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Isamu Jordan

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All Stories

News >  OurGen

Then and now

Adults always want to know how to reach youth. But, too often, adults fail to ask young people about their world. They hold workshops and conferences and panel discussions, and the very people they are trying to reach are not invited.
A&E >  Entertainment

All hair welcome at Strands

When black women move to Spokane, often one of the first questions they have is, "Where can I get my hair done?" (The first question is, "Where are all the black people?")
A&E >  Entertainment

Kelly’s rides into the sunset

This weekend one of the region's truest honky tonks, Kelly's at Stateline, swings open its doors for the last time. Owner Kelly Hughes is calling it quits to spend more time playing music and relaxing and enjoying life, but not without throwing a proper farewell party.
A&E >  Entertainment

Outdoor shows move back indoors

Originally planned as an outdoor event, the Big Easy's Spokane Street Scene Concerts this weekend have been moved back in the main showroom. The concert series feature on Friday 1980s rockers Tesla along with Papa Roach and local bands Lucid with 10 Minutes Down, and on Saturday night, the Big Easy hosts 1990s alternative rock outfit Collective Soul with Young Dubliners, Roger Cline & The Peacemakers, and local pop-rock band Vertigo Bliss.
A&E >  Entertainment

BOBfest band all grown up

Meet the leaders of the next school of local music: Mylestone. This pop rock quartet has gone through an extreme makeover in the past year. They used to be a pop band that played Motown covers.
A&E >  Entertainment

Band reunites for two shows

Erick Bergloff will tell you straight up; he was the last guy who wanted to see an Upper Class Racket reunion. It's something the loose-cannon emcee and eccentric beatmaker has been resisting for the past two years since his punk-funk hip-hop band broke up.
A&E >  Entertainment

A party with a heart

We're hosting a party tonight and you're invited. 7 Senses 2004 features on The Met stage a cross-section of some of the freshest local musicians, break-dancers, a performance painter, and me and a couple of friends doing a combination of performance poetry and hip-hop. All net proceeds from the $7 tickets benefit The Children's Museum Summer Outreach Program. We don't usually do this sort of thing.
A&E >  Entertainment

A tour of magic and mystery

The music of the Beatles keys up memories of an era of social and political unrest. A time when man first ventured into space, troops were ordered into Vietnam, and the U.S. blockaded Cuba and forced the removal of Soviet missiles.
A&E >  Entertainment

If you’ve got The Creeps, you gotta start movin’

If you're still complaining that nobody dances at punk shows anymore, then you haven't been to a Creeps show. This isn't where your usual too-cool-to-move wallflowers post up. This is where people get nuts on the dance floor. The sad part is, the punk-rock quartet has an even bigger following outside of Spokane. "When we pull up in Richland, it's like the carnival is coming to town," said Creeps bassist Larry Reiner. "Kids show up with stickers, T-shirts – they treat us like rock stars. Their fists are in the air, and they know every word to every song."
A&E >  Entertainment

Jules turns his career into gem

Gary Jules was a victim of record-label politics that almost doomed his career. But instead, Jules found his way in the music business through the back door of film.
A&E >  Entertainment

Yo! Get some crunk lingo if you want your props

WHADDUP, DAWG? You still usin' that wack steelo? Talkin' all last year? You need to bounce wit' that and get caught up on the latest lingo. How are you gonna floss with blingin' ice and fly gear if you have no game? That's my word, yo. If you want to keep up with the now, you have to keep it real, yo. You'll only get sick props if you're flipping the script right, aiight?
A&E >  Entertainment

‘Contagious joy’ keeps rhythm

When Coeurimba is hammering out its style of traditional Zimbabwean polyrhythms, even the most beat-challenged listener gets caught in the pulse. The six-piece Coeur d'Alene marimba band has been keeping crowds vibing for the nearly two decades it has been sharing the sounds of Africa throughout Washington and Idaho.
News >  Spokane

Kids steal the show at the Gorge

Sasquatchers were getting lost in singer/guitarist Doug Martsch's counterbalancing act of vertigo guitar riffs and fall-into-yourself vocals on the main stage of the Gorge Amphitheatre on Saturday. At that same moment, the real highlight of the Sasquatch Music Festival was happening on the second, more intimate stage during Donavon Frankenreiter's set.
A&E >  Entertainment

A festival fit for Bigfoot himself

Coming off the heels of last year's ultra-eclectic lineup, this year's Sasquatch Music Festival roster reads like an all-star compilation of the top bands in the Seattle indie-rock scene, and indeed the nation. With representation from Seattle's infamous Sub Pop label, the biggest regional draws are sure to be The Shins and Postal Service at Sasquatch, which takes place Saturday at the Gorge Amphitheatre. Other highlights include Built To Spill, The Long Winters, The Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney, Donavon Frankenreiter, The New Pornographers, Thievery Corporation, and hip-hop act The Roots, who played at the Big Easy on Wednesday.
A&E >  Entertainment

Curious Gorge

It's no secret: With its pristine beauty, sprawling panoramic view, and middle-of-nowhere charm, the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Wash., remains the pinnacle outdoor concert venue for music fans in Eastern Washington. Since the White River Amphitheatre opened last year, a couple of shows that typically have happened at the Gorge in the past – Ozzfest, Lollapalooza – have relocated to the outdoor venue outside of Seattle with similar capacity. Still, the Gorge retains some of its heaviest hitters as it announces its 2004 summer concert season, which includes big draws The KUBE Summer Jam, Dave Matthews, and the Sasquatch Music Festival, which happens Saturday (see accompanying story).
A&E >  Entertainment

Horrible Disaster started small

When Chris Pierce started jamming with Adam Jelsing a couple of years ago, the two didn't have any big ideas. They just liked playing music. Those informal jam sessions spiraled into one of the more popular, albeit younger, rock bands on the local circuit – Horrible Disaster. "We started as a two-piece. I didn't think it would become a full band. We were just trying to have some fun. I'm surprised that we've been playing a lot of shows," Pierce said. It's not just the number of shows Horrible Disaster plays, it's also the quality of the shows.
A&E >  Entertainment

Let’s see SpongeBob do better cutting hair

There are three things on this Earth my 2-year-old son will sit still for: SpongeBob SquarePants (what is it with that yellow bedlamite?), raisins (shhh … he still thinks they are candy) and, well … OK, so there are two things. Giving him a bath has been like Ali-Frazier since he was a year old, especially when it comes to washing his hair.
A&E >  Entertainment

Styx, Frampton offer blasts from past

The Gorge turns time machine on Sunday when the stage is overtaken by arena rock relics Styx with Peter Frampton, Kansas, and Blue Oyster Cult. Styx is widely believed to be responsible for the development of the term pomp-rock – meaning pompous, overblown arrangement, and uber-production.
A&E >  Entertainment

Don’t expect balloon animals

Coulrophobics beware, the Insane Clown Posse brings the demented Psychopathic Rydas tour tonight at 7:30 to the Big Easy Concert House. Despite being one of the most hated bands with a record deal, ICP has managed to release several platinum albums, set the record for longest running hip-hop record in Billboard Top 200 history, and even wrestle in WWE and WCW (as well as starting its own Juggalo Championship Wrestling organization) – all while building an army of loyal Juggalo fans.
A&E >  Entertainment

First rule at this Fight Club: No cussing

Outside the Spokane Falls Community College SUB, where the Spokane Freestyle King emcee battle was about to get underway Saturday night, rapper Speed was telling his prophecy. "The first round: all adjectives. The second round: pronouns. The third round: verbs in Spanish," he proclaimed at the building entrance as his competition and spectators filtered in. The night looked promising.
A&E >  Entertainment

Hughes plugs along with his electonica

Jeremy Hughes exists in two (and a half) realities. He stands out in the local rock scene as guitarist for favorites Chinese Sky Candy. But the guitarist/composer remains crouched in the grimiest corners of the underground as an electronic musician and a hip-hop producer who has a tough time finding work.
A&E >  Entertainment

It’s all good for solo-flying Schneider

The so-called pied-piper of Austin, Bob Schneider, has fronted four of the most popular bands in the Austin scene – Lonelyland, the Scabs, the Ugly American and Joe Rockhead. Now he's flying solo with his latest release, "I'm Good Now," on Shockorama/Vanguard Records. Recorded at various studios, "I'm Good Now" is at the same time pristine and rough-edged pop rock with edgy lyrics about heartache, future loves, drug addiction and personal angst. Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and raised in Munich, Germany, Schneider is the son of a professional German opera singer and has been performing since he was a toddler. He first gained professional experience backing his father on drums at numerous moonlighting gigs throughout Germany and as a lead singer under the name Bobby Blues and the Basstones at a University of Maryland at Munich show. A gifted visual artist, he moved to El Paso, Texas, to study art, but soon discovered his true passion was music and moved to Austin to pursue his dream.