I hope you're ready for this, because we're about to take your Tuesday from good to grrrrrrrreat!

On top of it not being Monday (woo!) as well as the designated day to go-get-the-latest-and-greatest at the record store, this Tuesday we've got a pair of tickets to give away to two rad upcoming shows -- Dave Rawlings Machine down at the Showbox on Valentine's Day, and Sarah Bettens over at the Triple Door on Thursday. Seriously!

Touring on the heels of this past fall's release, A Friend of a Friend, Dave Rawlings Machine (aka Dave Rawlings and the ever-lovely Gillian Welch, alongside Belmont Tench of the Heartbreakers, Karl Himmel, and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes) is bringing their beautiful sound that's "built on the same careful spine that Welch's songs are" to the Showbox this upcoming Sunday. Want to get in on the goodness? Just email tig [at] threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "FriendOfAValentine" before 9am this Friday (February 12th). Extra points for your pitch on why you should be the one we pick to attend the show!

And on a slightly lower key but just as lovely note, Sarah Bettens (formerly of K's Choice -- a quick Googling will refresh you on their smash hit, "Not An Addict") will be swinging through town this Thursday to headline the Triple Door for our listening pleasure. Her lush, thoughtful songwriting coupled with her dynamic, earnest performance style has had audiences flocking to her shows for over a decade -- most recently to celebrate the her latest releases, Never Say Goodbye and Shine. If you want to be part of the action, email tig [at] threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "Who'sBettens, Who'sBest" before 9am this Thursday (February 11th). Act fast -- that's only two days away!

Good luck, and we'll see you out at the shows!

at The Sunset

Early shows are always fraught with a wee tension: Will fans turn out early to hear the bands, while many people are just finishing up their happy hours and lining up the soirees and situations for later in the evening?

The music of Terri Tarantula in particular seems to call for deep dark past midnight status, but that's because on craggy trouble in mind maps of alternate Seattle like "Mulligan" and pendant whispers like "Bag Of Bricks," this is all precise biomapping. Vocalist and new-keyboard enthusiast Terri Moeller has taken everything brisk and bitter about her last band Transmissionary Six and freshened it with a creamier, less heavy sound.

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Next Monday night (February 15), the lineup for the Sasquatch Festival will be unveiled at a special launch party at the Crocodile. Performing will be Pitchfork-approved Atlas Sound and Surfer Blood as well as the excellent local hip hop duo Fresh Espresso. If you want to go, you can get free tickets at either Easy Street Records location sometime after 9am on Friday (February 12) - although not too much later - or win one of several contests throughout the week through 107.7 KNDD (The End).

We already know that Pavement is on board to headline one night but who else do you think is playing? I think it's curious that Miike Snow would cancel their upcoming April show at the Showbox but not their Vancouver or Portland shows around the same time (hint, hint). Who else do you think is playing? Feel free to use the comment section to speculate as to who you think is playing (either educated guesses or unreasonable pipe dreams).

Sasquatch will be Memorial Day weekend (May 29-May 31) at the Gorge, as usual.

When author Tony DuShane was a nervous young man struggling with being a Jehovah's Witness, his extremely religious father lost his mind and punched five holes in the wall above their living room couch. To hide these examples of his dad's breaking point, the already-disfellowshipped teenager plastered an Einsterzende Neubauten poster over the damage.

This is one of the minor scenes in a very funny, but also very mood-rattling novel by DuShane, whose "Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk" came out from Soft Skull Press on February 2nd. It's marketed as fiction, but due to the author's own past and the curiosity those of us outside the cult have about the goings-on of all those extremely well-dressed young men and women who thrust crappy end-of-the-world literature at us downtown, it probably wouldn't hurt to consider it memoir.

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Tragos Amargos, a side project of Portland's Y La Bamba, opened last Saturday's completely sold-out show at The Crocodile.  The amazing folk music lineup also showcased fellow Pacific Northwest favorites Loch Lomond and headliner Hey Marseilles.

The rest of the photos from the set can be viewed here and in the TIG Flickr Photo Pool.

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Putting aside Oscar mania for a day - here's some good stuff that just came out on DVD!

Zombieland: Hard to believe, but true: I haven’t seen this yet. Mainly because I’m not a Woody Harrelson fan, so I’ve been wary that I’ll like it. However, I did adore Jesse Eisenberg in Adventureland, and we all know how much I heart Zombies, so I’ll give it a whirl now that it’s on DVD (although I am sick of hearing: "Time to nut up or shut up!", but they get extra points for playing Van Halen in the preview):

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at Neumos

With a mixture of haunting melody and intense syncopated rhythms, Feral Children played a captivating set at Neumos for their CD release show, last Wednesday. Their new album, Brand New Blood, is already known for soaring tracks that carry listeners headfirst into dreamy soundscapes.

 

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