Country Side of Sunday
June 30, 2008
Five middle-aged guys channeled a bit of J.J. Cale and Cowboy Junkies for an evening last month at O'Connor's, 7852 S.W. Capitol Hwy. Jeff Woodcock (bass), Kurtis Piltz (harmonica) and guitarists Thad Beckman, Jon Koonce and Bob Love make up Countryside of Sunday, together for just over a year, according to Woodcock and Piltz. "Between the five of us, we’ve probably been in 100 bands total."
Woodcock adds that the band's major influences are "just about everything except opera." Piltz says the band does some original tunes and plays a lot of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Beckman and Koonce are the group’s writers. The band’s sound during this evening's gig was gentle, melodic and rhythmic, with each one taking turns with well-worn vocals.
Woodcock describes the band as an "electric string band" with no drums. All five guys hail from the Portland area, with some originally from the O'Connor's neighborhood.
Owner Steve Arel established the popular bar/restaurant in one of Portland's older business areas when he moved there in 1991. It was originally started up in 1970 at S.W. 4th Ave. and Alder; but he gave up on trying to make it downtown after losing his lease not once, but twice! The restaurant part is now in what was the Multnomah Bakery during the 1950s-60s, which he acquired in 1990. He expanded it to include room for music acts when he bought the Multnomah Bank next door in 2002.
"A lot of my old buddies are rock 'n' rollers," Arel says. "I have some jazz (performers) now and then; all kinds of music," Arel adds. The list of musicians he knows is a who's who of the older Portland music scene, such as Sleazy Pieces, Steve Bradley and Dave Frieisen, who is now an internationally-known bass player.
July 19, O’Connor’s will celebrate their 74th Anniversary with a party featuring Carl Smith and the Natural Gas Company. There is no cover charge for this event!
For more information on the latest musical happenings at O'Connor's, see ad and Music on Tap this issue.