How much talent can one guy have? If you’re Sonny Smith, that has yet to be determined. His current resume includes singer-songwriter, artist, author and accomplished playwright. His 2010 art installment 100 Records may be one of the most ambitious and notable exhibits by an artistic musician on record. In it, he asked 100 musicians to create album artwork for fictional bands, which he then proceeded to write and record roughly 200 songs for the made-up groups, all of which was displayed in a fully functional jukebox at Gallery 16 in San Francisco. Seriously, the guy is beyond talented and totally committed to his craft. And yet, throughout it all, he still finds creative inspiration to record dynamite albums with his band, The Sunsets.
Since 2009, Sonny & The Sunsets have been churning out laid-back beach pop, and they look to float even higher in their dream-like bubble with a new album, Talent Night at the Ashram, to be released on February 17—the same night they play here in Portland! Originally envisioned as a film project where each song would be a short story weaved together into a full feature film, Smith began auditioning and filming portions only to realize the project was an album in itself. With several off-the-wall characters and absurdly bizarre storylines, listeners are taken on a hallucinogenic voyage through a landscape of sound touching on a myriad of genres, like ‘60s folk and a bit of jazz, while The Sunsets still remain true to their West Coast surf-and-turf identity.
Armed with her guitar and drum machine, Colleen Green looks to shake up the Doug Fir stage on Tuesday, February 17 with a bit of minimalist rock before things get a little cozy down in the sand. Her songs and sound are akin to quick-quipped punk bands such as The Ramones or Best Coast and, as she would concur, best enjoyed while medicated! Currently residing in Los Angeles, Green boasts an impressive collection of songs, a widely read blog, and a comic strip amongst her resume. She’s the kind of girl you’d wanna write home and tell your mom about… if your mom was Joan Jett!
