This weekend, I gave Claudia Gonson a post-lunch call to talk about what is one of the most interesting relationships in the indie world: her role as both a musician in the Magnetic Fields and Stephin Merritt’s business manager. This year, they’re celebrating the tenth anniversary of one of the watershed albums of the ’90s, 69 Love Songs and preparing …

In the tail end of a very un-Oregon snow storm, my brother and I visited the Someday Lounge to see local favorites Old Growth play. Most shows, John Magnifico, Ben Muha and Luke Clements play fiery old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll, but when personal circumstances called bassist Clements away, the rest of the band rolled with it and played an acoustic …

Matt Johnson, half of the Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim, released his second album Grand on January 20th. The album was recorded over the course of nine months after the two sequestered themselves in Matt’s childhood home state of Vermont. Our conversation began when I placed him on hold to switch him into our recording system. Wait, what did I …

Quirky, L.A. based soothsayer and chanteuse Sam Phillips is the kind of artist described as a musician’s musician. Her fans are a sophisticated bunch that are mysteriously drawn to her reflective voice, literate and insightful lyrics and her intimate musical arrangements. I caught up with Sam Phillips on her relatively quietly announced tour in support of her latest release, the …

Amy Ray may best be known as one half of the band, Indigo Girls, but her ability to transform stories and sounds into something that gets deep under the skin is apparent on her solo efforts as well. She is a deeply impassioned activist, supporting political and social causes such as gay rights, indigenous struggles, women’s rights, and environmental protection. …

Sometimes it’s good to interview a band that hasn’t been lauded as the next big thing. New York based o’death, who play a fusion of folk and punk, are such a group. Known mainly by word of mouth, the band has just released second album Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin which sports a macabre mélange of folk tropes, fiddles and …

Hippies. You gotta love ’em. The Golden Animals love to “jam” and “plug into each others current” while they’re jamming. Vilification aside, at least for now, the band has obtained their catchy, dirty pop sound by listening to countless albums around the 1930s. They embody some of the best, and worst, qualities in any contemporary band. The current generation of …

When I moved to Portland this summer from Maryland, my friend and I drove across the country. As we entered the Columbia River Gorge, I decided to get sentimental and play a CD from a Portland band. My choices came down to the Decemberists and The Thermals. Did I want to enter town on a literate, slightly snotty note or …

I didn’t know what to expect when I entered the Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge to interview Vic Chesnutt. True, his newest album Dark Developments is one of my favorite records of the year, but some of my friends warned me that Chesnutt might be a little ornery. My only experience with the man was a live show where he opened …

Raymond Raposa is difficult to pin down. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he does not seek fame nor does he buy into the indie fanboy world created by the internet. When I requested an interview, his publicist initially told me Raposa had too many people in Portland to see and that an in-person would almost be impossible. But, Raposa did …