 Spokane Femme Fatales
Did you know there was a Spokane Babes of Music? I am sure you know there are some babes playing in bands or as a solo act out their in Spokane, but yes there is a group for them! Last night was the Spokane Babes of Music concert featuring Colleen Rice, Kristen Marlo, Cure All Remedy, and Gutterpony all playing together in the new Lions Lair! The show was $5 and the cool thing about the cover was it all went straight to Transitions.
Transitions is a group in Spokane "Where Woman and Families Grow." They help women in crises, at-risk children, low-income families, homeless woman, and women in recovery with housing, education, counseling, childcare, stability, resources, job training, therapeutic childcare, and so much more. Transitions consists of EduCare, Miryam's House, Women's Hearth, and Transitional Living Center. This is a great program in Spokane that needs to be talked about and Kari from Cure All Remedy decided to put on a benefit concert.
Not only did we all learn about Transitions for but $5 we got a variety of good music. Kari plans on putting a concert once a month so please keep a look out and plan to attend one! For more information on Transitions and how you can help click here to check out their website!
The first Spokane Babe to take the stage was Colleen Rice. Colleen Rice stood on stage with her vocals and her acoustic guitar. One thing that I liked about Colleen was a comment she made, ..."I have been working on a new album for a year... but this summer I should have a free single featuring Movin On... so come out to shows because if a free single gets people to come out to see a show then I will have them." I like that she is trying to get people to come out to shows plus who doesn't love a free single!
 Colleen Rice has a very powerful personality and lyrics to go along with it. She did a good job representing a part of the female musicians we have in town. Keep a look out for her single with her song "Movin On" on it, and if you want you can head over to her myspace and check it out there! She has an almost complete version up that sounds great!
Kristen Marlo took the stage next and after using duct tape to fix a little cord problem on her acoustic guitar she started her set with friend Steve on the djembe drum. Kristen Marlo grabbed my attention before she even sang because she has this edgier raspy voice that sparked an interest in me to see what she was going to sound like when she sang. She by far is one of the top female singers in Spokane. Her vocals are different then anyone elses and they are very pretty.
Her friend Steve who is from Tacoma added in great percussion on a djembe drum. They practiced only a few days before and it sounded perfect, the two had a good chemistry on stage. I would highly recommend you check out Kristen's myspace and find a date when you can see her. Her stage presence is very simple but when she sings it is gorgeous. During her last song "The Quiet Song" just transitioned into "All My Lovin" by the Beatles and it sounded so cool. I like how she didn't just cover a Beatles song but that she incorporated it into her song. I haven't seen an artist in Spokane do that before. She has a handful of tracks on her myspace that you should check out and don't forget to make a point to see one of her shows - fantastic singer/songwriter with a unique flair.
 Cure All Remedy was next and this was the most animated I have ever seen them play. You could tell Kari was so pleased to be putting on this show for Transitions. Since it was a Spokane Babes of Music not boys Kari decided to give all the boys in the band female versions of their names. I guess they didn't want to dress up like girls. Cure All Remedy put on a fun set, they were moving around and having fun.
It was cool to see all of the emotions and personality on Kari's face when she was playing the keys and singing. It was also cool to see her sing, play the keys, and the guitar at the same time. That is almost more intense then juggling. My favorite song they played that night was "Summertime" because Justin on the trumpet was outstanding. Plus like they said "If we all think of warm weather maybe we can get nature to warm up and we can do all the naughty things we talk about in this song." I like warm weather.
Cure All Remedy is full of soul and jazz and funk. Their personalities went hand in hand with their music last night and it was a great performance. The closed out with a funky song that made we want to dance a little bit but there were chairs everywhere... sad I know.
 To end the evening out an all girl punk band named Gutterpony took the stage. My favorite thing about Gutterpony other then the name (it sticks with you) was the lime green and hot pink drum set. I know you want one too, and the drummer behind it was a super fast drummer. She was kinda badass.
I think Gutterpony was a little loud for the venue, it was kind of distorted and hard to hear at some points. It was cool to see all chic punk band though. I am not 100% sure but I think they may be the only one in Spokane... I could be wrong though. It was cool that they played the benefit concert for free, it shows a lot for all of the artists/bands to play a show to benefit someone else. I liked that there was jazz, rock, punk rock, indie, alternative and I am sure I am forgetting a genre, of music. It only shows that Spokane has a little bit of it all.
Gutterpony has a show coming up soon, I would like to see them in another venue where I might be able to hear everything a little bit better. If you head over to Myspace and music search Gutterpony check them out and if you like what you hear, go see a show!
Thank you to Kari for putting on a cool night of music that benefits Transitions. Please take a look at their site and even educate yourself on what they do and who they are, it's really a great program for Spokane. Hopefully there will be another concert with new artists and we can do this all over again! Good Job Spokane Babes of Music - you vixens you.
Check out more photos from the show HERE!
Andrea@checkitoutmusic.com |
