We here at McMenamins music have a special affection for the Avett Brothers. After all, we have quite a history with these fellas: They’ve traveled our properties as a Great Northwest Music Tour headliner, played four Crystal Ballroom shows, and absolutely tore it UP at last summer’s Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn (side note: Avett fans are very good tippers. Thanks, y’all!).

So we couldn’t be more pleased to spread the word that our favorite heartfelt stomp-rock-country-roots band will be playing at the Grammys this year! The Avetts will be sharing the stage with Bob Dylan, no less (another Edgefield Concert star from last summer, by the way) and Mumford and Sons, who of course took over the airwaves this past year.

Click through and see some awesome exclusive pics!

The word “opera” doesn’t usually conjure up the words “light-hearted comedy,” “kids fare” or even “fun.” The art form, succumbing to the slow change in taste over the centuries, is nowadays often seen as a stodgy old art form, reserved for stodgy old people, to be performed in ornate (but still stodgy!) old opera houses.

When my esteemed music marketing overlords asked me to write a blog entry giving you the lowdown on the Crystal Ballroom’s 97^th Birthday Free-for-All, my first thought was, “Uh, sure guys, that’s all fine and dandy in theory, but how could I possibly describe the ultimate awesomeness that this party entails? It will take 25 pages, and our readers have lives, ya know!”

So I figured I’d narrow it down. Give you a real feel for what this affair is, not just some fluffy words. To wit:

Sometimes, you just get on a roll. And, not to toot our own vuvuzelas, but, brutha, the Mission is on a roll. Or, perhaps it’s better to say the Mission is, uh, on a mission to drop some serious live entertainment on PDX.

What, you thought the Mission was only for movies? OK, we’ll grant you that it’s called the Mission Theater, but if you know McMenamins you know we love to think outside the box. We’ve been lining up a seriously cool, wondrously varied lineup for the upcoming weeks, and, while there’s plenty of screen-oriented goodness to check out, we’d like to point out some of the other goodies on their way to the Mission’s live stage:  

For years, James Mercer has been known as many things.

He is, for one, a Shin. In fact, he founded the Shins, one of the most lauded bands of the decade.

Yay! Big ups to one of the stars of our Great Northwest Music Tour : Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside just won Best New Band in Willamette Week’s 2010 Insiders Music Poll.