J.A.D.E. w/ Big Mosquito, Vice Cream Social, & Jumping Juniper
Monday, September 16 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter J.A.D.E. is a high-energy band hailing from the mountains of small-town Western Montana. Their wide variety of influences shines brightly in their songs. This unique, not quite rock, not exactly pop sound with an edgy punk rock twist is addictive. They send driving rhythms, interwoven melodies, and powerful vocals straight through your ears deep into your heart and soul. When on stage they are focused on bringing a sound that inspires everyone to get on their feet and dance like the universe depends on it. Big Mosquito is a local Missoula ska outfit bringing a mix of authentic ska and high energy, with renditions and covers of such classics as The Skatalites, The Specials, laurel Aitkens, Phyllis Dillon/Freddy McKay, ect. Plus originals and more lively tunes like Murphy’s law’s 1%. Big Mosquito’s goal is to bring authentic ska and love for roots music to the forefront of our rising youth movement in Missoula and beyond. Big Mosquito is made up of Zane Lambert, Maxum and Cameron Doucette, Evan Wright, Spencer Nelson, Nick Morgensen, Jacob Tirado, and Danny Boatwright. Vice Cream Social play an upbeat mix of ska, punk and rock that a crowd can dance and mosh to. Their music would be a natural fit for the soundtrack of a raunchy teen comedy or a skateboarding video game. As ska bands have done since the genre’s inception, they perform covers of hit songs that you might know the words to. Listen to this band when you’re packing a bowl— of ice cream, that is. 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/.
Citizen Snips (Sacramento, CA) w/ Riley James & Calamity Cowboy
Sunday, September 22 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Citizen Snips is an Indie Rock band out of Sacramento, California. They play with a style that blends elements of psychedelic rock, alt rock, and vintage pop with songwriting nods to the likes of Alex Turner, The Beatles, Brian Wilson, and The Strokes. This band of talented artists has managed to fuse the sounds of historic rock with a unique flavor of their own. Their music has defied the bounds of contemporary Indie Rock with their ability to develop their own flavor, style, and dynamic compatibility. The Snips are described as a genre of their own, with no limits. Recognized by the vocalist Trevor Ayers, The Snips will take you on a lyrical journey that will unravel your inner thoughts and untangle your soul. David Hill, the leader and core structure of the tempo, rhythm, and strength of the music is a well-known California drummist that is undeniably the heartbeat of the music group. Combined with the prodigious talent of Elliot Goldstien on the keys, and the timeless riffs of Eric Moody on the bass, vocals, and guitar, this extraordinary group of artists is an experience that will not be forgotten. Riley James is a multi-instrumentalist who creates music from his own life experiences. Often ranging from deep blues to experimental psychedelic pop, he has a style uniquely his. With a message of Love he strives to create an uplifting atmosphere, even when the story he is sharing is filled with pain. From electric solos to danceable rhythms, he truly has a style that is suitable for everyone. If you enjoy unique, expressive music that has soul, you will enjoy Riley James. 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! 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/.
Hez (Panama) w/ Poverty Porn & Seditious Activity
Monday, September 9 // Door at 7:30 PM // Show at 8 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Panama might be off the DIY punk map for most, but Hez have been tearing it up for a while. A few moons back, their tumultuous Guerra Interior EP exploded onto the scene, making an impact on the select few who’ve been introduced to their music. Reminiscent of Destino Final’s classic record Atrapados, Hez churns out gritty hardcore punk that pounds your eardrums with relentless percussions like a street brawl in an abandoned alley. Throw in hauntingly reverbed vocals, fractured bass, and fierce, frantic guitars, and you’re caught in the chaotic whirlwind that is their new album Panamaniacs. Peppered with more frenetic punk action and weird effects that evoke the sound of a glitching transformer, this album carves out a unique niche. While respectful of their influences, Hez have truly come into their own, proving that distinctive quality and character are the rewards of perseverance.” — Mittens, DIY Conspiracy’s 23 Raw & Filthy Hardcore Punk Records You Might Have Missed This Year, 2023 Poverty Porn is a three-piece punk rock band from Missoula, Montana. Their queer and BIPOC backgrounds also shape their unique perspective. The band’s guitarist and vocalist, Kye, is a member of the Meskwaki First Nation from Iowa, while their bassist, Anthony, is Puerto Rican. The band has had several drummers in their rotating cast, some of whom are also people of color. Their music is characterized by buzzsaw guitars, heavy bass riffs, and gruff vocals, with deeply personal and raw lyrics exploring addiction, frustration, and the struggles of life. With their latest EP, “Upper-Middle-Class-Softcore,” produced by Nataanii of the Missoula rock band Fuuls, the band showcases even more sonically punishing and emotionally charged songs than their previous releases. Their high-energy live shows create a sense of community among fans and make them a force to be reckoned with in the punk scene. Poverty Porn has a bright future ahead of them as they continue to tackle complex and uncomfortable topics with self-deprecation and humor. Seditious Activity is a punk band from Missoula, Montana. Never trust authority. 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/.
Desert Fantasy w/ Neutrino & Doctor Fly
Sunday, September 15 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Desert Fantasy features all original compositions and presents an eclectic mix of acoustic instruments: percussion, vibraphone, marimba, and drumset, blended with electronics: analog synths, drum machines, and live processing. Desert Fantasy sounds like old video game music that combines elements of math rock while blending traditional world percussion. Caleb ‘Neutrino’ Yeatts is a multi-instrumentalist whose primary musical discipline is playing handpan. With instruments crafted by Harper’s Handpans (Lake Havasu, AZ) and Celestial Sound (Melbourne Australia), Neutrino suspends haunting melodies over layers of rhythmic complexity, freely moving between composition and improvisational choice. Doctor Fly is an electronic musician who haunts Missoula, MT. Harnessing a brood of mysterious music machines, he enkindles an interdimensional space; all who enter shall be imperceptibly yet undeniably changed. Doctor Fly performs improvisational compositions on the guitar, keyboard, recorder, theremin, kazoo, and drum machine. For more information visit www.seansong.org. 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/.
Elana Hayden w/ Mike Gillan, Mike Leslie, Owen Ross, & Joe Sullivan
Wednesday, September 11 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 Advanced // $12 Day of Show // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Join New York vocalist, Elana Hayden & some of Montana’s most renowned and respected musicians when they perform LIVE at the Zootown Arts Community Center (ZACC) in Missoula, MT! This is Elana’s first time performing at ZACC and she’s thrilled to be joined by Montana players, Mike Leslie (bass), Owen Ross (guitar), Mike Gillan (drums) & Joe Sullivan (piano). Guest artists from Missoula will also sit in with the band for a few songs during the show, including Bob Packwood, Doc Halsell, Lhanna Writesel, and Milan House – so don’t miss this exciting event! Enjoy familiar songs from Patsy Cline to Hoagy Carmichael, John Prine to Elvis Presley, Ben E. King to Carole King, & Etta James to Norah Jones. ELANA HAYDEN is a versatile and seasoned vocalist who has written, recorded, produced, and licensed numerous songs, jingles and voiceovers for TV, film, radio, and video including spots for Showtime, HBO, and the NBA, among others. She has appeared and/or recorded with Bernard Purdie (Aretha Franklin), Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel), Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors), Jon Herington (Steely Dan), and Richie Cannata (Billy Joel), to name a few. As a session singer, Elana was a member of several groups, both as a lead and background vocalist, recording and releasing songs in the U.S. and abroad. She was featured on Q-Club’s, “I’ll Be There,” in Italy, Force of 2’s single “Victory is Ours” (Tommy O Records), appeared on Teddy Kumpel’s CD, “Nome Sane” (Hooney Records) and sang lead vocals for the group “Push” on their cover of the ABBA song, “The Winner Takes It All”( Blank Frank Records). Elana toured with “Beehive: The 60s Musical,” the band “Renegade,” and “All About Joel,” a NY-based Billy Joel Tribute Band. She has enjoyed success with her debut album, “Carry You Home” and her voice and music can be heard on various forms of media across the globe. A native New Yorker, Elana recently made the move to Billings, Montana and now splits her time between The Big Apple and Big Sky Country. Elana is beyond thrilled to perform at the fabulous Zootown Arts Community Center and is thankful to make music with some of the most renowned and respected musicians in Montana. www.elanahayden.com For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
Kelly Hunt (Memphis, TN) & Lee Rizzo
Thursday, September 12 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $12 Advanced // $15 Day of Show Memphis-raised singer-songwriter Kelly Hunt paints stories as old and offbeat as her Depression-era tenor banjo and parlor guitar, reimagining traditions of folk, blues & old-time music in a style that hovers beyond the constraints of genre à la Anaïs Mitchell & Gillian Welch. Hunt’s debut album, Even The Sparrow, was released in May 2019 and named as a finalist for the International Folk Music Awards “Album of the Year.” Her sophomore album, Ozark Symphony, was recorded with Grammy-winning musician & producer Dirk Powell and released on Compass Records in October 2023. Kelly has toured nationally and internationally since 2018 and has opened for the likes of Josh Ritter, Pokey LaFarge, Sarah Harmer, Great Lake Swimmers, John McCutcheon, and The Gibson Brothers. “Kelly Hunt sings with the lilting cadence of a folksinger born somewhere far away, sometime long ago.” — ROBERT CRAWFORD [ROLLING STONE COUNTRY] “Standing shoulder to shoulder with contemporaries like Gillian Welch and Rhiannon Giddens…folk music harking back to the stripped-down sounds of Leadbelly, Robert Johnson and Woody Guthrie.” — JOHN VAITES [AMERICANA UK] Lee Rizzo is a humanist folk artist based in Missoula, MT. She released her debut solo album Moon Light Moon, June 2022. “Music is so many things of my spirit and my flesh and it is none of these things. It is something else entirely. Something that cannot be known, where no thought can harness its mystical arithmetic. It belongs to us all and to no one. I am always singing, sometimes the singer and sometimes the song. Singing has been an essential aspect of my connection to my humanity, my story, and to my world. I have been making songs since I was a child. Chanting around my house, making rhymes while walking to and from school. I tried to sound like others and still try to be with my own sound. I could never say for sure how music would be for me, It just was. I avoided studying hard and didn’t like being told what to do. I was a student of life and my impulses. I followed rules barely when my life depended on it. Music lives in me this way too. It shows up when it wants and stays as long as it wants and as far as I know I have little say in the matter. I have a lot to say on a lot of matters and so writing just happened. Starting without paper and a lot of talking to myself. I love to rhyme and I speak the language of metaphor. Eventually my mental wanderings became journaling, then poetry and song. I have compiled this work from the last 16 years of my life as a student of a most intimate love. There is no way to sum up its meaning here in these words. I invite you to listen.” https://www.leerizzo.com For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
ESP w/ Motorhome + Hannah & Sloane
Sunday, September 8 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter 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. 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. Hannah & Sloan are a melodic and lyrically driven duo beginning their journey into the world of song. The goal of their work is to one day compel an audience to slowly thrust their heads in a state of melancholy bliss. 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/.
Mega Bitch w/ support from Why We Went West
Thursday, September 5 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Embarking on a mesmerizing sonic odyssey, Britt Arnesen, Becca Kelley, Gabrielle Tusberg, Maria Zepeda and Damien Margo converge their talents to craft an enchanting experience on stage. This dynamic group transcends musical boundaries, effortlessly traversing the sonic world of sound. Together with their combined years of songwriting and music making they seamlessly weave threads of advocacy, storytelling, humor, and healing. Their artistic expression is kaleidoscopic, rendering performances that are limitless and atmospheres that are both inviting and eccentric, always perfectly attuned to the moment. As they unite in harmonious collaboration, they create a sanctuary for the soul, beckoning audiences to immerse themselves in the captivating magic of their collective artistry. Welcome to the enchanting world of Mega Bitch — a satirical realm of unfiltered, transformative growth that invites you to join the audacious journey. 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/.
Ivory Daze w/ Wildlands & Perfect Blue
Tuesday, September 3 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Ivory Daze is an alternative shoegaze band from Lincoln, Nebraska formed in early 2022. Consisting of Isahen Harms, Maeve Nelson, and Van Foster. They released their debut EP “Doing Just Great” in May of 2023 and released their newest single “Junebug” August 16th. The band seamlessly mixes new sounds and ideas with classic 90s grunge influences while consistently pushing how much power a three piece can have. Wildlands is an aspiring Indie Rock Quartet based out of Missoula. The band creates and performs with an electrifying stage presence for all to enjoy. The power of the songwriting and the chemistry between the members creates an infectious atmosphere full of excitement, heartbreak and the urge to move around. Wildlands is here to inspire, entertain and show the world the passion of music. The band consists of Ben MC, the snow loving frontman. Josh Streit, the resident electrician that rips on the guitar. Runyon Matthews, the 1# King Gizzard fan that lays down the bass and Spencer Nelson the Titan of sound behind the drums. Perfect Blue is an Instrumental, Experimental Post-Rock band from Missoula, Montana. 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/.
Turtle Tuesday w/ The Naked Limbs & Shane Coburn
Wednesday, September 4 // Door at 7 PM // Show at 7:30 PM // $10 // $15-$20 Artist Supporter Formed in 2022, and based out of Missoula MT, wearing their influences and hearts on their sleeves, strides Turtle Tuesday. Your new favorite local band. Meeting and forged in the blazing hot fires of heartbreak, raising reptiles, and playing 20+ year old video games. This electric and exciting DIY basement/garage punk/emo/folk/whatever group is hard focused on delivering you the best possible sounding method of receiving tinnitus. They’ll have you fumbling over your words when asked by your friends as to what genre they play, before you inevitably retire the effort and answer “uhh, rock”. Featuring frontman Kage, drummer Griffin, guitarist Collin and John on bass, expect electrifying performances with tracks whose lyrics detail a splendid range of topics. From whaling about death, to finding happiness, to the woes of public transportation infrastructure. Keep an eye out for their upcoming performances and debut project on the horizon. And in the meantime, they’d love for you to swing by the Hellgate Elk’s Club on Tuesdays to play Super Smash Bros Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube. The Naked Limbs play music with rocks in it. Shane Coburn is a songwriter and performer in Missoula, MT. Coburn is active in the Missoula open mic scene and performs songs he’s written about life in Western Montana. His solo music is often described as “Alt-Country” and “not too bad”. The music shoots for clever and skewed, and was designed to make people giggle and sometimes dance. 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/.
