Being an annotated schedule of the guitary greatness on offer at the festival.
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | August 29, 2007
An annotated schedule of the Time of Rivers festival:Saturday afternoon — The Soundpost
1-1:35 PM CURSILLISTAS— The young guy, and ringleader of Portland’s scene-boosting L’Animaux Tryst label.
1:50-2:25 PM NONLOC— Digital pop meets free-folk; Brooklyn artist’s Between Hemispheres is one of the better records from this year I’ve read next to nothing about, and this set ought to be a crowd-pleaser.
2:40-3:15 PM ZAIMPH— Marcia Basset of bands GHQ and Double Leopards; violent guitar drones once describes as “like a barbed wire Q-tip.”
3:30-4:05 PM STEVE GUNN— Drugged-out guitar and harmonica from full/part-time member of GHQ, Moongang, and current “Next Big Weird Things” Magik Markers. Praised for his natural fusion of folk and metal influences.
4:20-5 PM MATT VALENTINE— Much-hyped solo jaunt from Tower Recordings renaissance-man instrumentalist about to release an album drummed by Dinosaur Jr. guitar hero J Mascis.Saturday night — One Longfellow Square
8-8:45 PM ILYAS AHMED— Pakistan-born acoustic/electric guitarist recording intense tone poems for Time Lag.
9-9:45 PM CRAIG VENTRESCO— Former leader of the jazz band Bo Grumpus; solo ragtime work best remembered as the score to Terry Zwigoff’s career-making documentary Crumb.
10-10:45 PM GLENN JONES— Multi-instrumentalist from Boston’s Cul de Sac and a former collaborator with John Fahey whose solo works feel like the soul of Americana. Likely one of the best sets of the festival.
11-11:45 PM JACK ROSE— Ragtime and African rhythms inform the ever-touring Pelt guitarist’s acclaimed solo work.
MIDNIGHT-1 AM FIRE ON FIRE— Five of the best and most confident musicians Portland’s got, bound together in alternately dark and joyous and maniacal acoustic reverie. Whatever kind of catharsis you’re looking for, you’ll find it here.Sunday afternoon — The Soundpost
1-1:35 PM JOSHUA BURKETT— Free-folk from western Massachusetts, with psychedelic underpinnings lending themselves to fawning comparisons to Six Organs of Admittance.
1:50-2:25 PM MIKE TAMBURO— Runs the touted New American Folk Hero label out of Pittsburgh, known to destroy and/or recreate instruments and release singles comprised of the resulting sounds.
2:40-3:15 PM MARC ORLEANS— Blissed-out no-wave and finger-picked blues from sometimes-member of “New Weird America” cornerstones Sunburned Hand of the Man.
3:30-4:05 PM ERIC CARBONARA— Minimalist, African-inflected instrumental compositions by guitarist from Philadelphia’s Soft People.
Sunday night — The Soundpost
7-7:45 PM ARBOREA— Darkly melodic Appalachian folk from male/female Maine duo that don’t come out enough.
8-8:45 PM R. KEENAN LAWLER— Collaborator with a wide array (Matmos; My Morning Jacket) of credits whose solo work runs the gamut from ghostly abstraction to rapid-fire bluegrass.
9-9:45 PM CHRISTINA CARTER— Femme fatale of the prolific DIY group Charalambides, reducing experimental folk to a haunting foundation.
10-10:45 PM SEAN SMITH— Berkeley composer who’s shared many a stage with Will Oldham, writes instrumentals so complete you feel like you’ve just read a good story.
11 PM-MIDNIGHT MICAH BLUE SMALDONE— Portland’s twelve-string guitar master, best vocalist, most compelling songwriter, and general star wraps up the festivities.
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