Saturday, November 19th - Ryan Sollee (Builders & The Butchers), Hip Hatchet, Cotton

Ryan Sollee (of The Builders & The Butchers)

As the days have grown colder and the nights are taking over the majority of our waking hours, we are approaching the the winter months ahead - there can't be more perfect reasons to stop by and sit by the fire with us with another round of great music!  We are so excited to announce that Ryan Sollee (of The Builders and the Butchers) will be performing a solo set!  Ryan brings history with him in his music, calling back to the doldrum days of the haggard west with his dense vivid murder ballads.  Ryan's songs bring an intensity through and through, delegated from his vocal delivery to his guitar playing.  There is also much revelry in the darkness of his compositions.  Some of the best local shows I've seen have been presented by Ryan and his band, as they bring some the most engaging and lively shows.  Ryan Sollee has toured extensively around the US and abroad and has an incredible resume of artists that he has shared the stage with. This show will be a very special experience as Mr. Sollee presents his more bare-boned version of his songs which I am sure to be captivating!

Hip Hatchet

Hip Hatchet is a band that I've just recently discovered, and what a great discovery!  This project is a great ensemble of great musicians gathered by Phillipe Bronchtein and Alex Lewis.  Their songs are laden with earnest harmonies and lush with guitar intricacy and soft woodwind and piano textures.  Each of these compositions are perfectly described on their site as "simple and carefully orchestrated" the only thing that I would add is that their songs are more of snapshots, and you navigate through them as more of looking at picture than just merely listening.

Cotton

Cotton is another new ensemble that I've recently become acquainted with.  I checked out their music upon recommendation and I was immediately enraptured from the first song.  The band presents acoustic textures that support melodies from more digital and and electronic elements.  A song that stands out to me is their album opener A Sudden Plea.  I would recommend checking out the rest of their album The Great Cure here.

This goes without saying, but this is going to be a great show!  There is a wonderful combination of established artists and up and coming projects.  Come on out!!

Saturday, October 8th - Fever, Lynnae Gryffin

We're immensely excited to host these two wonderful performances, kicking off the fall seasons. Get ready for an evening of smoke-filled ballads!

Fever plays very charming and interesting pieces that echoes the compositions from PJ Harvey and has a noir-esque feel to their songs.  There's a lot of mystery and thought put into Fever's songs and they look to put a lot of energy into their performances, including performing with dance troupes from time to time and have a very collaborative presence in their shows.  Often times they play electric, but this will be a special acoustic show for them, so this will be a show not to miss!  I just learned that the band moved to Portland from Oklahoma, so let's welcome them to town!

I have recently come across the music from Lynnae Gryffin and I have been stunned ever since.  Her album Abigail is a wonderful record filled with intimate songs with a lot of spacial composition and intricate melodies with a great deal of ghost notes and melodies that creates a really interesting feel to her songs.  Lynnae's songs sometimes echo the past works of Joan of Arc, which is an immense compliment.  You will not be dissapointed!

There will most definitely be a fire for this show, so warm up and bring your whiskey!

Friday, September 16th - The Ascetic Junkies, Bells

Coming out of a busy August schedule here at the Christmas Horse, we've been delighted to host such wonderful music over the course of this year. And as if the shows haven't already been amazing, I have the most exciting news that we'll be hosting Bells from San Francisco, as well as local movers and the always engaging Ascetic Junkies!! Every time that I've seen the Ascetic Junkies play live, I'm always in awe of how comfortable they take the stage and feel at home there. All of the members are so connected and create energetic and constantly shifting songs that bounce between foot-stomping bluegrass to post-wave punk all in one song, and done in an effortless way. This group is filled with very skilled musicians and performers and there are wonderful harmonies presented by (the newly wed!) Kali Giaritta and Matt Harmon; they are backed by a whole plethora of instruments and energetic dancing. Check out their album HERE.

There's a lot I can say about Bells, I'll start with the fact that I had the immense pleasure of playing a show with them while on tour in a packed room in the Mission District of SF, and I have never seen a band move an audience to dance as much as they did. Their music is an engaging combination of African rhythm and percussion and experimental tones and textures that makes me think of Animal Collective. The band is fronted by the charismatic singer Sandra Lawson-Ndu and bassist Doug Stewart who weave multi-genre compositions together with ease and fluidity. Please check out there newly-released demo "Kazoo" on their Facebook page. You will not be dissapointed!

As always, music starts at 8:30, and feel free to bring food and drink of any kind. There might be a fire if it's brisk enough outside. Come early for this one!

Saturday, August 20th - Annie Lynch & Michaela Anne, Lindsay Clark, Ed Thanhouser

We're very pleased to continue the month with another round of wonderful music and songwriting. This Saturday brings Annie Lynch from Annie & The Beekeepers from Brooklyn, NY. I've listened to a few songs and there's a ton of warmth coming out of the trio, there's a lot of bare bones that lay transparent within the songs and they show through with ease. I'm very excited to hear more! This is what I pulled up from a another site: "Annie Lynch shows off her remarkable vocal prowess on a debut album featuring lyrics that dance gently over sweet guitar picking. Lynch creates symphonic, slow- burning tunes that strike a lovely balance between heavy emotion and light, sparse sound." - Paste Magazine

Michaela Anne grew up in a military family, and lived as a modern day gypsy - traveling the American terrain as well as abroad. Always active musically, she picked up influences as diverse as the places she lived. Now planted firmly in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, a neighborhood with an imagined taste of country life within the metropolis of New York City, she h as found a home, and band. Her songs weave stories of the hardships and pleasures in life, notably influenced by the American military family lifestyle. Blending country, blues and folk with heartfelt lyrics and a powerful vocal delivery, Michaela Anne evokes the ever-changing landscape of American life she witnessed first hand.

Lindsay Clark is a wonderful songwriter who recently moved here from Nevada City among

a migration of an extremely talented community. Lindsay plays ballads and spirituals that echo the Appalachian tradition. There's a reflective space in her music, not just in what's expres

sed in the lyrics, but the space that the song holds itself as a whole. Check out her beautiful album here.

Ed Thanhouser is many things in the Portland community: booker, promoter, event organizer, and heavily involved in the PDX Pop Now! Festival, and he also an immensely talented performer. There's a lot of noise coming out of one person. I heard him perform one of his songs in our living room after a show and he left the room anticipating more. Well, he will play a whole set more of his music at this show! We're very humbled to have Ed open the evening grace us with his matured sense of songwriting and arrangement. You can hear his music here.

Saturday, August 13th - Ritchie Young (of Loch Lomond), Eliza Rickman

This is going to be another night of amazing music! We've never hosted two shows in a row, but this is a very special exception. We're pleased to announce that Ritchie Young from Loch Lomond will be performing in our living room! He will be playing solo versions of songs from his extensive and unique catalogue including pieces from the new released Little Me Will Start A Storm which captures arrangements ranging from the dense instrumentation and bright layers of harmonies to the intimate and vulnerable plucking of the violin as the sole instrument. All of these songs will carry their weight with originality and energy.

To make the show even better - the incredibly talented Eliza Rickman will also be performing! Eliza composes music that I could see going very well with a Tim Burton movie, having a charming and quirky aesthetic with darker undertones. Her voice has a commanding presence and sits well with her string ensemble. She will be performing solo playing both a toy and upright piano, all falling as a backdrop to her entrancing storytelling. This is a show not to miss!

Friday, August 12th - The Moth and the Flame, Slow Skate, Waver Clamor Bellow

If you haven't come to a show at The Christmas Horse before, this is a good time to start. The Moth and the Flame are a band that I met while on tour going through Provo, UT (a place I didn't know existed before). I have never been more thankful to tour through this random city since we got to see the amazing performance from this band. As a two piece, both players fill the space and create beautiful and striking compositions. Reminiscent of Sigur Ros, these songs amaze me every time I listen to them. These two lads write songs that warm the heart and break it at the same time. This is unique to the usual acoustic element to our living room show, but it is no less intimate as the other performances.

I first heard the band Slow Skate on NPR and I've been hooked ever since. Not only are they some of the nicest people I've met, they are pretty amazing musicians too! This duo comes from Seattle, WA and they have been on the road a good amount recently and we're extremely happy to have them play! Caitlin's voice carries through as a pulse to each of their compositions, and the songs carry different moods from the the sparse and melodic to the driving and distorted.

Waver Clamor Bellow is a new project conceived for this show. Vernon Shepard plays beautiful noise compositions with textures and layers that flow seamlessly into one another. He will perform his pieces as a soundtrack to a puppet show that will open the evening. I highly encourage EVERYONE to see this show, It's going to be so good!! It will be too warm for a fire, but we can warm ourselves with whiskey and other spirits.

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The Moth & the Flame "Lullaby II" from The Occidental Saloon on Vimeo.

Saturday, May 14th - Songwriters Round

After a brief hiatus from hosting shows (due to everyone being on the road in some form or another), we're excited to announce that we'll be hosting the extremely talented Justin Lamoreaux along with other incredible songwriters. We'll be hosting a special evening of a rotating roster of friends and guests performing intimate versions of their songs. This will include:

JUSTIN LAMOREAUX (of Midwest Dilemma)

DUSTIN HAMMAN (of Run On Sentence)

MIKE APINYAKULA (of Shoeshine Blue)

Justin Lamoreaux

Most notably known for his involvement in Midwest Dilemma, the huge ensemble hailing from Omaha. Justin will be taking his songs by himself on the road which will call for a special evening of stripped down version of this otherwise heavily arranged pieces. We're honored and very humbled to host Justin in our living room and we would love to greet the official spring with his performance.

As always, there will be a potluck at 8:00 and music begins around 8:30. Bring food and drink! Since Justin is on the road, we're accepting donations to help him get on way.