An email from Andrew R Tonry, who's down in California and wrote about Alabama Shakes this week:

dude, i hope you're going to alabama shakes.

i had to go to the show in solana beach, about an hour and a half south, near san diego because the troubadour was well sold-out and i was on the publicist's "guest waiting list," which i figured was a nice way of saying "no."

the trip was worth it. even down there the place, bigger than the troubadour, was fucking packed. and damn, they were hotter than i expected—keep in mind i knew they would be good. but they're polished good, not punk rock good.

feel like they're so bound to get huge that there's almost no ceiling. could be adele big. brittany has a ridiculously incredible voice. with it, she could be the next aretha franklin.

could also be co-opted and scrubbed for massive mall rock, corporate franchises, the house of blues and applebees 40-somethings whose other CD's include josh groban. but i think, based on my conversation with brittany, that they're purer than that. here's hoping.

either way, you'll never see 'em in a venue that size again.

You've probably noticed that we don't post about a lot of zydeco music here. In fact, scarcely a day goes by where someone doesn't say, "Hey! What about all that zydeco music you never post about on End Hits, huh?" It has been a decided oversight. But I've been an appreciator ever since becoming mildly obsessed with New Orleans music as a teenager (which is what happens when you grow up in an area that has no musical heritage of its own to speak of). I've found zydeco to be rowdy, raw dance music that, apart from its Cajun musical cousin, stands more or less alone in the American music spectrum. There's accordion. There's washboard. There are songs sung in Creole. And there's always a party. It is the opposite of the kind of music that was played in my hometown.

On that note, here's a video clip of Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys, who are playing at Duff's Garage on Sunday. And it's a barnburner. Ledet and the Playboys play a particularly rockin' brand of zydeco, with a lot of muscle in the bottom end and surf guitar licks from the guitar. Other than Queen Ida, there historically aren't a ton of female zydeco singers, and Louisiana's Ledet has me wondering why. This show looks like it'll be a lot of fun—an ideal way to keep warm on Sunday night.

Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys at Duff's Garage, 1635 SE 7th, Sun Jan 29, 8 pm, $10

The folks over at East End have been keeping this word of mouth, but tonight they debut Peghead, a new guitar-building and repair shop selling "almost exclusively locally made gear" in the belly of the club/bar—it's what the former Omnibus has evolved into. Tonight at 9 they're throwing a grand opening party with YOB, Lord Dying, and Wizard Rifle. In addition, tomorrow they're hosting a guitar and gear swap/sale at 4; both excellent opportunities to say hello to your friendly new neighborhood subterranean guitar shop.

It's finally here: Pickathon officially starts today (although there was a special secret show from Fruit Bats and Breathe Owl Breathe in the barn for those who bought an early admission ticket). The Mercury crew is heading out there shortly, and hopefully you will be, too. But if you couldn't make it or afford it or just plain hate leaving the house, there is an HD audio/video stream that you can tune into all weekend, starting at 4 pm today. The link to the stream is here (it's not live yet) and it's also on Seattle's KEXP. I caught a peek of the closed-circuit video last night and it does indeed look fab; the web broadcast promises to be very high quality as well.

The schedule for the broadcast appears after the jump. See you on the farm!

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The Sunday morning kids show will be a premiere of sorts for the new project, and word is that there will possibly be puppets (which may even be larger-than-life). Pickathon has always been kid-friendly, but this goes one step beyond. I suspect a large portion of Pickathon's adult crowd will also find this a suitable way (cough) to ease into the third day of the festival.

Sunday, August 7 at the Mt. View Stage, 10 am. Breathe Owl Breathe also performs later that day at the Workshop Barn, 5 pm.

The last show I saw at the House of Preblon was marvelously gnarled. I remember it was clear, and ice-fucking cold. Dead of winter. The bodies spilled out into the street well before the headlining Mean Jeans would go on. Inside it was shoulder to shoulder—sweat, sweaty and rank. I found an Op Ivy pin on the stairs.

When the Jeans went on the place erupted. The pit lurched back and forth across the bad construction. Everyone was spitting and slinging beer. Someone crashed into a window, nearly falling two stories to the alley below. Glass shattered on the sidewalk. Outside on the steep street the skateboarder was unfazed. He kept taking runs at the sketchy quarter-pipe. It was mayhem. Good, honest mayhem.

Now the hosts, along with their buds at Gnar Tapes, are ready for full day of it.

And we must give credit where credit is due: kudos to the folks at City Hall, who sanctioned the day-long shred down. Indeed, this one's legal. The street will be closed. Block party. Shit... maybe it's time to turn that quarter-pipe into a launch ramp... nice long run up... perhaps someone can rocket over the taco cart...

For the festivities, which begin Saturday at 3PM and run all day, the boys of Preblon and Gnar have assembled a fine lineup:

Adrian Orange
White Fang
Boom!
Grrrl Friend (record release)
Unnatural Helpers (ex The Dutchess and the Duke/Sub Pop Recs)
Ghost Mom (members of Bikini Kill/Dub Narcotic Sound System)
Youthbitch
Mustaphamond

SATURDAY: Preblon & Gnar Tapes Block Party: 420 SE 10th @ Stark - 3PM-on

On Sunday, a new documentary titled Make is screening for free at The Woods (my favorite Portland venue that used to house dead people). It's not about the crafty magazine, but rather a film that follows the paths of four very different, very unusual artists, all struggling against their unfamiliar places in society.

And why post this on the music blog? Well, besides being the film directly credited with inspiring Sufjan Stevens to record last year's The Age of Adz, copies of which will being given out at the show along with DVD's of the film, the show also features Portland Americana outfit Riviera playing a set right after the movie. So, let's see, movies, music, and...

Hopworks will be providing a free tasting of one of their fine ales.

Ok, I'm there. It's official. Watch the trailer for Make below. And be sure to RSVP to get in to the show.

Have we all gotten Rebecca Black out of systems? Yes? Can we all agree to never speak of that whole thing ever again? Yes?

Good. Let's get back to listening to good songs about Friday.

Studio version (with excellent production from Shel Talmy) here. Further evidence that the Easybeats were a phenomenal (and unjustly underrated) band here.

*Easybeats fun fact! Guitarist/songwriter George Young is elder brother of Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC. George also produced many of the band's records and even was bassist for a short bit.

I was lucky enough to catch Austin duo Agent Ribbons when I was in San Diego last week. Their indie/garage/pop sound inspired the dour denizens of San Diego to actually dance a little bit, and judging by that scale, they'll likely cause a Ferris Bueller-level dance party on North Interstate when they play The Saratoga tomorrow night.

And maybe the next day too when they do a free in store performance at Record Room on Killingsworth as well.

The Saratoga show starts at 8 pm and is $5. Orca Team and The Happening are also playing. The Record Room show on Sunday starts at 8 pm and is free.

There will also be free samples of the new Ben & Jerry flavor Bonnaroo Buzz, which—judging from the name along—tastes like BO, dreadlocks, and Port-a-Potties*. Check out the afternoon show before Here We Go Magic hops on over to the Doug Fir for a Halloween night performance with the Brothers Young.

*No. Wrong. Joke. It is actually a whiskey-and-coffee flavor, which to be honest sounds goddamn delicious.

The weather man predicts stormy weather for tomorrow—unrelenting rain, wind, even snow in the higher elevations—and what better way to welcome an early winter's lament then hunkering down in the Mississippi Studios showroom with the ultra-soothing tunes of Seabear?

Hailing from Reykjavik, Seabear is an aurally-ambling, experimental rock outfit fronted by the husky-yet- honey-voiced Sindri Már Sigfússon and including the accompaniment of six other Icelandic folk with equally-as-unpronouncable names:

Joining Sigfússon (whose unassisted musings are now released via his Sin Fang Bous moniker on Morr Music) are Gudbjörg Hlin Gudmundsdottir, Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir, Halldór Ragnarsson, Örn Ingi Ágústsson, Kjartan Bragi Bjarnason and Sóley Stefánsdóttir - all working in a wide range of solo-, band- and visual arts-projects in their own right.

Speaking of visual arts-projects—as if the band's roster is not visually-stimulating enough—check out this splattery, Jackson Pollock-meets-Blair Witch Project video for the lovely single, "I'll Build You a Fire."

You can find plenty of Seabear swag here, including their latest release, We Built a Fire. Or better yet, at the merch table tomorrow night at Mississippi Studios, next to Grandchildren t-shirts and John Heart Jackie records. Doors at 8:30pm, Show at 9pm.

Just a reminder, the Portland Drum Fair is happening right now outside of Revival Drum Shop (1465 NE Prescott)! Read more about it here, view the performance schedule here, or just head over to NE 15th and Prescott and check it out. Experts will be banging on shit, talking about banging on shit and showing you cool, rare shit to bang on until 6pm.

The highlights and a smoking-hot Mercury ticket deal, after the jump!

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