More photos after the jump!

Deep waters run curiously serene. Consider the multiple folded, crumpled, inter-woven layers of maritime life surging and withdrawing within the strata of an ocean trench.

Now, picture the face of the ocean on an apparently calm day. The tide rises, the tide falls. Breathe in, breathe out. A wind stirs a swell that makes you gasp – the tide rises, the tide falls, and you breathe more calmly in the peace.


Budwig, curiously, reaches his listeners with the same effect as this natural phenomenon. Years of sounding the depths of personal trauma and family tragedy have given Budwig a profound familiarity with the deep waters he lets stream into his piercing lyrics; bobbing along to the accompaniment, they begin mildly, gather steam, and swell as the throaty current of Budwig’s husky vocals and buoyant guitar reach a zenith of intensity.

Although it is difficult to hear unless tipped off, Budwig claims the control and gradual grand rise of momentum in the first albums of Coldplay as a model for his tunes. Similarly, you can hear the playful quality of Vince Guaraldi in the Budwigger’s strings, after a hint. “Basically, I just want to make people feel good when they listen to my music, not in a stupid way but in a really genuine way,” explained Budwig.

Budwig has taken a newish direction for his indigo blues by coming together with his life-long friend Andy Abrams and his prodigy-pal Cooper Trail to form Bart and the Budwiggers, a natural outgrowth of the trio’s jamming as a church worship team. Abrams, a local civil engineer and father of two, taught Trail to play the drums when he was six. Now Trail, 13, is in 8^th grade and at least five other bands and he jokes that Abrams’ claim to fame will be as his teacher. In his off-time from homework and band practice, Trail also rides the unicycle which, if you needed something more, is absolute proof of extraordinary talent. Trail’s rhythm ‘n’ beat behind Abram’s super-solid lead guitar give Budwig the freedom to explore the full emotional range of his songs with his vocals. The release is beautifully apparent, especially as a song approaches its climax.  This sense of liberation sets the Budwiggers apart from Bart’s solo work.

If you need to instill your soul with calm waters, or require an upbeat song to put priorities in their place, I recommend the Budwigger blues.
Catch the Budwiggers at the Battle of the Bands Fri., 10 April, 7:00 at the CUB Senior Ballroom in Pullman or check out their next show at the 1912 Center in Moscow on Fri., 18 April, at 10:00 p.m.

Molly is a freelance journalist and a senior at New St. Andrew’s College with a special interest in postcards and goldfish.  She writes for The Loop 21 and keeps the blog A New Amsterdam.

Jared ‘Robert’ Dunn and his band play alternative country tunes with a strong Western flavor (which I hereby appropriate inappropriately and refine here to mean both the North and South West). Sounds like Merle Haggard got in a fight with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, it came up a draw (Haggard’s age, Tweedy’s migraines), they shook hands, and wrote a song about it. Good for what ails you.

http://www.myspace.com/robertdunnandthenorthcountry

Brady Allen just laid down an impressive set on our own Stereopathic Sessions (12:00 PM-2:30 PM PDT on KUOI FM, Moscow, 89.3, or here http://kuoi.com/index.html). His Myspace page below hosts a couple of those songs. Brady’s music sounds like G-Love dropping in for open-mic night with a folkie friend of yours on an evening in July.

http://www.myspace.com/bradyallensongs

From what we’ve heard of him Bart’s music ranges from Old School Folk to Blues to Beck-ish experimentation. He knows his way around his recording equipment in addition to being a multi-instrumentalist.

http://www.myspace.com/bartbudwig

We already mentioned the radio show (Stereopathic Sessions at 12:00 PM-2:30 PM PDT on KUOI FM, Moscow, 89.3, or here http://kuoi.com/index.html). Check it out. People say it’s fun. Who? Just, you know, people.

Live music? Where people plug in instruments and sound systems and lay their souls bare for your amusement? This Saturday, March 29 from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm Bart Budwig proposes to do just this for a room full of people at Arts Place Gallery Concert Space (205 S. Washington). The aforementioned Brady Allen also appears, along with the oft-buzzed about folk duo The Wolffs (come up with your own variation on joke about how you shouldn’t get too close . . . or feed the animals . . . or how they really need to reconsider not dubbing themselves ‘Mama Wolff and the Feral Children’) .

That’s what we’ve got right now. Check back for updates, as well as (we’re hoping) audio and video from the show. Enjoy the weather. It won’t last forever.