Mister Vague

2008-11-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

WINTER (no discontent . . . . at least not much)

Hello, folks! I hope all is well with you and yours during this potentially blustery season (it depends on where you live -- here in Reno it's pretty nice at the moment).

So this first part of next year will be a pretty exciting time for Mister Vague. I'm planning on releasing two different EPs within a few months of each other -- one as an online only deal, the other an actual for-sale release. I'm not planning any recordings beyond publishing demos in 2009, so this will be it for the year.

First, the freebie (sort of): it will be called "See What I Mean" and my hope is to have it out by the start of 2009. It may be earlier actually, but I'll let you know on that one! It features the former Reno live trio (me on guitar and vocals, Marcus Mayhall on bass and vocals, Jason Thomas on drums) and will have some of the songs we were doing regularly at shows this year, recorded excellently by good ol' Chris Finley at his Toxic Studios in Reno. At least half of it is quite loud, I can tell you that much!

"See What I Mean" will be available on the Mister Vague Music site for free, complete with some artwork (not CD size, but nice and big so you can print it out and actually read it!). You can download individual tracks or a ZIP file that has a surprise or two placed in its little folder. I'll also have a PayPal donate button if you are so inclined, but no pressure! I see this as a thanks for the five-plus years that many of you have stuck with Mister Vague and his humble little tunes.

Next, the non-freebie: I just got back from recording five songs in Madison at Smart Studios, co-owned by Butch Vig. It's known as the recording or mixing site for a bunch of records I like: Nirvana's "Nevermind," the first two Smashing Pumpkins records, Overwhelming Colorfast (look them up!) and Death Cab's "Plans," among tons of others.

While I was talking with Dorraine on the phone from Smart one night, I looked up and there was the MTV award for Garbage sitting on a shelf! Reminded me of the Helmet gold record that was tacked up on the toilet wall at Am Rep in Minneapolis back in the '90s.

Anyway, this second EP features excellent players from Madison, set up by my label prez Eric Hester, who is also the producer this time. I'll have more details on this one later as we get closer to release.

I'm also planning a bunch of shows as the year turns. They will be on this site as I get confirmations, but you can always see the latest at the My Space site: www.myspace.com/mistervague

Thanks very much for keeping the support going. During my recent hibernation in the fall, I got a lot of supportive emails and such for Mister Vague, so I appreciate it. I'll keep it going as long as we all can possibly stand it . . . .

MARK E

2008-05-12T06:43:00.000-07:00

Hi, folks! So we are having a little run of shows here at the end of May and early June. Here's the first one. . .

THIS FRIDAY, MAY 16
At the ZEPHYR LOUNGE in Reno
9 pm start, 21-plus, $5

So this is the first official "Mister Vague" show at the Zephyr in almost two years. Whoa! Yeah, it's been awhile. I have to credit both Jason and Marcus for pushing me to go back to the old haunt, and for Blackie and the cast and crew of The Flesh Hammers for wanting to do a show together again -- hence this ideal location, home of several strange moments in the lives of Blackie and myself (and that was offstage ha ha!).

Anyway, this should be a fun one for you, especially if like the rawk side of. We're gonna debut a coupla new covers (if we play them OK at practice that is) and we are planning to rattle fillings a few times during the set. Rest assured, that we won't be doing anything nice and easy at this show. We'll do it nice. And rough. A little tune called "Proud Mary . . ."

Oh, crap, got away from myself again on that one. Anyway, for those of you who remember the hazy daze of the early '00s, stop on by.

MARK E

2008-05-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

BEST. TOUR. EVER.

No, really! That's what Marcus and Jason believe also. It was a really good trek for us at the end o' April, and I wanted to share a bit of the glory and the gore with y'all. So here goes....

THURSDAY IN CHICO
Started the band portion of the day at noon-ish at our Vague World Headquarters (shared with others of course) going over the songs we were gonna play on the trek. We don't really have a "set" setlist of the same 9 songs over and over again, but we did cut some, add some, try to play some, to see what would work on this trek. With the Vagueomobile ready to go (after spending the requisite $70,000 on gas) we headed toward Chico, which I hadn't been too since I saw Low and Shannon Wright there in the late 20th century.

It's a pretty cool town, y'know. Remembered seeing a big ol' sequoia tree bursting forth from the sidewalk on the street close to the club, which was freaky but cool. We got to Cafe Coda way way too early, so we bummed around the downtown a bit, which was hopping with a Farmers Market type-thing. Went back after some time at the Normal Street Bar and set up shoppe at the Coda, a small cool room that felt like a good listening space. And it was!

The bill was pretty neat: a solo artist named John Staedler who did guitar and voice loops, sort of art-song-like. Then it was the fantastical Lasher Keen, a trio from Nevada City that mashed up its own sound: downtown NYC doom circa 1985, trad folk at its most dark, gothic country intensity. A totally different and unique experience. We should bring 'em to Reno someday. Then our pal Spencer (disgused as Catlike Reflexes) played a boss Townes cover and two very funny acoustic songs about life's travails.

We did probably the mellow-est show of the tour, with a bunch of slower songs amongst the rock. We also had the first instance in some time of PUBLIC DANCING to Mister Vague music. It was beguiling. After the show we headed with Spencer and the Lasher crew to Duffy's, a sort of Hideout-Bar-writ-large in downtown Chico. A fitting fun end to a good tour kickoff. Thanks to Dan at Cafe Coda for setting it up, to Spencer for helping out so much with everything, and the Lashers for a fun night on da town.

FRIDAY IN EUGENE
The tour gets increasingly surreal from here on out, likely due to the sleep depravation thing. Have you seen "Altered States?" It's like that but way more benign.

Anyway, the Vagueshuttle went onward to Oregon and its trees and laid-back vibe and lack of pumping yr own gas. We hit Eugene at "rush" hour as it were and settled downtown for exploring and food. We sat about at Luckey's, the great venue. We need to transplant it for Reno - cool historic vibe but mod as well with excellent sound and folks behind the bar.

We went on first this time and brought the rock, or something like it. This probably went the best of the tour and especially toward the end as more people showed we got a great reaction, I must say! It was gratifying. Next up was the great Dead Americans, coming to Reno on June 6. Imagine Blondie and the Cars with a classic-rock bent playing very political/social songs. Yep, it's THAT cool. They are theatrical geniuses of the highest order. And fun.

The night was closed by the uber-talented band called Runaway Slave, an amalgam of smooth funk mixed with ska/reggae, hip-hop and straight-ahead rock. Great rapper/singer in this band and the guitarist was from the Cherry Poppin Daddies, which was a fun surprise (and a nice fella to boot). The show ran long - so long that I missed the call from Dorraine about the Reno earthquake! - so we ended up at Casa Dead Americans for a long unwind that rebooted us til 3:30 am or so. Huge thanks and props to Kyra and Zak for the show set-up and hospitality, to Sam and the wonderful crew at Luckey's, and our new friends in the Eugene area.

SATURDAY IN RICHLAND
So, Zak and Kyra made this really cool thing for breakfast I want to share with you:
1. make toast
2. cut a hole in the middle
3. place it over an egg you're about to cook sunny side up
4. place a piece of cheese on top
5. cook till the egg yolk is hard
6. eat that bastard!

It was really good. Try it someday, you will be pleased.

And with that, we set out for Da Tri-Cities, home of several past Vagueshows. Once we arrived at Deano's house, it was practically time to go, and so we did. For those who don't know, Deano is the former Mister Vague drummer and all-around great person, and he helped set up this show for us.

When we get to the place, called Kimo's, we were greeting by a group of middle-to-older aged folks quite tanked and wearing Mardi-Gras-style beads, for reasons never explained. They were thrilled or shocked (or something) that we were rockers from Reno (they *really* liked Jason for some reason!). With the stage arranged, we then returned for some relaxing at Deano-and-Lisa's place, then we met up with the rest of Blue Is Cold, Deano's band, back at Kimo's, where we ate and drank and ate and drank some more.

We played first again, but a bit longer set. Still pretty rock though. That was the theme for this tour: rock. Trying to exude rock and have it seeping from our pours as we play these thorny little pop songs. It worked, I think, as we had some folks who liked us last time show up and dig it, and we met some new pals as well.

Blue Is Cold were just dandy, friends: a mix of super-upbeat trad-country and the occasional indie-rock move to throw you off balance. Just super cool. We then repaired to Deano/Lisaland for talking and such until God Knows When O'Clock.

Big fat thanks as always to Deano and Lisa, who we miss greatly down here in Reno, for the hospitality and kindness and Sunday breakfast before the big drive back, and to Tracy at Tri-City Events for running such a great show, and to Joe and John of Blue Is Cold for the usual good times in Tri-Color-Pasta-City-Land.

And the Asian food in Ontario, Oregon is great. Trust us.

MARK E

2008-04-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hello folks!

So were now in the swing of a busy time for the Vague. I figured that the spring of '08 would be happening, but not this much! Thanks to those that have helped make it so through your interest in the group and what we are doing.

So the shows earlier this month were quite fun. First, I did a solo show at the Discology record store in Reno, with the great Kung-Fu Sophie on the bill. It was a great time and I'd like to try it again in the near future. Davids got a great store going on there, so you should check it out – it's above the Satellite and Blue Moon Pizza on California and Plumas-ish here in Reno. You can see more about it at this link: www.discologyreno.com

The show itself was a fun experience. My pals there really liked Sophie's songs (as did I – her new material she played here and the next week is some of her finest work). As for me, I played some newer ones as well as some of the hits, as it were. It's always nerve-racking to play solo shows (still!) but I'm learning to get better at it and just roll with the feeling in the moment, which is something harder to do with the band (not saying that it sucks that way, just sayin'…). Anyway, thanks to the new friends I made at the show and to Sophie for playing and Dave for hosting us. Looking forward to a return trek at some point.

Then we finally had the More Barn benefit show. To be honest, I was just happy to have it be over after many delays, but it did not disappoint. We had a good, attentive crowd and some amazing performances. Tyler Futrell is a great up-and-coming songwriter who has a good twist on the solo performer mould. Gabe Traverso was his usual compelling and intense self (and he did a great Neil Young medley that knocked me for a loop!). It was my first time seeing Neil Greene's solo work, and I loved it (and wanna book him for some more shows!). Kung-Fu Sophie was great again and played some new politically-charged material. The Stately Gentlemen were also great and played a nice set of their own '60s-style pop with some good Neil Young rewrites/covers. Burning Peace closed it all out with a fun, typically emotional set of their pop'n'roll. We, meanwhile, managed our Neil-Young-only set fine (we did Bandit with Sophie and then 3 others from the Young canon). We like one song so much – Hey Hey My My – that it's pretty much a permie part of the set at the moment. Yay to pressure! Anyway, thanks to those who paid the fee and came out to the show, and big thanks to Todd South and his Reno Music Project crew for being so on-the-ball with the details and such.

Finally, we did a nice little stint on KRZQ's Wake The Neighbors show just last night. It was an interesting experience to say the least! Sims is an informal, not-uptight host who knows his rock (and modern hip-hop) and we got to meet and hang with a great new Reno band called Lakes Crossing. They sound really interesting – a rapper with great flow backed by a funkier live group. We’re looking forward to seeing them out and about. For our part, we played some songs from the Allergic disc and made obscure jokes, so yes it was a typical night out.

Anyway, more after this next little tour (see our shows list for details!)….

MARK E

2008-04-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

MISTER VAGUE SPRINGS FORWARD AGAIN

Hello again, folks! Once again, Mister Vague has decided to participate in the Spring Forward to Pay Forward campaign through KRZQ-FM. This is the annual event the alt-rock station in Reno does to help raise funds for worthy causes in our area. It's a competition between bands, and the top 3 fund-raising bands get an air-shift to themselves on the station to play whatever they want, a song in rotation at the station, and a few other fun prizes.

So we'd like your help! Please donate at the link that is below. Our hope is that we'd be able to raise funds at some shows in Reno as well, so you may also see a bucket at shows in which to throw some change and such. We'll let you know at shows I'm sure.

Here's where you can directly donate, securely online! Be sure to put "Mister Vague" in the Designation box so we get credit for the prize portion of this one....
Donation link

You can also learn more about the whole project here: KRZQ Spring Forward Page

And thanks in advance for any help you wanna provide to this worthwhile cause!

MARK E
MISTER VAGUE

2008-04-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

WITH FRIENDS TO HELP YOU OUT WHEN THINGS GO WRONG....

So sayeth Neil Young in his great song "Hold Back The Tears."

Gosh, I love Neil Young's music. It's been giving me great comfort ever since I was a kid, when I found my sister Sharon's single of "Sugar Mountain." I was a pretty big Young fan through early high school (bought "Hawks and Doves" and "Re-act-or" the days they came out) and have been a fan since.

So it was a great honor when Eric Hester of Slothtrop asked us and Kung-Fu Sophie to record "Bandit" (Young's great tune from "Greendale") for the More Barn charity CD that Slothtop has put out for the Bridge School. Now, that has (finally!) translated to a show in Reno to promote and sell that disc, plus a little more. Here's the skinny:

The show is FRIDAY, APRIL 11 at MAYTAN MUSIC CENTER starting at 7 PM. We are happy to be partnering with the Reno Music Project again for this one. We love their work and love to support it. We'll be playing an all-Neil set and we've been working on learning the tunes all this month (we've previewed a couple of 'em live in recent weeks). We'll also play at the tail end of Kung-Fu Sophie's set to do "Bandit."

Now, the show costs $10 but you get a neat artifact: a download card on a lanyard that lets you have all the tracks from "More Barn"! There's songs by Steve Wynn, Howe Gelb (very excited about that!), some members of Wilco backing up Phil Lee, and the Waco Brothers, among many others. We'll also have some physical CDs for sale as well if you aren't compu-compatible. Also, we'll donate some of the proceeds of the admission fee to the local WARC chapter in town, a great organization for the developmentally disabled that always needs support and help.

We're being joined by an exciting lineup of Reno folks all doing Young tunes as well, and some doing full sets of his work! They include Tyler Futrell, Neil Greene, Gabriel Traverso, the aforementioned Sophie, The Sunjul, The Stately Gentlemen and Burning Peace! Who knows - we may get others to stop by for a song or two (email me at mistervague1@sbcglobal.net if you wanna launch a surprise or three!).

One other show will help promote this, as Sophie and I will play solo sets on Saturday, April 5 at Discology Reno, the awesome and much needed indie record store on California and Plumas, just above the Satellite and Blue Moon Pizza. It starts at 5 and admission is free, although we'll have lanyards for sale that will let you get into Friday's show.

So, stop by if you like to help celebrate the greatness that is Neil Young and to help with the Bridge School. Love to see you there....

MARK E

2008-03-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

SPRING HATH SPRUNG

Hi, everyone. Just wanted to give you a little update on things as they sit for these first days of Spring (yeah!).

First, we have many shows coming up. We're on a little jag of 'touring' as it were (that is, playing close-ish to home on little weekend or weekday jaunts). We're pretty much consistently playing for the next 2 months straight, which I don't think has really happened quite in this manner, so that'll be fun to survive! Be sure to see the front page again for details on our stops in Reno, Northern California, Oregon and Washington. And as always, we appreciate that you are interested enough to keep us playing like this.

Second, the third Mister Vague CD, 'Allergic To Everything,' is about to go to non-mersh and college radio at the start of April. If you live in a town that has a station like that, please request us and help spread the word on all things Vague. We would appreciate it!

Third, the new American Music Club record is freakin' great. Go get it. It's called The Golden Age and it's on Merge.

And that will do for now. I'll write later about the upcoming Neil Young tribute show plans that are happening in early April and other things. Take care and stay safe.

MARK E

2008-02-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

BACK TO BLOGGING (MAYBE)

Hello everyone! I finally figured out how this thing works, I hope. So the idea here is that I'll blog here every once in a while to give more details on what Mister Vague is doing of late.

We're in the process now of revamping this site overall, with new links, more on the new CD, more giveaway MP3s, and the like. More details soon on that.

Otherwise, it's Marcus Mayhall, Jason Thomas and me playing live as Mister Vague for the time being. As you may have noticed, "Mister Vague" has meant different people at different times, and this year is shaping up to be very similar. I'll have more on that as we get closer to the summer, because how the year ends i think will be both exciting and a bit scary, but if you would like to stay on for whatever the evolution is, then I'd like that!

So the biggest stuff upcoming are our shows in Reno/Carson. We're sticking close to home for this next month, especially since the weather is so unpredictable and such. But we have a Feb. 9 show at Maytan Music Center, a March 21 show at Tonic and a March 22 show at Comma Coffee in Carson. We plan to play both some older songs we've not done in a while and some brand-new material at these shows, so stop by!

We're also working on a new venue for the Feb 24 show that was at XOXO, which lamentably has just closed down. I've often said, in public, that Reno has too many venues, and we've seen a lot close in the last few months, but I am genuinely said when a great venue closes, and that's the case with XOXO. Hopefully, you got to see us or others in action at this adventureous place.

OK! That's about all I can talk about for now. More later....
MARK E
MISTER VAGUE
RENO NV

2008-01-05T11:26:00.001-08:00

Test post.

2007-01-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR SURPRISING CONTENT

So there's been a lot going on since we last wrote something here (and the blog was broken, so that was our excuse!). Here's the basics:

1. Neal and I are playing with some new folks, and we are pretty dang excited about it.

Neal has switched over to guitar full-time now. As many of you early Vague-ites know, he's very good, and you heard some of his handiwork on "Trial." But now it's a whole new ballgame. Neal is doing his best to transform my goofy little songs into something grander and more interesting, as is his prelidiction.....

And there's a whole new rhythm section. Travis Ambrose is an old friend of mine, and he's playing bass with the Vague now. Travis is quiet but deadly, as I say sometimes to people. He now takes my place as the person in Mister Vague who talks the least, but he's a talented, creative and interesting bass player. A different style from Neal's but still compatible and risky.

Our drummer is Jason Thomas. Originally we hired him to just play on our new record (see more below) but he's been willing now to do some shows as well, so we'll see how it goes. We've also been friends with Jason for a while and we've often been awestruck by his skills in bands such as Cranium, December, Above All Things and The Novelists. He's still active in most of those actually, so he's a busy guy! And so, as always, when you see "Mister Vague" it will be whoever showed up to the party, and that's OK of course......

Most of December and January has been practice and learning (and in my case, relearning!) our songs that we plan to record for our new CD. It's been a fun experience playing all-new songs with a bunch of folks and then figuring out what fits and what doesn't, and adding everyone's input and ideas. I missed that over the past year (apart from Neal's great suggestions up to this point, which are always given and often spectacular).

We ventured out once thus far for a show at Walden's and we were both surprised and gratified by the turnout and the reaction to a set of all-new songs (or mostly new, altho non-recorded oldies like "Midnight To Seven" are quite different now!). It gave us fuel for the future.

And what is that future, hmmm? Well, the plan is to go to Duluth, Minnesota (my former hometown) in early Spring to record our new CD. Alan Sparhawk will record it (he of many bands, including Low and Retribution Gospel Choir) and Eric Swanson will engineer (and he recorded one of my band in Duluth even, so it'll be like a reunion and such!). After that, it will show up in both the non-corporeal and corporeal worlds sometime later this year.

So anyway, we're doing just fine, and we'll try to be in touch more....

MARK E
RENO NV

2006-11-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

SHOW AT XOXO (again)

Can't talk long! Must hurry and type this! Mark E is playing a solo show on Thursday Nov 16 at XOXO, our new favorite place to play and see and be at. Also on the bill, the excellente Meric Long & Dodo Bird from the Bay, plus local faves The Touques. Starts at 9! Bye!

2006-10-30T21:47:00.000-08:00

LET'S REVIEW OCTOBER, SHALL WE?

Okay, here's what I remember.

We did a show in Reno that was swell. Dean played drums, we played at least two new songs (one a wacky cover) and we had a great time on a bill with the stunning, stunning new solo version of The Good Citizen and a very expoloratory verison of The Sunjul. It was at the Zephyr, who have since removed me as a personal My Space friend, likely because I (accidentally, honestly) threw my shoe at the bar during said show.

We did a show in Oakland that was a mix of abject terror and high art. Thanks to the Montana folks and their crew for not only hosting us and our 2-and-a-half sets (including a 10 minute version of "86 Whores") but also kept us awake during the entire night with lots of '80s 45s at their crash pad. Thanks for the memories!

We did a show at the Jib, which was quite pleasant. It's a good place, people of Reno and Sparks, and you should go there more often. thanks to Robert, Adam, Sean and owner Mike for braving it (and to the lady who complimented us on the Floyd cover).

Now we have a great start to November: a show with the Retribution Gospel Choir this Saturday (Nov 4). It's a fantastic band from my old hometown of Duluth Minnesota and features Alan and Matt of Low. It's at XOXO (y'know the gray cool looking building on Wells and Vassar) and we are on the bill with Think In French as well. Too much fun for one evening. So come on down! It starts at 10 or so.

More later...

2006-10-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

DANG GOOD FUN, MORE ON THE WAY MAYBE

So the typical trio (that would be Neal and Mark and Dean) did the reunion thing a coupla weeks ago. After Mark went to the freezin-ass Reno Tahoe airport to pick up Dean, we sped over to the Zephyr for a fun little show there. Thanks to all y'all that we remember being there: Jason, Julian, Jay, other people whose names don't begin with J, Adam, Sean, and I'm sure plenty more (including some new pals). We had a good time playing about 50 minutes or so, including our new cover d'jour: "Brain Damage/Eclipse" by the Floyd. It's always been my favorite Floyd song (apart from "Arnold Layne" and maybe "Pigs") and it was brave o' the Kramers to attempt a not-very-rehearsed version. The whole night was fun, with a powerful and awesome opening set from The Citizen (solo grunge) and a mindbending closer from the Sunjul, in which they played 5 songs for about 45 minutes (ladies and gentlemen, they were floating in space).

So we departed the next day for Oakland, which was another fun scene. We were to play at House of Shields, but that got canceled, so instead we played at this interesting rehearsal spaces/apartment complex thing right in the hood. There was razor wire on the fence (which Neal scaled perfectly apart from wrecking his shoes a bit apparantly). We ate vegetarian food, played some songs (including the Floyd again), saw great sets from Montana, Clevergirl (OMG we need to get them to Reno soon) and an unpronounceable band with violin, drums, guitar and films. It was great! Probably the most fun we've had at a show in quite a while. Thanks to Sam, Tasha and Jeff for letting us play, and to Jeff for playing his volumunous collection of '80s music on vinyl at his house until FOUR AM!

So that's it! A fun little trip.

I'll write more about this when it's appropriate, but the band's evolving at a frightening rate. More down the road....

MARK E

2006-09-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

SHOWS THIS WEEK: RENO UND OAKLAND AND FUN

Here's a quick update for you on what's going down...

THIS FRIDAY - ZEPHYR IN RENO
Dean is flyin' down for the weekend, so we are playing a Reno show first with no rehearsal whatsoever. Come hear and see the magic! At this show will be THE GOOD CITIZEN, solo version with robots, plus THE SUNJUL. This will be a highly unusual, def-defying show for you and your pals. It begins at 10 and it costs $5 or so. It's entirely possible that this is our last louder show in Reno for the rest of the year.

THIS SATURDAY - OAKTOWN ROCK PARTY
Our friends have invited us to play a super-secret show in Oakland. We know nothing so far. It should be fun, albeit scary. Maybe more details later.....

That's it for now! We'll have even more news to share later, but I'm getting computer fatigue.....
MARK E

2006-09-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEK'S RENO SHOWS (SEPT 29 TO OCT 5)

A lot of out-of-towners this week, so give 'em a chance!

FRIDAY:

This is the "big choice" night, as there are two interesting louder rock shows to pick. At Club Underground is a ton of local louder bands -- Redcel, Darque Carnival, Auroradrop, Voodoo Lily -- headlined by a band from Cali called I.R.A.T.E. It's a show sponsored by the Backyard, an hour long show on KDOT that plays local/regional bands. I'm most interested to see Redcel, since they'll be playing their very different new material at this show no doubt. But, I'd stay for the whole thang. It starts at 8 p.m. (get there early) and costs just a fiver.

Also this night, it is the return of the Flesh Hammers after some time away from the boards. See what Blackie and Co. have got brewing lately at Davidson's on Fourth Street. It's at 9 and probably cheap at the door.

SATURDAY:

The Vague pick this night is for Adrian and the Sickness, an all-femme punk rock band. They are traveling all the way from Austin, Texas, but they are not cowpoke music! Instead, it's old-school punk with a lot of humor (some of it quite ribald and juvenile, but funny anyway). They pushed the "Babes in Toyland" button in my head, and that made me happy. It's at the Zephyr and it starts at 10.

SUNDAY:

Another band led by women plays Sunday at the Satellite, and they are touring also. The Jolenes are from Portland and they play either lighter indie-pop or more jagged modern rock circa '94, depending on their mood. They pushed the "Elastica" button in my head, and that made me happy. This one starts at 9.

TUESDAY:

One more touring band. This time it's Conrad Ford, a band not a guy, from Seattle. They play kinda spooky, but very tuneful, alt-country mixed with the more mellow indie variety. I liked it a lot. It's at Satellite (something in the water or wine there, I think) and it starts at 9.

As usual, add your own ideas to the comments below....

2006-09-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEK'S RENO SHOWS (SEPT 21-28)

It kinda blows that I'll be missing most of the shows this weekend while I'm busy working because there's quite the lineup:

THURSDAY
Tonight at XOXO on Wells there is the excellent Portland band called Kleveland, who suggest something close to Joan Jett at her most punk rock or the Cars without the cheezy keyboard goo. Not sure on who is opening locally, but I bet this will rule. Get there at 9.

FRIDAY

Two of my favorite singer/songwriters -- Grace and Kate Cotter -- are at Dreamer's downtown, starting at 8 p.m. Also on the bill is a tuneful indie-popster from Atlanta named Emily Kate Boyd.

I like The Willies and they don't seem to play around town too much. They define the true idea of Americana for me, playing music that you can't quite put your finger on, but that touches on rock, jazz, country and who-knows-what-else. And the coolest drum kit I've ever seen. They are at the Green Room tonight, at 10.

Often compared to Bright Eyes because their singer is a ringer for Connor, An Angle are from Sacto and play interesting, and very lyrically strong, chamber-esque pop. They are at Satellite tonight, with great and unsung locals Back Harlow Road and synth-based instrumentalist band The Evening Episode, also from yon Sac. Get there before the 10 pm start if you wanna see anything.

Absynth comes back from Tahoe just a week later to play at the new Ciao Reno wine bar, pizza place (in a sophisticated way, mind you) and venue in South Reno. They play an intriguing mix of jazz, funk and techno all mashed up in one. It starts at 9.

SATURDAY

This one didn't make the papers for some reason, so there may be less people to see Matt Hopper at XOXO tonight. That would be a shame, since he is one of America's most interesting and entertaining of the new breed singer/songwriters, with his own style of indie-based pop. He's from Alaska and tours constantly, so I know some of you are fans, right? Right? Anyway, he's with Chicagoan Cameron McGill, who mixes up '60s pop and alt-country influences quite well in his own tunes. It's at 9 pm!

The big rawk show tonight is at the Satellite: Think In French, back from tour and ready to ride the ebb-and-flow of noise rock; the Sunjul, putting the psyche into psychedelic indie rock; and a neo-synth-pop duo from San Fran called Master/Slave. The shebang begins at 10 or so (but get there at 9).

And not that this show sucks by any means -- in fact you should *start* your evening off with Joel Ackerson's double-duty, free of charge show at Walden's (it begins at a crisp 7 pm). Joel will play a solo set and will debut his new band The Novelists, featuring some familiar faces to you.

So there -- you don't even have to suffer through any Street Vibe butt-rock this weekend! Not anything, at least I know about, through the week, but you'll need to recover.

Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments below.....

MARK E

2006-09-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEK'S RENO SHOWS (SEPT 14-20)

THURSDAY
Go see The Touques! This great indie-pop band is playing at the Hacienda tonight. It starts at 9 pm

FRIDAY

There’s yet another interesting featured performer for the open mic at Walden’s. We played a great show in Sacto with Nolan earlier this year, and he writes really memorable, very upbeat acoustic rockers. Go see him! The whole open mic starts at 7 pm.

After that, there are three very diverse shows in town for any taste.

Also in town, at the Zephyr, is excellent Portland, Ore., band Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags. It’s alt-country with an interesting dose of straight pop and some louder rock. They reminded me a lot of Crooked Fingers, which is a good thing. You’ll like it! They are pals with our friends Chuckanut Drive from Bellingham, Wash. The local opener for this show is the always fun, always loose punk of The Juvinals. There’s a cover and it starts at 10 pm or so.

There’s a good drunk/punk bill at Davidson’s Distillery on Fourth Street tonight, plus there’s no cover. You can see the Seattle band 3 Inch Max (who remind me a lot of Social D before they went too rock), with two really fun local bands, Cobra Skulls and Shockbox.

Plus, the Tahoe band Absyth is at Great Basin. They are pretty unique, melding Phish-like jam-band melodicism with modern day electronic music. Again, no freakin’ cover.

SATURDAY
Of course, gotta plug our own show. We are like that. Anyway, it’s a very different bill at Club Underground as Mister Vague (Neal/Mark version) is joined by Julian Peach (or it may be an acoustic/quieter version of Above All Things), Justin McMahon (an excellent guitarist with good, smart tunes) and The Sunjul (our left-o-center indie-pop pals). The show starts at 9 pm and it’s $5 or so.

TUESDAY
The always great Ani DiFranco is returning to town, with a show tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Bartley Ranch. The opener is a poet/monologue-ist named Buddy Wakefield.

Feel free to add your own shows to the bottom of this as comments…….

2006-09-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEK'S RENO SHOWS (SEPT 7-SEPT 13)

It'll be a busy weekend for good rawk in the region. Let's get to it.

FRIDAY
Of course there is a Mister Vague show! We will be playing the feature slot at Walden's at about 8:30 or so. After that, me and Neal will have to decide between two very good shows that start at about 10 p.m.: The Sunjul (twisted indie pop from Yerington) and Alone in the Cockpit (radio-friendly rock) at Club Underground; or there's Ordinary (moody but tuneful indie pop) and Brant (butt-shakingly groovin' pop) at Knuckleheads.

SATURDAY
Dorraine and I are going to see Mike Doughty at the Nugget at 8 pm. This is a very cool thing. If you don't know, Mike was the singer/guitarist of Soul Coughing, one of the absolute best '90s bands. Now he does the solo thing and this should be a fun one. There are other good locals that night too: a good bill of slanted and enchanted looser indie rock starting at 10 pm from The Touqes and Copied Copied at Club Underground (wow, B is really going out on a limb with the bookings!) and a good triple bill at Walden's starting at 7 pm: Simple Endeavor (ornate and smart acoustic rock), Dirty Pretty (groove-ish rock) and Ouch My Toe (really out-there blues-psychedelic stuff).

MONDAY
My pal Greg from Portland and his duo Graves are gonna hit the open mic at the Zephyr while passing through town. Likely I'll be there also either playing or observing. It starts around 9 or so.

As always, add your own shows below.....

2006-08-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEK'S RENO SHOWS (AUG 30 to SEPT 6)

A lot of folks are at Burning Man this week (at least the ones who can afford it) and so this is traditionally a slower week for things to see in town, but there are a coupla shows worth your interest. Here they are!

WED AUG 30 - RECORD STREET CAFE at 8 PM: THE TOUQUES and PTERADON
One of my favorite new Reno bands are playing tonight: The Touques. They are basically, simply, a fun melodic indie-pop band. I think they are a lot like Spoon and have that band's sense of fun and experimentation. This is also at Record Street Cafe, a nice place that deserves your support. Also on the bill is a more aggressive but still catchy rock band from San Jose called Pteradon, whose My Space songs evoked nice memories of 1983 for me (that is, Husker Du, not Kajagoogoo).
www.myspace.com/thetouques
www.myspace.com/pteradonband

FRI SEPT 1 - WALDEN'S COFEEHOUSE at 7 PM: OPEN MIC with LENNY WALKER
As I say above, it doesn't seem like a busy night 'round town, but one of Reno's finest is doing the 30-minute set at open mic. Lenny plays a lot of traditional folk and writes his own songs, too. The fact that he is 60 and is more exhuberant and emotional than some of the kids with fake cool that play this town is inspirational enough for me. Plus, he really likes Mister Vague, so there....
www.waldenscoffeehouse.com/performers-JKL-LennyWalker.shtml

SAT SEPT 2 - TWO CHOICES BELOW
In my mind, you can either go to the Rib Cook-Off and brave the crowd to see The English Beat at 7 p.m. (Victorian Square), or you can see Amber Rubarth's return to town at Dreamer's at 8 p.m. (Downtown Reno). The Beat features singer/guitarist Dave Wakeling as its only original member, and usually that would suck, but the band also has Lynval Goulding who used to be in the Specials, so I'm hoping they bust out with some of those songs also. Plus, the Beat is my favorite of the second-wave ska bands, so why not (and it's a free show!). Amber is known by some of you here I'm sure. She now lives in LA when she's not touring like a crazy person. She plays a really creative blend of new folk and pre-rock pop music, with surprising overtones and emotional curves. She won't be back until December, so see her if you are a fan or are curious as heck......
www.thebeatuk.com
www.myspace.com/amberrubarth

As always, feel free to comment below to add your own recommendations for Reno shows.....

MARK E

2006-08-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

THIS WEEK'S RENO SHOWS (AUG 23-29)

A new feature! Every week, Mister Vague will make some, uh, vague recommendations on great artistes coming to the Reno area. Here's the first salvo:

THURSDAY AUG 24: A great show at Satellite. The Plus Ones are a band from the Bay who play new-wave-inspired punk and pop. They feature Joel Reader who was with the Mr. T Experience during their biggest heyday. I saw them waaaay back in 2000 and am glad they are still around. Also on the bill: The Stops, a great new band from Reno that play a combo of indie and total synth pop, with neato avant-garde touches. Quite unique! www.myspace.com/theplusones ... www.myspace.com/thestopsrock

FRIDAY AUG 25: There are a bazillion shows to recommend on one of the better nights in town. You can start of your night at Walden's to see the featured act for open mic: Mike Glendinning. He's from Albany, Calif., and he plays quite the range of stuff and is a very good guitar player. It's definitely in an early '90s style, but divergent on its own. he's at www.myspace.com/mikeglendinning

Then there are three bar shows from which to choose. You can see Divine Cacophony at the Zephyr (wildly swinging rock, jazz and noise), the final Electrosonics show at the Green Room (yep, they are ending it) with Sol Jibe also playing; or you can check out the totally full bill at Club Underground, featuring Vague pals Mnemonic, Kill Kelly, Pop Star Serial Killer and Darque Carnival among the hi-volume acts. We'll start you with the Mnemonic link I suppose: www.myspace.com/mnemonicreno ...

SATURDAY AUG 26: I've never heard them, but my friend TJ's band Axiom is debuting at Knuckleheads. Support 'em!

That's it for now. Feel free to comment below to add shows you think are cool.....

MARK E
MISTER VAGUE
RENO NV

2006-08-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

LONG DRIVES AND DAIRY QUEEN FRIES or some such thing.....

So we are planning another Pac NW trip this year. Unfortunately for those who read this from the Seattle area, we are not going back there until next year perhaps, but for now we do have a lil trip planned for this week. Here's how it goeth:

FRIDAY - we are playing in Richland at Lee's Tahitian Lounge. Sounds like, uh, fun? Really, though, we've heard it's an interesting place with copious amounts of cheap booze for you (not for Mark at least, he has to play). This is a full Dean/Mark/Neal show. Also on the bill is great singer/songwriter JD Kindle.

SATURDAY - we make a quick trek up to Yakima again, this time at the happenin' Yakima Sports Center. The trio version of Vague plays with Junior Private Detective, a not-easily-classifiable rock band from Portland.

SUNDAY - Neal and Mark drive home, but make a stop in Boise to play a 30minute open mic set at the Bouquet, one of the places to be in Idaho on a Sunday apparantly! Stop by if you can.

And that's it! After that, we have a Reno show in September and that's it for a while. So, stay tuned for more down da road....

MARK E

2006-08-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

COME SEE ME PRACTICE (unfortunately, it's in public)......

So I usually just catch some time to play through Mister Vague songs (and assorted covers, some of which you will never hear) a little bit here and there toward the early evening, before dinner or some such thing. Usually the audience consists of my dog (who will often leave a couple of minutes in) and my daughter (who often asks me to close the door becuase she can't hear either the TV or the computer, or can't concentrate on her homework).

But on this Tuesday (August 8) I'll practice in front of some of you instead! And it's disguised as a show even. This is what's happening:

TUESDAY AUG 8
the first CLUB UNDERGROUND ACOUSTIC ONLY SHOW
doors at 7 pm or so
$5 for the musician types, and it's a bar so only those over 21

So the bill for this first puppy is Mark Earnest Solo (doing Vague songs new and old), then Julian Peach, erstwhile leader of the fine loud rawk band Above All Things, and then Joel Ackerson, who I had the priviledge to play with at Satellite in January of this year, where we mangled a Pearl Jam song at the end. What will be beyond recognition this time? Find out then.....

MARK E

2006-07-26T06:39:00.000-07:00

DON'T FORGET TO WRITE, then again I did forget.....

So it's been a while since I've updated this roll call of interesting crap. Basically I went through what the therapists probably call a "crisis of confidence." Not sure if I wanted to keep doing the Mister Vague thing with all the chaos and strangeness in the past year.

But several things have happened that made the decision for me, not the least of which is a forthcoming RE-RELEASE of "File Under:Trial" by the esteemed Slothtrop label outta Madison, Wisconsin. Yay! Plus, we'll likely be doing more with the Slothtrop-ians in the future. More on that later.

But for now, we press on and I'll write in this thing more often. In fact, I have some wacky plans for a weekly feature totally unreleated to Mister Vague. Shocker! More on that later, later.

I played a solo show last Saturday, very off the cuff and last minute, and it was fun just getting up there and playing mostly new stuff for folks who had never really heard the songs before. A good reinforcement that I (and by extension, Neal) am doing the right thing with this puppy. Reinvigor!

That's all I can really discuss right now.

2006-05-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE?

Okay, what's been happening....

Played a really fun show in Sacto at Luna's. We wanna go back. It was fantastic, and thanks to Nolan, the K Tripsters, Art and our new friends in the audience. We are going back to Sac in July. More on that later.

And we played a show in Reno at Green Room. We also wanna go back. It was really intense and fun, and thanks to Julian and J for setting it up for us. Thanks to all who came out on a busy night for Reno rawk. This'll be the last Dean show for quite a while in Reno (maybe more than a year). Things are evolving.

This'll be my last post for a while also. Me and Neal are figuring some crap out... Feel free to write for more details: mistervague1@sbcglobal.net

2006-04-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

It was a fine time at Walden's this past Saturday. Thanks to those of you who attended. It was actually a full house again, which is nice to see! Both the bands we played with were great fun: DOUBLOON did the post-punk thing in style, and OUCH MY TOE are just crazy people, spiking blues with noise attitude. We hope to see 'em again someday.

Our set was a bit shaky but it got better as we aged. It was the first time in a long time that Neal and I played a two-guitar set instead of bass-n-guitar, so it was nervy but it worked OK. We'll be back at Walden's (in what lineup I dunno!) in early June.

The next show is in a coupla days tho.....

THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 21
at LUNA'S CAFE in SACRAMENTO
9 pm start, $5, all ages
We are beyond happy to be playing, finally!, at Luna's. Me and Neal start it off, followed by Nolan, who leads the Last Action Heroes and writes great songs. The evening ends with a band our Reno readers may be familiar with: The Kimberly Trip! They are a good, melodic rock band with edgy overtones, and frequent visitors to Walden's actually.

Whoa, full circle.

Anyway, if you are reading this and are a Sacto resident, come by and say hi.