True North's Kristen Grainger and Dan Wetzel are finalists in the 2008 Kerrville Music Festival's New Folk competition.

Chosen from among more than 800 submissions from all over the world, the finalists head to Kerrville, Texas over Memorial Day weekend to compete for, among other things, a chance to perform a set on the Festival's main stage on the same bill with Kathy Mattea, The Austin Lounge Lizards, David Wilcox and Eliza Gilkyson.
With an attendance of approximately 30,000, Kerrville Folk Festival also offers bluegrass, acoustic rock, blues, country, jazz, and Americana.

They're back (again)

It's true that the guys in The Falcon never really went away. They came from and morphed into The Funhouse Strippers, Righteous Animal, Speed Pigs, The Mickey Bare Band and C.C. Hooper. Apparently it's a Salem tradition to ply your trade with as many bands as possible.  Call it alchemy, chemistry, or whatever, but when Chris Hooper, Timmy Myles, Dave Ballantyne, and Mickey Bare put it all together, it's always an entertaining show.

The Falcon will begin performing their garage-psychobilly-gospel-rock all over the NW. Check out The Falcon's MySpace for gigs and updates.

Brown's Towne Lounge hosts live music

Beginning May 13, Salem's newest downtown bar and pub will host live, acoustic-style music, and local entertainment the second Tuesday of every month. Performances begin at 6 p.m. during happy hour and end at 7:30 p.m.  Brown's Towne Lounge at 189 Liberty St NE is a non-smoking, full service bar, open 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday. The grand opening will be held May 7 to coincide with Salem's downtown First Wednesdays.  

What's out and coming out

They call themselves the second-worst band in Salem. The new release from The Worrynauts is available for purchase at Ranch Records and at Worrynaut shows.  Get it while you can; this DIY limited release of 33 copies is available on cassette and CD.

Also at Ranch Records, Guitar Castle, and Harvest Music is LeNUNES' debut CD "Sunshine and Sadness."  
Local hip hop artists Twin Cyclops have a new self-titled CD. Catch their next performance at Chemeketa Community College May 2.

Rumor has it that the highly anticipated RootVilla album is nearing completion and due out soon.