Kate Stephenson w/ Hayden Everett
Friday, October 16 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 // $15 ADV // $20 DOS It’s kind of unbelievable. A gentle voice, a dagger for a pen. Kate Stephenson has found a way to offer this balance at once. Songs that hurt to relate to, but offer a lifeline if you do. Breaking free of genre’s limitations, Stephenson shares these blistering stories with stunning arrangements that dare to take on different shapes every time. Her unforgettable writing is the through line, finding the right sounds to express it all is her magic. From intimate, acoustic, profound songs like ‘Shoving’ to the full-band-get-up-and-dance ‘Summerfoot’, she can do it all. Living in Nashville, she’s finding her ever-changing sound, moving closer and closer every day. Oh, and she’ll wipe the floor with you at the bowling alley. Hayden Everett is a Seattle-based Americana artist blending folk storytelling with jazz-trained musicianship and expansive, atmospheric production. Hayden writes many of his lyrics on solo backpacking trips, guided by a belief that presence gives art its weight. His debut EP, produced with Jeremy McDonald (Kevin Garrett, Vulfpeck, Beyoncé), earned placements on Grey’s Anatomy and praise from Earmilk, Atwood Magazine, and KCRW. Follow-up releases via Platoon and Nettwerk Music Group featured collaborators like JT Bates (Bonny Light Horseman, Big Red Machine, Taylor Swift, The National), James McAlister (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens), and Jack Van Cleaf (Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan). With over 60 million streams, Hayden has toured with Hazlett, The Paper Kites, Trousdale, and Vacation Manor. His debut full length record, So The Sun Can Pour, was independently released in April of 2026. Hayden recorded the album live with close friends at the cabin in Tahoe, CA that his great grandfather built. It was mixed by Tucker Martine, known for his work with Gregory Alan Isakov, My Morning Jacket, Madison Cunningham, Caamp, Mt. Joy, and more.
Silkworm w/ cul.de.sac
Tuesday August 25 // Doors at 7:00 PM // Show at 8:00 PM // $25 SILKWORM is a storied and beloved rock band, revered among many of those in the know. From western Montana by way of Seattle and Chicago, “the Worm” is the subject of an upcoming book (Lay It Down in Full View), a feature-length documentary (Couldn’t You Wait: The Story of Silkworm), and gratifyingly detailed essays across a variety of publications both print and online. Most importantly, the band released nine richly distinctive, influential albums and “a bunch” of singles, EPs, and compilations over an eighteen-year period, as well as touring worldwide in North America, Europe, and Asia, notably playing every state in the continental USA except Delaware. Joel R.L. Phelps founded Silkworm in 1987 and left the band in 1994. Andy Cohen, Tim Midyett, and Michael Dahlquist continued on as a trio for many prolific, creatively fertile years thereafter. The group disbanded immediately–and apparently permanently–upon Michael’s horrific murder in July 2005. In late July 2024, the surviving band members realized they would be in the same place at the same time–at a weekend-long memorial for their longtime engineer Steve Albini. They decided to reunite officially for a short set there to pay tribute to their dear friend. Jeff Panall (Songs: Ohia and Tim’s band Mint Mile) joined them on drums. The experience of playing together as a quartet for the first time in thirty years was highly emotional and rewarding. The four of them discussed trying to regroup for some additional events…which led them to poking at the best possible options for doing so. After a quite successful summer and fall of shows in the central US in 2025, they are setting out on tour in May (central/eastern US) and August (western US) of 2026.JOEL R.L. PHELPS – Telecaster, vocals ANDREW COHEN – lead guitar, vocals TIMOTHY MIDYETT – bass, vocals JEFF PANALL – drums cul de sac is a slowcore band from Missoula, MT based around the songwriting of Miles Hawkins. Spotify
Cat Clyde & Dean Johnson
Tuesday, November 10 // Doors at 7:00 PM // Show at 8:00 PM // $25 ADV // $30 DOS Cat Clyde’s fourth full-length and first release with Concord Records finds her at a transformative point in her life. Produced by Drew Vandenberg (Faye Webster, S. G. Goodman), Mud Blood Bone meets at a sonic crossroads — the rockabilly grit of Sierra Ferrell melding with the evocative folk rock volatility of Big Thief — as Clyde charts a long journey to reshape the meaning of love in her life. It’s a trudge through the swamp and into vast, cleansing waters that finds Clyde at a critical point of personal evolution—equal parts despair, invocation, discovery, and celebration. Ahead of and throughout her writing sessions for Mud Blood Bone, Clyde looked to her indigenous Métis roots and invoked a deep reverence for nature in efforts to redefine her relationship with love in her life. Learning from the natural world, she took solace in its cyclicality. The new songs exude nomadic independence: penned in her 1973 Boler trailer on a farm in Ontario, on a narrow boat in England, or in transit from one festival to another, letting lyrics stream freely from a jetlagged dream state. The result is uninhibited, raw, pure; it’s the sound of personal truth discovered in real time. With I Hope We Can Still Be Friends, his debut for Saddle Creek, Dean Johnson makes a pact with the listener: He will sing you his truth in the most heartfelt and charming way possible, if you promise to keep an open mind. The title partly stems from the playful way the Seattle-based singer, songwriter and guitarist communes with his audiences at concerts. “I hope you’re not afraid to talk to me after the show,” he’ll say, sweetly, before launching into “Death of the Party,” the album’s seventh song. Centered on the “energy vampire” archetype — the exasperating windbag we’ve all encountered at some point — its lyrics are at once intellectually biting and unmistakably hilarious. His tender voice rings out like the ghost of Roy Orbison or a misfit Everly brother. “Words don’t come easily to me / I notice you don’t have that problem / It sounds to me you cannot stop them,” Johnson sings over acoustic guitar strumming, and gentle bass and drums, like the narrator in a dark comedy whose coming-of-age misadventures have made for an excellent film. Johnson spent years tending bar at Al’s Tavern in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. There, he encountered folks of all stripes; and regulars enthusiastically murmured about his budding musical greatness — There’s the best songwriter in town! Johnson was a kind of local lore, a long-held family secret, before the singer finally broke out in 2023 with his debut album, Nothing For Me Please, at age 50.
Flowers From The Pool’s Album Debut w/ Jules Jensen & Chloe Tschetter
Friday, August 28 // Doors at 7:00 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $12 GA // $15-$20 Artist Supporter flowers from the pool makes music for friends, with Jules Jensen and Kate Widmer on guitar/vocals, Sid Boyer on bass, and Larry Leonard on drums. They are arguably Missoula’s most niche supergroup. Jules Jensen plays acoustic music inspired by Elliott Smith, Pigeon Pit, Flatsound, Plumtree, and most importantly, her friends. Chloe Tschetter is an 18-year-old singer songwriter hailing from Billings, Montana. Her new EP titled ‘Growing Pains’ is out on September 6th.
At Nadir w/ Minot and Evening Redness Out West
Friday, September 4 // Doors at 7:00 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $12 GA // $15-$20 Artist Supporter At Nadir plays hooky, literate, guitar-driven indie. We write about lost dogs, losing track of time, and the monotony of long winters.We are working to make a scene in Helena, MTPete Brown – Vocals, GuitarKristy Fortman – Bass, VocalsJohnny Lowell – GuitarEvin Mitchell – Drums Bandcamp The adolescent neanderthals themselves, Minot. These overgrown-teenaged garage punk muffins bring their sonic take on the raw, the cheap and the lo-fidelity. The three-piece from Missoula, MT embodies the primitive, sloppy roots of everything that is, Budget Rock. A poorly contained train wreck influenced by punk, 60s garage pop and country blues. Bandcamp Evening Redness Out West is a band of brothers hailing from Garnet Montana – Wess, Red, and Sweet Keaton Evening. Bandcamp
Cat Positive w/ Perfect Blue and Dylan Running Crane
Saturday, September 26 // Doors at 7:30 PM // Show at 8:00 PM // $12 GA // $15-$20 Artist Supporter 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. https://dylanrunningcranemusic.bandcamp.com/ Check out her work with Cry Baby – https://crybabymissoula.bandcamp.com/track/missoula Perfect Blue is a genre-bending, instrumental post-rock quartet from Missoula, Montana. Their music blends elements of post-punk, psych, shoegaze, folk and black metal for an eclectic spectrum of sounds moving between somber, intricate passages to dark, heavy soundscapes. The band’s debut album, “Empress,” is now available everywhere. Cat Positive is a band featuring singer songwriter Tyson Ballew. Since 2002 Ballew has performed and written pop punk inspired music as a solo artist or in several short lived bands. https://tysonballew.bandcamp.com/
Sunday Swing! w/ Ed Norton Big Band
Sunday, September 6 // Doors & Lessons at 6:30 PM // Show at 7 PM // $12 // $15 GA + Dance Lesson // $15-$20 Artist Supporter **Dance lessons with Lindy Hop begin at 6:30** Get your dancing shoes on and spend a Sunday with hits from Ed Norton Big Band in The Show Room at the ZACC! 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/.
Public Acid and Invertebrates w/ Poise & Sick Joke
Wednesday, July 29 // Doors at 7:30 PM // Show at 8:00 PM // $10 ADV // $15 DOS Public Acid is a hardcore punk band that originally formed in Greensboro, NC. After several lineup changes with guitarist/bassists, the band is currently based out of Richmond, VA with a couple members living in Raleigh, NC and NYC. ‘NAM was formed on Christmas Eve of 2025 by four friends. The band consists of musicians John C, Sigrid S, Chris M and conceptual artist John K. ‘NAM plays short concise bursts of d-beat and metallic crust
James McMurtry w/ BettySoo
Saturday, August 1 // 7:00 PM Doors // 8:00 PM Show // $25 ADV // $30 DOS **ADA seating will be limited** James McMurtry released The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy on June 20th via New West Records. The 10-song collection was co-produced by McMurtry & Don Dixon (R.E.M., The Smithereens) and is his first album in four years. It follows his 2021 acclaimed new West debut, The Horses and the Hounds, which UnCut Magazine said “lifts storytelling-in-song to meticulous new levels” and Pitchfork awarded an 8.0, saying “James McMurtry stands out even among the Lone Star State’s finest songwriters…” The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy features appearances by Sarah Jarosz, Charlie Sexton, Bonnie Whitmore, Bukka Allen and more, alongside his trusted backing band, THE MARTIAL LAW REVIEW, Tim Holt on guitar and accordion, Cornbread on bass and Daren Hess on drums. As varied as they are, McMurtry’s new story-songs find inspiration in scraps from his family’s past: a rough pencil sketch by Ken Kesey that serves as the album cover, the hallucinations experienced by his father, the legendary writer Larry McMurtry, an old poem by a family friend. A supremely insightful and inventive storyteller, McMurtry teases vivid worlds out of small details, setting them to arrangements that have elements of Americana but sound too sly and smart for such a general category. Funny and sad often in the same breath, The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy adds a new chapter to a long career that has young songwriters like Sarah Jarosz and Jason Isbell cite him as a formative influence.
Impulse Noise w/ Dirty Brother & No Policy
Sunday, August 30 // Doors at 7:30 PM // Show at 8:00 PM // $10 Seattle grindcore unit Impulse Noise commenced with their debut EP Stress in 2018, showcasing a spastic audio barrage reflecting a modern world drowning in sensory overload, anxiety, and addiction, rooted in the sound of Assück and early Napalm Death while demonstrating their affinity for old school death metal and hardcore punk. Following Stress, Impulse Noise released split records with Oakland powerviolence outfit Choke and fellow Seattle grinders Disease. The bands second EP …Such is Life arrived in 2025 pushing their chaotic, and abrasive style into even harsher territory. In 2026, Impulse Noise is set to embark on the Midwest Decimation tour joining forces with San Diego deathgrind band Genestealer.