Down North w/ Trans Future
Saturday, July 2 // Doors at 7 PM // 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Tour Supporter Ticket “Dude sings like James Brown… bass is less slap and more groove.” – The Stranger “A sound that’s downright impossible to resist.” – Seattle Weekly ‘No Retreat, No Return, No Surrender.’ – The Down North Motto There are some performers who come to music later in life. Then, there are folks who you can just tell were voracious students and consumers of music since before they could talk. Seattle / Los Angeles / North Carolina based quartet Down North fall squarely into the latter group. Trying to pin genre tags onto their unique brand of psych-infused punk soul is an exercise in futility. These creatives pick and choose just-right bits and flavors drawn from the whole of modern western music like painters with unlimited palates. Front man Anthony Briscoe, bassist Brandon Storms, guitarist Nick Quiller, and drummer Conrad Real (who also plays with Ayron Jones and icons Digable Planets) were on a roll following the release of the No Retreat Volume 1 EP (2018). The record had been well received by the press, and extensive touring plans were in place. Then, the global pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt. When other artists might have succumbed to despair, Down North strives to live their motto: No Retreat, No Return, No Surrender. “We tried to see it as an opportunity,” explains Briscoe. “We’ve been known as a great live band. This time we really wanted to show that we could capture that magic in our recorded music.” The music that Down North has laid to tape on No Restraint Volume 2 is driving, crisply executed, and tight as all get out. It is funky – but it would be wrong to call it funk. Strong pop melodicism anchors searing punk energy. Brash technical virtuosity nods to Alternative rock. Funky gospel metal, maybe? Regardless of what you call it, this record exudes its creators fierce focus and determination. It is powerful, defiantly celebratory, and downright captivating. No Retreat, No Return, No Surrender indeed. Self-described as New Wave Soul and Roll, Trans Future’s sound reflects the eclectic influences that warrant the inventive term, but a closer listen reveals their music is as much about what’s not there as what is. Each musician’s part is salient and distinct, but leaves space for the musical conversation to unfold. While space can be what makes things fall apart, the space TF creates is the architectural element that holds their music so tightly together. Space seems to come naturally to a band who formed in early 2020, masked and distanced, in the height of the pandemic. Their new album, Scream on the Inside, is out now! For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Selling for Free w/ Opener Verre Forest
Wednesday, June 29 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Selling for Free is the project of singer-songwriter and analogue enthusiast Rob Hylbom. His creative imagination draws from groups such as The Mountain Goats, Frank the Rabbit and Bob Dylan, Hylbom’s songs explore music and culture, admiring and appreciating their histories. Hylbom’s sound is emotive, soft but firm. Recorded in bursts and fits, Selling for Free is a raw catalog of the times. Verre Forest are a group of 14 year olds who play music inspired from 90s alternative music. They are inspired by early Radiohead, Nirvana, and the Pixies, and are a classic rock ensemble of two guitars, bass, drums, and one vocalist. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Hallows w/ DJ Sister Midnight
Sunday, June 26 // Doors at 7 PM // Show starts at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Tour Supporter Ticket The Montana Goth Ball and the ZACC present Los Angeles darkwave/post-punk band HALLOWS Sunday, June 26! Come dance the night away to synthy sounds – also featuring local DJ Sister Midnight. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
New Old Future + Arrowleaf
Friday, June 24 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Missoula garage pop New Old Future meets the delicious soft rock stylings of Arrowleaf. New Old Future play the kind of indie rock that sounds like it just lives in the water of the Pacific Northwest. Sincere, yet funny, poppy, but rough around the edges, sounding something like if Olympia, Washington’s music scene had a cousin living in western Montana. Hailing from Missoula, Montana, Arrowleaf combines cinematic guitar tones with addictive vocal hooks and subdued drums to deliver indie rock that’s “elegantly cosmic and easy to get along with”. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Walking Corpse Syndrome + Ceres + Zephyria
Saturday, June 11 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Tour Supporter Ticket Ceres is a metalcore band from Missoula, Montana featuring hard-hitting riffs, driving rhythms and engaging lyrics conveyed through a mix of traditional with aggressively harsh vocals. Their live shows are an intense blend of powerful stage presence that couples humor, crowd engagement and intensity with the focus and precision of session musicians. Described by local radio DJ Kromdar as “a Red Bull* to the junk!” (Disclaimer – if hit in the junk by an actual Red Bull or other energy drink seek medical attention. Ceres is not endorsed by or affiliated with Red Bull. *Mix only with Vodka.) “Their music floods my heart with modern death metal love,” Emperor Rhombus from Metalsucks.net said about Walking Corpse Syndrome’s 2015 release, Human Delusion. Walking Corpse Syndrome features Leif Winterrowd (vocals), Matthew Bile (guitar), Tana Starkey (guitar), Neil Whaley (bass), Nocktis (drums), and Mr. Grimm (drums). Walking Corpse Syndrome have extensively toured the American West and have shared the stage with Suicide Silence, Soulfly, Born of Osiris, Decapitated, Otep, Dope, Here Comes the Kraken, Wayne Static, The Browning, Motograter, and Lorna Shore. Zephyria is a technical progressive deathcore band out of Kalispell, Montana. Their Paragon Ep is available for free and they are currently hard at work on their debut album. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
KFGM Summer Showcase / Catnyp & Rob Travolta
Thursday, June 9 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 The KFGM Summer Series brings forth some of the great talent the Missoula music scene has to offer. Each show will showcase two great bands, cross genres, and offer a platform for audience members to discover and engage with some of Missoula’s best artists. KFGM’s desire for this series is to highlight some of their favorite local artists and for Missoula Community Radio’s listeners to tune-in to a true local experience. June’s bands are Catnyp and Rob Travolta … Formed in Missoula, MT after front man/composer/producer/bassist/multiinstrumentalist Henderson K Shatner (HKS) returned to the US after 18 years of overseas adventures, Catnyp released “The Black Cat Trilogy” of albums sequentially in 2018, 2019, 2020. Shatner founded Brand Violet, a seminal UK surf-goth act signed to legendary Some Bizarre records in the early 2000s. Catnyp has drawn recent comparison to Pixies, Daniel Ash, David Bowie, and even Led Zeppelin — largely based on the fearless vocal experimentation Shatner employs on Catnyp IIII, channeling his favorite vocalists for different tracks. Melodic, agile bass parts invoke Beatles-era McCartney while surf guitar and clean overdriven tones provide a nod to California punk and Britpop. Rob Cave, also known as Missoula’s ‘secretary of bass’ (for supplying the most buoyant and delightful bass riffs for numerous local bands), has his own project — Rob Travolta! Rob Travolta will drop your jaw, with captivatingly composed tunes that balance Rob’s “midwest emo meets Montana” vibe with drummer Cole Bronson’s knack for hip hop in smooth and enthralling pockets of groove. The talent and focus of the duo, not to mention the emotion they channel into their music performing, makes for a remarkable sonic journey of angst and joy. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
AJJ / WHY?
Thursday, August 18 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 8 PM // $20 Comprising core members Sean Bonnette (acoustic guitar) and Ben Gallaty (upright bass), AJJ is a folk-punk outfit from Phoenix, Arizona. They formed as Andrew Jackson Jihad in 2004, when frontman Bonnette was still a teenager, and the duo quickly began writing humorously explicit music with macabre themes. In 2016, after having been referred to as AJJ by many of their fans for years, the bandmembers officially changed their name, saying they no longer wanted to be either a reminder of the former President or disrespectful (as non-Muslims). The Bible 2 arrived under the AJJ moniker that summer and landed on multiple Billboard charts, including the rock, alternative, and independent albums charts. Yoni Wolf has spent the last two decades traveling the remote sonic terrain where underground hip hop, avant-pop, and psych-rock meet. In that time he’s cultivated a unique sound, and a unique position as one of contemporary music’s most distinctive voices. Some of Yoni’s most compelling and critically-praised musical experiments have been issued under the moniker WHY?, but Yoni has been involved in various other freewheeling music projects, including Yoni & Geti, Hymie’s Basement, and the seminal cLOUDDEAD. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Wildermiss (+ Arrowleaf)
Wednesday, July 6 // Doors at 7 PM // 8 PM // $10 (Advance tix recommended) // $15 Tour Supporter Ticket Wildermiss is an indie rock band. Emma Cole sings and plays synth bass, Joshua Hester plays guitar and Caleb Thoemke plays drums. They have sold out all of their hometown headlining shows since 2017 and steadily gained momentum nationwide with multiple support tours and festival spots. The band is currently working on the follow up to their quarantine singles “Supermagical” and “Italy” with plans to tour until their van dies again like it did in Michigan that one time. Official Site www.wildermiss.com Facebook www.facebook.com/wildermiss Twitter www.twitter.com/wildermiss Soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/wildermissband Instagram www.instagram.com/wildermiss Spotify https://spoti.fi/2Mw8uuQ YouTube www.youtube.com/wildermiss Arrowleaf pairs washy guitar work, humming bass, and the occasional riotous trumpet line with delicate anecdotes; dreamy conversations with wide open spaces that address stories of loss and grief on a larger scale. Featuring the introspective 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. “Getting By” also features local musicians Jim Riach, Sean Burress, Bethany Joyce, Dan Weiss, Kira Bassingthwaighte, and Kaya Juda-Nelson. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
ESP + 129,600 + Dint
Thursday, May 5 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Tour Supporter Ticket Erin Szalda-Petree is a musician from Missoula, MT. In 2020, under the name ESP, Erin created her first studio album ‘Backyard’, a collage of personal mementos from her teenage years up until the present. Other Missoula musicians, Christopher Baumann (producer), Joe Kirk, Duncan Szalda-Petree, and Noelle Huser performed on ‘Backyard’. Erin grew up listening to folk music and later found influence in pop-punk, and indie-folk songwriters. Named after a musing on the degrees in a sphere, 129,600 nods across genres with a jazzy lean. 129’s writer Jade Tcimpidis is long-steeped in Seattle DIY, having worked with iji, Mega Bog, Dozer and Sick Sad World. Bassist Kalen Walther and Jade trade instruments to form Missoula’s own Ancient Forest, now based in Seattle. Dint is salt music, loud slow, Philadelphia/Missoula, with a rotating lineup – current iteration features members of Fantasy Suite, Soft Maybe, Boys, Melon Painting. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Nightwitch + Volcanus + Perfect Blue
Friday, May 6 // Doors at 8 PM // Show at 8:30 PM // $10 For those about to rock, we salute you! Unless of course you miss this incredibly stacked lineup of Missoula riff lords featuring Nightwitch, Perfect Blue, and Volcanus. In that case, we’ll just have to shoot you a friendly nod and regale you with tales of sick mosh pits and this weird point in the night when literally everyone started playing air guitar at the same exact time. Don’t let us down. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
