.
Glam
Rock and Surfabilly
Ovulators,
Harris highlight the week.
BY
VANESSA SALVIA
Four Eugene women, heavily armed
with mascara and glitter, have emerged as one of the area's most exciting
rock bands. The Ovulators are finding fans among those who enjoy an
energetic, glitzy, glammy stage show. The foursome, guitarist Kelani
Larsen, bassist Dori Prange, guitarist Tina Sarno and drummer Katie
Kirincic, has been a band for about a year.
Sarno and Larsen were good friends and Sarno was friends
with the other two. Larsen says "They had been talking for a while about
being in a band together and I had a band space so they finally called
me up one day and said 'You want to have band practice?' We did and
we just haven't stopped."
The women first honed their chops on covers, even though
Sarno and Larsen have been songwriters "forever." Initially, playing
songs penned by others was a way for the band to have a foundation of
equality. Now, the group performs mostly originals. Each woman brings
songs to the table and each will likely sing her own song. An Ovulators
live show is a dynamic exchange and interplay of energy as the women
sing harmonies and back-up and trade off lead singing duties.
The foursome works together well creatively and avoids
any power trips over who wrote what or what got changed in a particular
song. "The music making has always just sort of flowed for us together.
We've just lucked out." While the band's political perspectives occasionally
make their way into lyrics — usually in a humorous way —
the focus is definitely on just playing rock music, having fun and being
creative. Experientially, the band takes cues from favorite glam rock
artists like David Bowie. Musically, it's whatever the women feel like
doing. "It definitely has a punk edge. I like to say straight-forward
rock. It has a little bit of psychedelic-ness in it and we like to jam
a lot. We're really into glam rock and our stage presence and show is
a really big aspect of who we are," says Larsen.
The musicians have recorded six songs and have talked
about shaping that into an E.P. An August out-of-state tour is planned
and by that time they intend to have a packaged recording available.
The Ovulators perform on May 31 at Luckey's Tavern, along with the Shudders.
Musician Jet Harris has become one of the Northwest's
premier purveyors of "surfabilly," with his distinct blend of surf guitar
style and rockabilly rambunctiousness. Originally from Condon, a small
town in Eastern Oregon, Harris arrived in Portland for the promise of
a record deal with his old band, Boys Club. That deal fell through,
and Harris relocated to Eugene in 1983. He played with the Jackals for
a while, formed Jet Harris and the Road Rockets, then spent some time
performing as a duo. As he describes it, "acoustic stuff with a sax
player. We ended up playing just keggers and stuff."
The surfabilly siren song was too strong to resist,
however, and he reformed a couple years ago with bassist Russ Whitlach
and drummer Steve Eckroth backing him up as "his Hot Rod Hellcats."
"They've played together for like 25 years now, so they're
pretty tight. It just kind of fell into place," he says, adding they
would like to move into having an upright bassist in the near future.
Despite all the years Harris has been playing, he has
very little recorded music to show for it, having struggled with perfectionist
feelings that something has to be utterly faultless before he'll release
it. "What I have is like five songs total that I've recorded in my studio
and then millions of songs that have never gone out of the studio. I
don't like to just write a song and record it at all, but I'm starting
to loosen up on that. I have to perform it for at least a year before
I'm even interested in recording it. That way it just starts to become
natural."
Harris and the Hellcats will perform their super cool
rock and roll, "part Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley and part Link Wray
and Dick Dale" Saturday night at Cottage Grove's Tap 'N' Keg .
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AX
BILLY GRILL & SPORTS BAR
999 WILLAMETTE ST. 484-4011
SA: Group Therapy--8
BRICK HOUSE
136 4th St., Spfd. 988-1612
FR: Hard Times w/DJ Kamikaze--10; Dance,
hip hop, Top 40
SA: Johnson Unit, Rezjudikata, Avatar--10
TU: Cigar Swap--7; Big band, swing, jazz
CAFE LUCKY NOODLE
207 E. 5th Ave. 484-4777
TH: Raging Family--9:30; Trip-hop
SU: Brothers of Beat--9; R&B, hip hop, reggae
CAFE PARADISO
115 W. Broadway 484-9933
TH: Kaulean Shaughnessy--8; Folk
FR: Laura Kemp, Roy Brewer--9; Americana
TU: Musician's open mic--8
CAMPBELL CLUB
1670 ALDER ST.
TH: Open mic--7
CHAPALA RESTAURANT
68 W. 29th Ave. 683-5458
SA: Lo Nuestro—6; Latin
WE: Lo Nuestro—6; Latin
CORNUCOPIA
295 w. 17th st. 485-2300
FR: Fiddlin' Sue--6; Sue-grass
DIABLO'S
959 Pearl St. 683-3855
TH: Request night—9; DJs Supa
J, Ceez
FR: Tremorville—9; Hip-hop request
SA: House night w/DJs Howie Fresh, Anmar-9
SU: Fetish Night--9
WE: Underground Open Mic w/DJ Dynamite--9; Open
mic, hip-hop
DOWNTOWN LOUNGE
959 Pearl St. 343-2346
TH: L80's night w/DJs Jon Smith, DMoeFunk,
Ceez--9
FR: Eagle Park Slim--7; Acoustic blues, Jahkumba,
Upright Dub Orchestra, DJ Dubliminal--10; Dub, roots reggae
SA: DMoe vs. Dinari, Madgesdiq, Mic Crenshaw,
more--10; Scratch, hip hop, battle
MO: DJs Scott Von Rocket, Diablo, Monster Truck
Bikini Girls--9
TU: Stone Cold Jazz, Kenny Reed--9
WE: The Contract Killers, Romeo's Dead--10; Punk
EMBERS SUPPER
CLUB
1811 Hwy. 99 N. 688-6564
TH: Billy McCoy—9; Country
FR: Michael Anderson Trio—9; Variety, country
SA: Michael Anderson Trio—9; Variety, country
WE: Billy McCoy—9; Country
FOOLSCAP BOOKS
780 Blair Blvd.
TU: Polly Moller--8; Flute rock poetry
FOOL'S PARADISE
460 Willamette 338-9733
TH: Frogg's open mic—6:30
FOXFIRE
4740 Main, Spfd 747-7900
SA: Waylaid, Ego Machine, Basic Asusmption, Conception,
2 Buck Short--9
GOOD TIMES
375 E. 7th Ave. 484-7181
TU: Rooster's Blues Jam--8
G WILLICKER'S
440 Coburg rd. 338-9094
SU: Sonido Flamenco--6; Flamenco guitar
JO FEDERIGO'S
259 E. 5th St. 343-8488
TH: Jo Fed's All Star Jazz Jam-9
FR: Emmett Williams Trio--9:30
SA: Emmett Williams Trio--9:30
SU: Mark Allan--9; Acoustic guitar
MO: Open Mic w/Skip Jones the
Boogie Woogie Man—10
TU: Barbara Dzuro—8:30; Jazz
WE: Latin Flavor w/Paul Paydos Trio—9; Latin
jazz
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| SLOBBERBONE
PLAYS TUESDAY AT JOHN HENRY'S. |
JOHN HENRY'S
77 W. Broadway 342-3358
TH: '80s Night w/Chris, Jenn, Jon--9:30
FR: Wheel of Meat--6; Happy hour music, Ovulators,
Nimbus, Chevron, others--9; FOOD for Lane Co. benfit
SA: Jucifer, These Arms Are Snakes, Pass Out Kings--10;
Punk rock
SU: Infinity +1 Carnival of Chaos--9; Music, puppetry
MO: Rhetoric Tuesday--10
TU: Slobberbone, the Koozies, Saltlick--9
WE: Bob Marley videos, interviews, music--8, Higher
Ground Sound--10; Reggae dance hall
LAVELLE'S TASTING
ROOM
5th St. public market 338-9875
FR: Barbara Dzuro--5:30; Piano jazz
SA: Gus Russell--5:30; Jazz
LONE STAR BAR
AND GRILL
I-5 AT COBURG 686-8686
TH: Girls get wild--9; DJ dancing
FR: Guys get wild--9; DJ dancing
SA: Karaoke--9
TU: Open mic--9
WE: Coyote Ugly--8
LUCKEY'S CLUB
CIGAR
933 Olive St. 687-4643
TH: (the concubot), Pasquale, Oblio
Joes--10; Alt rock
FR: Toad in the Hole--10; Irish drinking music
SA: The Shudders, the Ovulators--10
WE: Huckleberry--10; Funky R&B, blues, reggae
 |
| THE
MATT WAYNE QUARTET PLAYS SATURDAY AT LUNA. |
LUNA
30 E. Broadway 434-5862
FR: Erik Muiderman—6:30; Guitar, Noah
Peterson Quartet--9:30; Jazz
SA: Erik Muiderman—7; Guitar, Matt
Wayne Quartet--9:30; Funky jazz guitar
WE: Barbara Dzuro--5:30; Jazz piano, Paul Orbell
Group--8; Jazz
MAC'S AT THE
VET'S
1626 Willamette St. 344-8600
TH: Christie & McCallum—7;
Oldies, country
FR: West Coast Rhythm Kings--9; Jump swing
SA: Dave Young Band--9; Rock
WE: Eagle Park Slim--9; Blues
OVERTIME TAVERN
770 S. Bertelsen 342-5028
TH: West Side Blues Jam--8:30
QUACKER'S
2105 W. 7th 485-5925
SA: Jivemasters--9; Jump blues, swing
MO: Karaoke--9; Variety
WE: Quacker's Blues Bash—8:30; Blues jam
RAMADA INN
225 Coburg 342-5181
FR: Rock-It--9:15; Rock
SA: Rock-It--9:15; Rock
 |
| STEVEN
WYNN PLAYS WITH TOMMY WOMACK SATURDAY AT SAM BOND'S GARAGE. |
SAM BOND'S GARAGE
407 Blair 431-6603
TH: Room 101, the Visible Men--9; Alt.
rock, pop
FR: Ellis CD release concert, Ashleigh Flynn--9:30;
Americana
SA: Steve Wynn, Tommy Womack, Dan Jones--9
SU: Irish Jam--4, Neil Bjorklund, Vivan's Keeper--8:30;
Americana
MO: The Devil Makes 3--9; Acoustic punk
TU: Bluegrass Jam--9
WE: The Shudders, Nicole Sangsuree, D--9; Acoustic
punk, feminist folk
SAMURAI DUCK
980 Oak St. 345-6577
TH: Rezjudikata, Grus, Allost--9;30
FR: Salt Lick, The Plains--9:30; Alt. country
MO: Shag Night--9:30; '60s-'90s pop, punk, garage
TU: Cadence--9:30
SENOR FROG'S
444 E. 3rd 484-2927
TH: Family Karaoke--6
FR: DJ Jose Cruz--10; Salsa
SA: DJ Alberto--10; Cumbia, Banda, Merengue-10
SWEETWATER'S
Valley River Inn 687-0123
FR: Shelley James Musicbox--8; R &
B, soul, gospel, dance
SA: Jake the Cat, Paul Biondi--8; Jazz
TAP 'N' KEG
1704 E. MAIN ST., COTTAGE GR. 942-8713
SA: Jet Harris and His Hotrod Hellcats--9;
Surfabilly
TINY TAVERN
394 Blair Blvd. 687-8383
SA: Le Kandy Shazz--10
SU: Dan Jones & the Squids, the Woods--9:30;
3 car garage rock
TU: Los Pistoleros--10; Latin polka
WETLANDS
922 Garfield st. 345-3606
SA: The Koozies, The Ditty Twisters,
Hillstomp--10; Alt. country, white-trash rock, hillbilly blues
 |
| SHELLEY
JAMES PLAYS THE SASQUATCH BREWFEST SATURDAY AT THE WILD DUCK. |
WILD DUCK MUSIC
HALL
169 W. 6th 485-3825
SA: Sasquatch Brewfest w/Shelley James Trio--7:30;
Rock, soul, pop, R & B, Paul
DeLay Band--9:30; Blues
WOW HALL ALL
AGES
291 W. 8th Ave. 687-2746
TH: Phunk Junkeez, Saint Dog--9; Rock, punk, Hip
hop
FR: Northwest Royale, TV:616, DFive9, Grynch--8:30;
Hard rock
SA: Club Groove--9; DJ dance, hip hop
SU: Monsterama! films w/Horror of Party Beach,
Beach Girls and Monster--7; Film
YUKON JACK'S
4th and W. Brdwy., veneta 935-1921
FR: Papaw's Blue Jelly Band--9; Rock
SA: Papaw's Blue Jelly Band--9; Rock
CORVALLIS
BEANERY
2ND ST.
FR: Madison & McCoy--8
SA: Tim Avilla--8
BOMBS AWAY CAFE
200 NW. 53rd St. 752-9011
WE: Acoustic blues jam--7:30
FOX 'N' FIRKIN'
202 SW. 1st ST. 753-8533
TH: Jim Basnight--9
INTABA'S KITCHEN
ALL AGES
1115 S. Third St. 754-6958
FR: The Nettles--9; Folk jazz
SQUIRREL'S
100 SW. 2nd St. 753-8057
SA: El Kabong--9
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