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Oh, the beautiful racket to be made with only a drum set, acoustic guitar and banjo. If the off-the-grid Olympia lifestyle had a soundtrack, chances are it would sound something like Southern Skies, a (predominantly) two-piece, bluegrassy plucking outfit made up of banjo pro Kendl Winter and guitarist Joey
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The promotional posters for the Taj Mahal Trio's upcoming show at the Capitol Theater in Oly call Taj a "Grammy winning blues master." Truer words have never been spoken. Of course, the Grammy award is a verifiable, checkable, Google-able fact - but the "blues master" part, I suppose, is open
Music
Do you remember your first trip to Tacoma? Your impressions? The sensation in your gut? The things you saw and the way this place made you feel? Blinded by the Hilltop hysteria of the time, of course, I remember my first trip to Tacoma. There was the Aroma, naturally, and also
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Created in 2006 as a three-piece, Song Sparrow Research originally cut its teeth as just that - a band exploring the rock based possibilities of a three person, drum, bass, guitar trio. Over time, however, and as is usually the case - interests fluctuated, and new sounds emerged. These days
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Poet Lucia Perillo will be in the house for PLU English Department's Visiting Writers Series Thursday inside the Garfield Book Company. In truth, though, Perillo won't be traveling very far - she lives in Olympia. But Perillo's travel is beside the point. An accomplished author, Perillo's poetry has made her
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Propped up on still heavy riffs - though perhaps more thoughtful than you may remember from your grungy youth - there's a reason Floater has the power to truck on. And, no, it has nothing to do with the great weed in Eugene. It has more to do with the
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So, you need a job. You've probably already realized you're not alone. Tuesday at the Tacoma Public Library, Robin Ryan, described as "one of the nation's leading career coaches," will offer several workshops designed to help you "develop and polish" your "job seeking skills." Chances are, after all, during the
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Starting Saturday and going into Sunday, our area's best high school wrestlers will converge on the Tacoma Dome for the WIAA Mat Classic - the yearly battle royale of Washington State high school wrestling. With studs in every weight class, and enough high school pep to make you gag -
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F***ing gag me. Valentine's Day is here again, meaning all sorts of wretch-worthy couples will be making out in public like it's OK, all sorts of gag-me "lovers" will be holding hands and looking deep into one another's eyes, and all sorts of solo miscreants like the rest of us
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People move on. As cold as it seems, it's only natural. For many, the tragic slaying of five Pierce County police officers in the line of duty has already faded into the back of their clogged memories, having been replaced by a more recent tragedy (perhaps Haiti), or a more
Music
There are countless bands in Tacoma - and this isn't even a very big place. Sure, we've got colleges, a lot of rain, and a lot of idle disillusionment - three constant fertilizers of important rock music over the years - but so do a lot of places. What really
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OK, OK - I know. Technically the Coloffs aren't 100 percent from Tacoma - the members are spread all over these days, from the U-District to Covington to SeaTac and so on. But the Coloffs are a Tacoma band. Trust me. You can hear it. Co-creators Brian Coloff and the only
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Don't make the mistake. Just don't. Whatever you call Freeze and Fur Coat, a band I consider kind of like the poster-band for the Dear Records movement, just don't call them sad. Or melancholy. Or probably even, "the poster-band for the Dear Records movement." Aside from that last part, which
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Tacoma Is For Lovers aims to "promote the visibility of local artists and encourages reuse, intentionality, sustainability and high craft." That, and they also do a bunch of lovin'. Starting this month and on Thursday, Feb. 11, the organization will hold a monthly craft night, where an invited artist
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The Super Bowl means one thing this year, with the Saints playing in the NFL's big game: Men in tight gold pants will be everywhere. And, on the other side of the ball, lanky Peyton Manning will be gunning for his second Lombardi trophy. The drama is sure to
Music
Back in August the Weekly Volcano helped introduce you to The Color of East - a self described "psychedelic-garage-pop power trio" made up of Vinny Beatty and Eric Crozier, the formidable former rhythm section of Never Quiet Never Still, and new-to-the-scene frontman Patrick Smyth, a leader equally capable of channeling
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Like many others, and many of you, the devastation and suffering in Haiti has been too much for The Color of East to sit back and watch idly. The band wanted to do something - and since what they do is rock, a benefit show seemed natural. Specifically, The Color
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Sure, the title seems a bit redundant. Ira Glass: Radio Stories and Other Stories. Seems like one too many "stories," no? But it's not. Ira Glass, you see - host and producer of the monumental This American Life radio program - is all about the stories. Whether you consider him a journalist,
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Trip the Light Fantastic is back - after taking some time off - but the band's return was far from a given. "It got to the point where we didn't even talk to one another, just showed up at the gig," says Trip the Light guitarist Tyler Pratt. "It
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Last week, at least if you read the Volcano, you learned about Tacoma's Apache Chief - a troupe of SOTA sludge rockers poised to melt off EMP Sound Off!'s face later this month at the annual under-age music competition. Apache Chief is part of a stable of fresh, young
