This Friday night at Doug Fir Lounge marks a homecoming show for Genders, returning from a brief West Coast tour with another of the evening’s outfits, New Madrid. Add The Ghost Ease to the mix and it's a show not to be missed. 

All-female power trio The Ghost Ease will kick the evening off with a slow, but powerful punch. Expect to be delighted with celestial vocals, thoughtful story and drums to batter away the memory of your working week. Catchy undercurrents of old school guitar riffs are complimented by vaporous melodies, and I can’t help feeling a little Tim Burton after listening to the album. 

New Madrid are in town from Georgia next, and I am excited. What a joy to hear a band that not only has the basic talent and beyond, but clearly has a great skill for creating an entire sound. Their 2014 11-track album, Sunswimmer, is a feast of orchestral swells and punchy anthemic verses, delivering complex classic guitar that Chris Rea would be proud of and full harmonies to please all of you Beach Boys fans. 

Genders close out the night. Their national tour last year with Built to Spill was followed by a debut album, which has caused much a flutter. Maggie Morris’s warblings are enough to make you feel… anything she wants to make you feel - an intoxicating control in a front person. With exciting syncopation experimentation, Katherine Paul’s drumming skills are wicked. A kind of New Wave sound, I cannot wait to see if it translates into live performance, and from what I am told it is irrefutable.

- Jennie Chapman

It would be hard for someone to argue against the statement that Portland has its quirks. When you throw in​ creative individuals who desire a strong sense of community, you get magic. You get someone like Bim Ditson. He's gone on to be one of the stand-out innovators in the Portland music and arts communities. His invention? Rigsketball (and lots of amazing music and chainmail accessories).

You might've seen Rigsketball before, especially if you hang around local music venues. There's only one brightly-painted van with a hoop attached. The game is seriously defined as "a yearly bracket style basketball tournament played between Portland bands at locations across the city on a regulation height hoop attached to the back of a van." What happens next? Music.

Semifinals and finals will occur in the parking lot of The East Portland Eagles Lodge this Friday, July 25th at 5pm​. Live performances by six of our favorite Portland artists, Bearcubbin', Sons of Huns, The Ghost Ease, And And And, Talkative and Old Age and they can be experienced between two stages. Everything is free. Everything. See you there.

The Ghost Ease will be shipping out for a West Coast tour after a kickoff party this Tuesday (3.18) at the industrial northsiders’ favorite venue. Their psych rock tunes will be a perfect fit for the World Famous Kenton Club as their distorted and guitar driven songs echo swimmingly into the garage sound that this music was born into. The Ghost Ease focus on a steady rhythm and noticeable, grungy guitar sections to fill things out while guitar/vocalist Jem Marie’s dreamy vocals bring their songs into folky ballads. Come on out to send them off the proper way. Opening the show is fellow psych-folk rockers, WL. - Colin Hudson

The first time I ever heard La Luz, I really thought they were carefully curated for my own musical tastes. The distant waves of surf rock with significant femininity creates the loveliest thing I've heard in a long time. Recently, the Seattle-based band suffered through a semi-truck versus them on the highway, but powered through it with their own tough stride and support from the music community. That resilience continues to shine through their music. Songs like "Sure As Spring" and "T.V. Dream" assist you in wading through a time warp, back to where taunting guitar melodies were done best. The aftermath leaves you hungry for anything else these ladies will throw your way. That hunger will stay. 

They will be headlining the release party for She Shreds Magazine, a Portland-based publication dedicated to female guitarists and encouraging a revolution involving awareness for the underrepresented. The Ghost Ease and Hooded Hags will be supporting, offering plenty of mind tingles for the night. - Colette Pomerleau

Jem, Fabi and Nsayi of The Ghost Ease were kind enough to answer a few questions about their history, songwriting process and recording their debut self-titeld album. Check out the full interview here and be sure to listen to the album on bandcamp.