Starlighter’s Swing Band
Wednesday, March 26 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Ticket So, ya wanna dance? Swing dancing is at it’s best with Missoula’s own jazz vocalist Edie Smith and the Starlighter’s Swing Band! Starlighter’s formed in 2007 and have played a variety of venues and events, from ARTS Missoula’s First Night (now Missoula on Main), to Jazzoula, to private parties. They present material ranging from original arrangements of the Big Band era to the contemporary sounds of modern jive. This seven piece combo will have you stompin’ with joy!
Prussian Folklore w/ Modality & Cory Fay
Saturday, March 15 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter
Lightweight Champion w/ the Spills, Diaphane, & Calamity Cowboy
Friday, April 11 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Lightweight Champion exact alt-country with an air of orderliness…The melodies are simple but compelling, the rhythm section is tight, and Gabriel Delayne’s versatile piano keys makes for a formidable secret weapon […] Lyrics pair surreal, circuitous metaphorical imagery with plainspoken wills and wishes, the type of writing that’s become a staple of alt-country.” Based out of Seattle, members are Aaron Spieldenner, Gabriel Delayne, Cam Hancock (of The Whags, Coral Grief) and Tom Moskal (of Coach Phillips, High Romantics). The Spills are the strumminest, pluckinest, bowinest, shredinest, wailinest bunch of sorry sons of guns this side o the land. Diaphane is an indie-rock band currently in its high concept era, cosplaying as an ensemble of queer cowpokes who make country music… kinda. They give it their best anyway. The band is the brainchild of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Blessing (he/they), a Long Island native who exiled himself to South Dakota in 2020 amidst the urban diaspora of the covid pandemic. Originally forming the band in Philadelphia in 2016, Blessing recorded an EP of noise-folk tunes, the Red Shift EP, which he released in May of 2018, followed by the full-length LP, Portraits, released in 2022. Recorded, re-recorded, and mixed over 4 years with a sprawling cast of Philadelphia musicians, Portraits is an indie-rock epic, spanning everything from free-jazz, to emo, to punk, tied together by the concept of painting portraits of those around us, only to find ourselves in the end, reflected in every facet of what we decide the important details of our muses are. Moving out West was intended by Blessing as a journey into the wilderness, a solitary search for a voice he felt he had lost along the way in his sojourns with various bands up and down the east coast. This happened to coincide with a self-realization of identity and queerness in a place seemingly hostile to such things. Set against a picturesque western backdrop, it set the scene for the country record he’d always wanted to make. Calamity Cowboy is the colloquial name given to a group of viscous homunculi believed to have originated sometime in the early 19th century. After aimlessly wandering for a couple hundred years, they decided to start a rock and roll band together. They play a blend of country and psychedelic rock that has garnered tens of fans. It’s the real deal!
Bull Market w/ Folding Chair & Senterline
Thursday, March 27 // Door at 7:00 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Bull Market is an investment firm based out of Billings, MT. Folding Chair is backyard wrestle punk from Montana. Senterline is a punk/rock band that has been tearing up stages around Missoula and the surrounding area for years. They have created a huge following with their strange presence and incredible energy. Get ready to head bang!
Izaak Opatz w/ The Alpines
Thursday, March 6 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Ticket Like many of his favorite songwriters (John Hartford, Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy), Izaak Opatz is an ungulate in life’s winter pasture, chewing on and metabolizing disappointment, heartbreak, and the other tough stuff into enjoyable musical carbohydrates. A compulsive metaphorager (and inveterate wordplayboy), Opatz breaks it all down with enzymes of wry humor, thoughtful simile and close observation – a therapeutic process of narrativizing his own life that, almost as a byproduct, turns out savory nuggets of literate, confessional pop. The Alpines make rock and roll music in Missoula, Montana. The Alpines are made up of Shane Coburn, David Friedlander, and Russ Rabut. The Alpines love Indie music and Country and Boogie and have a cool, laid-back sound.
UM Jazz Small Groups
Monday, March 3 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // Free and Open to the Public! Join the UM Small Group program for an evening of jazz standards, contemporary tunes and originals from the University of Montana musicians as they prepare for the 45th Annual UM Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival.
Canta Brasil
Friday, March 7 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15 Artist Supporter Ticket Canta Brasil is Missoula’s only band specializing in the music of Brazil – from romantic Bossa Novai to Hot Samba, and beyond. The group features the unique vocal abilities of Magda Chaney, who sings expertly in Portuguese and is adept at a wide range of classic Brazilian styles. Utilizing a broad range of rhythms and percussion patterns, the band conveys the magical spirit of Brazilian Carnival! Composers such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Vinicius Moraes, Edu Lobo, plus many others, are represented in Canta Brasil’s highly danceable repertoire. With Magda Chaney on vocals, David Horgan on guitar, Beth Lo on bass, Graeme Pletscher on saxophone, Naomi Siegel on trombone, Pedro Marques on vocals and percussion, and Ed Stalling on percussion.For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Femme Cell, Anna McClellan, & Sardines
Sunday, March 9 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Femme Cell is psychosis rock from Portland, OR. It’s ten in the morning, and Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Wanna Wait” rings from the punchy speakers of a young Anna McClellan’s living room TV. It’s the summer of 2004, and Anna’s parents have signed up for basic cable—a lifeline for a kid left to her own devices while her parents were at work. For McClellan, shows like Dawson’s Creek, The O.C., and Friends were not just entertainment but friends and mentors, shaping her understanding of relationships and life. These long summers spent in front of the TV cemented a love of narrative that would later reveal itself through songwriting. By seventeen, Anna McClellan was performing original songs in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Her debut album, Fire Flames, garnered attention and earned her an opening slot on a Frankie Cosmos tour, setting the stage for her subsequently adored albums, 2018’s Yes and No and I saw first light, released in late 2020. Now, with her most recent release Electric Bouquet, out October 25, 2024 via Father/Daughter Records, McClellan crafts a musical journey that unfolds like one of her cherished television series. Each track is an episode, chronicling the past four years of her life – navigating a career change, a cross-country move, and relationships gone sour. Electric Bouquet is a narrative tour de force showcasing McClellan’s remarkable ability to transform life’s myriad of messy experiences into captivating musical stories. The Sardines are three 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.
flowers from the pool w/ The Sardines and Malcolm Contrares & The Relatively Elderly
Wednesday, February 12 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $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. The Sardines are three 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. Malcolm Contrares and the Relatively Elderly is a new band!
Missoula Collective Music Ensemble, Conducted by Naomi Moon Siegel
Monday, February 10 // Doors at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $5-$25 Sliding Scale Admission Featuring the entire ensemble under conduction/direction by Siegel, these collective improvisations and compositions feature “conduction”, a jazz technique utilized to organize, expand and inspire improvisation in a large group setting. “Conduction” was created by the late Lawrence “Butch” Morris and is now used throughout the world. Siegel learned Conduction from playing in Wayne Horvitz’s ensemble for many years. The first set will be an open rehearsal, and then second set will be a performance utilizing the Conduction techniques practiced in the open rehearsal. For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
