Writing

As a journalist, Aaron writes cover stories, CD reviews, adventure pieces and his weekly music column, “Music Box,” for Planet Jackson Hole Weekly. As a freelance writer, he his pieces have also been published in The Oregonian, Jambase.com, Libertarian Party News, The Statesman Journal, and Cascade Policy Institute, among others. Below, you will find the latest published pieces as well as poetry, song lyrics, ramblings, and select articles from the last several years.

• Music Box: The Silent Comedy brings barn-burning grit 4/18/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - The Silent Comedy puts on a show that is an ironic, rock ‘n’ roll world away from the band’s namesake. Looking back into the era of silent films (1900-1920), the physical style of act...

• CD Review: Justin Townes Earle 4/18/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE ** This album neared the top of my “Most Anticipated Albums of 2012” wish list, and upon fourth listen, I’m finally wrapping my he...

• The Goods: Jeffery Broussard & The Creole Cowboys, Old Death Whisper, & Benefit for a Cuban Family 4/18/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Laissez les bon temps rouler Accordionist of the Year according to the 2007 Zydeco Music & Creole Heritage Awards, Jeffery Broussard will bring his Creole Cowboys to the Center for the Arts for a Zydeco Danc...

• JH Summer Music Preview (so far) 4/4/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Oh, summer, how music junkies love thee I love this time of year for its anticipation of the massive intake of summer concerts. Headliner bills are already taking shape, so a little sneak peak is in order. By no...

• CD Review: Andrew Bird 4/4/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Break it Yourself ANDREW BIRD  * * * * Bird’s brand of intellectual pop is fascinatingly quirky, and certainly singular and artistic. He’s a tender constructor, coated by impeccable whistling, guitar and fi...

• Music Box: Dead Winter Carpenters 4/4/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - Spring’s first full moon night will be buttered up by Lake Tahoe’s most revved band as of late – Dead Winter Carpenters. Fresh from completing a successful Kickstarter campaign in which ...

• Music Box: Mountain Fest brings G. Love 3/28/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - G. Love comes off as a cool cat. Off the bat, he wants to know about the snow conditions.  The avid surfer grew up skiing, then switched to snowboarding, and is looking forward to hanging on...

• The Goods: Charlie Parr, Nickodemus, DRM and Orgone 3/28/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Renaissance Man Charlie Parr is from a different era; a time-traveled finger-picker of the old-time. I always thought that he was much older than he really is (43 years-old). He’s a humble, prolific, realisti...

• Music Box: Blitzen Trapper at Pink Garter 3/21/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Scouring music blogs and browsing a band’s discography with a focused set of ears is a blessing in disguise when you discover a new artist that should have been in your personnel rotation for...

• The Goods: Johnny Wailin', Slide/Path, Mandatory Air 3/20/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Wail that thing, Johnny Since forming in 2003 and then opening the 1st Annual Targhee Fest in 2005, Teton Valley rock-fusion trio Johnny Wailin’ has been largely inactive until last year. But the three-headed, fi...

• CD Review: Blitzen Trapper 3/20/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) American Goldwing BLITZEN TRAPPER While this set is a diversion from what Blitzen Trapper fans are used to (guess they’ve always been appreciated for inconsistency), it will attract an even wider fanbase. It�...

• The Goods: Galactic, Karl Denson, Slip and The Jigs 3/14/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Funk purveyors get Knotty Yes, its funk week here in The Goods. Can you believe Galactic’s been at it since 1994? Locals have seen a lot of this New Orleans project over the years, and thus the evolution from ...

• CD Review: Air 3/14/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Break out your astronaut suit for the galactica adventure you’ll have with Air’s Le Voyage Dans La Lune, a set inspired from French director George Méliès's silent 1902 film, A Trip to the Moon (which also inf...

• Music Box: Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside 3/14/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - In a nerdy, Back to the Future frame of mind, Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside have the look to match a sound that’s rooted in 50s memorabilia, with a dash of hipster street smart and neo-...

• Cover Story: Pink Garter hits it's Stride, The Rose Blooms 3/9/12

  Words & photos by Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) [caption id="attachment_632" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="The Rose's posh interior"][/caption] Jackson Hole, Wyo. - As I step over extension cords, power tools and guys in Carhar...

• The Goods: He's My Brother She's My Sister, Bad Weather California, Calle Mambo, Equal Eyes 3/9/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Sibling folk circus Not unlike the traveling Vaudeville-Americana circus of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, L.A.-bred He’s My Brother She’s My Sister brings quirk to folk. While this collective has ple...

• Music Box: JH Late Night Fundraiser with Fort Knox Five, All Good Funk Alliance, Cut La Whut 3/9/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - As with most social experiments, working out the kinks is inevitable. JH Late Night (Transportation) has been working hard to up the ante each time it encounters a new scenario. Originally sp...

• The Goods: Futurebirds, Big John Bates, Boombox 3/1/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Take Flight with Future Flock The Futurebirds’ performance last September at Town Square Tavern was that of youthful overindulgence.The band members jumped around stage like bats-outta-hell, had inter-band t...

• CD Review: Guy Clark 3/1/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Clark is one of my top ten favorite songwriters of all time. His wordsmithing and accompanying delivery are timeless, funny, heart wrenching, and at it’s best, unfathomable and poetic. His peers know this ...

• Music Box: Leftover brings Aquatic grooves 2/29/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson, Wyoming - Before 2004, Leftover Salmon did it non-stop; tour, that is. And while the Colorado quintet has offered a handful of “reunion” shows in the years since ’07, Jackson is a stop on what will be...

• The Goods: Benyaro, Chanman Roots Band, The Lonesome Heroes, The Orbit Group 2/22/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Acoustic soul meets ski-bum reggae While some of you may have realized by now that acoustic soul-folk-pop duo Benyaro splits home time between JH and Brooklyn, it’d be hard to figure it out when they are on th...

• Music Box: Chali 2na 2/22/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - When an artist has been there and done that, its time to dig in and figure out an oblique approach to market and inspire the fan base. Chicago native and former Jurassic 5 emcee, the rapid...

• CD Review: Dr. Dog 2/21/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Be the Void Dr. Dog / 4 stars If I could join any indie band right now, it would be Dr. Dog. Good albums can shred your illusions of being bored with current listening avenues. Try Be the Void, then backtrack ...

• Music Box: Teton Americana Winter Invitational 2/16/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - Welcome to progressive Americana Week. Let’s go ahead and call it The Teton Americana Winter Invitational. By coincidence, all of these bands will be playing varying nuances of contemporary ...

• The Goods: Monophonics, Matt Flinner Trio, Great American Taxi 2/16/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Two nights of psychedelic soul Referred to as black rock, or psychedelic soul is the sound developed in the late 60s ala Curtis Mayfield. San Francisco’s Monophonics—formed in 2005—have genuinely sunken in...

• CD Review: Greensky Bluegrass 2/15/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Handguns GREENSKY BLUEGRASS There’s a lot of contemporary grass that passes by my ears without reprise. My old grassy standbys are Monroe, Old & in the Way, John Hartford, Doc Watson and Grisman. The late ...

• The Goods: Mike Dillon, Jet Black Ninjas, Yo Jimbo Funk, Shook Twins, 4ontheFloor 2/8/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Did you just say Triple-Bill? Vibraphone-whacking percussionist Mike Dillon has been described as “a brutal, yet meticulously deranged blast of raw, jazz-rock power.” Dillon’s heroes Black Sabbath, The Minu...

• CD Review: Dawes 2/8/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Nothing is Wrong DAWES **** On Nothing is Wrong, lead singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith channels Jackson Browne’s literalness with Neil Young’s slow-burning electric guitar grooves. All at once accessible,...

• Music Box: JH Jewish Music Festival 2/8/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - The contemporary stamp on Klezmer and Hassidic influences into mainstream genres is as dynamic as you’ll find across the over-flow of music in today’s cloud-based and mobile indulgence. Th...

• Elk Attack: A New Callaboration 2/1/12

  [iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ErTE68GbX34" height="315px" width="420px"] By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - A band’s chemistry is of mathematical intricacies. Ebbs and flows that evolve over time.  So when, r...

• CD Review: Kathleen Edwards 2/1/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Voyageur Kathleen Edwards Not a complete 180 degrees, yet Kathleen Edwards’ fourth studio release is a progression away from rootsy, folk-rock and alt-country into the Justin Vernon, a.k.a. Bon Iver, atmospher...

• Kinetix, Random Canyon Growlers, Cash'd Out 2/1/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) You know Kinetix Since establishing a yearly stop at the Mangy Moose over five years ago, Kinetix has been seriously honing their craft through hardcore touring. A piano-driven, funk-pop-rock fusion and a lively...

• Eufurorquestra: Afro Caribbean barnyard funk 1/29/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo. - Take a dose of euphoria and expose it to an orchestra boasting world flare and what do you get? Euforquestra (yoo • FOHR • keh • struh) —a seven-piece ensemble that spreads the cultura...

• Smooth Money Gesture, Willie Waldman/DJ Logic, Rockapella 1/29/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Not just a Smooth Gesture If any locale has developed a “regional sound” in recent years, it’s the Boulder-Nederland area of Colorado. Smooth Money Gesture leans on that happy/Colorado side of jamband and ...

• Stringdusters, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers 1/18/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo.-There’s a feeling in my bones, a pulsating catalyst for the upcoming string of quality shows at the Pink Garter Theater. The room itself is a breath of fresh air for which to consume music, an...

• Isbell: Bama-born alt-country 1/13/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo.-There’s something potent to be said about the point in an artist’s career at which you experience their creative output in a concert atmosphere. For the Grateful Dead, the 1977 tour has been...

• Jan 11-17: Brother Mule, Mollie O'Brien, griz, Allman 1/13/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Rare double-bill Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The duo of Mollie O’Brien (vocals) and her husband Rich Moore (guitar, vocals), along with the members of string band trio Brother Mule—Ben Winship (vocals, mandolin, banj...

• CD Review: Jason Isbell & the 400 unit 1/13/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Here We Rest Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit There are some powerful moments on Here We Rest, one of the more memorable albums of 2011 in the alt-country sector. Disc opener “Alabama Pines” is no less than a ...

• Top Albums of 2011 / Most anticipated for 2012 1/8/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Top 20 Albums of 2011 Without a doubt, 2011 was the strongest year of music since I began making these lists—five years ago. The female card is especially on fire. Most of the albums listed here were reviewed and...

• CD Review: Ry Cooder 1/7/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Pull Up Some Dust & Sit Down RY COODER Strongly opinionated, often times funny, and certainly brave, listening to Ry Cooder is frequently eye opening. Pull Up Some Dust & Sit Down takes the cake and smea...

• Jan 4 - Jan 10: Peace officer, Biomecca, Chuck Pyle 1/5/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) This officer wants peace Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Its Web site brings to mind The A-Team, while the music breathes live band dub-hop electronica. Peace Officer stages four emcees within a seven-member outfit from the ...

• Maceo channels godfather of soul 1/5/12

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo.-James Brown was right on: Maceo can blow it up. At 68-years-young, Maceo Parker is as pure of an entertainer as it gets. Beginning in 1964, Parker’s distinctive, in-the-pocket style was a b...

• New Year's Eve Music in Jackson Hole!! 12/28/11

  By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyoming - Faced with nearly 20 music options for New Years Eve (NYE) in Jackson Hole and Teton Valley—what’s your pleasure? All parties are 21+ unless noted. Sporting a multi-story atrium vie...

• MUSIC BOX: Wordly grooves, Yiddish tunes 12/9/11

  By Aaron Davis (12.08.11 for Jackson Hole Weekly, JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo.-It goes without saying that Wyoming isn’t the most convenient of markets to get to. Winter complicates this further. So when a Grammy-winning, genre-defining ban...

• The Goods: Pert Near Sandstone, Ghost Rider, Jerry Joseph 12/9/11

  By Aaron Davis (12.08.11 for Jackson Hole Weekly, JHWeekly.com) Ghost Rider and Guerilla Jackson Hole, Wyo.-There’s a new band in town full of familiar faces. Spreading the love of outlaw country with a Johnny Cash-heavy repertoire mixed with ...

• CD Review: The Black Keys 12/7/11

  By Aaron Davis (12.08.11 for Jackson Hole Weekly, JHWeekly.com) El Camino THE BLACK KEYS Top album lists of the year have already flooded my inbox, and despite not hitting the shelves until this week, most included El Camino. The band’s sevent...

• CD Review: Deep Blue Organ Trio 10/13/11

  Wonderful! DEEP BLUE ORGAN TRIO Jazzed-up Stevie Wonder makes perfect sense, and that’s exactly what this Chicago-based trio has done on Wonderful!, which currently occupies No. 4 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart. While guitarist-producer Bobby Broom ...

• The Goods: Afroman Gets High at Tavern 10/13/11

  By Aaron Davis (for Jackson Hole Weekly, JHWeekly.com) If space allowed, it would be worth printing the entire lyric sheet to Afroman’s Grammy nominated track from 2002, “Because I Got High.” You may remember the hilarious stoner anthem from J...

• Cover Story: Hole Lotta Local Music 10/12/11

  By Aaron Davis (for Jackson Hole Weekly, JHWeekly.com) Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Writing about and photographing the local music scene over the last six years has been one of the joys of my time in Jackson. It’s my beat, and I dig it whole-heartedly. ...

• CD Review: Ollabelle 10/9/11

  By Aaron Davis (for Jackson Hole Weekly, JHWeekly.com) Neon Blue Bird OLLABELLE (4 of 5 stars) This album kicks ass—one of my favorites of the year and I’ve only listened to it twice. Produced by Ollabelle and recorded at Levon Helm Studi...