Horse Feathers works for young and old listeners

Justin Ringle started the Portland, Ore.-based band Horse Feathers in 2004. Their three records have helped establish Ringle and his rotating cast as a new favorite to both young rockers and older folkies. Their most recent album, Thistled Spring, was released last year by the Kill Rock Stars label.



LEO: Do you enjoy being out on the road?
Justin Ringle: Yes and no. I’m just starting to work on a new record now, so it’s always bittersweet. I tour because it’s a part of my job, but sometimes it becomes a time-management issue. I’d like to be able to work on new stuff as well. It’s very difficult — there’s certain things I can do, but it’s really hard to write on the road. I need planned home-stays to act like a normal human for periods of time.

LEO: How far do you hope to go with your music?
JR: Well, that’s funny, ’cause I think about that every single time I make a record. On the one hand, I’ve already exceeded every single goal I ever had with music — I’ve got a much bigger career, in one way, than I ever thought I would have. At the same time, it’s contrasted by the fact that I still have to pay my bills and be an adult. As soon as that switches over from something purely about ambition and inspiration into dealing with the business, I’ve got to say that that changes the perspective. I’m pretty comfortable with where things are; if it got bigger, that’s great, but I just want it to happen in an organic way. That’s a complicated question.

LEO: Your music has a wintery vibe. Do you find that it plays differently in different seasons?
JR: Yeah, it does have a couple different paces, I suppose. The conception of the records is always different than how it comes off live. I started playing completely geared for listening rooms — very spare and quiet — but we’ve played from super-small, intimate rooms to thousands-plus festivals, and the music changes a lot depending on the situation. For me, the writing and recording has always responded to seasonal changes, but for the live show, it’s kind of a different experience than the records.

LEO: Do you do better in towns with lots of beards?
JR: You know what? I don’t think so! The beard crowd — that’s the Pitchfork crowd. And that’s cool, and I’ve lived in that galaxy a little bit, but honestly, the people who appreciate the music the most — maybe not surprisingly — we have a lot of 35-year-olds on up who’ve definitely gotten more into the music. We play some shows where it’s a very NPR-type crowd who really enjoy it; we play some other shows where it’s mostly 20-somethings. We’re maybe somewhat of an anomaly in that sense.

LEO: You’ve been through Louisville before. Do you have any impressions of our city?
JR: Yeah, I really liked it! Louisville is nice. We had a really great show — I think it was at, like, Skulley’s or Skull Kitchen? Skull Alley, right. You never know, when you play a market you’ve never played before, who is going to show up. We had an awesome show there — we had low expectations, ’cause we’d never been to Louisville before, and it was actually rad. Maybe you guys set your own bar.

Horse Feathers with Hello Mtn
Thursday, June 9
Uncle Slayton’s
1017 E. Broadway
horsefeatherstheband.com
$10; 8:30 p.m.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

New music composers join forces for special night

by Peter Berkowitz & Ryan Burleson



Call it a function of our country’s collective obsession with immediate gratification, but the United States has never appreciated its contemporary composers like they do across the Atlantic. Nonetheless, a Louisville composer, Rachel Grimes, formerly of the Rachel’s band, has helped pave the way for new music poster children like Jóhann Jóhannsson, Zoe Keating and Nico Muhly.
Another name to add to that list is the California-born composer Dustin O’Halloran, who proudly declared that the Rachel’s album Music for Egon Schiele “is still one of (his) favorite records” and that it’s an “honor” to tour with Grimes.
“I spent several weeks in Europe last fall and had a wonderful experience,” Grimes says. “I met Dustin O’Halloran in Berlin, where he is now living. We had so much in common to compare notes on. There is increasing interest there in composer/performer instrumental music that is not strictly academic.”
Pianist Grimes worked with the Rachel’s between 1991 and 2005, and now works both as a soloist and with the Louisville-based rock band King’s Daughters & Sons. Her first solo album, Book of Leaves, was conceived in a holy setting.

LEO: What is the connection between your music and the spiritual/religious world? You recorded in an abbey, and you’re playing here in a church.
Rachel Grimes: Churches typically have wonderful acoustics and often really nice instruments — the case with both St. Francis of Assisi and Loretto Motherhouse. Both places welcome musicians and have frequent concerts. I am optimistic that there are others who really want to experience music in an intimate and personal environment.

LEO: What is it like playing solo, classical-type piano and more rock-type keyboards in KD&S?
RG: Well, I have always played a lot of different styles of music, because it is what I enjoy. I really enjoy playing with (KD&S members) Kyle, Todd, Michael and Joe — we seem to have this ongoing, unhurried conversation over the years that is really satisfying. I have a new piece for a piano and string trio and a few new pieces for solo piano that will be on this concert. I am working on recording those along with two new chamber pieces.

It was in film that Dustin O’Halloran began his ascent. Songs pruned from his first two albums, Piano Solos Vol. 1 and 2, effortlessly matched Sofia Coppola’s impressionistic rendering of “Marie Antoinette” in 2006. Three years later, O’Halloran was commissioned to compose his first original score, for William Olsen’s “An American Affair.” The experience of working with other players would inform the much more textured and ensemble-heavy Lumiere, his most recent studio album and first for 130701, FatCat’s orchestral imprint.
“I had always wanted to explore writing for other instruments, and in some ways I was always hearing them in my head,” O’Halloran says. “After doing a couple film scores, where I got to explore this, I really wanted to bring it back into my own work.”
Backed by the ACME Quartet, composer/violinist Peter Broderick and Stars of the Lid’s Adam Wiltzie on guitar, O’Halloran makes the transition from solo pianist tinkering away in an Italian farmhouse to full-fledged studio impresario look easy. Here, ambient and electronic music embellishments hover above plaintive string arrangements that support rather than overwhelm O’Halloran’s elegant expressions on keys.
Grimes and O’Halloran’s joint tour will hit other important U.S. cities in addition to Louisville, including Chicago and Hollywood. Grimes adds on her website, “If you know of any nice venues with a grand piano, please drop me a note.”

Rachel Grimes with Dustin O’Halloran
Friday, June 10
St. Francis of Assisi
1960 Bardstown Road
www.rachelgrimespiano.com
$12; 8 p.m.

c. 2011 LEO Weekly

Column: Old music in a new age

On Tuesday, May 31, I joined several thousand other music lovers in the Louisville Palace to enjoy local-rockers-turned-international stars My Morning Jacket performing a concert that was being filmed for YouTube, in an event sponsored by American Express. As the contrasting smells of weed and deep corporate investment wafted through the under-air-conditioned Palace, the management of another essential local group — The Louisville Orchestra — withdrew employment offers to orchestra members, leaving the 17th-largest metro area in the United States without an orchestra. (The night was less dramatic for those who stayed in and watched “NCIS” reruns.)

Much of the blame clearly lays with those managers who made an offer that would drastically slash the musicians’ pay, eliminate health insurance benefits, and make many of them part-time. However, blame should also be shared by people like me and others under, let’s say, 60, who really should be spending more time and money on things like the orchestra, the ballet and the museum. I mean, I love music, I love dance, I love art, and I earn a paycheck, so this should be easy, yes?

Yes, but ... something has misfired in our culture, where we feel we should be doing those things just like we should be flossing more often and eating fewer doughnuts. People mostly do what they want to do, not what they’re supposed to do. So, like the mother who hides vegetables to trick her child into eating better, the first place to look is at the orchestra, which maybe has not been doing enough to get my money.

Public radio station WFPK, 91.9, goes to the people with their free summer concert series Waterfront Wednesday, which attracts thousands of attendees, some of whom are as drawn to being outside for free picnicking and people watching as they are to taking in the sounds of music acts of sometimes varying quality. I bet a lot of people would be interested in hearing the orchestra for free in such a lively setting, as opposed to what some perceive as a stuffy old hall. I don’t want to have to wear a suit to go hear music; I’d like to wear something comfortable, maybe have a drink, and be able to relate to orchestra music as a modern, vibrant form without having to look like I’m an English butler. Surely some sponsors can put their corporate cash behind that?

Then there’s the problem of orchestras trying to appeal to “pop” audiences by playing the music of “Star Wars” or Motown. They can’t be all classy and dignified, pouring their hearts into beautiful works that have lasted for centuries one night, then putting a cheeky spin on “The Tears of a Clown” the next — it’s just unnatural. The orchestra should be an enjoyable night out, but with some dignity left over afterward.

I’ve been to the Speed Museum three times in the past year — for their Art After Dark series, which reaches out to a younger audience who wants something more relatable, like booze, films and rock bands — something, anything, different and fresh — to make the institution fun again. Children have Art Sparks, and we need something special, too.

Maybe this recent turmoil will prove to be a blessing disguised as a curse. The orchestra members have recently begun performing under the name Keep Louisville Symphonic. They are planning to play again in July, and it will surely be a great opportunity to see some passionate artists at their most fired-up. They’re not asking for straight-up donations, they’re merely asking to not be screwed over by a manager who receives an annual salary of $115,000 while leading a drive to drastically reduce the pay of musicians who would have to split their time between being world-class players and taking your order at Wendy’s.

Life is all about marketing. Pop singers become famous because a lot of money has been spent promoting them; politicians who spend the most often end up winning elections. Our orchestra probably needs to learn how to market themselves better to people who would value them more if it seemed fun. But first, someone needs to stand up, check in hand, willing to say that investing in the culture of our community is more important than spending millions advertising on “NCIS.”

c. 2011 LEO Weekly