Asheville benefit in Portland, new music from Mike Maurice, Suns So Far

Several local musicians will perform at Bayside Bowl on Sunday to raise money for residents of Asheville, North Carolina and surrounding areas affected by Hurricane Helene last month.

The show is called Portland Stands with Asheville.

The lineup includes a solo set from Portlander Brooke Binion of rock band The Worst. Binion is originally from Asheville.

The other artists include members of SeepeopleS, Sparxsea, Moses Atwood, Ryan Haliburton and Frank Hopkins. The evening will also include a socially distanced performance by Asheville-based musician and artist Josh Phillips.

As well as all the music, there will be auctions and raffles of prizes, artwork and gift vouchers, with all proceeds going to the community-based charity. Beloved Asheville.

Will Bradford of Portland alternative rock band SeepeopleS is also a former Asheville resident and was instrumental in putting the show together. “We felt compelled to do something after the Helene disaster because some of us have deep ties to Asheville,” he said.

Singer-songwriter Atwood also lived in Asheville for several years before moving to Portland. The same goes for Victoria Karol, creator of the website Hot Trash Portland. Karol was also involved in the planning of the show.

Bradford said some of the raffle and auction items include a gift certificate from Chris Dingwell, a Portland-based tattoo artist who is also a former Asheviller. Also included are Bull Moose gift certificates, rehearsal time at Sun Tiki Studios and recording time at Monaco Studios in Falmouth.

Admission to Portland Stands with Asheville is free and the start time is 6pm baysidebowl.com for full details.

NEW TUNING

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mike Maurice released the tender-hearted Americana single “Telephone” on October 11.

Maurice, who lives in Biddeford, worked on the song with guitarist and composer Danny Black. Black’s band is Good Old War, and he also plays with Gregory Alan Isakov. “This is one of the songs of mine that he helped produce, adding harmonies and pedal steel,” Maurice said in an email.

The song also features mandolin from Philadelphia singer/songwriter Adam Monaco, banjo from Maurice’s bandmate Zavier Walker and cello from Philadelphia’s Peter Oswald.

With heartbroken lyrics underlined by the lonely, muted tones of pedal steel and the shimmering mandolin strings, “Telephone” is sung with breathtaking clarity. “Our dreams collide, so real in my head that I even cried. I banged my head on the pavement to prove it wasn’t a lie,” Maurice sings.

ON THE SIDE

Suns So Far is the side project of Portland musician Jason Lambert. The fourth Suns So Far album, “Pastels,” was released on August 23.

In addition to vocals, Lambert plays synths and drum programming on an album that starts with a funky dance floor track called “Fly Girl.” Backing vocals from Ruth George and Nova Mullineaux, Dylan Sullivan’s bass and Marc McElroy’s synths, guitar, bass and percussion create a song buzzing with addictive beats.

The album relaxes considerably on the hypnotic track ‘Hologram’.

Overall, “Pastels” is a slow-motion rollercoaster ride that sometimes gets going, but mostly doesn’t rush to release you from its sometimes soft and sometimes bouncy aesthetic. After a few listens you get to know the groove and power of ‘Pastels’, especially with songs like ‘Le Midi’ and ‘Galaxy Run’.

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