[calendar] Through Jan. 5, 2013
platts and scrubs It’s too bad country music radio is so bad these days. Like Kim Kardashian, country is a thing I want to love but can’t. And much like Kim, modern country has abandoned classic looks and sounds in favor of garish pop sights and milquetoast sounds we can all agree on. By “we” and “all” I mean ladies who work at the bank and dudes who drive water haulers in North Dakota’s oil patch. Those people are trapped behind a desk or a wheel all day, yet they are not the ones complaining about the state of modern country tuneage. I guess music really can turn people into zombies, just like my high school principal Dick Krominga said, rest his soul. Fortunately, Coeur d’Alene’s Sam Platts and the Kootenai Three don’t give a honk or a toot about fitting into office background soundtracks. They play traditional country music anchored by Platts’ steel guitar and baritone voice. The group’s sound is reminiscent of longtime Texas troubadour Dale Watson. The songs are slow and lack the repetitive bumper sticker slogan choruses of your Toby Keiths and Blake Sheltons. Unlike “The Voice’s” Shelton,
and
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music that one might sip whiskey to while leaning over the kitchen sink on a melancholy winter evening, the kind people used to dance to in grange
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WHEN: Sat., Dec. 29, at 9 PM
THROWBACK TO THE WAYBACK
WHERE: VFW, 245 W. Main St. HOW MUCH: $4
Platts manages to keep his vocal hiccups from sounding like a sea monster swallowing a school of clown fish. On tracks like “You Can’t Dance with Memories” and “If Given Half the Chance” the slide sings and wails and Platts quietly emotes in what amounts to a deep-throated whisper. It’s the kind of
The Heart 2 Heart Duo rings in the New Year with dancing tunes for the aged set who still party like its 1949 at the Missoula Senior Center, 705 S. Higgins Ave. 9:30–Midnight. A First Night event. For pert-near 25 years Pinegrass has played some bluegrass tunes together every week. Whoa, nelly. See them at Break Espresso, 423 N. Higgins Ave. 9:30–10:15 PM. A First Night event. John Floridis plays music at the UC Theater. 9:45–10:30 PM. A First Night event. The band is big and so is its horney sound, check out the Ed Norton Big Band at the UC Ballroom form
Édouard Bisson, French, 1856-1939, Sitting by the Sea, 1882, Oil on canvas, Courtesy of a Private Collection photograph by Kaz Tsuruta
Meloy & Paxson Galleries at the PARTV Center | 406.243.2019 museum@umontana.edu | www.umt.edu/montanamuseum
WHO: Sam Platts and Kootenai Three, with locals P.D. Lear and Ryan Bundy
Party like the prissy posse at the Sunrise Saloon, 1101 Strand Ave., with Mark Duboise and Crossroads, who make the dancin’ go. 9:30 PM. $5.
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halls on Saturday nights. If you listen to Sam Platts and the Kootenai Three closely, you can hear the dancers’ feet shuffling across the floor.
10:30–Midnight. A First Night event. Nibble on the diddle when Tapas World Jazz Ensemble performs a pip of everything this First Night at the University Center, 3rd Floor, Rm. 326. 10:30–11:15 PM. Did you do the didgeridoo, too, dude? The Drum Brothers are all about it, check ‘em at the UC Commons 10:30–Midnight. A First Night event. Groovy jams? Check. Classic rock anthems? Check. Comatose Smile, y’all, at the Wilma Theatre. 10:45– 11:30 PM. A First Night event.
TURSDAYJAN.01 Happy 2013, folks! Not everything is open and not everything is closed. Call ahead or check online just to be safe. Cheers!
—Jason McMackin
Fun with Yoga at the Families First Children’s Museum might work for you and the kids. It might make you cry, too. 11 AM. 225 W. Front. $4.25. Hey hunters and other liars, come on down to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation conference room for Shootin’ the Bull Toastmasters, at 5205 Grant Creek Dr., and work on your elk-camp locution with the best. All are invited. Noon–1 PM. Free. Learn how to give and receive empathy with Patrick Marsolek during Compassionate Communication, a non-violent communication weekly practice group, at the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center. 519 S. Higgins. Noon–1 PM. Free. Knitting For Peace meets at Joseph’s Coat, 115 S. Third St. W. All knitters of all skill levels are welcome. 1–3 PM. For information, call 5433955.
Ring It In, Baby! So long, 2012. Start your New Year's Cheer by circling up at the Iron Horse.
Join us for a champagne toast this New Year’s Eve. Thanks for a great 2012, Missoula! Something New Is Always Happening At The Horse
501 N. Higgins • 728-8866
missoulanews.com • December 27 – January 3, 2013 [35]