Rock, You Must: Donkey Island + Motorhome + The Selsun Blues
Saturday, May 4 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter More than an isolated land mass, Donkey Island is a state of mind. Founded by former members of Blessiddoom, Juveniles and the Bowie tribute band Glass Spiders, this trio of Missoula dads needed a space to unwind. Saxophone player Nathan Hoyme birthed this trio when he was finally ready to share a trove of songs for guitar which he had been secretly writing for decades. He called on power groovster Al Gooday to lay down some bass in order to electrify Nathan’s secret angsty ballads. Paul Rosen plugged in some heavy beats and brought his own secret songs which had been trying to escape his head since he was a teenager. With hints of sounds from classic Minnesota 80s Rock to alt-country and even grooves that’ll get you shaking that ass, a visit to Donkey Island is sure to quench anyone’s thirst for electric noise. Reconstituted from the fevered pitch of late-wave noisepop and early ‘90s fuzz, Missoula’s Motorhome mimics a nitrous-fueled Winnebago that’s dropped its muffler. Vibraphone and synthesizer chime and swoon atop twin-guitar attacks, stuttering drums. and propulsive bass. Layered vocals weave tales of hope, regret, and tangled relationships. As graduates of indie scenes in Albany, San Francisco, Chapel Hill, and Missoula, today’s Motorhome incites a sonic swirl of melodic chaos and a churning tide of noise. Formed in Missoula in 2015, The Selsun Blues is an eclectic woman-fronted band featuring some of Missoula’s bedrock talent. Riding a wave of sounds from Dick Dale-inspired surf instrumentals, all the way to 90s indie, riot grrl, garage rock, and an occasional alt-country song just because, they are a rollicking good time. Jake Knudsen and Dan Strachan on guitars and vocals, drummer LeRoy Menahan on drums, and Krispen Nelson on bass and lead vocals. 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/.
Margo Cilker / Summer 2024
Thursday, July 11 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 8 PM // $18 Advance // $22 DOSARTIST PRESALE STARTS AT 10 AM, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10PUBLIC ONSALE STARTS AT 10 AM, FRIDAY, APRIL 12Margo Cilker’s sophomore album, Valley of Heart’s Delight, refers to a place she can’t return: California’s Santa Clara Valley, as it was known before the orchards were paved over and became more famous for Silicon than apricots. In this 11-song follow-up to 2021’s critically acclaimed Pohorylle, family and nature intertwine as guiding motifs, at once precious and endangered, beautiful and exhausting. Cilker and Pohorylle producer Sera Cahoone brought most of that record’s highly-acclaimed crew (studio players for The Decemberists, Band Of Horses, and Beirut) back to the studio with additional contributions from acclaimed Northwest traditionalist Caleb Klauder. Valley of Heart’s Delight, Cilker’s second record on Portland, Oregon label Fluff & Gravy Records, follows a year busily reaping the fruits of Pohorylle’s success, with festival appearances at Pickathon, Treefort, and End Of The Road, and tours supporting American Aquarium, Hayes Carll, Drive-By Truckers, and Joshua Ray Walker.Margo Cilker lives near the Columbia River in Goldendale, Washington with her husband, songwriter and working cowboy Forrest VanTuyl, as well as their dog and some horses.https://www.margocilkermusic.com/At the junction of sparse folk, pop, and cosmic country you’ll find Junior, helmed by three Missoula, MT-based songwriters. Listeners might have heard members of Junior play in groups including: Butter, Stellarondo, Burlesco, Broken Valley Roadshow, Shahs, Hermina Jean, The Cigarette Girls, Caroline Keys, Worst Feelings, Danny’s Dilemma, Travis Sehorn and the Pebble Light, The Best Westerns, and Patsy Grime.Each member of Junior packs a quiver of instrumental skills and is constantly acquiring more to add to the group. Junior has been compared to Sibylle Baier, Karen Dalton, and The Roches. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
The Pop Rocks of Sussex School
Thursday, May 2 // Door at 5:30 PM // Show at 6 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter We are an ensemble called the Pop Rocks from Sussex School, an independent progressive school here in Missoula. We are a group of seven members in grades fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth and we play the bass, guitar, drums, vocals, and keys. We have been working together for seven months now. We will be performing eight songs during our performance at the ZACC. The songs will vary from slow, to upbeat, to fast and include different arrangements of pop and rock songs (Pop Rocks hehe). This show will be our culminating performance for all of the work we have done this year. We really hope to see you there! Watch out, because the Pop Rocks are about to start rockin’! 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/.
Blacktracks (Spokane) + Spooky (Spokane) + Infinite Ammo
Monday, April 22 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Blacktracks is a two-piece experimental punk group from the Pacific/Inland Northwest. Having toured the Cascade region extensively the band has roots to call home in both Spokane Washington and Eugene Oregon. It’s a difficult project to pigeonhole into one genre having a tangible range from hardcore, crust, sludge to horrorcore, hip-hop & spoken word. It’s an amalgamation of tension presented in an engaging, viscerally determined, often self-violent live show that’s difficult to look away from. The band has found their home in the broader DIY circuit and is scheduled to release their debut full length via Blackhouse Records in 2024. Spooky is not a band; a body. Infinite Ammo banded together at the beginning of Covid and started a band that would soon be known for their weird sound that collides powerviolence/grindcore/death metal/hardcore punk into one giant mass of sound. Featuring members of The Foilies, Lust Hag, and Frontside Crime. Cameron came up with the idea for the band with Keith Szardarski who previously played guitar in the band. They added Moses on drums and Elli on Bass, with Dizzy taking over guitar duties in summer of ‘22. 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/.
Academy Order (Philly) + The Old Ones (Billings) + Swamp Ritual
Sunday, April 21 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Since 2021, Academy Order have been honing their sound through various releases and live incarnations, expertly showcasing elements of death rock, punk, new wave, and even hardcore in a sonic amalgamation that is uniquely their own, while remaining just familiar enough to keep heads nodding. Now they surge forth with a debut LP, unleashing “A New Kind of Fear” to solidify an approach that touches nerves both lyrically and musically via counterpoints of aggression and melody not so commonly coupled in the broad genre of post-punk. The deliciously cold attack of driving guitars and Matthew’s demanding vocals weighed against synth lines straight from the 80’s dance floor and Norelle’s angelic vocal hooks bring the shadowy rhythm of the whole album to halting depths and infectious heights. Fans of seminal acts such as 45 Grave, Clan of Xymox, and TSOL may find themselves moving just as readily as those who enjoy Danse Society, Bleached Cross, and Chain Cult. Swamp Ritual is drum and bass stoner / doom metal, formed in 2010 in the Missoula mountains. With Dustin Fugere on bass and vocals, and Sid LaTray on drums and vocals. The Old Ones are good ol’ fashion Doom/Stoner from the Low Life Big Sky State. 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/.
Pay No Mind + Try Again + Damnthebadluck
Saturday, April 20 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Pay No Mind is a skate punk band with hardcore and thrash influences consisting of former members of Stoned to Death and Super Sport (Great Falls). They have taken Missoula by storm opening for touring bands and supporting the local music scene. Two of their members are students at the U of M and have played shows on campus and supported headliner acts throughout town. Try Again is hardcore based out of Missoula. DAMNTHEBADLUCK is a hardcore/post-punk band from Missoula, MT composed of Luke Harmon (vocals), Cody Sumner (guitar), Mars Sandavol (bass), and Chris Ostheimer (drums). Sounds like Idles, Turnstile, and Amyl and The Sniffers. 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/.
Box Elder (WY) w/ The Western States & Cory Fay
Wednesday, April 17 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter “Arrows” is the debut full band release by the Jackson Hole, Wyoming based indie punk outfit Box Elder. Box Elder was started in the spring of 2021 by Christopher Archuleta (vocalist, primary songwriter and guitarist) as his solo project for musical catharsis during the Covid pandemic. Chris independently released a handful of singles and two EPs before realizing it was time to take these songs on the road. In early 2023, Chris recruited a handful of longtime friends to get involved in his project; Claire Holden on synth, Oscar Garcia on drums, Ian Tompkins on lead guitar and Wil Zeigler on bass. Since 2023, Box Elder has toured relentlessly and made appearances at Treefort Music Festival (Boise), Crucial Fest (Salt Lake City) and shared stages with bands such as Agent Orange, The Black Lips, Teenage Halloween, Red Fang and many more. 2024 looks bright for the band with stacked back-to-back spring tours in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest, more new music on the horizon and showcase spots at Treefort Music Festival and the Denver Underground Music Showcase. 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. Cory Fay is a cosmic lullaby-core songwriter, record producer, sex advice personality, and emotional support animal. Just kidding. But not about a few of them. 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/.
Pale People + The Naked Limbs + Arrowleaf
Sunday, April 14 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter 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?” The Naked Limbs play music with rocks in it. Arrowleaf is an indie rock band from Missoula. Arrowleaf pairs washy guitar work, humming bass, and the occasional riotous trumpet with delicate anecdotes; dreamy conversations are carried by wistful harmonies. Arrowleaf’s 2021 album Getting By tacitly and pleasantly reconciles the unfolding of shared events with specific stories and feelings. Featuring the songwriting of Sarah Marker, the band is filled out by the thoughtful work of Brady Schwertfeger, Jake Whitecar, Peter Puczkowskyj, Amanda Ceaser, and Jon Filkins. 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/.
The Reason We Fall / EP Release Concert: Azure Larkwood w/ Nyon & Ravi Marsolek
Thursday, April 11 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter In celebration of the release of their brand-new EP, The Reason We Fall, Azure Larkwood has brought together an ensemble of Missoula’s best, with openers Ravi and Nyon Marsolek. Hear songs from the EP in a new light and be the first to hear selections from their unreleased follow-up EP, Father Watches News. Azure Larkwood is an award-winning poet, musician, and performing artist born and raised in the heart of the Missoula Valley. From brooding piano ballads to eclectic folk tunes, Azure’s bare, confessional music is laden with the deeply personal color of a small-town singer-songwriter. Shaped by the folk, flora, and fauna of their mountain home, Azure’s sharp, stirring lyrics poetically articulate the intolerable love, debilitating grief, and existential longing of the holistic human experience. Their newly released EP, The Reason We Fall, is a cathartic dissemination of regret and forgiveness; a love letter to the bittersweet memory of youth. Nyon & Ravi Marsolek are two up-and-coming Missoula area musicians each exploring their own unique musical style and artistic expression. They’ve been creating and performing music since they were very young and have a large repertoire of original songs and compositions written over the last decade. Multi-instrumentalists both, Nyon and Ravi were raised in an environment of music-making, rhythm workshops, and numerous road trips with the world fusion group, Drum Brothers. Since 2021, they have been performing and touring with the band, contributing greatly to the group’s new sound with bass, electric guitar, percussion, and vocals. Inspired by many artists in the singer-songwriter tradition, they bring to the stage a wide set of influences ranging from Joni Mitchell, CSNY and Jeff Buckley, to Phoebe Bridgers and The Tallest Man on Earth. 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/.
WARPONY & the Troubadours + Jolene Green & the Order of the Sunshine Deity
Wednesday, April 10 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Enjoy the sound of the mountains with Montana’s finest, WARPONY and The Troubadours. This soul/funk/blues fusion “super band” is Missoula’s newest rizz on the street. The band lead, WARPONY, (a Montana native) recently moved back to the motherland to gather her favorite musicians into one explosive ten-member band. With the help of these talented musicians, her booming vocals have been taking the locals by storm. WARPONY sings and writes all her original music inspired by jazz roots and the love we all share for Montana. They are known for being quite the entertainers. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you damn well better boogie! Come see WP&TT to help spread the love and grooviness that lives within us all! Jolene Green, and her neo soul/fusion band Order of the Sunshine Deity, are based out of Missoula, MT. The band has Connor Racicot on keys, Llwyn Clark-Gaynor on drums, Evan Nesbitt on bass, Cameron Kinney on guitar, Cade Chastain on alto sax, Sean Stineford on trombone and Jolene Green on vocals/tenor sax. The band was started by its frontwoman, Jolene, and plays her original music which is a blend of jazz, low-fi, soul, hip hop, and metal. The band members are all former or current top music students at the University of Montana and use their formal training to create a sound that is new, unique, and informed. 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/.
