a collective of low caste musicians, artists, storytellers and magicians

The familiar faces of folk
January 28th, 2010 

Three years ago, a loose community of young local musicians began gathering every week at the home of keyboardist Lisena Brown. They came to share food, and to share the low-key, folk-influenced music that they couldn’t otherwise play around town.

“At the time, there wasn’t really any place for us to play that kind of music publicly,” recalls Kier Atherton, a member of various acoustically oriented bands over the years including Pebble Light and Pillar Saints. “So we’d get together, have potlucks, and learn each other’s songs.”

Much has changed since then. Many of the individual musicians who used to show up for those gatherings hooked up and formed bands: Atherton linked up with singer/guitarist Jessica Kilroy to form Pterodactyl Plains; Brown and Hermina Harold started the band Butter; Nate Hegyi’s loose bluegrass trio expanded into the eight-piece folk-rock act Wartime Blues.

And those bands found a welcoming home at the Badlander and Palace, the linked music venues that were only getting up and running when those musicians began holding their impromptu potlucks.

The result has been nothing short of a renaissance of distinctly modern folk music in Missoula.

But, says Atherton, something was lost, too. Those individual musicians stopped meeting for music-swapping potlucks once their attention was diverted to their new bands.

So this Saturday, the gang will get together again, this time on the stage of the Palace Lounge, for a songwriters’ showcase. In addition to those musicians mentioned above, the show will feature Burke Jam (Church Mouse), Travis Sehorn (Pebble Light), Jesse Netzloff (Pillar Saints), and Izaak Opatz (Friedrich’s Teeth).

“It was kind of a nostalgia thing, to put this gig together,” said Atherton. “But also, trying to keep that scene more cohesive. I think any community is stronger if we’re sticking together and continuing to mix things up.”