An unassuming fella with round glasses walks into the 4:30 AM Coffee Shop to chat with me about music and, dammit, I don’t even get to ask the first question. While I’m sipping my coffee, waiting for him to pay for his water, the girl behind the counter does a double take and asks, “Are you Derek Luttrell? I have your music on my iPod.”

I hope Derek gets used to that.

I first saw Derek play a few months back at Chi-Hi when he opened for Anna Johnson. He hadn’t even finished his first song when I realized this guy was something special. He tries telling me he’s only 21, but I won’t believe it until I see his driver’s license. He writes like Dylan (yeah I know this is a cliché, get over it, he does) and sings with the soul of Waylon.

Where does a kid (I’m 31 … I get to call him that) from Rockford, Illinois, that’s been married just a few years get off sounding like he’s carrying a lifetime of history in his voice? I’m not sure, but I’d resent the hell out of him if he weren’t such a cool and humble guy. When I asked him where he wanted this all to end, he’d told me he’d just be happy to be respected among fellow songwriters and make enough money to buy food. Not quite the answer you’d expect to hear from a 21 year-old.

We all learn by imitation, and while Derek lists Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle, and Townes Van Zandt as his major musical influences, his music isn’t the kind that makes you say, “Hey … haven’t I heard that before?” Unless of course you’ve heard his music before. If you haven’t, check him out here: www.derekluttrell.com

Derek played again with Anna Johnson at the Heyde Arts Center on Saturday night. And once again he blew me away after one song. He told me that coming back here feels more like home than Rockford does.

Derek will be back to play (and promote his upcoming CD release) at the Living Room on August 12 and at The Mousetrap on September 16.

Let’s hope he visits more often.

Eau Claire's resident indie record label that never sleeps is preparing to unveil its newest release, the second full-length from Meridene (Sept. 28). This is coming less than two years after their debut You're Not Pretty, You're Worse, which was about a year after their debut EP and was marked by a drastic change in sound (and a shift in band members). The new album, titled Something Like Blood, has once again slightly changed the band lineup (Britta Hetzel is now on bass) and judging by the single, perhaps their sound once again.

The track is called Gone Baby Gone, and it doesn't seem to resemble the Ben Affleck-directed film of the same name (though I've yet to listen to it on loop while watch

ing). Meridene has been rightfully dubbed indie pop, and the single follows suit as another ridiculously catchy tune to add to their library. But while the track teases me to want to hear the whole darn record right now, I simultaneously get a feeling that the "indie" label is making them try harder to sound like The Shins or Death Cab, when I always pegged them as their own sound. Like a Marcy Playground, a unique and under-rated indie outfit, which you'd know if you ever listened to their self-titled album beyond the tiresome and overplayed single Sex & Candy.

But this just may be me preparing myself in case I'm not as blown away as their last record (I definitely was). You know what, I'll just stop and let you be the judge. The single is available via Amble Down and their MySpace and their new website and probably Facebook and Twitter and iPhone4 app and whatever else you damn kids are using these days.

Also take note of their upcoming Midwest tour and appearance at the Sounds Like Summer Concert Series (Aug. 12).

You might remember about a year ago when Memorial grad and Stout alum Johnny Stanton was returning to his hometown for a show at Country Jam. Joining a substantial list of people who left our area and got quazzi-big, Johnny has been touring the nation and topping the charts with Heidi Newfield Band (shown above). 

Well tonight (July 27) we're told that Johnny is filling in for hot new country act Jaron and the Long Road as they grace the stage for the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Maybe you've heard of their new smash hit, Pray For You, in which they begin like any other Christian country song (and have "prayerful hands" promo pictures) until the clever "gotcha" chorus in which they reverse the sentiment and pray for an ex to die in horribly tragic ways.

Check out the video, and make sure to wince at the passive aggressive domestic abuse sentiment of lyrics like, "I pray a flowerpot falls from a window sill and knocks you in the head like I'd like to."

Regardless of the song, congrats yet again to Mr. Stanton and be sure to check him out on Leno (he's the one with wild curly dishwater blonde hair, playing bass).

Woe be to you mortals, the time grows nigh as the stars move into alignment, the planet's orbits spin into conjunction, and prophecies become fulfilled. The legend spoken of over campfires in hushed tones and hidden in forgotten tomes shall soon come to be. On the 28th day of the month of August in the second year of Obama, the 10th anniversary of Nate’s Dungeon shall come to pass – The Decade of Dungeon! That’s right, true believers – Nate’s Dungeon is going to be 10 years ancient. I’m working right now to get a smörgåsbord of bands, oldies, newbies, and some even dead for the grand event. So I want everybody who has ever been to the Dungeon past, present, or future to be there for else THOU SHALL BE SQUAREST!

For a local band, recording can be more of a headache than anything else. Between the commute to the studio, the oftentimes cramped recording spaces themselves, and the cost, what most bands need after a stretch of recording is some relaxation. At his friend Dustin Booth’s secluded barn in Clear Lake, just a little over an hour outside Eau Claire, producer Chris Mara seeks to combine the two. “The Barn,” as Mara calls it, is a country retreat and recording studio in one, a place where bands can feed sheep and chickens, grill out, do a little bit of fishing (although Mara admits there’s not many fish in the adjacent lake), and knock back a couple beers before they get down to recording. “It’s kind of glorified camping,” says Booth, “but at the same time you can lay down tracks and do a record.”

The actual recording does, for the most part, take place in The Barn, but Mara – who now lives and works primarily in Nashville and records in locales throughout the country including Cleveland, Minneapolis, Pensacola, and Atlanta – is quick to dismiss any who might be skeptical of how their sound will turn out when recorded in … well, a barn.

Keep reading to see a bunch of pictures!

Read More »

Pretty soon, The Michael Rambo Project will be known as THAT band, becoming known as the band that uses awesome tech stuff to bring their music to life. If you’re in the know, you’ve already seen the first entries in the band’s video series “The Michael Rambo Project Does Things,” one which features the band playing at locations all over Eau Claire and the other which shows the guys jamming as they mow the lawn and perform magic tricks in the street. Now the band is bringing their tech savvy to the stage. Their June 11 show at Grand Little Theatre will incorporate audience participation via iPad app, allowing listeners to interact with MRP’s music (here's a video explaining all the techy goodness). During the band’s normal set, the audience will be able to use the touchpad to activate preset audio cues, such as ambient noises and sound effects, to compliment what’s going on on-stage, but where things get really interesting is during the jam sessions, in which the audience will have full access to the range of rhythms and beats stored within the app and MRP will have to play along with whatever listeners (if you can call them that at that point) come up with. Also, if you see a mini-blimp hovering around MRP’s gigs in the near future, don’t head for cover. Plans are to have the thing fly around, audience-controlled, to record footage for the third video in “The Michael Rambo Project Does Things.”

Teasing the Minneapolis audience with a two-hour wait* after First Avenue’s doors opened, super group Gayngs [composed in part from a powerhouse of Eau Claire music scene alumni] finally put out shortly after midnight, May 14.


Ryan Olson, playing up the high school bad boy image, sauntered onto the bedazzled stage with cigarette and bottle of Jack Daniels in hand. The mastermind of the 23-member collaboration was then joined by band members from Bon Iver, Megafaun, The Rosebuds, Solid Gold and more. Encouraging the audience to rock out in their formalwear, The Last Prom on Earth was kicked off with Gayngs’ seductive single “The Gaudy Side of Town.”


Featuring Gayngs’ album Relayted, the barely one-hour concert was filled with slow jams infused with '80s cheese and a modern charm.


Prom highlights include: Megafaun’s ever-smiling Phil Cook; Ivan Howard’s Boyz II Men-like crooning morphing into Justin Vernon’s Bone Thugs-n-Harmony rap; Mike Noyce’s Fruit of the Looms and pearl necklace (No, for reals.); a swoon-inducing cover of Godley & Creme's “Cry”; and the smooth, smoky vocals of P.O.S.


Gayngs ended their set with Howard Jones’ 1985 hit “No One is to Blame,” while balloons and glitter confetti dropped from above. Prom-goers left the brief concert satisfied and craving a post-coital smoke.

*Editor's note: The 2-hour delay was caused by ... Prince? Yep, Prince. Reports indicate the Purple One did show up, guitar in hand, but decided not to play ... on stage.

Amble Down Records has officially announced the release of The Gentle Guest's sophomore LP, to be titled Cast Off Your Human Form and due for a July 20 release. The cover promises historical mischief with clowns and a military band in a mountain town, and is likely to continue the same manic energy of their first LP, We Are Bound to Save Some Souls Tonight. An energy that is a trademark of the genre-encompassing band, best described as "Delta blues-influenced Americana in a gypsy world of blaring trombones, sadistic slide guitars, and a barrage of wild hollers and boot stomps."

Check out some of the details (track listing, promo photos, etc.) at the Amble Down site. And while you're there, click on the track Judgment to hear to album's first single. Then go to their MySpace to hear two others (To Pay the Piper and Scatter the Ashes).

The upcoming Mike Rambo Project performance at the Grand Little Theater on April 10 sounds less like a concert and more like a mini-Renaissance full of music, art, video and education. There’s tunes, yeah, with the MRP providing some cool indie rock melodies. But there’s also live painting that you can participate in, with the final result being auctioned off to benefit Edge Outreach. You’re going to see a two minute clip about Invisible Children and their attempts to shut down human trafficking in Africa. Then MRP will debut the final cut of their first music video “The Michael Rambo Project Does Eau Claire,” in which the band members do their thing all over EC at locales ranging from Banbury Place to Carson Park (view the video pro below). The video is supposed to be the first in a larger series called “The Michael Rambo Project Does Things.” Future installments will have MRP showing up at your house to do your lawn and performing magic tricks on the street (Disclaimer: The last sentence was probably not true.) For a preview of the video and more info on MRP and the event head to themichaelramboproject.com. MySpace.

For those of you who are into the indie scene and not familiar with Daytrotter, you need to get with it right now. The popular music blog started in Illinois in 2007, and ever since has made posts about a handful of bands each week and streamed about four songs from each. The website essentially is a media platform for their recording studio, as indie music acts record lounge sessions and these are what go up on the site along with a write-up.

In the past few years, Daytrotter has kept a keen eye on Eau Claire bands. They’ve had a session with Bon Iver, two of them (here and here) with Daredevil Christopher Wright, one with Gentle Guest, one with former locals Megafaun, and (most recently) one with Laarks. Enjoy.