Iconoplasty, Schwervon!, JamesPlaneWreck and CAMP @ the Crux (5/29/13)

I learned about this show thanks to a press release that I'd received about a month prior.  It came from Olive Juice Music, a DIY label now based in Kansas City.  It invited me to hear the new album by one of their bands, Schwervon!, and to see them play the Crux.  After I listened to the album, I emailed back that I definitely wanted to see them.

It didn't hurt either that this show would be the last (around these parts, anyway) set up by my friend Keesha Renna's Vagabond Promotions.  Keesha's moving to North Dakota to work and to see what she can see.  I wish her all the best.  I also hope that she doesn't forget about us here in Boise.

I counted eight people at the Crux when I got down there.  The crowd never rose above twenty.  Also, that number consisted mainly of people connected in some way to the bands (friends, girlfriends, bandmates, etc.).  So it goes.

Cameron Andreas of CAMP played a solo set to kick off the show.  After his set, Andreas said that he hadn't known beforehand what he was going to play.  It showed: his straight-ahead riffing, heavily reverbed vocals, metronomic beats and whirring, hissing noises felt scattered.  His songs were still plenty appealing, but they'd have been more so with a full band.  Or, barring that, a more deliberate presentation.

JamesPlaneWreck played next.  I'd approached this set with some trepidation, having read on Facebook that a wrist injury had sidelined bassist Shaun Shireman.  They made up for this lineup shortfall, however, by playing what amounted to a plugged-in unplugged set.  Aaron Smith and Shane Brown kept their guitars at a nice simmer while Andrew Bagley injected a gentle, jazzy swing into his brushwork.  The reduced volume allowed the grim wit and somber stoicism of Smith's lyrics to move to the fore.  In this regard, this performance felt not dissimilar to, say, Nirvana taking a seat and turning down the noise.  As for the handful of sour notes?  Hey, like the songs point out, life has sour notes.

Schwervon! played next.  While this Kansas City (Kansas) band's consistently catchy tunes called to mind R.E.M., their sharp arrangements called to mind Wire or Sleater-Kinney.  Matt Mason's buzzing guitar and earnest murmur bounced with and off Nan Turner's sturdy, angular drumming and strong, sweet chirp.  They sounded thin when they needed to and massive when they needed to.  They liked their drones but knew better than to regard them as the secret of life.  Best of all, not only did they take care to make their lyrics heard, they took care to make their lyrics worth hearing.  "Daydream Ration," for example, is definitely among the smarter put-downs of indie ironic cool that I've heard ("You've got the reverb hanging from the bathroom wall./ You're just a little too eager now to not care at all.").  Now if only I didn't feel so dumb for not realizing that Mason was the one with whom I'd been communicating via email.

Josh Gross closed out the night with the strongest Iconoplasty set that I've heard so far.  His set structure may have solidified, but that let him lean harder into his riffing and make his layers of beats hit with greater precision.  The smoother transitions between segments also helped the music bite harder.  Chances seem good that he won't get caught slacking when he goes on tour with Red Hands Black Feet in August.

You can find info on these acts on Facebook and elsewhere online.  If you like what you've read and would like to help keep it going, click the yellow "Give" button and donate whatever you can.  Even $5 would help.

Hopeless Jack & the Handsome Devil and Sun Blood Stories @ the Crux (12/5/12)

I had actually planned to stay in this night--had some projects for the day job that I wanted to put some work into.  Then I remembered that Keesha Renna's Vagabond Promotions had set up a special blues night at the Crux featuring hard-rocking Portland duo Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil.  After a bit of deliberation, I said, "Screw it.  The day job is always with you."

I counted a little over forty people when I got down to the Crux.  I arrived in time to observe a blues dance lesson that Keesha had helped arrange.  Looking back, starting the night with this was a brilliant move: it got the crowd pumped up and ready to dance by the time that the bands started playing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for the entire night.  My disregard of the day job goes only so far.  Still, apologies to Matt Stone and Indecisive.

Sun Blood Stories kicked off the night's live music.  Their languorous grooves, slippery basslines and fiery guitar were exactly what the situation called for, and they all sounded in excellent form.  Ben Kirby worked his smoky, aching drawl so deftly that I'm now convinced he's one of the best singers in town.  Amber Pollard's girly backup vocals complemented Kirby's low moan nicely, and her tamborine helped accentuate the beat.  Drummer Brett Hawkins swung and stomped as if daring the crowd not to dance.  And in addition to playing bass, Andy Rayborn wandered amongst the crowd and let rip some wailing saxophone solos.

Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil played next.  This set emphasized slightly slower-tempo material than has been their norm, but that just encouraged the crowd to keep dancing.  It also showed that this duo is built for comfort and for speed.  Hopeless Jack Biesel's baritone growl sounded as ferocious as ever but also showed increased nuance and soulfulness.  Smilin' Pete Thomas worked a new ease and swing into his drumming without sacrificing any of his brute force.  It only took a handful of songs to get most of the audience on their feet.  By the time that HJ & THD played their full-throttle finale, just about everybody was dancing, clapping and whooping.  Friggin' glorious.

You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.

Marshall Poole, Pacific Nomadic and Mickey the Jump @ the Crux; the Mad Caps, First Borns and Skittish Itz @ Tom Grainey's (9/8/12)

This was a busy night.  I'd already planned to check out a show set up by Orriginal Promotions at the Crux when Keesha Renna told me about a promising bill set up by Vagabond Promotions at Tom Grainey's.  Honestly, I'm glad I started my new job: it may give me a chance to take a break.

There were over forty people at the Crux when I got down there, and some more trickled in as the show progressed.  Joseph Morgan of Pacific Nomadic mentioned that he saw a whole lotta friends and family in the crowd, but I doubt that that accounted for everyone.

First up was Marshall Poole, a power trio based in Caldwell, Nampa and Boise (according to their Facebook page).  I've said this before, and I said it to a friend who watched this set with me: groups like this really make me feel like I haven't done enough with my life.  The members of this band are only 18 or 19, I learned, but they've already got it all together.  Between Rider Soran's clean, firm voice and Melanie Radford's tough, sultry one, they boast two solid singers.  Between Soran's astonishing guitar solos, Radford's humongous, funky basslines, Mike Hoobery's fluid but foundational drums and the swaggering groove that held them all together, they didn't remind me of anything so much as Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys.  Between their spit-shined tunes and hooks galore, they sounded as if they could take the classic rock canon and at least wrestle it to a tie.  My friend wondered where they could go in five years' time.  So do I.

After Marshall Poole came Pacific Nomadic, a band from Boise originally but now based in Seattle.  Their sparkling guitar, streamlined bass, pensive melodies and pinched, nasal, moaned/whined vocals called to mind swoony popsters like the Cure and Coldplay.  They didn't too mopey, though, thanks in good part to Nate Ihli's drumming.

Nampa band Mickey the Jump closed out the show at the Crux.  Hearing their striking tunes, intriguing lyrics, protean guitar and bouncing, stomping, driving drums again confirmed my good opinion of this band.  Unfortunately, it also confirmed my sneaking suspicion that they have a weak link in Nate Berrian's lead vocals.  Berrian isn't the worst singer that I've heard in this town (no, I won't tell you who that is here), but as it stands right now, he just doesn't have the pipes to put the songs over like he should.  I should hasten to add, however, that I could tell that the spirit and the brains were willing even if the flesh was weak.  There's gotta be a vocal couch out there who can help the man.

I headed straight over to Tom Grainey's after the Crux show ended.  I got there too late to see Dear Rabbit's return to Boise, but I did get to catch the set by the Mad Caps, a duo originally from Las Vegas but currently based in Seattle.  I couldn't hear much of this group's lyrics, but I didn't really concern myself with that, what with Ted Rader's bluesy, elemental riffs and Jon Real's clipped, steady, pounding drumwork.  Rader told the crowd at one point that some state troopers gave them a hard time on their way to this gig.  I hope that doesn't turn them off Idaho.  Stripped-down, gloriously primal rock.

Local group First Borns played next.  Admittedly, I wasn't sure how well these moody dudes would go over with the crowd at Grainey's.  Happily, they sounded if fine form this night, with Alex Hecht's guitar cutting through the noise in the bar like a chainsaw.  Their strong beat and tunes got the people moving.

Local punk band Skittish Itz followed First Borns.  "SKiTTiSH iTZ [sic] have been playing shows since November 2006 and don't intend to quit," it says on their Facebook profile.  I certainly hope not.  Their catchy tunes and lead singer Rekn Russ's clear, charming wail combined with metallic dual guitars and a hard-charging rhythm section to close out the night's music in solid fashion.  It makes me happy that, even with all the shows that I've seen this year, there are still cool local bands out there to discover.

You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Keesha Renna and Vagabond Promotions.  Oh, and I've got a shiny dime right here for anyone who can tell me where Marshall Poole took their name from.

Stargaze Unlimited, Champagne Leader, Jac Sound and 605 to San Gabriel @ the Shredder (8/7/12)

As usual, Radio Boise had set up a promising show this Tuesday night at Neurolux.  Since I'd seen the last three in a row, however, a change-up seemed in order (I'll be there for their Murder By Death show next week, though).  Anyway, I opted instead to check out a show at the Shredder featuring the excellent Caldwell band Stargaze Unlimited and a couple of acts I'd never encountered before.

Attendance was rather low for this concert, possibly due to its having to compete with Neurolux's show and with Evil Wine's Atypical Tuesday show at the Red Room.  I got down to the Shredder around 9, plopped myself down at a table and did a bit of light reading.  I'd brought along with me one of my birthday presents, 1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose.  It's a collection of columns from the Times-Picayune about post-Katrina New Orleans.  Honestly, this is the closest I usually come to "light."

First up this evening was the Nampa-based band 605 to San Gabriel.  Their sharply arranged, slightly jazzy pop got the show off to a good start.  Buddy Gharing and Tomas Fisher's elegant, glittering guitars weaved and flowed with Jessica Prindle's ringing keyboard hooks and Jeff Erekson and Christian Mannion's unassumingly slick bass and drums.  Fisher's throaty vocals sounded slightly mannered but proved charming nonetheless.  It helped that he got support from his wife Lorraine's thoughtful harmonies.

After 605 to San Gabriel came Jac Sound, who kept the poppy feel of the show going.  His playing was a touch looser than usual, but his singing and songs were as pleasant and catchy as ever.  I'd put his cover of "Gangsta's Paradise" up there with Ben Folds's cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit."  In fact, I might like it more; Jac Sound just strikes me as a nicer guy.

After Jac Sound finished, the Los Angeles-based band Champagne Leader took the stage.  Their melodies sounded just as sweet as the preceding two acts', but their agreeably ragged playing and goofy, rowdy attitude added some spice to the mix: their "Handle With Care" cover sounded more like the early Rolling Stones than the Traveling Wilburys.  Shea Branham's stinging electric guitar and Vincent Munoz's pounding keyboard and acoustic guitar meshed nicely with Kasey Sullivan's sly bass and Daniel Morales's rolling, tumbling drums.  They jumped around, swapped stage positions, dropped down from the stage to mix with the crowd and joined together for some tart harmonies.

Damn good fun.

Stargaze Unlimited closed out the night and delivered the best set that I've seen by them yet.  Their brooding, intense instrumentals contrasted sharply with the other acts yet still felt appropriate: they gave the crowd a chance to wind down before bed.  Kurtis Beckwith's sinister riffs, Travis Gamble's understated basslines and Richard Metzger's titanic drumming all showed increased confidence, which gave the music extra power.  The audience hardly moved or turned their eyes away from the stage during Stargaze Unlimited's set.  Watch out for these guys.

You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Keesha Renna and Vagabond Promotions, who can be reached at 1 (208) 283-0259 and Whatvagabond@hotmail.com.

Fable Cry, The Green Zoo and Zvoov @ the Shredder (7/27/12)

This was a pretty good day for me.  I discovered that HCTD has been nominated for Best Local Blogger in Boise Weekly's Best of 2012.  I don't have a prayer of winning, but I'm truly honored to be nominated (and amazed, frankly--I've only been doing this for a few months).  Also, this day marked the 35th anniversary of the Record Exchange, a place that's very dear to my heart--I bought my copies of London Calling, Blood on the Tracks and Plastic Ono Band there--and a Boise cultural landmark.

Before I headed over to The Shredder to check out the show set up by Vagabond Promotions, I stopped by the Record Exchange and looked around for a few minutes.  I wound up buying myself a humdinger of an early birthday present: a used copy of a great 4-CD Otis Redding anthology.  It was a steal at $20, although for some reason, it didn't include disc three (it's ok, though--I went back and found it in the new arrivals used section).

Attendance was low, to put it mildly, for The Shredder's show.  I don't think that there were more than four or five people there besides me, Keesha Renna, the Shredder's staff and the musicians.  Admittedly, there wasn't much publicity for this: Vagabond Promotions' Facebook profile had an event page set up, but I didn't see any fliers for it or a listing on the Shredder's July calendar (though I did see one on their Reverb Nation page).  Of course, it probably didn't help that at least two of the originally scheduled acts had to cancel (including the group that I was most eager to see, The Finer Points of Sadism).  In spite of all this, I thought that this show turned out rather well.

Tennessee-based gypsy-punk duo Fable Cry started off the night.  These two were straight-up fun from their jaunty tempos and tunes to their proudly cartoonish singing, their playfully surreal banter and their tales of zombies, pirates and demented coyotes.  Brother Zach manically strummed his guitar and wore bells on his ankles to further accenuate the beat as he stomped it out.  Sister Kirstie bashed away on the drums and made her violin weep.  They would've made a helluva double bill with Dear Rabbit.

After Fable Cry came The Green Zoo.  All of my previous judgments on this Caldwell group, both positive and negative, still apply.  I will add, though, that I had a good laugh over their bassist's unintelligible comments and their guitar player's translations en espanol.  Not only that, I even heard some lyrics that I liked this time around.

Brooklyn-based math-rock trio Zvoov closed out the show.  I imagine that Television might've sounded a little like this group if they'd decided to go jazz and metal simultaneously.  Eric Hielscher's dynamite guitar riffs, Arthur Meacham's liquid basslines and John Swank's ferocious drumming powered through disorienting time signatures and changes.  Somehow, they managed to combine the mellow, contemplative feel of Adventure with the otherworldly, transcendent power of Marquee Moon.  Mercurial, hypnotic, hard-rocking.  Great stuff.

After Zvoov wrapped up, I made my way down to Tom Grainey's in time to catch a little bit of a.k.a. Belle's set (sorry about the picture quality; I dropped my digital camera off at my car and had to resort to using my phone again).  I stayed just long enough to hear them play "The Sweetest Sin" and a new number with the greatest title that I've heard in many a moon, "Jesus Christ, Goddamn You For Killing My Dog."  If all goes well, I'll get the chance to see a.k.a. Belle again in August.  Fingers crossed.

You can find info on all of these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Keesha Renna and Vagabond Promotions, who can be contacted at 1 (208) 283-0259 and at Whatvagabond@hotmail.com.  Special thanks also to Justin Cantrell and The Shredder for letting me take pictures with my digital camera.  Oh, and should you feel inclined to vote for me in Boise Weekly's Best of 2012, you can go here.

Like A Rocket, Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil and Parade of Bad Guys @ Grainey's Basement (7/5/12)

From what I gather, there was some good music getting played around town this First Thursday (congratulations to ORRiginal Promotions for their Red Room show).  I opted to check out this show at Grainey's Basement, which was set up by Keesha Renna's Vagabond Promotions and which featured Like A Rocket and mega-hard-rockin' blues duo Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil.

Quite a few people came down to Tom Grainey's, but most of them chose to hang out on the patio.  I can't honestly fault them for that: it got pretty friggin' warm in there.  Hopefully, some of the music travelled upstairs.

Like A Rocket started off the evening with a typically strong performance.  Speedy Gray's voice and guitar sounded in particularly good form, Max Klymenko kept the songs grooving along and Z.V. House got to show off his skills a little by playing and tuning at the same time.  Their set this night was composed entirely of newer material--even played a couple of songs that even I hadn't heard before.  Hopefully, they'll include some of this material on their upcoming album.

Next up was Portland-based Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil, who likewise turned in their typical raucous set.  At one point, Hopeless Jack quipped that he'd lost half his body weight when they played in Bend, OR the night before.  They probably lost a few pounds this night too: by the end, both halves of this team were thoroughly drenched in sweat.  It was good to see some folks venture downstairs to check these guys out.

HJ and drummer Smilin' Pete gave a couple of shout-outs to Parade of Bad Guys during their set.  I thought that right commendable, though it would've been nice if they'd thanked Like A Rocket also.  They may have just been too preoccupied.  In any case, I had to give them bonus points for covering one of my favorite blues songs (with a little rewriting), Robert Nighthawk's "Sweet Black Angel."

Local group Parade of Bad Guys closed out the night.  There set wasn't as intense or galvanizing as the other two bands', but that was probably for the best: it gave the audience a chance to mellow out a bit.  Which isn't to say that it didn't get them dancing and cheering too.  They delivered excellent guitar solos and a good groove throughout, and they did a decent cover of one of the greatest songs in the history of mankind: The Faces' "Ooh La La."  Part of me wonders if they got that song from Ooh La La or from Rushmore, but that doesn't really matter.  If any local group has the right to cover The Faces, this one does.

You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  And for any touring bands looking to book shows around Boise, you can contact Vagabond Promotions via Facebook, email Whatvagabond@hotmail.com or call 1 (208) 283-0259.

Uintahs, The Green Zoo and The Mighty Sequoyah @ Grainey's Basement (5/29/12)

I felt a little guilty about going to see this show.  I'd spoken with Josh Gross a week or so before and told him that I'd planned on seeing Godcrotch play the Red Room this same night.  And that had been true, but then I saw that my friend Keesha Renna's Vagabond Promotions had set up a show at Grainey's Basement featuring three bands I hadn't seen before.  Sorry, man.  See you another time for sure.

This looked like a promising bill: three local bands, two of which I hadn't seen before, and an excellent folk(ish) rock group from Utah.  A decent crowd had built up by the time that the first band took the stage, and it only grew as the evening progressed.  That made me happy for the bands and especially for Keesha: for as long as I've known her, she's been an enthusiastic supporter not just of the local music scene but of the Boise community as a whole.  Her hard work and dedication seems to be paying off, and deservedly so.  From what she's told me, Vagabond Promotions has some good shows set up in the upcoming months.  I expect that you'll be reading about a few of them here.

First up this night was Uintahs, a moody, tuneful four-man rock band based here in Boise.  If Coldplay or Echo and the Bunnymen decided to man up and not be such wimpy navel-gazers, they might sound a little like these guys: Patricio Torres' steadfast basslines and Malcolm Youngberg's rumbling, propulsive drumming cut through the layers of sparkling mist conjured up by Marcus Youngberg and Perry Bentley's guitars and keyboard.  That combination would have been beguiling enough, but what made it really take off was Marcus Youngberg's strong, aching, forthright tenor.  "We are Uintahs," Youngberg said at one point.  "Goddamn, you aren't gonna remember it, so don't even try."  I wouldn't be so sure of that.

Next up after Uintahs was local alt-rock band The Green Zoo.  This group clearly had talent to spare: their melodies and harmonies stuck to my ears, they stopped and started on a dime, their dirges were no less impressive than their rave-ups and leader Thomas Newby has got a helluva set of pipes on him.  In spite of all this, however, I just couldn't get into their music all the way.  The whole enterprise felt tainted by an adolescent, melodramatic self-absorption.  This came through most strongly in their lyrics' nostalgic idealization of childhood's simplicity and comfort.   Lines like "In the darkness, my nostrils flare" and "Sunlight taps at my window like a lost lover trying to wake me" just made matters worse.  I should probably note, however, that my fellow audience members seemed to like this group just fine.  Guess some folks have a higher tolerance for melodramatic self-absorption than I do.

After The Green Zoo came The Mighty Sequoyah, whose straight-ahead folk- and pop-tinged rock served as a tonic after the previous group's emo archness.  You could possibly think of this five-person group from Provo, Utah as the Beatles or the Byrds up top (twangy guitar jangle, ringing keyboard, yearning fiddle, angelic four-part harmonies) and the Rolling Stones or Cream down below (solid, unflashy bass and kinetic drumming).  At the head of it all rode lead singer Caleb Darger, whose clean, rousing high tenor suited the rootsy melodies perfectly.  This mixture proved irresistible to the crowd, who danced and cheered throughout the entire set.  A single picture doesn't do justice to the infectious good vibe of those thirty minutes, but thankfully, Keesha managed to record some of The Mighty Sequoyah's performance on her phone.  Hopefully, she'll post a clip of it online sometime soon.

I drifted over to the Red Room after The Mighty Sequoyah and consequently missed the closing set by Parade of Bad Guys.  Considering the previous performance of theirs that I caught, I don't imagine that it could've gone too badly.  Their fun-times roots-rock seems like just the thing to have kept the party going.

You can find info about all of these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Also, for any bands interested in booking shows around Boise, you can look up Vagabond Promotions on Facebook, email Whatvagabond@hotmail.com or call 1 208-283-0259.

Wellspring & Honor, Hopeless Jack & the Handsome Devil and Parade of Bad Guys @ Grainey's Basement (5/3/12)

Funny how things can change over time.  I used to be kinda "meh" about Tom Grainey's--decent enough place, I thought, but not one of my go-to bars.  Starting with the Tango Alpha Tango/ Violet Isle show back in March, though, I've found that this bar has been putting on some outstanding live shows.  It probably helps that they've been working lately with my friend Keesha Renna of Vagabond Promotions.  Keesha ran the booking for the Red Room all last year, and she put together consistently superior shows there.

Keesha tipped me off via Facebook about this show at Grainey's Basement.  I grew particularly eager to see it when I saw that Portland, OR punk-blues duo Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil would be playing.  These guys blew the roof off the Red Room last year, but you wouldn't have known it from the stone-faced reception that they got from the crowd that night.  I figured I'd make sure that they got support from at least two people in the crowd this night.

Wellspring & Honor, a power trio based here in Boise, kicked off the show.  I found their casual, self-deprecating air quite agreeable when they bantered with the crowd, much less so when guitarist Marco Mancuso's high, breathy moan wandered off pitch or when their groove came a little unglued here and there.  Maybe driving up from a gig in San Francisco tired them out.  Maybe all the familiar faces in the crowd made them loosen up a bit too much (the bass player quipped that everyone in the audience was their personal friend).  Maybe they just had a couple too many at the bar before showtime.  Still, W&H played well enough to hint at just how good they can be when they're firing on all cylinders.  Their catchy melodies and pensive lyrics came accessorized with throbbing bass, droning riffs and ultra-syncopated drumming that, at times, evoked that Zen master of great rock drummers, Charlie Watts.

Next up were Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil, whose tossed-off instrumental jams packed more concentrated wallop than Wellspring and Honor's entire set did.  And they played those during their soundcheck.  When they really got underway, things got even wilder.


These guys combined the brute force of Led Zeppelin with the heedless, careening velocity of Hound Dog Taylor (the blues' answer to the Ramones).  Hopeless Jack's soulful, tough-as-nails baritone growl would have given Mike Ness larynx envy, and he matched it with his loud, dirty, heavy slide guitar (which he played so hard that, as he said when he stopped to retune it, he "knocked it down six keys").  Smilin' Pete backed his partner up with joyously rough backup vocals and fierce machine-gun drumming.  Like a good Walter Hill movie, they took the raw meat of the macho hoochie-coochie-man archetype, stuck its tounge firmly in its cheek, slapped it on the grill and cranked the heat all the way up.  It was heartening to see that this night's audience was much more receptive to their 120-proof take on the blues.

Local power trio Parade of Bad Guys respectably handled the unenviable task of following Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil.  The most telling moment in their night-closing set was their cover of Bob Dylan's "The Man In Me," which I'll bet that they took from The Big Lebowski rather than New Morning.  Lebowski sums up these guys pretty well: solidly crafted, more than slightly zonked out, not too serious or deep, damn good fun.  Their set consisted of friendly, goofy, drunken banter punctuated by sturdy, punky blues/rockabilly-based songs.  Lead singer Ben's plain, amiable groan (which had a hint of Kurt Cobain's raspy whine) and sharp, Billy Zoom-esque guitar enlivened original material like "Whiskey Drunk" and a Pac Man homage as well as their covers of Dylan and of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads."

You can find more info about these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  And for any touring bands/musicians out there: if you'd like to book some shows in Boise, you can contact Vagabond Promotions via Facebook, email Whatvagabond@hotmail.com or call 1 (208) 283-0259.