Tue 9/17 @ 7:30PM
It seems like every few years a new generation of musicians produces a handful of bands in the genre critics have dubbed “power pop,” a lilting, tuneful genre that generally tries to recapture the innocence and energetic melodicism of the Beatles and their English invasion peers. Critics love these bands.
In Washington State in the mid 80s, one such band was the Posies, out of Bellingham, about an hour and a half from Seattle. When they launched in 1986, grunge was already emitting its first rumbles around the region. Nirvana launched in Aberdeen the following year; Screaming Trees, Soundgarden and the Melvins were already performing.
Posies founders Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow had other ideas: they went the full pop route. Like many other bands from their region they caught the wave and got a major label deal in the 90s, releasing three albums on DGC Records. Since then, the band has been intermittently active, while Stringfellow has continued to perform and has released half a dozen solo albums.
He’ll be bringing his music to the BOP STOP for an evening with Ken Stringfellow, where he’ll play guitar and piano, sing, tell stories, tell jokes and play tunes from the Posies, Big Star (a revival version of which Auer and Stringfellow played with), R.E.M. with whom he’s also collaborated, and more. He’ll be heavily featuring material from his 2001 album Touched as the focal point of the evening.
Tickets are $25.
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