4 p.m. / Erik Reimnitz
Erik Reimnitz, bassist for Vashon Island band Trolls Cottage, kicks off the all-ages festivities at Hattie’s. Though the band members are in their 20s, Trolls Cottage has been playing their rhythmic but mellow sets—think Dave Matthews rousted from a nap—for a decade, and entered the studio in June to record a follow-up to their 2008 release, Let It Burn. Will Reimnitz play fan favorites like “Don’t Miss the Boat,” new songs from the forthcoming record, or will he delve into solo material? The fun lies in finding out.
5 p.m. / John Ramberg
John Ramberg is sort of the Ron Jeremy of the city’s power-pop scene: It’s practically mandatory to include him in your project. Formerly of the beloved, now-defunct Model Rockets and currently guitarist and singer of the Tripwires as well as a rotating member of the Minus 5, Ramberg, and his wry vocals, helped propel the Tripwires’ 2009 House to House to critical raves and steady rotation.
6 p.m. / Sparrow-Bot
Sparrow-bot’s sole member, Sydney McClune, has been writing and recording for five years, but just recently began presenting her atmospheric and haunting songs to audiences. It’s unlikely you’ll hum such pieces as “Pharmakos” or “Killer in Space” while you’re out running, but McClune’s contemplative work perfectly heralds falling leaves, dying light, and the beginning of a thousand little endings. The San Francisco native migrated to Seattle last year, and will collaborate with some of the city’s musicians she’s befriended on her forthcoming third album, Tempest in a Teacup, on which she hopes to blend the tone of her past work with her more folk-tinged live shows.
7 p.m. / Lincoln Barr
Only a deeply talented or incredibly stupid band would enter the studio for their sophomore effort and record the whole thing live to tape in six days with the Posies’ legendary Ken Stringfellow producing. Red Jacket Mine, the four-piece outfit helmed by singer/songwriter Lincoln Barr, did just that last year, and the results place them squarely in the former category. Lovers Lookout builds on the momentum of Red Jacket Mine’s debut, Hello Old Cloud, and Barr has more chops than a butcher.
8 p.m. / Gregory Paul
For a quarter century, banjo player and guitarist Gregory Paul has written and played songs that sound as if they were created on a weatherbeaten back porch over a coyote’s plaintive wail. Old-fashioned without being “old-timey,” Paul plays banjo and composes for roots band Autumdiver, and also frequently unveils his gifts busking on Seattle streets. Graced with eloquence and imbued with maturity, Paul can sing “Oh Death,” a plea to live another year, without sounding like an MFA grad donning Grandpa’s cowboy boots.
9 p.m. / Thousands
By stripping away studio pyrotechnics, Kristian Garrard and Luke Bergman paradoxically lend a richer and lusher texture to their work. Thousands’ 2009 debut, The Sound of Everything, was recorded on Oregon beaches, at an abandoned farm, and in an echoing university stairwell, with the naturally occurring intonations left intact. The result is not unlike early Simon and Garfunkel trading acoustic riffs on a foggy Sunday morning.
10 p.m. / Shelby Earl See preview.
11 p.m. / Hattie’s Hoot
What’s better than dessert? A surprise dessert prepared by a master chef who concocts all sorts of mischief with sugar, butter, and eggs. For years, Hattie’s Hat has hosted Hattie’s Hoot, a roster of unannounced, acclaimed artists—like Alejandro Escovedo, Neko Case, and Robyn Hitchcock—who have commandeered the stage in the back room. Who will cap the evening at this year’s REVERB? As the crazy person might wail on Pink Floyd’s “Nobody Home”: “Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!”
