Red Onion Purple + Gabrielle Tusberg + Norwell
Thursday, June 8 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Gabrielle Tusberg is a singer songwriter from Portland, OR. Her inspiration comes from female songwriters like Lucinda Williams, Fiona Apple, and Sara Jarosz. Listening to Gabrielle’s songs tells a story about her life experiences, relationships, love lost, love gained, a changed perspective, with wit, sadness, and charm. Her songs will make you cry and laugh with her deepest thoughts and unleashed secrets. With time spent in bands like Arrowleaf, No Fancy, Catamount, Mendelssohn, and The Skurfs, members of Norwell have been playing music around Missoula for more than a decade. In this form, they make songs that pair smartly with hands in pockets, long stares at the rim of a drink glass, or a mirthless Twitter scroll. Red Onion Purple began as a musical duo featuring Sean Burress (guitar) and Bethany Joyce (cello) in 2013. After a few years of experimenting with their sound and adding different members, the group coalesced into the spellbinding force that it is today with the addition of Joshua Chai (drums) and Cole Grant (bass). The ethos of the band is one of constant experimentation; treating each song as a separate world to traverse, going a little deeper with each iteration. Red Onion Purple’s sound is accessible, yet hard to pin down; at times upbeat and whimsical, other times melancholy and mysterious. They play a mixture of original songs, jazz standards, and covers. Their first full length album, ‘Frightening Sights’, was released in May of 2022. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Ceres + Intice + Tuco
Tuesday, June 6 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Ceres is a 5-piece metal band, based out of Missoula. Formed in 2019, Ceres has had the opportunity to play Flathead Metal Fest several times, as well as travel around the Pacific Northwest playing shows. Ceres has released 2 albums and a few singles on all streaming services, and are currently working on the third album. They bring a high energy and engaging show to the stage, with original metal and occasional covers like Eskimo Callboy’s ‘Hypa Hypa.’ Tuco are a two-piece punk, metal, post-whatever, comedy-rock outfit. Being split between two Montana towns, we represent both sides of the continental divide. Social commentary is what we do. Not taking ourselves too seriously is what we hope to do. We’re both named Dave and we’ve been writing music together, under various monikers such as Bridgebuilder and Bones of Elisha, since around 2003 AD. Thanks and cheers. Intice is a progressive metal/rock band based out of Missoula Montana. They play the original music of their front man, Cameron Kinney, who plays guitar and vocals. Cameron started the band with guitarist Justin Brantley in Great Falls and met the rest of the band members while studying with them at the UM School of Music a couple years later. Along with Cameron and Justin the band features Josh Smith on drums, Lane Ulberg on bass and Jolene Green and Cade Chastain on saxophone. The band has two albums on spotify and is currently recording their third album. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Barncat Country Band + Strummingbird Vegabond + Johnny Carl
Saturday, June 3 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Barncat Country Band formed in 2021 to explore the energy found deep in the roots of old-time country music. Roadhouse country, Texas swing, the Bakersfield sound, bluegrass, and country blues all combine and erupt on stage in a ball of fiery twang! Come dance your boots bare to the raw energy of Rocky Mountain Honky-tonk at its finest. Strummingbird Vegabond is a local trio formed around the songwriting of Rebecca Kelley. Becca has been playing acoustic guitar since 2005 and is very stoked to be joined by local musician Britt Arnesen on bass, as well as local drummer Damien Margo. Together they have been playing gigs all around town, and also recorded their first album, called Summer Triangle, in fall 2022. Find it and also Becca’s first EP on all major music platforms, and also at strummingbirdvegabond.bandcamp.com. Johnny Carl grew up in Missoula and has been homeschooled since he was 10. Johnny’s father taught him guitar, and he’s been playing and singing for the last 4 years. While he was growing up his parents listened to a wide variety of music – he was exposed to everything from the early days of country, jazz, and blues, to the rock and roll, to pop. He draws inspiration from his childhood exposure to all genres and from his huge collection of 78rpm records and LPs. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Bluest ‘Cold Sweat’ Album Release ft. Les Duck and Tiny Iota
Friday, June 2 // Door at 8 PM // Show at 8:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Bluest is an indie band out of Missoula, Montana, orchestrated by the lyrical hauntings of Noelle Huser, brought into fruition with full band instrumentation, Erin Szalda-Petree on lead guitar, back up vox, Duncan Szalda-Petree on bass, Ally Fradkin on keys and Caleb Tutty on drums. Their debut album ‘Cold Sweat’ released on May 5, 2023 through Anything Bagel. ‘Cold Sweat’ sifts through dreams and nightmares to find solace by serenading ghosts, emboldened with a hunger to return from dissociation back into the body. Huser finds her head in the clouds, heart on her sleeve, and feet on the ground running into the unknown … Come out and kick off the summer celebrating the Bluest release dressed in your bluest best. Tiny Iota writes tiny songs that scream like a dust mite into the eternal abyss. Flavored with a fondness for doo wop and punk, their debut album HUBBUB, released May 2022 is an ode to overthinking, toeing the line between anxiety and acceptance and finding solace in uncertainty. For this special evening, tiny will be even more minuscule, playing an intimate solo set. Les Duck, fka Dint 2, is all about fast cars, slow guitars, avatar 2 the way of water, family, and friendship. Lukas Phelan and Sanders Smith trade songs exploring those very themes while Nate Biehl rips the pedal steel and James Rogers tickles the drums. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
8-Ball Quintet
Wednesday, May 31 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket 8-Ball Quintet is a five-piece jazz combo that plays the music of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Joshua Redman, and many more inspiring jazz musicians. The quintet consists of five students from the University of Montana Jazz Program. The group is coached by local rhythm section musician, Connor Racicot. 8-Ball Quintet is Owen Cleary on bass, Drew Saltzman on guitar, Simon Hickey on drums, Ally Fradkin on tenor sax, and Owen Meador on alto sax. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
‘Doin’ It Live!’ Artshow & Concert ft. Noise Complaint + OneLeaf + Diskonnect
Sunday, May 28 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $20 Welcome Back strives to change community attitudes towards people who have a history of incarceration by working to break down barriers to safe, supportive housing, employment, and social support. Our mission is to take away the lifelong consequences of those who have made bad choices and connect them to the resources they need to move forward in the community as good citizens. Welcome Back defines “returning citizens” as any individual that has experienced incarceration, jail, or state-mandated treatment or who otherwise faces barriers to housing, employment, or other basic support due to a criminal record, legal record, or a history of arrests. Welcome Back also aims to increase access to availability of stable housing and employment, social support, treatment, and other resources essential to reducing recidivism and increasing personal and community safety. Welcome Back is an affiliate of the Missoula Interfaith Collaborative in partnership with Partners for Reintegration. This event is a fundraiser for Welcome Back and all proceeds will go to supporting their cause. Diskonnect was born in Wisconsin, but grew up in West Chicago, Illinois. He realized he had a passion for music early on in life, but it wasn’t until later on that he took that passion and started doing something serious with it. He is influenced by the likes of J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Lupe Fiasco, Royce Da 5’9″, and Vic Mensa just to name a few. He aspires to replicate their influence and do the same for those around him to inspire change and positivity in their own lives Noise Complaint is a local band that is a mix of punk, EDM, thrash and ska. Noise Complaint is known to be a complete experience as they often surprise the crowd with weird random outfits, quirky songs and high energy enthusiasm. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Alien Boy & GLARE
Thursday, July 6 // Door at 8 PM // Show at 8:30 PM // $15 Advance // $20 DOS Dreams and Queer Feeling. A slogan, a mission statement; maybe a bit of “don’t say we didn’t warn you”—spray-painted in white on black canvas and hung behind the band during a memorable series of 2018 shows, those four words distill the thrill of an Alien Boy set with a directness that perfectly mirrors their fearlessly sentimental guitar music. Though Sonia Weber is often singing about the insecurities and confusion of love and heartbreak, Alien Boy songs overflow with the confidence of a band that knows exactly what they’re going for, and more importantly, know that they’re nailing it. Alien Boy is guitarist and songwriter Sonia Weber, drummer Derek McNeil, and a rotating cast of Portland, Oregon scene stalwarts. As her band’s Wipers-inspired name might imply, Weber is a PDX lifer, and anyone who’s spent time in the last decade’s DIY circuit will recognize something undeniably West Coast in Alien Boy’s sound: a sharpened, focused take on the heavy guitar pop of the 1980’s, chorus pedals and punishing drums the canvas for bold strokes of recollection and yearning. (Nathan Tucker) GLARE is “Texas Shoegaze”. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
(latent) + Witch Bitch (Bozeman) + Ryan King
Sunday, May 21 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket (latent) is a Missoula based band composed of Zack Buchholz, Nick Togliatti, and Jake Swank. These three fellers have been playing music together for nearly a decade, and this band is a culmination of their endeavors to incorporate absurdity, sincerity, and high energy music into a single intense project. Witch Bitch is a two-piece band that leaves your skull in two pieces. Dark, tropical, and fuzzy, Witch Bitch melts tsunamis, ancient pyramids, and corpse effluvium in a sonic crucible. What remains will make your bones rattle – sludgy surf that’s sweeter than sipping a piña colada on a private beach in hell. Ryan King is an artist, mostly with music and poetry, but every once in a while he gets out the paint and makes a mess too. He loves singing a good song and manipulating effects to create improvised chaos/beauty. He just might love you, too. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Kid’s Bops! A ZACC Kid’s Rock Camp Cover Show
Ft. Spaghetti Vampire, BillyWhips, Mido Skip, New Old Future, Western States, Hibernator, & ESPThursday, May 18 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 ZACC Supporter Ticket The Zootown Arts Community Center (ZACC) will celebrate its first ever Kid’s Bops! Rock Camp Cover Benefit Show. In the style of former ZACC community rock shows such as Rocktober and Rock Lotto, Kid’s Bops! calls for local bands and musicians to sign-up and get together with their bands to cover an assigned set of ZACC rock camp classics – everything from songs about friendship and romance, to Taco Bell indigestion, to playing soccer on the moon, and shapeshifting ducks! This all-ages benefit show features local bands Spaghettti Vampire, BillyWhips, Mido Skip, New Old Future, The Western States, Hibernator, and ESP, all covering original kid’s rock camp songs and the Spring ZACC Kid’s Rock Camp performing their own original music. Proceeds from the show will benefit the ZACC’s rock camp program – from supporting the purchasing of new gear to funding scholarships. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Jolene Green Senior Recital ft. Order of the Sunshine Deity & Tech Czar
Wednesday, May 17 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Order of the Sunshine Deity is a neo soul/ fusion band 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. This show serves as Jolene’s senior recital as she is graduating with a degree in Jazz Studies this spring. Once upon a time (actually, right now), in a small town nestled in the foothills of a great mountain range, there exists a synth band called Tech Czar. The members of Tech Czar are known throughout the town for their strange and otherworldly sound, which was created using a combination of vintage synthesizers and cutting-edge digital technology. Their music has a hypnotic quality that can transport listeners to another dimension. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
