THE WOODS
Indie-folk
Noon-12:30 p.m. Sunday, Good Life Stage
What to say about The Woods? Good question. For some time, the band comprised Ian Carrick, Tyler Robson, Austin Skelton and Mikey Angus. But then Carrick and Robson went their own way; they released an album just last week. Now, Carrick is off to school in Seattle and, this weekend, The Woods are Carrick and Skelton. Got all that? Doesn’t really matter, what’s important is the sound: melodic indie-folk like you’d hear at that mythical nexus of Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons that everyone’s digging these days.
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AISEA TAIMANI
Acoustic soul
1-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Casey’s Corner
A relative mystery man in the Revival’s lineup, we can piece together a bit about Aisea Taimani from the Internet: preacher’s son, lover of Asian cuisine, native of The Kingdom of Tonga. More importantly to Roots-goers, Taimani knows his way around the acoustic guitar, which he uses to create deeply soulful, intensely introspective pop music. His Facebook lists Ben Harper, The Roots, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke and Jon Foreman among his influences. That should tell you more than Google ever could.
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FLYING KITES
Electro-pop
11:30 till late tonight, Century Stage
Every once in a while, this knob-twiddling duo bubbles to the surface of the local music scene, intent on making people dance. But Phoebe and Bryan Swett’s electro-hypnosis isn’t powered by big beats and bass. Instead, Flying Kites’ sounds are more subtle, pulsing with skittish snares, staggering synths and other odd blips and bloops that always seem to show up unexpectedly, plus Phoebe’s icy cool vocals. Visit www.soundcloud.com/flying_kites and click the “Play” button to get lost in your headphones.
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BROOKS ROBERTSON
Fingerstyle guitar
6:30-8 tonight, Good Life Stage
Central Oregon artists make up the majority of the Bend Roots Revival’s schedule, but don’t let local-scene territorialism stop you from checking out Brooks Robertson, a virtuosic fingerstyle guitarist from Portland. To be sure, Robertson’s six-string wizardry isn’t just flashy for the sake of being flashy. The guy has incredible skills — he plays lead, rhythm and bass all at once — but also incredible tone; his tunes are graceful, gorgeous workouts of jazz, classical, folk and beyond.
Courtesy Aaron Almquist