Four years ago I wrote a music column for the Weekly Volcano on a Tuesday night while my thoughts were elsewhere — Ohio to be exact. The fate of our nation was at stake, or so it truly felt that night, and there was no official word yet about whether George W. Bush or John Kerry would lead our nation.

George W. Bush ended up winning.

Tonight, there is no uncertainty. Tonight Barack Obama is our great nation’s President elect. I don’t need to worry about Ohio, or Pennsylvania, or Florida, or Colorado or even Virginia tonight. Obama carried them all, and put this election to bed early. But on top of all that, he did something bigger. Far, far bigger. Obama became our first African American President — a feat of such historical magnitude that no one — not even pundits — felt comfortable talking about before it was real.

Now, it’s real. Thank goodness for that. And thank goodness this is not four years ago. I’m proud of what I saw tonight, and more than ever, I’m proud to be an American tonight.

On such an upbeat evening — and please forgive, quite possibly, the worst transition of all time — a band like Portland’s Pink Widower, which has captured the very essence of carefree summertime vibrations with a sound that plays on dimpled pop, folksy psychedelic rock, horns and reggae, just might be perfect. The band released a debut CD in October, The Enchanted Realm of the Pink Widower, and it’s been in my “good times” rotation ever since. (Note: I don’t actually have a “good times” rotation, because that’s stupid. But I do listen to the disc with regularity.)

This Friday, Nov. 7, Pink Widower will play Le Voyeur in Olympia. If you’ve dabbled in Portland’s (quite honestly) jaw-dropping pop and experimental music scene, then you know the punch it packs. Pink Widower fits PDX perfectly. The band pushes boundaries, yet makes it sound effortless and seamless, and maintains a pop sensibility that makes it live and warm.

The leader of Pink Widower is a fairly well known Portland musician who goes by the name of “the Jed,” who earned a solemn musical reputation fronting the band Six Foot Sloth. Whether consciously or unconsciously, the Jed is changing perceptions with Pink Widower, because there’s nothing wrist cutting about his new gig.

Plus, you’ve got to admit putting “the” in front of your name is ballsy. The Jed handles it quite nicely.

“We’re all really pleased with the album. It’s super listenable, full of interesting sounds, and catchy as all hell; way beyond what we thought we were creating when we first pushed (the) record,” says the Jed of the Enchanted Realm. “We thought we were just recording some demos and breaking (the drummer) Gille’s new home studio in, but we started getting really rich sounds and great takes, so we just kept at it until we had a full length, and I think it really captures what we do live. Like loose clothes on a beautiful woman.”

“I would describe our trajectory as positive, groovy, and melodic-plus words. Six Foot Sloth was a lot more moody, morose, and downbeat. There are a lot of people doing that now and many of them are much more qualified than myself. ‘Yeah, I’m heart broken, poor, and lost, but I’ll worry about that on my own time. Let’s have some fun,’” says the Jed describing the differences between Pink Widower and Six Foot Sloth. “But, you know, I still sneak some dark stuff in there.”

Pink Widower is a band you don’t want to miss. Lucky for Olympia, the band will be awing the tiny room in back of Le Voyeur this Friday, Nov. 7.

As joy washes over our nation with the election of Barack Obama, we might as well have some feel-good tunes to accompany the history.

[Le Voyeur, 10 m, NC, 404 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.943.5710]