Soon after helping propel And And And to being named Willamette Week's Best New Band of 2011 (previous winners include Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside, Explode Into Colors, The Shaky Hands, and more), Tyler Keene left the group to focus on his own style of music under the name Log Across The Washer. Although less than a year old, the ever prolific Keene has released a free collection of twenty-seven songs (.zip) that hint at his previous group's roots, but reveal a sound that's unlike anything else in Portland today. Be sure to download the tracks, especially "The Emmys," which was easily one of the Top 5 songs released in the city last year. We asked Keene and new band members Jackson Bihler and Steve Schob some questions about live music in preperation for their secret, live recording here at The Banana Stand. We hope to see you out at the show.

How long has the band been together in its current form? How did it come together?

Current form, since 12/29/11.

Tell us your thoughs about recording live. What makes you want to record at The Banana Stand?

Jackson Bihler: We're glad the 'Stand wants to record us because we love the easily metabolized character of bananas. You will be providing bananas, right?

Since 2006, Justin Ringle has been releasing expertly crafted folk music with a rotating cast of band members under the name Horse Feathers. Roughly every other year, the group has managed to release a new full-length album of superb quality while touring across the United States and Europe. Currently, Ringle & Co. are back in the studio working on the follow-up to 2010's Thistled Spring that was released by Kill Rock Stars. 

Don't make the mistake of consdering Horse Feathers just another folk act from the Pacific Northwest. Although the genre is well-worn in our neck of the woods, the construction of thoughtful melodies and empty space make Horse Feathers something all together more ethereal. The best word I can think of is craftmanship. Like a solid oak table, Horse Feathers build songs to last. And it's the earnesty in the songs that give Horse Feather an edge about others in the field, even when playing someone else's song.

Justin Ringle was kind enough to chat with us about working on the band's new record, touring, and his favorite moments playing live over email earlier this month. We wish him and the rest of members of Horse Feathers all the best as they continue to create what will no doubt be another fine album in their already admirable history of releases.

Fuck Monday, right Garfield? We agree. Here are ten songs that we think will help you get the week started off to its ass-kicking best. As always, these songs were picked by random people using a dry erase board in our kitchen. We recommend these tunes be listened to while enjoying a large cup of damn fine coffee, and hot too. We prefer Courier Coffee roasted right here in Portland, Oregon. But, feel free to subsitute your local brew if you're not as lucky. So, the next time you're dreading having to get up to go to work and see that stupid shit of a boss that you have to sell your fucking soul to for an hourly wage in order for this house-of-cards consumer hell we've made for ourselves here in America to continue, crank up the volume on the tracks below and maybe you won't feel like setting the whole damn building ablaze.

We'd been interested in recording No Kind of Rider ever since seeing them play at Mississippi Studios with The Greater Midwest. The band sometimes likes to joke that they get unfairly compared to TV On the Radio because of their appearance in the monochromatic Portland, but their sound is nothing like the Williamsburg art scence. The timing just never seemed to work out to get them into the studio. But now, we're happy to announce that No Kind of Rider will record with us before a live audience, in secret. To get you ready for the show, drummer Jon Van Patten answered our questions on the band's behalf.

Banana Stand: How long has the band been together in its current form? How did it come together?

No Kind of Rider: The band, with its five members, has been together approximately five and half years. We began playing together in late Feb/early March of 2006. Four out of five of us, Wes, Sam, Joe and myself (Jon), knew each other from high school in Tulsa, OK. The other member, which was Jeremy, became known by Sam and Joe from university. I had been playing in another band for roughly a year in Dallas, TX and by end of that year the band had dissolved over a period of a couple months. I moved back to Tulsa to work and go to school. Three months had gone by and I had been feeling restless, began looking for some people to play with and miraculously, got in touch with Sam through this weird website called Myspace. I think our moms had something to do with it. Thanks Mom. It was odd because I had never really been close friends with Sam or any of the other members, but we knew of each other and found to our delight, the five of us all got along quite well from the very beginning. Musical interest as well as personality was on par, which is rare. At the end of the night, after setting up and playing together for the first time, I looked around at the guys and said, "I'm gonna leave my drums here." They looked at me and the general consensus was, Yep, that seems like a good idea. And now, here we are, five and half years later.