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HOME GROWN INNOCENCE Idaho’s Innocent Man releases debut album at VAC ANDREW CRISP
A quiet Garden City wine warehouse seemed like an unlikely location to find musicians rocking out on a frosty Wednesday evening. Beyond a set of roll-up industrial doors and up a flight of stairs, a small white room held the six musicians who make up Boise band InDon’t be guilty of missing Innocent Man at Visual Arts Collective, Saturday, Feb. 9. nocent Man, seven large upright speakers, four microphones with stands, lots of instruments, piles of black cables and a trash bin full of both attorneys, inspiring the band’s name. rell explained. empty beer bottles. Meanwhile, McCain and Burns are engineers “That’s that lie I was telling you about,” “We rent it for a very, very, very small fee,” and Sprague distributes beer and wine. Callender interrupted. explained guitarist and vocalist Scott Sprague, “Lindsey is really the only full-time musi“... And I said, ‘You know, it’s time for me who spends his days working for Idaho Wine cian in the band,” said Callender. to pick that thing up again,’” Terrell said. Merchants. Terrell plays in Boise bands StoneSeed and Though she hadn’t played her violin in eight The warehouse loft acts as a clubhouse Ophelia when she isn’t playing shows with years, she agreed to meet for a rehearsal with for mid-week rehearsals. Crammed inside Innocent Man. the band. the space on a recent evening, Innocent Man Even though band members spent years “It was kind of like being set up on a blind began cranking through a set list of 25 folk, apart, music never stopped being a part of date,” she said. classic rock and Americana-influenced songs, their lives. That’s when “something kicked off,” which were all typed out on a sheet of paper “The reason I left Red House, which was according to the band. More than two years attached to a nearby speaker. a really sad day for me, was to go to law later, Innocent Man is set to release its first al“The whole idea when we first started out, school,” said Callender. “I’ve always had these bum, the 12-track Home Grown, with a party it was like a guys’ poker night,” said Sprague. weird tracks in my life; I’m doing this, I’m “We’d get together a few hours per night, bang at Visual Arts Collective Saturday, Feb. 9. doing that, but if I’m not playing music, I’m “It’s a wide range of different snapshots on some drums, and then we got to a point, not happy.” in songwriting and in band evolution,” said like, ‘Shit, this is good.’” But the band said limited time leads to a Sprague. That’s because much of the group has stronger focus on making music. The goal for the album was to capture the played together in bands over the years. “One of the things that forces us to do this band’s live performances, which blends percusSprague and guitarist Dan Burns grew the way we want to is we don’t have time to sive rock, vocal harmonies, skilled technical up together in McCall, playing in the highdo lots of experimental stuff. ... If we don’t like work and a dash of guitar solo panache. school jazz band and in their parents’ garages. it, we’re not going to spend a lot of time on it “We were playing live a lot; we were pracBassist Conlyn McCain and keyboardist Tim because we have kids and all this other stuff. ticing every week and we were really tight,” Callender were raised in Payette, and though We always said it was supposed to be just drummer Josh Sears was raised in Cody, Wyo., said Sprague. “We knew exactly what we fun,” said Sears. wanted to accomhe may as well be from When asked what they would do if the plish.” Idaho at this point. But the band wasn’t band got bigger, members were torn. Together, the five men Innocent Man With New Transit and Ophelia, “I think a lot of us sort of daydream about looking for a heavily played in bands Classic Saturday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m. doors, 7:45 p.m. it,” said Burns. produced sound. Ashley, Enormous G show, $7 adv., $10 doors. Sprague said it would have to feel right. “We wanted to and Red House, but VISUAL ARTS COLLECTIVE “I think, yes, it would be amazing to be make sure the songs they didn’t come back 3638 Osage St., Garden City full-time on the road. But I do, at the same played on the album together until they 208-424-8297 visualartscollective.com time, want to preserve the musical integrity. ... could be replicated all returned to Idaho If it starts becoming for the money, or starts live, in person. We almost 10 years after becoming for something else, I think the intent didn’t want to do 6 Red House broke up. is not that pure,” Sprague said. “And that trillion overdubs of “We all kind of 14 guitar parts, and 18 organs and X, Y, and doesn’t really interest me.” scattered to the four winds,” said Sprague. For now, Innocent Man is focusing on playZ,” said Sprague. “And really, around the same time, came ing shows in Idaho and beyond. As the album’s The band finished Home Grown despite back together.” name, Home Grown, implies, the band is busy day jobs and families. But the guys agree: Innocent Man wasn’t proud to represent its Idaho roots. “It’s a struggle to balance home life, work a serious project until violinist Lindsey Terrell “I think it does have to do with the fact that life and this life because this is obviously more came along. it’s very down to the roots,” said Callender. “My husband works with Tim’s wife, and than a hobby at this point,” said Sprague. “It’s from a place that we call home.” During the day, Callender and Sears are she said Tim was in a bluegrass band,” TerWWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M
Animal Collective climbs into Boise’s Treefort.
ETTA AND GLORIOUS POP DROP Treefort Music Fest announced its penultimate round of bands on the lineup, and it’s a doozy. Joining headliners like Animal Collective, Youth Lagoon and Sage Francis will be per formances from Portland, Ore., music royalty The Thermals and Quasi. Also, there will be not one, but three sets from local supahstahs Built to Spill, including a complete per formance of the band’s debut album Ultimate Alternative Wavers. And that’s just the start. Sets were also announced from Camper Van Beethoven, El Ten Eleven, Earth, Wolvserpent, Tartufi and Deathfix, the new band from Brendan Canty of Fugazi. See the complete list on Cobweb. Treefort organizers plan to announce the final lineup Thursday, Feb. 14, and the show schedule a week or two later. Also recently announced for Valentine’s Day is a release party for Etta, the debut EP from Edmond Dantes, the new project of Ryan Peck and Andrew Stensaas, who run Boise Rock School. That show goes down at Neurolux at 8 p.m and costs $3. A second all-ages release party happens Saturday, Feb. 23, at The Linen Building, with opening sets from The Dirty Moogs, Hey V Kay and Give Chase. It will also feature a special piece of choreography to the band’s single, “No Good So Good,” from former Trey McIntyre Project dancer Lauren Edson. Another recording set to be dropped soon is the Glorious Pop EP from local hiphop acts Oso Negro and Charles Engels. A sample track is already available on Soundcloud, but the full EP will be released Sunday, Feb. 17, with a special free performance at Tom Grainey’s at 9 p.m. But that’s all in the future. This week, you probably ought to head over to Red Room Saturday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m., to catch Bay Area electronic producer Benjamin Durazzo. He has made a name for himself playing sampler pads like a piano, with nimble fingers skating across the different sounds to make live what was once recorded. Also killing the electronic tunes this week is Boise band Phantahex. The duo’s army of synthesizers and cannon-sized monochord make the essential soundtrack to unicorn-riding fantasies and trips into virtual reality. The band headlines Radio Boise Tuesdays at Neurolux Tuesday, Feb. 12. Cerberus Rex and Abadox open. The show starts at 7 p.m. and costs $3. —Josh Gross
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