Mezzanine Swimmers (Detroit) w/ STMR (Helena) & Panic Boner
Wednesday, August 7 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Mezzanine Swimmers is the solo project of Mike Green, who is now based in Detroit after living 14 years in NYC. He has at one point cycled through every instrument in different bands, and his approach to music is completely individualistic; it can barely be taught, let alone imitated. The rhythms are a labyrinth of winding beats, from vaguely familiar samples to distorted sound bites, but never hesitant. Each song has a wildly catchy hook, and is dressed in woozy, garbled, and psychedelic textures. Like Container, he takes a tactile approach; the sound is sculpted from the mad combination of overdriven electronics and loose improvisation. You’ll never see a laptop on stage, but a pile of wires connecting synths, samplers and pedals. The result is a wonderful onslaught of deranged pop songs which would be quite comfortable in a playlist with Black Dice or Michael Jackson. His latest release is “Miserable Miracle” on Already Dead Tapes. STMR is a sound project out of Helena, MT. Panic Boner is an experimental music project based out of Missoula Montana. Their live shows incorporate elements of improvisation, noise, and psychedelia. Panic Boner was founded by Dusty Shriver and he plays with an ever evolving lineup of collaborators in the span of its three year existence. File under heavy jazz. All tickets are general admission. Artist Supporter Tickets are a way for patrons to provide more financial support to performers. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Perfect Blue w/ .repetend & Sarah Frazier
Sunday, August 4 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 8 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Perfect Blue is an Instrumental, Experimental Post-Rock band from Missoula, Montana. .repetend utilizes extended range tunings, driving bass and guitar riffs, complex meters, dynamic tonalities and progressive, driving percussion for a total math rock experience. Brush up on your algebra and see if you can count along. “Sarah Frazier’s unique brand of electronic music is composed of ethereal and melodic vocals, layers of looped instruments, and undeniable pop sensibilities. Her music feels like a journey with songs that swell only to fall away again. Her performance at Humble Burger earlier this year was absolutely breathtaking to watch.” — Nate H Wolf (Modest Music Festival, Moscow, ID) For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Vice Cream Social w/ Big Mosquito, Nataanii, & Wormwood Nowa
Thursday, August 1 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Big Mosquito is a local Missoula ska outfit bringing a mix of authentic ska and high energy, with renditions and covers of such classics as The Skatalites, The Specials, laurel Aitkens, Phyllis Dillon/Freddy McKay, ect. Plus originals and more lively tunes like Murphy’s law’s 1%. Big Mosquito’s goal is to bring authentic ska and love for roots music to the forefront of our rising youth movement in Missoula and beyond. Big Mosquito is made up of Zane Lambert, Maxum and Cameron Doucette, Evan Wright, Spencer Nelson, Nick Morgensen, Jacob Tirado, and Danny Boatwright. Vice Cream Social play an upbeat mix of ska, punk and rock that a crowd can dance and mosh to. Their music would be a natural fit for the soundtrack of a raunchy teen comedy or a skateboarding video game. As ska bands have done since the genre’s inception, they perform covers of hit songs that you might know the words to. Listen to this band when you’re packing a bowl— of ice cream, that is. All tickets are general admission. Artist Supporter Tickets are a way for patrons to provide more financial support to performers. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Earthware & Telemarket w/ The Sardines
Sunday, July 28 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter EARTHWAREEarthware is an indie pop solo project from Portland, Oregon-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eli Wheeler. TELEMARKETad nauseam /ad-’ nô-zē-ǝm, -am/ – adverb: 1. to a sickening extent 2. to go on endlessly due out August 25th on Elephant 6 label affiliate Cloud Recordings and Science Project Records. Running at 34 minutes and 34 seconds, this thirteen track odyssey discovers itself through bouts of exuberant feedback and snappy hooks, and ultimately finds resolution surrounded by good friends in its musical home of Athens. Among these friends is John Fernandes of Cloud Recordings, a former member of projects Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System and longtime Elephant 6 collaborator, who teamed up with Telemarket to release and distribute the group’s LP. Ad Nauseam features artwork from late Georgia artist Patrick Dean, to whom the record is dedicated. Dean’s piece ‘Welcome to Athens, Y’all’ was featured on Athens GA publication Flagpole’s cover in August of 1999. Telemarket provides a distorted vessel for the shape-shifting songcraft of vocalist/guitarist Adam Wayton, and features collaborations with many of his talented Athens friends. Wayton together with guitarist and engineer Will Wise hunkered down in their Odd Street home studio for much of 2021-2022—a piece of time many would just as soon forget—and managed to create something memorable together in Ad Nauseam. Vocalist/keyboardist Josie Callahan, bassist Hunter Pinkston, and percussionist Jack Colclough round out the group’s personnel, bringing counterpoint and consummation to Telemarket’s work. THE SARDINESThree friendly and freshly packaged fish saturated with wonder and the joy of song. The elite of the sea. If you choose to consume, you may unleash sonic whimsy. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Acalvaria + Axe of Volition + The New Nightmare
Saturday, July 20 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Acalvaria is skull fracturing, gut pumping slamming death grind that is absolutely relentless and destructive. A towering wall of crushing sound to throw down to! High octane, heavy hitters from Conrad – Axe of Volition puts on a Show that is sure enough to leave you with a whiplashed neck! Thrashing punk you won’t wanna miss! The New Nightmare is a hard rock band out of Missoula sharing tales of living through the new nightmare. Thrash metal / grunge / and psychedelic influences with haunting vocals and driving riffs. All tickets are general admission. Artist Supporter Tickets are a way for patrons to provide more financial support to performers. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Moon Hooch
Thursday, October 3 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 8 PM // $15 Advance // $18 Day of Show If any band is a poster child for turning the power of positive thoughts and intentions into reality, it’s the explosive horn-and-percussion trio MOON HOOCH In just a few short years, the group— Wilbur, fellow horn player Wenzl McGowen—has gone from playing on New York City subway platforms to touring with the likes of Beats Antique, They Might Be Giants, and Lotus, as well as selling out their own headline shows in major venues around the country. Though the band—whose members initially met as students at the New School—turned heads in the music industry as relative unknowns with a charismatic, unconventional sound (they play with unique tonguing techniques and utilize found objects like traffic cones attached to the bells of their horns to manipulate tone, for instance), they were already a familiar and beloved sight to strangers in New York, who would react with such joy and fervor to their impromptu subway platform sets that the NYPD had to ban them from locations that couldn’t handle the crowds. NY Mag once referred to their sound as “Jay Gatsby on ecstasy,” while the NY Post fell for their “catchy melodic hooks and funky rhythms,” saying they had “the power to make you secretly wish that the short [subway] wait becomes an indefinite delay.” From collaborating with iconic artists such as Matisyahu and Too Close To Touch, to well-known electronic artists such as Autograf, Flamingosis, Bass Physics, Maddy O’ Neal, and many more – COFRESI continues to spread his creative wings to bring new and inspiring sounds to his fans and the world. In the studio, Cofresi creates a provocative sound by fusing elements of bass music, dance music, worldly trap, soul, DnB, and a little nostalgia here and there. His live sets are full of energy and showcase his captivating ability to incorporate multidimensional percussion and Ableton into multi-genre EDM. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Peter DiStefano (of Porno for Pyros) & Mike Baggetta (of mssv)
Tuesday, August 13 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $17 Advance // $20 DOS PETER DISTEFANO A founding member of the alternative rock band Porno For Pyros in 1992 with Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins and Martyn LeNoble, Peter’s music has been heard all over the world for decades having their first album reach no. 3 on the Billboard Top 200. In addition to his work with Pyros, Peter has worked in various projects with Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, and the band Hellride with Mike Watt. He is also known for his extensive recent work as a composer and guitarist for many soundtracks in film, television and gaming. MIKE BAGGETTA Iconoclastic guitarist and singer Mike Baggetta is most recently known for leading his post-genre power trio mssv (with the legendary rhythm team of drummer Stephen Hodges and bassist mike watt) through multiple US tours and album releases over the past 5 years, after releasing two additional albums of original music alongside watt and drummer Jim Keltner, all on the BIG EGO record label. His music has always been adventurous in spirit and style, so no wonder his additional endeavors find him navigating the waters of creating his identifiably undefinable sound in a variety of solo, duo and trio settings with his guitar, voice and various musical gadgets. He has also appeared on stage and on recordings with Nels Cline, J Mascis, Petra Haden, Viktor Krauss, David Torn and Jeff Coffin among many more. “Baggetta is a player of immense subtlety across all dimensions, working with an impressive palette of tones … distilling Fripp’s loopscapes with hints of John Fahey.” –The Wire, UK“Mike Baggetta makes stealthy, mysterious music … he’s trying to do something personal with collective improvisation without ever getting in the way of beauty.” –New York Times “…vintage twang in service of Americana-meets exploratory Jazz-psych…” –Rolling Stone NAOMI MOON SIEGEL Trombonist, composer and educator Naomi Moon Siegel has “crafted a truly unique aesthetic, combining elements of straightahead, fusion and modern jazz with world-music flavors in a way that sounds entirely of the 21st century” (JAZZIZ). A recipient of the Montana Arts Council Artist Innovation Award, Chamber Music America Performance Plus Grant, Jazz Journalist Association Jazz Hero Award and Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award, she has released two albums as a bandleader to critical acclaim. BILL MIZE Grammy-winning guitarist Bill Mize is a son of Tennessee, and a fitting representative of his state’s rich musical heritage. His critically lauded fingerstyle compositions are fluid and intricate and their delivery masterful. One suspects an influential teacher; “I received most of my musical education from a cheap Zenith radio,” says Mize, who as a child drifted off to sleep to the decidedly non-sleepy lullabyes emanating from Nashville’s WLAC and WSM and Knoxville’s WNOX. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Greg Freeman + Guidon Bear w/ Chris Sand
Wednesday, July 31 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Greg Freeman deals in biblical deluges, apocalyptic fever dreams, Floridian miscreants, and green mountain malaise. On his excellent debut LP ‘I Looked Out,’ Gregs’s voice takes center stage, creaking, crooning, and cutting through clouds of static. Greg’s strong narrative songwriting is equally effective chronicling the demise of a 1920s ocean liner as it is documenting his own interpersonal uncertainties. The sounds on his new record conjure up the feeling of driving around Chittenden County in the middle of winter, high beams on, slush on the floor mats. Guidon Bear, the dream team of Mary Water (Little Red Car Wreck) and Pat Maley (Courtney Love, Yoyo Studios), hail from the riot grrrl mecca of Olympia, WA. Together they create brilliantly uncommon indie-pop songs that seemingly gush from artesian wells of urban joy & struggle. These are fierce odes about wanting to give up . . . but then deciding not to. Music blog American Pancake reviewed them as “hop-scotch, power pop, indie rock, beauty and passion.” Various Small Flames wrote: “each of the tracks are bound by Water’s idiosyncratic observations and compassion in the face of our often troubling modern world.” Chris Sand has traversed the blue highways and gravel backroads of the USA for over two decades, performing his unique blend of folk, punk, hip hop, and children’s music in basements, living rooms, and calf sheds along the way. Performing now with Ian Smith and Grace Decker, Sand is thrilled to have found musical siblings in arms. Ian’s cheerful stage presence and multi-instrumental offerings mixed with Grace’s brilliant fiddle licks and harmonies synergize sweetly with Chris’ gritty original tunes leaving audiences smiling long after the show is over. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Leisure Hour (Indiana) w/ The Western States & But I’m A Cheerleader
Thursday, July 25 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Leisure Hour is an emo/pop punk band from Muncie, Indiana. Taking inspiration from bands such as The Front Bottoms, The 1975, and Weezer, Leisure Hour’s unique mix of roaring electric guitars, bright synthesizers, and cathartic vocal performances make the group the most exciting band in the upcoming emo rock scene. The band has toured extensively throughout the United States, and has played with acts such as Michael Cera Palin, Equipment, Charmer, Widowdusk, and Camping in Alaska. Their self titled EP, built on genuine passion and filled with nostalgic passion, is out now on Refresh Recs. The Western States is a punk rock band from Missoula, MT. The band just released their full length “Heavy Pours” in 2021. The album is full of anthemic songs featuring classic punk gang vocals and old school pop punk hooks. But I’m a Cheerleader (Missoula, MT) wants you to scream, cry, trans your gender, and sing along to their twee-punk wailings. You don’t have to, if you don’t want to, though. You can just pick one. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Jet Black Pearl w/ Pale People
Sunday, July 21 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter The untamed and inimitable Jet Black Pearl from the port of Amsterdam spent many years in the south of France before settling in Portland, Oregon in 2014. She has performed on more than a thousand stages all over the world. Smartly wacky, her songs in Dutch, English and French are a mad hatter’s European party with a funky attitude. With her loop station, she records grooves and layers of flute, vocal percussion and harmonies while squeezing one hot accordion. ’A formidable force of music, and truly has to be seen to be believed’ (Three Weeks, Edinburgh Fringe Festival). ‘[Jet] has traveled the world performing and leaving a trail of delight wherever she goes.’ (Oregon Music News) Website: https://www.jetblackpearl.com/epk Pale People is an aggressive piano rock quartet from Missoula. Assembled in 2015 by music-school refugees. Recorded five albums in five years. Toured the Pacific coast. Members left. More members joined. Grew lonely during the plague. Took the vaccine. Wrote thirteen new songs. Mack Gilcrest, Kurt Skrivseth, Saje Johns, and Lexi Vine will answer the question “What happens when you throw 4 music degrees at a song about ghosts watching a divorce unfold?” For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
