We are starting a tour, a pub crawl of music, which may in fact include some pubs. Before this my experience of music in Montana has consisted of jam sessions in my parents living room, a few open mic nights friends have played and whatever was going on at Reds or The Great Northern that night.  My general lament was there is no good music in Montana. But the changing musical climate in Kalispell, including the music being played at The Boiler Room, made me want to improve my bleak attitude toward the local music scene. So for the next few weeks I plan on visiting as many venues and listening to as many different types of music as possible in the Flathead and surrounding areas and report my discoveries and thoughts on music in Montana.

Thursday April 1st, 2010, Open Mic Night Hosted by Christen Johnson @ The Blue Canyon

Here I started the exploration. It was an easy starting point. I had been here before. I knew the atmosphere, a hotel bar with the guests towards the back having a night cap, a few locals around the bar, and the music lovers switching their seats around to get the best view. As the speakers are set up a couple look up at the towering JBL’s and say, “Oh no we are in the wrong spot.” The musician quickly responds, “Oh no you are in the sweet spot.” The couple get up to leave and we swoop in and take “the sweet spot.”

Christian Johnson of The Mission Mountain Wood Band hand picks about six musicians to play for the night, and he fills in the quiet spots with his impressive mandolin playing which includes some Rodrigo y Gabriela and an Irish tune for Neill. The evening started with a familiar face, Nathaniel, who has played at The BR before on open mic night. His Jack Johnsonesque stylings were followed by a solo guitarist, and a band of four that for the evening was only two. Promoting local live music in the Flathead is one of Christians main objectives for this night and for everything he does. He makes this known almost pleading with the people in the room to not forget about music in these hard times and a few seem to take it to heart.

Friday April 2nd, 2010 – David Boone @ The Boiler Room

Friday night was spent where most of my Friday nights are spent at The Boiler Room. This night was exciting though, David Boone was back with his band The Controls for another sold out show. At 7:30pm the lights dimmed and people piled in and despite the whirring of the grinder David Boone started the set playing his folksy guitar and coupling it with heartfelt lyrics. We all love it but we heard him play this before and we are excited to hear the full band. So David exits the stage, the espresso machine starts up again while the band sets up including a full drum kit and an upright bass sure to put the acoustics and the neighbors to the test.

All the guys get on stage ready to prove The BR can handle the sound of a full band. As they start this second set the room absorbs the energy and people start to sway and eventually break out into full on dancing. They finish the night with a deserved encore and promise to return.

Saturday April 3rd, 2010 – Whitefish, Mt Assorted Venues

A friend had recommended The Craggy Range as a good spot to continue my research, so we made the trek to Whitefish to see Heck Yeah a local electronica group. We sit down and order food and the waitress makes sure we know that they will be playing very loud music and will we be alright? We assure her we can handle it.

Two guys with Mac’s are setting up on stage. Behind them is a back drop of balloons and cloth breaking up projected video of snowboarders which we can assume is at Big Mt. The beat starts slowly, than another beat is layered on top of another beat crescendoing into an intense mix that felt more like Amsterdam than Whitefish. The snow gear clad patrons thought the same and many moved quickly on. Across the street at the Great Northern a little more relatable Montana style band was playing “Play That Funky Music” and other well known danceable favorites. And it worked people were dancing and having a good time, but where they really listening to the music?

This question lingers in the minds of many musicians after playing these kinds of venues. Are they being appreciated for their talent or are they just background noise for others’ good night out? I think many local musicians would echo Idaho singer songwriter Josh Ritter’s sentiments when he sings, “It’s my home … last night I dreamt that I grew wings, I found a place where they could hear me sing.” Fortunately for us they have not all flown away and there are people who do want to hear them sing.