Pop Filter: Event of the Week

Popists: Portland's Decemberists perform CD Live! concert at Downtown's Byham Theater
August 14, 7 p.m.
Byham Theater
101 Sixth Street, Downtown
412-381-9131
www.wyep.org

To see all Pop Filter events this week, click here.


Article:
The next installment of CD Live!—a collaborative concert series presented by 91.3fm WYEP, The Three Rivers Arts Festival, and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust—features a long-awaited appearance by The Decemberists at the elegant Byham Theater on August 14.

Hailing from hipsterville, USA (read: Portland, Oregon!), The Decemberists formed in 2000, after Montanan singer/songwriter Colin Meloy met bassist Nate Query and organ player Jenny Conlee, and the trio scored a silent film. The group's debut EP, 5 Songs, was self-released in 2001. The band moved on to make several albums with the underground Olympia, Washington label Kill Rock Stars recording label.

Fronted by Meloy, the band also features guitarist Chris Funk and drummer John Moen. Taking its name from an 1825 uprising that occurred in Imperial Russia, the group's sound ranges from upbeat power pop to lush folk-pop ballads that feature everything from Conlee's accordion, Hammond and Wurlitzer to upright bass and melodica.

The Decemberists Capitol Record debut, The Crane Wife, was released in 2006, and quickly found the group appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and launching a national tour with Los Angeles-based Lavender Diamond. Later that same year, The Crane Wife was selected by NPR listeners as the top album of 2006.

In July 2007, the band embarked on a five-date tour with a full orchestral accompaniment, which included dates at the historic Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, and at Chicago's Millennium Park with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.

The Hazards of Love, the band's latest release marks The Decemberists' fifth full-length album—and second for mega-label Capitol Records—and was released on March 24 of this year. The group made the LP available for download on iTunes one week prior to its release. Produced by Tucker Martine—who has worked with Mudhoney, Bill Frisell and Sufjan Stevens—the album chronicles "the tale of a woman named Margaret; her shape-shifting lover, William; his fey forest queen mother; and a cold-blooded rake," and features vocal contributions by Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden, My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Robyn Hitchcock and The Spinanes' Rebecca Gates. Meloy has described the album an exploration of his interest in the connections between British folk and classic rock and metal.

To purchase tickets, go here: http://www.pgharts.org/.