Urban Honking

Thursday, August 25

5:30pm OREGON ROCKS – A History of Popular Music in Oregon @ OHS

Celebrate the opening of Oregon Rocks: A History of Popular Music in Oregon with a concert on the patio of the Oregon Historical Society. From “Louie, Louie” to today’s contemporary electronic scene, the opening concert will feature performances by: Ural Thomas, The Kingsmen, Pierced Arrows, Quasi & DJ HWY 7, in addition to short talks by prominent members of the Portland music community. Voodoo Doughnuts co-owner Tres Shannon will MC the event.

Tickets cost $7 for OHS members and $10 for non members. Space is limited so buy your ticket early! On sale now through the Portland Mercury.

Purchase Tickets: $7 for OHS members click here: https://secure.portlandmercury.com/portland/Ticketing/Checkout?t=4349506&promo=54215
$10 for non-members click here: https://secure.portlandmercury.com/portland/Ticketing/Checkout?t=4349506

Full program info, including artist bios: http://dillpickleclub.org/events/

For generations, Oregon—and Portland, in particular—has been a hotbed for great music. From the jazz cabarets and supper clubs that lit up North Williams Street in the 1940s, through the teen dances and band battles of the 1960s, to the wild and raggedy North Portland house party scene of today, Oregon music exemplifies the pioneering spirit of the Northwest.

Yet, throughout the years, little time and space has been given over to celebrating Oregon’s rich and diverse musical history. It’s to time to change all of that. Through this exhibit, we hope to start a larger cultural conversation about Oregon’s role in national musical movements past and present, educating younger audiences as to the great achievements of local musicians past, while hipping older fans to the diversity of visions and wide variety of talents calling Oregon home today.

Through this exhibit, we’ll give the spotlight back to Johnnie Ray—a captivating showman from Southern Oregon second only to Frank Sinatra in record sales throughout the 1950s—and raise a ruckus about the Kingsmen, whose raucous version of “Louie, Louie” had J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI scrambling to uncover secret meanings in mumbled verses and incoherent choruses. We’ll ride with Paul Revere & the Raiders, bringing their hard rock and dark “Kicks” to teens across the countryside, while cloaked in comic Revolutionary War garb and Vaudevillian-style slapstick routines. We’ll stalk the streets of Doomtown with the Wipers and party down with art rock imposters the Dandy Warhols, throw a dance party on the Willamette with YACHT, and get positively medieval with the Decemberists’ troubadour tales.

And, along the way, we’ll ask a ton of questions: about the relationship between liquor laws and the rise and fall of musical genres; how the state’s often strained racial relations have been reflected in its musical traditions; and what Richard Nixon could have possibly done that lead to the creation of the Vortex Festival.

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, OR