Headed Down to that Mission Bell

Amos Lee takes his new songs on the road

Knowing the perfect soundtrack to play while out on the road is important, but it’s just as important to find something calming while you rest your bones after a long drive. There are tunes that just sound like road trips, and intentional or otherwise, Amos Lee’s songs are the epitome. His voice is soft, his arrangements soothing; it all fits together like Tetris.



Lee hits the road Jan. 20, expecting to stop and calm the McKenzie for a night early on in the tour. He’ll be backing his fourth album, a poppy collection of his best country-folk anthems. Whether guest appearances on the tour will be a factor is unconfirmed, though Lee’s new full length, Mission Bell, does contain collaborations with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson and Sam Beam. By virtue of this fact, it’s probably a safe bet that the show won’t be the mosh pit of the century, but rather the perfect escape from the cold stress of this New Year.

Mission Bell is a far more personal work than Lee’s prior releases; it is a poignant, 12-track record that examines the re-evaluation of life, and where to go next.

“It’s pretty personal,” Lee says. “There’s always gonna be an outside perspective inspired by other sources, but certainly ‘Windows Rolled Down’ is autobiographical.” He goes on to say that “El Camino” and “Flower” also hold weight at a personal level. As for the rest of the tracks on Mission Bell: “It’s about half and half,” he says. “I just sort of wait for the tunes to come, and when they come I finish them up pretty quick. If they aren’t going anywhere, I put them aside, and if they don’t come back, it wasn’t meant to be.”

Lee has been up to more than just recording Mission Bell. CMT’s “Artists of the Year” special saw him crooning delicately alongside the Zac Brown Band, he’s got a Daytrotter session to his name and he made waves at Austin City Limits last year. Things seem to be looking up, and this tour should be the icing on the cool cake.

So whether it’s the rain and cold that’s got you down, or your legs are just tired from a hard day’s work, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to stand up in the face of Amos Lee.

Amos Lee, Vusi Mahlasela 8 pm Saturday, Jan. 22. McDonald Theatre. $22.50 adv., $25 door.

Looking on the Whiteside

The Whiteside Theatre has long been a dormant historical landmark for Corvallis, and on Sept. 19, 16 Oregonian acts will perform benefit-style for the theater’s rehabilitation in the first Whiteside Jam.

Dating back to 1922, the Whiteside Theatre has a charm not unlike that of our local McDonald. With all proceeds going toward rehabilitation, the hope is that Corvallis residents will soon have a significant historical venue to call their own.




Jaime Williams — the mind behind the jam — is a member of the Whiteside Theatre Foundation, which has existed for two years. The foundation has received good grants but has never had a truly spectacular fundraiser. “We needed something bigger than piddly little fundraisers,” says Williams. With 16 acts, two stages, Oregon Trail Brewing supplying the beer garden, Crêperie Du Lys and Purple Moon Organic Coffee supplying the provisions, a VIP tent for sponsors and talent, the awesomeness of this event only seems to grow stronger with each item. Williams agrees, saying, “What better to do on a Sunday than just hang out?”

Williams’ hope for the festival is somewhere close to $5,000. That kind of money would allow for the major fix-ups that the theater requires in order to open its doors — new bathrooms, new electrical systems, etc. — and from there the revenue generated by functions will pay for all those other, minor cracks to be spackled.

The Whiteside Jam runs 11 am to 11 pm Sunday, Sept. 19, at Benton County Fairgrounds, Corvallis. $12. See www.whitesidetheatre.org for more info.

[EW 9/16]