Folks up in Portland are fairly proud of their music scene. It's understandable. Not only is there a plethora of great acts in our northern neighbor but several of them are receiving national recognition. Their view, however, of Salem's music community can be varied and this was on display when both of Portland's alternative weeklies made mention of our scene.

The first reference came from Willamette Week's Paige Richmond in her weekly column "Dear You." She penned a rant about how the online purveyor of all knowledge, Wikipedia, had failed to properly praise Portland in its article about "Music Of Oregon." That's an understandable stance to take but she crossed into dangerous territory when she wrote, "You don't even mention Portland's scene, instead focusing on Salem (!!) and Eugene." She later defended herself saying that she wasn't taking any shots at the state's capital but those two exclamation points seem to have told a different story. Is it really that hard to believe there's music worth writing about down here?

Next came Cary Clarke's column in the Portland Mercury, "Our Town Could Be Your Life." He dedicated the entire piece to the recent Cherry City Music Festival and featured Salem-bred musicians from Typhoon, Blitzen Trapper and Plants discussing life here. While it would have been nice to have seen more acts that are a part of the current scene interviewed we still appreciate the fact that they mentioned the festival. Clarke was misguided when he referenced the festival's "sizable ex-pat contingent." Beyond Typhoon and Black Black Black, who canceled at the last moment due to the death of a friend, there weren't too many acts playing that don't currently make their home in this area.

Maybe we're a little oversensitive but that's the natural byproduct of having to defend yourself and your community with such regularity.

Late night, double feature picture show
It's been a heck of a long time since Salem Cinema hosted live music but they're giving it another go on November 10. The show, which is scheduled to start around 11 p.m., will feature Mill Race and Nodding Tree Remedies playing with video footage showing behind them.

In Mill Race's case, it'll be videos for their songs done by the Farris family (the ones behind the "Garden Gnome" video), Daniel Rafn and others. NTR's footage will be exactly what you expect, which is to say nothing that you'll expect. That's just how they roll.

Lefty's has left the building

Word has circulated for months that Lefty's on State was having financial problems and its owners were looking to sell, but it still came as a bit of a shock to fans of the blues club when owners John and Karen Graham announced it was closing on October 6. Since the abrupt closure caught so many by surprise, the couple decided to open for one final show a week later to say goodbye.

Since the announcement, many have questioned what led to the venue's closure. Some speculate that the blues audience is too limited in Salem to support a club, others have claimed that there wasn't enough coverage by the local media and a few have talked about how it got to be too expensive for patrons (from ticket prices to the pizza). The bigger question is whether or not live music venues can find long-term success in Salem.

The post-mortem will continue for awhile and we're debating the issue as much as the rest of you, but for now we bid a fond farewell to Lefty's and thank all those who were a part of it for doing their part to give music a home in our community.