#erik ostrom

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An Evening at The Warming House

A week after seeing Savannah Smith and batterboy at The Warming House, I returned to the venue to see a friend from the Improv scene--Erik Ostrom--perform an opening set for School for Girls.

The Warming House is located in South Minneapolis, sharing space with the Farmstead Bike Shop at the corner of 40th Street and Bryant Ave South. It is a quiet neighborhood, easily accessible by bike and bus (route 4), and a great location for a listening room.

I invited a Twitter friend (@Meteorshowered) to meet me before the show and arrived a few minutes before her. Once she arrived, we sat on the porch and introduced ourselves while enjoying a calm, warm summer evening. The porch at The Warming House is a perfect spot to meet pre-show for friends or couples, a quiet place to catch up before enjoying an evening of live music. 

As the show neared we went inside and I bought a La Croix before heading downstairs to the listening room. There is a great spot in the back of the room, two folding chairs on a raised platform, offering a great vantage for those who take a lot of photos at the show. As we descended the steps someone took this spot, but we were fortunate enough to score seats on the couch at the side of the stage.

After chatting for a few moments about the venue and the performer (a friend from the Improv scene), Erik Ostrom was introduced and everyone in the room applauded as Erik took the stage. Erik’s confident stage presence was a small surprise, but I had forgotten he has performed live plenty of times in the past. (Also, performing in front of so many people from the Improv scene--a very supportive group--might have lent to confidence on stage). Choosing from one of two acoustic guitars he used during the set, Erik smiled, made a self-deprecating comment and started playing. 

By Your Side, the second song in the set, was introduced with the disclaimer it would be the saddest moment of the evening. Erik informed us the song was about being stuck and the theme seemed to resonate on the couch where I was sitting. 

King Crab (or, The Alaskan King Crab King of Pierre, South Dakota), a song about a commercial fisherman who isn’t really a fisherman was a set highlight. For me, King Crab contained hints of the Decemberists and was performed at the right time in the set. The song displayed Erik’s ability as a lyricist, witty and perceptive while capturing his sense of humor. Erik’s raspy timbre rounded out the song. 

Shine, a song about the intimacy of marriage, was my favorite song of the evening. Repeating the refrain Shine like the ocean over and over reminded me of the repetitive nature of relationships, doing the same thing over and over again and finding beauty in the repetition. There was a beauty in the repeated refrain and Shine proved a perfect song to perform live in a listening room.

Erik brought two friends from the Improv scene and members of the headlining act School for Girls--James Rone and Sinez Yargici Lennes--on stage to share backing vocal duties for the final two songs and the harmonies that resulted were fantastic. Closing with Rocket Ship High, a whimsical number with an impromptu grammar lesson, Erik went out on a high note. Every opening act should close their set with a song like Rocket Ship High, an uptempo song about remembering but also going forward. 

Erik Ostrom performed a wonderful opening set and we enjoyed our time at The Warming House. But, with apologies to School for Girls, a free Soul Asylum show at the Stone Arch Bridge Festival had been announced earlier in the week and my friend and I decided to leave after Erik’s set so we could catch the end of Soul Asylum’s set. 

If you haven’t seen a show at The Warming House, I highly recommend the venue. With the small porch and the intimate listening room, it is the perfect location for a date or some one-on-one friend time. Check out The Warming House’s calendar here.

Visit Erik Ostrom’s amazing YouTube page here and hope he decides to perform again locally some time soon. 

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36-hour whirlwind of local music

Last Thursday was the opening night of Music in Mears 2016 and the beginning of a 36-hour whirlwind of seeing local music. 

After missing Dusty Heart at Acadia in March and arriving for their set at Indeed during Art-a-Whirl fifteen minutes late, I finally arrived in time to see an entire Dusty Heart set at Mears Park. Dusty Heart, a collaboration of local folk/country singer-songwriters Barbara Jean and Molly Dean, were the perfect opening act for Music in Mears 2016. 

Knowing the weekend would bring a heat wave, the largest opening night crowd ever for Music in Mears basked in the partly-sunny early evening skies as a steady breeze cooled attendees and carried the aroma of food trucks across the park. Children danced and played and older attendees sat in lawn chairs facing the stage as Dusty Heart began their set. Combining traditional Americana covers with original material, the ladies played a forty-five minute set. Cigarettes and Matches was the highlight of the set, showcasing the tight harmonies and multi-instrumentalists Barbara Jean’s fiddle playing. 

After Dusty Heart finished playing I stopped for a cup of coffee at Black Dog Cafe, before hopping on the Green Line and riding back to downtown Minneapolis. I caught Canadian band Plants and Animals in the Entry before heading over to the West Bank to see Church Dads play the second week of their Minneseries June residency at Nomad World Pub.

I arrived halfway through Church Dad’s set, during their cover of Frank Ocean’s Swim Good, ordered a beer and settled in to hear the rest of the set. The band shined on Don’t Make Me Wait, from the new Dick Scully EP. Lead singer Paula’s vocals had a smokiness to them not found on the recorded version, perfect for the Nomad setting. The bottom end of the song grooves and the keys make for a delicious jam. Closing out their set with a cover of Rihanna/McCartney/Kanye’s FourFiveSeconds, the band members took turns on vocals in a fun ending. 

I’m excited to see what happens with Church Dads during and after this residency. Having seen up-and-coming bands like Bones and Beeker and Jack and the Coax complete the Minneseries residency this year, it is interesting to see bands come up with new ideas to keep each show fresh. Church Dads still have two weeks left (and Silverback Colony is on the bill this week), so check them out.

After Church Dads finished playing, I heard word Private Interests were playing across the street at Palmer’s Bar. Private Interests were a late addition to the Memory Lanes Block Party and put on a very fun show under the tent (due to the rain), so I wanted to see how the band sounded indoors.

On their Facebook page, Private Interests cite only Cheap Trick and early-mid 20th Century American and Russian literature as influences and they are not lying about Cheap Trick. Private Interests has riffs for days. Imagine if Iron Maiden and Green Day had a child, the child absorbed all of his parents musical knowledge and then decided to cut an album during his rebellious teenage phase and you sort of know what Private Interests sound like. 

Friday night I was able to see one of my favorite local bands, batterboy, perform at the Warming House. It was my first visit to the Warming House and I enjoyed the intimate venue as well as the hospitable hosts (and the Cran-Rasberry La Croix) 

Savannah Smith opened for batteryboy, playing in front of a full house with her six string while perched on a stool in the middle of the stage. The crowd, mostly middle-aged seemed to enjoy Smith’s set from the beginning. Her unique style of vocal phrasing and vulnerability were a perfect match for the room and her humorous between-song banter kept the mood light amid all of her sad songs. Smith’s cover of Magnetic Fields Book of Love was a brilliant choice, performed at the perfect moment during her set. 

After a brief break, batterboy took to the tiny stage, managing to fit all five musicians and all of their musical equipment onto the stage while retaining enough space to play their instruments. The show was advertised as a chance to hear the band play their upcoming album Before the Silence Breaks with the opportunity to pre-order the album (and receive bonus material with the pre-order). 

Despite the intimate size of the room, the band was able to tailor their sound to fit the room. Before playing Recover, Cobey Rouse (lead singer, guitarist) advised us they were scaling back the song for the room but that it would be the rocker on the new album. The scaled back version rocked though, with a fantastic electric guitar riff and driving beat. A highlight of the evening was hearing the reworked Remember Me Now (from the original batterboy limited release North), now featuring distorted guitars and cello. The song received a rousing applause from the die-hard batterboy fans familiar with the original version. In a rare treat, the band was able to bring the trombone player who recorded in the studio with them for the show and hearing a trombone live on You Don’t Need To Disappear was special. 

Batteryboy sounded great and the new album is going to be amazing. You can pre-order the album Before the Silence Breaks here and also catch the band for their album release party at Icehouse on August 5th (with refundpolicy favorite, the Ericksons, sitting in as special guests).

After batterboy’s set had ended and I had pre-ordered my copy of Before the Silence Breaks, I moved on to the Nomad World Pub to join a birthday celebration featuring several local bands. Fury Things took the stage shortly after my arrival and played a blistering half-hour set, concluding with covers of Green Day, Beastie Boys and Husker Du. I’ve seen Fury Things a number of times now, but on the heels of seeing batterboy I was reminded of the Fury Things acoustic set at Southern Theater Sessions II back in late-2014. Talking with the band after their set at Nomad, they did not rule out playing another acoustic set in the future when I mentioned how rare the Southern Theater Sessions set was. If it happens, it will be a can’t-miss show.

On tap this week:

Friday, 6/17:

Erik Ostrom, at the Warming House, opening for School for Girls (get tix here)

Stone Arch Bridge Festival, now including a free Soul Asylum set on Friday night

Saturday, 6/18:

My favorite weekend of the year–Rock the Garden! It is only one day this year (going old-school) and has moved temporarily to Boom Island, but the line-up is killer and it is Grrrl Prrty’s last show ever, so another can’t-miss show.

Sunday, 6/19:

Stone Arch Bridge Festival finishes up with sets from local acts like Whiskey Rock ‘n’ Roll Club MPLS, Federales and Footfall. 

[brantastico]

my friend erik ostrom wrote a perfect little gem of a song. i stole it away and tried to make it even perfecter by adding some harmonies and a glockenspiel. here's the end result. it makes me super, super happy.

this was one of those songs that, even after i got a take i liked, i kept singing anyway. it is the snuggliest blanket. go wrap up in it.

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Bill Shaouy, Erik Ostrom, Robbie Rist, Bob Fenster, Jeff Jensen, Peter McDade, Debra Tala, Thom Bowers and Kai Stewart cover Kansas's "A Glimpse of Home" for the Five Senses: Sight theme the week of November 25, 2012.