We are always bursting with pride to count Chris Estey as a friend, let alone be honored enough to have him share his words on Three Imaginary Girls.  But today, the thunderous applause coming from the imaginary office for Chris is deafening.

This morning we heard the amazing news that there are now public screenings scheduled for Have You Ever Had a Beard?, a new film which captures the first meeting of our dear Mr. Estey (wait, should we make that the title of a new advice column?) and the King of Indie, Calvin Johnson (wiki K Records, Beat Happening, all things rad)! 

This meeting of the two mega-minds took place in the historic Columbia City Theater where Chris and Calvin chat and delve into their contrasting tones: Calvin's mysterious cosmos, mesmerizing baritone, and weighted works, with a concentration his latest solo incarnation ("he spits literary bop prosody in the form of three songs") versus Chris's torrential confessionals told with his signature unsurpassable jubilance that spills out like a spoken-word graphic novel (and inspired by Phil Ochs’ seminal Greatest Hits album).

The world premiere of the movie is at Portland's Hollywood Theatre on Friday February 24, 2012.  Calvin Johnson (who will perform a couple of songs and answer questions) (!!!!) and directors Kathy Wolf and Pat Thomas will be in attendance.

The Seattle showing is a couple weeks later, on Monday March 5th at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle at 7 pm.  Rumor has it that both Calvin Johnson and Chris Estey will be at the Seattle showing (be still my heart!!!).

Mark your calendar!!!  We'll let you know when tickets are available for advance purchase.

(photo by Kathy Wolf)

(Photo of Calvin Johnson / The Hive Dwellers by Lori Paulson)

Ahhh... it's Monday morning... and the Monday morning after SXSW at that. Whether you just arrived back into SeaTac or where here for the sunny Saturday-ness, I am sure we have all earned our warm mug of theraputic goodness this morning.

What did you do? Did Ted Leo rock your pants off (see Lori's amazing photo proof of that)? Did you go south and are you ready to tell us all about it (pretty please)?

Relive your weekend by perusing the TIG Flickr Photo Pool and add your own photos of your weekend's adventures.

 

at Neumos

For years I have followed Ted Leo's music. I was fanatic for a while, even. Then it came to the point where one of his songs would pop up on my iPod and it would be a pleasant reminder of why I love him so. Friday night was that reminder times a million and then some. Oddly enough, it was my first time seeing him. Neumos started out a bit empty, but upbeat local band, The Sea Navy, came out and got everyone dancing as more people filtered in. The Hive Dwellers (fronted by K Records head Calvin Johnson) followed up The Sea Navy with a set that defied the laws of most Neumos shows by not using one microphone or any fancy lighting. I can do no justice in describing what happened, you really had to be there. I'll just mention that there was a lot of hip-gyrating. A lot of it.

Soon enough, Neumos was jam-packed with die-hard indie rock fans, buzzing excitedly about their love of Ted Leo. It seems he has quite a cult following and it's really not hard to see why. Ted Leo is a great indie-rock god to believe in, a force to be reckoned with, really (but likely the nicest force you will ever encounter). I will definitely be seeing him any time he is back in the area because, I don't know about you, but I really like to get my face rocked off. ...Also, covering Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" is one of the keys to my heart.

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Speaking of the next cassette revolution, one of the men who should be credited with making cassettes sexy is K Records founder Calvin Johnson.

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at Seattle Center

I made the trek out to Folklife this past Sunday especially to see pop darlings Central Services and twee deity (tweeity, if you will) Calvin Johnson.

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A weekend with two of my favorite beguiling heartthrobs AND sunshine... I nearly faint at the thought.

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A run-down of some great shows we saw, and up-coming ones we think you shouldn't miss.

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Saturday April 2nd, Three Imaginary Girls stopped by the KEXP studios to play some tunes during the local Northwest music show, Audioasis, including Pomeranian, Love Hotel, The Cloves, and many more.

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