Youngblood Brass, Polyrhythmics among upcoming Filling Station shows

ChickenJam West will present the return of The Last Revel with a Danny Barnes-supported session on Friday, October 19th at 9pm. Tickets to this 21+ show are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Doors at 8pm.
The Last Revel are a Minneapolis-based trio of powerfully talented multi-instrumentalists who naturally blend the genres of folk, rockabilly, old time string-band and rock to create a sound equally original and timeless. They’re known to consistently deliver “bombastic live performances,” as well as delicate and haunting folk ballads. Their latest album, Hazard & Fate, showcases the band’s ability to create rich and delicately textured recorded material with a modern “tip of the hat” to the storied history of American folk music.
Banjo player extraordinaire and recipient of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, Danny Barnes is described as “one of a kind” and widely acknowledged as “one of the best banjo players in America.” Barnes is recognized for his experimental sound. The raw and unpolished musical breadth of his compositions has propelled him across the industry today. Barnes has released a number of popular albums including 2006’s Stove Up, available now.
Globetrotting riot jazzers Youngblood Brass Band stop in for a performance on Saturday, October 20th at 10pm. Tickets to this 21+ show are $9 in advance and $12 at the door. Doors at 9pm.
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, the group flouts convention in an ecstatic, raucous, incendiary fashion, taking the form of a New Orleans brass band and morphing it into a punked-out hip-hop behemoth of groove and purpose. The ten-member ensemble has been unleashing their crash course in genre-bending worldwide since 1998. Youngblood Brass has headlined countless tours in the States and abroad, selling out dates in over 20 countries. Their festival resumé reads like a list of the heaviest music events in the world: Roskilde, Glastonbury, Lowlands, Pukkelpop, SXSW, CMJ, North Sea Jazz, WOMAD, ad infinitum. White-hot live shows secured the band’s status as an incredible group to witness, whether in an intimate club setting or in front of thousands on a festival stage. Youngblood’s brand new EP, Covers 1, is available now.
Following their midsummer ‘Music in the Mountains’ appearance, Polyrhythmics are back in Southwest Montana on Thursday, November 1st with local groove rockers Left on Tenth opening at 9pm. Tickets to this 21+ show are $13 in advance and $16 at the door. Doors at 8pm.
Rich with bold brass and hypnotic percussion, the Polyrhythmics’ latest album, Caldera, showcases the instrumental eight-piece’s impossibly tight grooves and virtuosic musicianship as they tear through a singular blend of funk, soul, psychedelic rock, R&B, progressive jazz, and Afrobeat. Calling to mind everything from Antibalas and the Dap-Kings to The Meters and Fela Kuti, it’s without a doubt their strongest work to date, merging the infectious power of their live show with a sleek and nuanced studio sophistication. Seattle music publication The Stranger dubbed the band a group to watch, hailing their “sophisticated slinkiness and expressive brassiness,” WNCW praised their “modern afro-psycho-beat blend,” while the Seattle Times called them “funk maestros.”
Them Coulee Boys perform alongside The Two Tracks on Friday, November 2nd at 9pm. Tickets to this 21+ show are $9 in advance and $10 at the door. Doors at 8pm.
Wisconsin’s Them Coulee Boys craft a brand of Americana that blends punk, bluegrass, and rock n’ roll. Their live shows are energetic affairs, with a constant passion and sincerity evident in every song. Some are paired with an infectious stomp, inviting the listener to dance along. Driving banjo, guitar, mandolin, and bass provide a backdrop for fast-paced narratives about love and life, ordinary or incredible. Others leave room for space, with ambient electric banjo and finger picked instrumentation accompany songs dealing with the harsh realities of things we cannot control. Soren Staff, Beau Janke, Jens Staff, and Neil Krause work together as a well-oiled alt-folk machine to craft tunes and live shows that are impressing audiences nationwide. Their latest album, Dancing in the Dim Light, is available now.
Americana covers a broad spectrum of music these days, and it’s easy to get lost in trying to define its particular parameters. If one was to determine an overreaching definition as music that reverberates with heartfelt emotion, and songs that speak to the listener with honesty, conviction and integrity, then Wyoming’s Two Tracks clearly fit the bill. Their latest album, Postcard Town, further affirms the promise and determination shown on their eponymous debut, which No Depression described as “creating an instant connection… in truth there’s not a single offering here that doesn’t engage the listener practically from the get go,” and by The Alternate Root as “rural warmth… infusing their tunes with a feel for the open spaces of The West.”
Advance tickets for these Filling Station shows are available in-store at Cactus Records and www.cactusrecords.net. For more information, visit www.chickenjamwest.com.