greg Homolka

In the run-up to the release of Cody Jinks’ new album, Lifers, due out in June, Jinks and his band headed out west to stir things up and give fans a taste of things to come. After a handful of shows in California and Arizona, including a set at the Stagecoach Music Festival, Jinks headed […]

Ron Artis II’s evening performance at Portland, Oregon’s Star Theater on Sunday, April 22 capped a busy weekend for the soulful blues singer and guitarist. He’d already talked and performed for TedxPortland event and taken part in a live taping for an episode of the independently produced Live Wire Radio. The Star Theater show was […]

To say the music of Tyler Childers has found its audience would be an understatement. Last Thursday night, the Wonder Ballroom in Portland, Oregon was shoulder-to-shoulder with revelers eagerly anticipating the appearance of their red-haired Kentucky hero. Before Childers took the stage, the audience was treated to a set by Third Man Records artist Lillie […]

About a third of the way into their Saturday night set at Portland, Oregon’s Doug Fir Lounge on March 24, The Mother Hips guitarist/vocalist Greg Loiacono introduced “It’s Alright,” a song he wrote last summer after waking up from a dream with the chorus in his head. At the time, he probably didn’t know that […]

Umphrey’s McGee spent two nights at Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom on March 16 and 17, giving fans a big double dose of inspired jams. Friday night found Umphrey’s in top form, playing songs spanning their 20 year career, including “Whistle Kids” (which Brendan Bayliss dedicated to his brother) and “Piranhas” from their fresh 2018 release […]

Yonder Mountain String Band played Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom last Thursday, March 15 as part of their spring tour. Yonder brought along newgrass/Americana string band outfit Old Salt Union to get things warmed up. Bassist Ben Kaufmann started things off by announcing that they had “the pregnant-est fiddle player in all the land,” to which […]

The Infamous Stringdusters’ expansive Across The Great Divide Tour brought the quintet to Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom last Friday, March 9th. Having won the 2018 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for Laws of Gravity, and on tour since mid-January, the Dusters proved to be as tight and energetic as ever, delivering two solid sets consisting […]

Mike Gordon and his band came to Portland, Oregon’s Wonder Ballroom on Saturday, February 10th and played an expansive, flowing show for the jam-packed crowd. Gordon’s band includes Scott Murawski on guitar, Robert Walter on keyboards, John Kimock on drums, and Craig Myers on percussion. The Portland show pulled five songs from OGOGO — which […]

ALO (a.k.a. Animal Liberation Orchestra) brought their 12th annual Tour d’Amour to Portland, Oregon’s Wonder Ballroom last Friday, February 9th, as they spread the love up the West Coast from their Bay Area home. For this swing, they brought along the Monophonics to get the crowd limbered up. Built around the powerful, soulful vocals of […]

On Friday and Saturday, February 2nd and 3rd, Phil Lesh and The Terrapin Family Band celebrated the 50th anniversary (down to the very day!) of the Grateful Dead’s historic “Quick and The Dead” shows at Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom. The 1968 event was a two-night double-bill, featuring the Grateful Dead and The QuickSilver Messenger Service. […]

Fresh off the Jam Cruise boat and, prior to that, a European tour playing saxophone for The Rolling Stones, Karl Denson decided that enough just wasn’t enough and embarked on a winter tour that brought him and his Tiny Universe to Portland, Oregon on January 27. The Saturday night throwdown at Revolution Hall featured a […]

The Chris Robinson Brotherhood brought their cosmic groove to a packed house at Portland, Oregon’s Revolution Hall on Saturday, December 2nd. There was no opening act, ensuring fans would have two full sets to find the flow with these seasoned road warriors. Together, Chris Robinson (guitar, vocals), Neal Casal (guitar), Adam MacDougall (keys), Jeff Hill […]

Blues Traveler brought their 30 Year Anniversary Tour to Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom on Saturday, November 11th for a blues-rock blowout celebrating the band’s three decades of hard-charging creativity. Los Colognes was enlisted to open the show, and proved to be a solid choice for revving up the jam-packed crowd. The Nashville quintet, consisting of […]

Twiddle played to an energetic, packed house at the Star Theater in Portland, Oregon on Friday, October 20th. The Asher Fulero Band opened the show. 10.20.17, Star Theater, Portland, Oregon Set 1: Jamflowman, Syncopated Healing, Lost In The Cold, Atlantic Mocean > Barbeque > Atlantic Mocean Set 2: Dusk til Dawn, White Light, Catapillar, Orlando’s, […]

Earlier this week, when I told people around Portland that I was going to see the Aaron Lee Tasjan show, the reply I got the most was, “Who?” Granted, Portland, Oregon is a couple of thousand miles from Tasjan’s home in East Nashville, and the man has worked quite a variety of gigs, playing different […]

Fantastic Negrito only had about 50 minutes to initiate the crowd at Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall to his brand of spirited blues and soul music last week. Equipped with a big voice, a big personality, and a full band, Fantastic Negrito brought a high level of energy and a little rock ‘n roll chutzpah […]

Michael Franti and Spearhead’s September 9th concert at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon was perhaps summarized best when my companion mentioned that Michael Franti deserves some sort of humanitarian award. Michael Franti and Spearhead came through town on the appropriately named Love Out Loud tour, bringing a much-appreciated breath of fresh air to Oregon fans. […]

If you’re into independent country music, you may have noticed a lot of recent Internet chatter about Tyler Childers. The 27-year-old Kentuckian recently released his first full studio effort, Purgatory, and it did remarkably well in the charts for a release by an independent artist. It hit #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Album chart, #17 […]

Steve Earle & The Dukes rolled through Portland, Oregon on Monday, August 14th, delivering a long set that featured music spanning Earle’s storied career, to an attentive and appreciative audience at Revolution Hall. Husband and wife duo The Mastersons opened the show. Chris Masterson, armed with an acoustic guitar, and Eleanor Whitmore, with a fiddle, […]

The DM Stevenson Ranch just outside of Bend, Oregon came alive over the past weekend as more than two thousand people gathered to help the 4 Peaks Music Festival celebrate its tenth year. The music was a blend of national touring groups (moe., Railroad Earth, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Infamous Stringdusters) along with local and […]