The Lonely H at Reverb Fest 2009 ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

October seems light-years away even in the waning Seattle “summer” of 2010, but it really is just right around the corner. Ushering in October will be Seattle Weekly’s always excellent Reverb Fest held October 9th all over Ballard. Yet again, Reverb has brought together one of the most solid and diverse local line-ups of any festival. Name your genre and there’s something at Reverb for you, especially if you like up-and-coming local rock. Reverb reads like a who’s-who of some of our favorite new heavy bands of 2010: Hobosexual, Dog Shredder, My Goodness, The Absolute Monarchs, Wild Orchid Children, Vultures 2012 and What What Now, to name a few. For that, I’m sure we can thank Rocket Queen, Hannah Levin. Even if you don’t like your tunes turned up all the way to 11, Reverb Fest is a celebration of all that is local that you don’t want to miss.

The full line-up as it stands today is below, we’ve bolded the bands we’ll make sure we don’t miss.

Nettle Honey / Thee Sgt. Major III / Imperial Legions Of Rome / Combo Craig / M Bison / The Moonspinners / Massey Ferguson / DJ Dev From Above / Idle Times / Watch It Sparkle / The Chevy Chasers / Dawn Clement / Wild Orchid Children / Gregory Paul / Virgin / Lindsay Fuller & The Cheap Dates / Bernie Jacobs Quartet / Throne Of Bone / Roy Kay Combo / The Drunken Masters / Whalebones / Carrie Clark & The Lonesome Lovers / Kinski / Caspar Babypants / Yuni In Taxco / Post Harbor / Ivan & Alyosha / Vultures 2012 / Feral Children / Eighty 4 Fly / Helladope / Hi-Life Sound System / The Not-Its / Lincoln Barr / Ravenna Woods / Shelby Earl / Lisa Dank / Sol / The Absolute Monarchs / Kristen Ward / Goat / Amateur Radio Operator / My Goodness / Low Land High / Thousands / Sparrow-Bot / What What Now / The Young Evils / He Whose Ox Is Gored / The Fucking Eagles / Kimo Muraki / The Jason Parker Quartet / Erin Jorgensen / Low Hums / Smooth Sailing / Hobosexual / Dog Shredder / Victor Shade / Cady Wire / JFK aka Ninjaface / The Sea Navy / EXOHXO

Doe Bay Lawn 2009 ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

Each step closer to the San Juan Islands ferry and Doe Bay is a very good thing, and the availability of tickets is definitely the step we’ve been anticipating for a little while now. Lucky you, we’re the first to get those details for our favorite local music festival:

Tickets for Doe Bay Fest 2010 go on sale 9am - May 10th
Only at www.doebayfest.com
Tickets are $45 a person and there are only 750 tickets available.

You have to make your reservations for the weekend with Doe Bay Resort here and you cannot make reservations for the weekend of the festival until tickets go on sale.

If you want to guarantee you’re going to Doe Bay (and believe us, you do) we recommend you buying your tickets as soon as they’re available. The growing list of great bands playing, now includes the just added The Head and the Heart, Curtains for You, Ravenna Woods and Ivan & Alyosha. Here’s the full list of confirmations so far if you haven’t been keeping up:

Doe Bay Festival 2010 Lineup (so far…)

Fruit Bats
Grand Archives
The Maldives
Hey Marseilles
Grand Hallway
THEESatisfaction
Fences
Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives
The Portland Cello Project
Shenandoah Davis
Zoe Muth and Her Lost High Rollers
The Dimes
Kimo Muraki
Curtains for You
Ravenna Woods
Ivan & Alyosha

While you don’t have to stay at the Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island, it definitely makes everything much more accessible. The organic cafe, the beach, the spa, the stage. Those who make early reservations might get to stay in a cabin or at a campsite overlooking the ocean. We’re staying in a yurt! Late decision makers will have to camp in the fields above the stage, which actually ended up being rather convenient last year for us. We could literally see the stage from our campsite.

August 13th is only 104 days away…

Dolour’s Final Show at The Crocodile Cafe 2007 ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

For the first time since 2007, Shane Tutmarc will be performing songs from the expansive Dolour catalogue. This Thursday (tomorrow) night at The Tractor Tavern Shane will be performing an entire set of Dolour songs, to support his friend and former Dolour contributor,  guitarist Josh Ottum’s cd release.  The last time Shane took the stage as Dolour was December 2007, in what would be the last week of the (original) Crocodile Cafe.  We were there.

A lot of  things have changed since then. The Crocodile has been reborn and Shane has left the lush lovelorn pop project behind in favor of a musical sojourn through the roots of the American South. His relationship with his Dolour self and songs, is complicated, to say the least. Shane discussed Dolour with me during a two part interview saying, ” I definitely feel like I don’t know that person that wrote the Dolour albums.”

His disconnect and complex relationship is on full display in his announcement of this Thursday’s show:

On October 22nd at the Tractor Tavern, I will be digging deep into my musical past-life for this rare performance of Dolour material.  My good friend and occasional collaborator, Josh Ottum (who played lead guitar on ‘The Years in the Wilderness’) asked if I’d do a low-key set of acoustic Dolour songs.  Being that I’ve avoided this material for so long made me intrigued by his offer.  It didn’t take long for me to see that this could be a chance to rediscover this “lost” music and see if there is something I can learn (or re-learn) from it.  (You may have noticed by now that I have a “complicated” relationship with my old songs.)
But… I agreed to perform a short solo set comprised of exclusively Dolour material to open up the show.  This will be the first time I’ve dusted off this catalog since the “last” show in December 2007 at the old Crocodile Cafe.

While Shane’s relationship with the songs may be complicated, the joy of a Dolour tune is its instant familiarity and warmth, like putting on your favorite sweatshirt still warm from the dryer. Dolour’s catalog is deep with pop gems like few bands are writing in Seattle today. We’re eager to hear old favorites like “I Smell a Lawsuit,” “Suburbiac” and “You Can’t Make New Old Friends.” We were there at that last show and we will definitely be at the Tractor this Thursday. Whether you’re an old Dolour fan or band member or you’ve never heard Dolour before, we recommend you’re there too. It’s a great peek back into the Seattle sound of the early ’00s and with two local bands celebrating their CD release that night, a good look into the future too.

When: Thursday, October 22nd (9pm)
Where: The Tractor Tavern
Who: The Republic, Ivan & Alyosha (CD Release), Josh Ottum (CD Release), Shane Tutmarc (special Dolour set)

Shane is opening the night, so if you want to catch Dolour (you do), be sure to get there early!