Original Hermans Reunite

Which Hermans were reuniting I wondered, when I saw the first listing for this event, because I had seen several musicians play under that name. "All of them," I was told by someone who should know. If the word "original" had been in the listing I still wouldn't have known, since the original band was before my time in zootown. Wednesday, October 7, saw the group above in action in the Palace.

The two guys leaning into each other above were not original Hermans, although they are unique and original musicians in their own right. This was last year's Hermans' line up, which qualified for the finals of the PBR battle of the bands. Just to avoid any confusion, let's run through the "original" group one at a time.

David Jones is also seen regularly with Rooster Sauce.

William Barney Pheiffer

Chris Ente is better known these days for his roles with Reverend Slanky and Def Cartel.

On the drums behind that trio was Derk Schmidt.

I thoroughly enjoyed this performance and once again wished I had arrived in zootown earlier. I missed so much. Thank all the powers that be, I finally came home and am now trying to miss nothing.

There are more images from this event in a set on the flickr archive. There are also sets of Rooster Sauce and Reverend Slanky, who are staples on the Missoula music scene.

Getting friendly with Dead Hipsters at the Badlander

Good Neighbor Policy proved they are more than just a rock band with a cello, as they played during the Friend x 3 Fest at the Badlander, without the cello, delivering a crisp set. Thomas Pendarvis showed his usual dashing style up front.

The only disappointment was the lack of listeners. Dead Hipster put together 24 bands, at the Badlander, for three nights of diverse, lively sounds and few showed to enjoy it. Local favorites alternated with bands from around the country in an event dedicated to friendship. What more could anyone want?


Here's Cale, playing with Apples of Discord, on Thursday.
And below, he plays with the hermans, on Saturday.


Does anybody call this fellow anything other than "the count?" And can he be mentioned without adding that he played with the International Playboys? I don't know the answer to the first, but the latter is answered with a no. For some reason the IP are stuck in the consciousness of local music fans. Given enough time, the hermans will overshadow IP and become a legend on their own.




Amanda was looking very stylish with a hat, as she played bass with Wolf Redboy on Friday of the Friends Fest. I suspect the highlight for her, however, came on the first night, when she was delighted to have her picture taken with the Oscar-winning song writers from the movie Once. They had performed as the Swell Season earlier in the evening, at the Wilma.

Glen Hansard, on the left, had some knowledge of cameras and an interest in photography. He had noticed my shooting without a flash earlier in the evening and asked what kind of results I was after.

I used the flash, bouncing it off the ceiling for this of him, his partner and Amanda.


A quick summary: three days of exciting music and few to appreciate it. My advice: quit watching American Idol. Get out and see some live and local music.

PBR, Week 1, January 31, continued

Here we have a British-style, guitar, super-group. The Hermans have the musical chops and showmanship to keep that from being an overstatement. Think Clapton, Beck and Winwood or a similar combination. The above photo appeared in the Missoulian, without the photo credit I was promised. I now embed my copyright in every image (at least when I remember to).



'Ello adds an English accent to the anguish of Michael Stipe, with an echo of psychedelia. They had the audacity to perform a Doors' song and improve on the original.

There's a great slogan: Live and Local. And so it was at PBR.

After 'Ello, Luau Cinder, who termed their music dub/funk, took a turn.

This t-shirt classic advocates closing the School of the Americas, which teaches torture techniques to foreign police and military. The department of propaganda changed its name to Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Kick-ass Training, or some such a few years ago.

No one can mention the count, without mentioning he once played with the International Playboys, a prestigious Missoula band. They broke up just after I arrived here, and I didn't make it to the farewell performance. I did buy one of their CDs, and maybe I should buy the other before I start judging, but I like every band I've heard so far with an IP alumnae better than I like what I heard on that CD.