Okkervil River

November 5th was another big night at the 400 Bar. I guess I could briefly tell you about it. Well, first Michael Morris, a local singer/songwriter who recently moved back from Seattle, put on a very nice show with his band.


Michael Morris

Then Minus Story soothed us with their dreamy indie psych. Can’t say they were the most exciting band to watch, but they were enjoyable nevertheless. And I have to say, their new album, No Rest for Ghosts, has really been growing on me.


Minus Story

Last, but not least, Okkervil River played. Yay! I had never actually seen Okkervil River before, but singer/guitar player Will Sheff looked very familiar. I wondered if maybe I had seen him around while he was attending Macalester College in St. Paul. Probably not. Maybe I just confused him for…umm…Elvis? Anyway, the show was great, and Okkervil River was a lot more energetic than I expected.


Okkervil River

Did you know that Will Sheff and keyboard player Jonathan Meiburg are in another band together called Shearwater (in which Jon is the chief songwriter/singer)? Yeah, I fell in love with them during this year’s SXSW (Will wasn’t able to join them during SXSW, so no, that’s not where I recognized him from). Of the two bands, Okkervil is more widely known, but I’m telling you, if you’re able to hunt down a Shearwater record, you will not be disappointed.

On an interesting and related side note, the Tuesday after the Okkervil River show, I went to the Playwrights’ Center to hear a reading of a play written by Kim Burke, the bassist from Shearwater. Every year, the Playwrights’ Center awards fellowships to five promising playwrights from around the country and invites them to perfect their art in our thriving theater scene. Kim was selected to be part of this elite group known as the Jerome Fellows. The other four fellows also presented bits and pieces of their own plays during the reading. All were excellent. One of the plays even included a sound collage done by Jon Nelson (a.k.a. Escape Mechanism, and host of Some Assembly Required). Exciting stuff.

Archives:
Shearwater @ Emo's (SXSW): March 16, 2005