Holiday Ball with Ed Norton Big Band
Sunday, December 18 // Door at 7 PM // Music & Dancing begins at 7:30 PM // $15 Get into the holiday spirit with an Ed Norton Big Band Holiday Ball! The Ed Norton Big Band was founded around 1987 after trombonists Tom Wogsland and Scot Ray performed in the pit Orchestra for Missoula Children’s Theatre’s first production of The 1940’s Radio Hour – and didn’t want to stop. Since then the 18 piece band, made up of Missoula musicians from multiple generations, has been a staple of traditional and modern big band music throughout western Montana. Ed Norton Big Band has a long history of entertaining audiences of all ages from birthday parties, fundraisers, Out to Lunch, Second Sunday Jazz, and First Night. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Benefit Concert for The Poverello Center w/ John Floridis, Jennifer Slayden, & Ed Stalling
Thursday, December 15 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // Pick Your Ticket Price $10-$50 // Box Office Proceeds Benefit the Poverello Center Missoula guitarist and singer-songwriter John Floridis, along with percussionist Ed Stalling and cellist Jennifer Slayden, will be performing at the ZACC to benefit the Poverello Center in Missoula. The trio will play material from Floridis’ two seasonal releases ‘December’s Quiet Joy’ and ‘The Peaceful Season’ both of which feature his fingerstyle acoustic guitar arrangements of traditional Christmas/winter melodies, as well as original compositions. The trio also includes seasonal vocal tunes, both original and by other artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Patty Larkin, Ben Harper, and John Gorka in the performance. The songs feature lyrics speaking to the journey from darkness to light, seasonally, emotionally, and spiritually. This concert is one of four benefit concerts scheduled by Floridis throughout the week in Missoula, each focusing on a different nonprofit and highlighting different musicians. The concerts welcome the audience to escape the frantic stress that too often pervades the holiday season and relax in an intimate listening environment with music to warm the heart and soul. Floridis is a 25 year Missoula resident and has been recognized as one of the state’s most popular and respected musicians, having performed in a variety of venues, festivals, and concert halls in support of his eight independently released albums. He will be releasing a ninth recording, ‘Thankful’ in early 2023. Floridis has been featured in an Emmy Award winning episode on ‘11th and Grant’ on Montana PBS and is also the host and producer of ‘Musician’s Spotlight’ on Montana Public Radio and ‘Live From Home’ as well, on Montana PBS. For more information about the concerts and John Floridis visit www.johnfloridis.com. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
All is Bright: A Night of New Music – w/ Dylan Running Crane, Austin Britton, & Miss A & the Caravan Band
Sunday, December 11 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Austin Britton cut his teeth musically in the Omaha, NE music scene that produced the likes of Bright Eyes and Simon Joyner. Austin now calls Missoula home and has been playing around town for a couple of years. He has a sound based in robust lyricism and melody. His debut album ‘A Light for the Next Hour’ is on all streaming platforms. Miss A & the Caravan Band is a Missoula based American Folk group led by singer-songwriter Alana D. Damron, aka Miss A & Miss Alaneous on Spotify and iTunes. Miss A was born in Havre, MT but raised in the deep south as a vagabond preacher’s daughter, has traveled the world, and finally found home in the western mountains of Montana. Like a caravan of sojourners who travel together to help each other survive the journey, Miss A has gathered a group of her musical friends to help make her spirited road-tripping tunes for anyone who wants to come along for the ride. The sound of Miss A and the Caravan Band is inspired by Needtobreathe, The Civil Wars, and John Mayer’s 2 Montana Projects. You can find Miss A’s original songs wherever you stream music and join the Caravan Crew at a music venue near you soon! Dylan Running Crane is a singer-songwriter from Browning, Montana – a place that remains the subject of most of her work. Her vibe is country meets rez-folk meets tender and silly. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
New Old Future – ‘Birds’ Album Release Party! w/ Selling for Free & ESP
Saturday, December 10 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket New Old Future is a four piece garage pop, alt rock, grunge band that has been playing in Missoula for ten years. The members are Logan Heindl on lead guitar, Kyle Campbell on bass, Zach Froehlich on drums, and Bry Froehlich on vox and rhythm guitar. ‘Birds’ is their third studio album. Follow New Old Future @newoldfuture on Instagram or visit newoldfuture.com. Selling for Free is a two piece independent band based in Missoula. Fronted by guitarist and singer Robert Hylbom, and backed up by Caleb Tutty on drums. The band combines elements of post-punk, folk, and pop, into songs that are carefree and danceable, with witty observational lyrics and cultural commentary. ESP is an indie-rock band from Missoula, comprised of Erin Szalda-Petree, Noelle Huser, Duncan Szalda-Petree, Christopher Baumann, and Joe Kirk. ESP released their debut album ‘Backyard’ in December 2020. Erin Szalda-Petree’s songs are a collection of personal moments from her life, exploring themes of embarrassment, everyday life, and familial relationships. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Lee Rizzo featuring Jordan Demander, & Gabrielle Tusberg
Friday, December 9 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Lee Rizzo is a humanist folk artist whose music shares raw reflections of the inner and outer world. She serves love. Lee is accompanied by longtime musical companion Jordan Demander. Gabrielle Tusberg is a singer/songwriter from Portland, OR. She has been writing her own music since high school and enjoys conveying deep emotion with her raw and honest lyrics. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Tuskerz + Wildlands + Calamity Cowboy
Thursday, December 8 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Tuskerz is a synth metal pop 3 piece out of Missoula. They play their music so that you can explore middle earth, save Arakis, and dance a jig or mosh. It’s Tuskers Time. Wildlands is an aspiring three piece Indie Pop band based out of Missoula. The band’s goal is to create and perform electrifying pop music for all to enjoy. It was formed by singer/songwriter Benjamin Medina Caplis while he was in Highschool. Benjamin played in many different bands in highschool but felt left out of the creative process. He decided to create his own project and named it Wildlands. Wildlands grew when Benjamin went to the UM School of Music and met bassist Josh Streit and Drummer Dylan Vandeberg. After gaining two new members Wildlands officially started gigging in the Missoula/Montana Area. The power of songwriting and the chemistry between the members creates an infectious atmosphere full of excitement, heartbreak and blissful ignorance. Wildlands is here to inspire and let the good times roll. “A knight in shining armor could never love a cowboy like me.” – Calamity Cowboy For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Tenci
Saturday, April 22 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $12 Advance // $15 Day of ShowSupport TBA A well is a stone-encircled place of depth, keeping an abundance of water for survival. “Well” is also a phrase for pause, for transition in language. Our tears can well up and bubble over. To define ourselves as “well” is the most basic term of goodness. What’s on the other side of the well? Inside the tunnel of change, or this life, we can either feel intimidated by the darkness of uncertainty, or excited by the possibility of nourishment. Songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Jess Shoman wonders, “what the hell,” why don’t we go for the excess of love we deserve? Tenci’s album A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing becomes a gathering and collection of well-like vessels – cups, puddles, fists – to hold tight to this love, newfound joy. A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing is Tenci’s second album, coming after their 2020 debut My Heart Is An Open Field, which introduced Jess Shoman’s experimentations to the world. With guidance of the push and pull of intuitive guitar and vocal edges, Tenci is a band that plays with time. Shoman admits that their first album dealt with letting go of painful life experiences, resulting in emptiness. In this recent collection of wiser years and distance from that former grief zone, Tenci carries an opposite feeling, a celebration of self-rejuvenation. A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing shows Shoman steering their inventive folk style further and wilder, spilling over with 12 fable-like songs. In a combination of milk, coins, glass, contained water, and light, each song forms a spell to “fill my heart back up,” Shoman says, “by reframing complex feelings by turning my head sideways and seeing them in a different way.” From the close-knit Chicago scene, Shoman is joined by Curtis Oren on saxophone and guitar (Curt Oren), Izzy Reidy on bass (Izzy True), and Joseph Farago on drums (Joey Nebulous). In the past couple years, they’ve been playing shows together at home in Chicago, on their tours around the country, and recording this album with Abby Black, adding fuller instrumentation and natural harmony of friends. While the themes of Tenci shuffle around a serious pool of thought and trying to understand life’s wrongings, their live set often interludes with goofy light-heartedness. Anyone who knows the band members of Tenci knows they are the funniest people on earth. And their playful coordination and dynamics of loose drums and bass, huffing sax, and vocal waterfalls leaves us warmer than before. The songs on A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing bundle together like weavings of twigs to create that fire, a burning message to keep going and going. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Disq w/ Bluest & JAAG
Wednesday, December 7 // Door at 7:30 PM // Show at 8 PM // $13 Advance // $15 Day of Show With their debut album Collector, the Wisconsin-bred alternative rock outfit Disq seemed to have everything required to take the world by storm. They had the full support of revered veteran indie label Saddle Creek. They’d received favorable notices from outlets such as the NME, the Guardian, and Stereogum. They had an energetic live show which was sure to convert a sea of devotees, and an international tour booked to prove it. Most crucially, they had an album of winning and memorable rock songs, polished to a fine sheen by legendary producer Rob Schnapf. You could not fault these five fresh-faced youngsters for betting it all, but their big mistake was one that no musician could have seen coming : their release date, March 6, 2020. Within days, the world Disq was poised to conquer ceased to exist. Undaunted by a storm of misfortunate which would have crushed a lesser band, Disq now returns to take what is rightfully theirs, with their sophomore effort Desperately Imagining Someplace Quiet, a record which reaffirms the charms of Collector while pushing the sound and dynamic of the band in exciting and unexpected new directions. Rather than splintering and surrendering to their cursed circumstance, Disq has emerged a stronger band, more daring and more defiant, ready to finish the job. It is fitting that the clever backronym effectively makes this the band’s self-titled album, as it introduces the public to a new Disq, a band both seasoned by experience and newly invigorated toward vivid new heights. Bluest is an indie rock band out of Missoula MT, orchestrated by the longings and hauntings of Noelle Huser. Her songs walk the edge of nostalgic confession, using that to cut through the assumption that softness is weak. Empathetic pleas of anger a la diary-scrawled lyrics pay homage to 90s/00s angst pop and country influences like Alanis Moirissete and Sheryl Crow. Bluest’s debut album Cold Sweat, sifts through dreams and nightmares to find solace by serenading ghosts. Emboldened with a hunger to return from dissociation back into her body, she finds her feet on the ground, head in the clouds and heart on her sleeve. Cold Sweat will be released in January 2023 through Anything Bagel. JAAG is a new band drawing from post-punk and 90s rock to craft a dark and driving sonic journey. The project was initiated by Hank Donovan on guitar (Magpies, Rattlesnake Cable Company) and recent homecomer Jamie Aaron Aux on vocals and guitar (Le Butcherettes, XVIII Eyes), acquaintances with long mutual respect in the Northwest music sphere, both agreeing to test the waters after each taking breaks from band life. With a handful of demos written, the two brought in John Sporman on bass (Wylie & the Wild West, Jupiter Beat, Shahs) and Christopher Baumann on drums (Mass FM, Victory Smokes, Dead Hipster) to kick the rock into high gear. Christopher and Jamie share a long musical history as former bandmates in the early-2000’s Jay’s Upstairs-era emo band, The Pleasure. The group has not yet recorded any material but probably will soon because that’s what bands do. IG: @_j_a_a_g For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
JAZZOULA FALL ’22
The ZACC & Rockin’ Rudy’s Present JAZZOULA FALL ’22 Thursday, Friday, & Saturday // November 10, 11, 12 // Doors at 5:30 // Show at 6:30 PM // $20 // $17 Students & Seniors (50+) Saturday’s Line-up:Conor Racicot TrioRyan Belski QuartetKatie & the DewdroppersAirmail Special featuring Chuck Florence and David HorganBob Packwood & Tommy Sciple Jazzoula Fall ’22! Celebrating 20 years of Jazz in the Missoula community – presenting 20 plus jazz combos, big bands, vocalists, and multi-instrumentalists over three days, November 10, 11, and 12. Providing a complete variety of the only original form of American music: jazz. Jazzoula gives the listener a chance to experience Missoula’s eclectic jazz performers showcasing their individual talents with their groups, and as soloists. With combo jazz, trios, big band, vocalists, student groups, and various musical incarnations. Acts include Melody Anderson Vocal Trio, Milan House Trio, Ryan Belski Quartet, Jim Driscoll/Chuck Florence Quartet, U of M Boyd Combo, Canta Brasil, Basement Boys, MJ Williams with Ann Tappan, Skyler Mendel Sextet, Naomi Siegel Quartet, Conor Racicot Trio, Night Blooming Jasmine, Bob Packwood & Tommy Sciple, Katie and the Dewdroppers, and Airmail Special. Enjoy short sets and a fantastic variety of awesome jazz music. See you there. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
JAZZOULA FALL ’22
The ZACC & Rockin’ Rudy’s Present JAZZOULA FALL ’22 Thursday, Friday, & Saturday // November 10, 11, 12 // Doors at 5:30 // Show at 6:30 PM // $20 // $17 Students & Seniors (50+) Friday’s Line-up:Canta BrasilNaomi Siegel QuartetBasement BoysMJ Williams / Ann Tappan / Rob KohlerSkyler Mendell Sextet Jazzoula Fall ’22! Celebrating 20 years of Jazz in the Missoula community – presenting 20 plus jazz combos, big bands, vocalists, and multi-instrumentalists over three days, November 10, 11, and 12. Providing a complete variety of the only original form of American music: jazz. Jazzoula gives the listener a chance to experience Missoula’s eclectic jazz performers showcasing their individual talents with their groups, and as soloists. With combo jazz, trios, big band, vocalists, student groups, and various musical incarnations. Acts include Melody Anderson Vocal Trio, Milan House Trio, Ryan Belski Quartet, Jim Driscoll/Chuck Florence Quartet, U of M Boyd Combo, Canta Brasil, Basement Boys, MJ Williams with Ann Tappan, Skyler Mendel Sextet, Naomi Siegel Quartet, Conor Racicot Trio, Night Blooming Jasmine, Bob Packwood & Tommy Sciple, Katie and the Dewdroppers, and Airmail Special. Enjoy short sets and a fantastic variety of awesome jazz music. See you there. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
