Drink in American Aquarium, Willi Carlisle Saturday at Domino Room in Bend
Published 9:40 am Wednesday, August 10, 2022
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Fans of Americana music, roots-rock, alt-country and adventurous folk: I cannot urge you strongly enough to consider spending Saturday night at Bend’s Domino Room, where you can see Arkansas singer-songwriter Willi Carlilse and the North Carolina band American Aquarium.
American Aquarium is the headliner, and while they’re named after a Wilco lyric, their songs fall more in line with raspy troubadours like Steve Earle and Hayes Carll, or Southern rock kingpins Drive By Truckers. The band’s latest album, “Chicamacomico,” dials back the punk-rock energy of its younger years a bit and puts the spotlight squarely on BJ Barham’s well-crafted songs about life and loss.
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Carlisle’s opening, but don’t you dare miss him. A talented poet who shifted to songwriting to follow in the footsteps of his hero, the labor organizer and folk singer Utah Phillips, Carlisle’s new album “Peculiar, Missouri” is one of the best of 2022 so far, thanks to songs that “showcase his sharp wit, queer perspective, populist principles, storytelling acumen, and tender heart,” according to Bandcamp Daily. (Full disclosure: I wrote that. I’m quoting myself. Because I was right!)
American Aquarium, with Willi Carlisle: $20, 9 p.m. Saturday, doors open 8 p.m., Domino Room, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend, midtownballroom.com.