SENTINEL NEWS SERVICE

By Sean Farrell

The music scene in Portland is a booming Mecca. There is a plethora of thriving local bands and many of the city’s clubs have become must-plays for touring national acts.  Modest Mouse, The Decemberists, and the late, great Elliott Smith all have or had roots in Portland. Local music mainstay and Kenton resident Larry Yes has been making music in Portland since long before the city was known as a hip place for musicians to stop and smell the roses.

Yes got his start at the legendarily infamous and sadly defunct X-Ray Café, which brought the Rose City’s finest underground musicians through its doors from 1990 to 1994. The X-Ray, once located at 214 W. Burnside St., played a major role in helping to shape and form Portland’s underground music culture. Yes, who was a young teenager in the X-Ray’s heyday, was a self-proclaimed groupie who worked the door on new-band night and eventually began emceeing. “I would make every drummer let me play their drum kit before they played,” Yes said. The X-Ray Café was the portal through which Yes got pulled into the Portland music scene. When asked what first attracted him to the underground scene, Yes answered, “Girls, my love of strange music, and a strong magnet pulling me towards Burnside.”

Yes, a native of Milwaukie, Oregon, stated that he still feels that same strong attraction to music and specifically music in Portland.  “I’m more talented now,” Yes said. “When I was a kid I wanted to party and get crazy.  Now I’m more focused on making music.” Making music is something that Yes most definitely does a lot of. Over the years, Yes has been in bands ranging from rock, free jazz, industrial noise, blues, and hip-hop. “All of them have had a psychedelic element to them,” Yes said. Some of the more notable bands Yes has been in over the years include Hungry Mob, Ape Grave, and Miss Red Flowers. Yes currently plays in The Pink Widower (recently seen on OPB), The Blue Flowers, and also performs as a solo artist with the Larry Yes Band.

“Portland has become a [music scene] destination,” Yes said.  While Yes did note that there are some musicians in the area that are very excited about the boom in the music scene here, he added, “It makes it harder, but that’s because people are so good.” There are more bands and more talent than in the X-Ray days. Yes has a more welcoming approach to the exponentially growing number of bands. “It’s awesome how many bands are out there … bring ’em on.”

The national attention that some of Portland’s bands and venues have been receiving can be a divisive issue among locals, especially longtime locals. Yes feels that Portland “deserves the attention,” but continues, “Some of my favorite bands are in the middle of nowhere.” According to Yes, just because a band or a city has clout and attention doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily good.  He points out, “I’m awesome and nobody knows? about me.”

While Yes is supportive of the music scene in Portland and currently gigs regularly around town, he notes, “There are too many different venues. There is no longer a place like the X-Ray Café. I wish there was an all-ages venue out there that could be a musical hub.”

Outside of performing music Yes has also helped organize several local concerts and events. He is one of the people behind Art in the Park, which took place in September at Cherry Sprout Produce Market on North Sumner Street. The event showcased work by artists, musicians, and concert-goers themselves. Yes plans to put on another Art in the Park event this spring. 
 

Larry Yes myspace.com/larryyes, Pink Widower www.pinkwidower.com ??To hear Larry Yes at the East End, or to hear a conversation about the X-Ray Cafe between Tres Shannon and Larry Yes (posting on Feb. 15) go to portlandsentinel.com/podcasts.