Blue Room Presents | Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside with an opening set from MAITA
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A Live Music Event
Featuring:
Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside are reuniting this fall for a mini PNW Tour!
Songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Sallie Ford (from, NC) moved to Portland in 2006 and shortly after met drummer Ford Tennis (from Anchorage Alaska), Tyler Tornfelt (from Anchorage, Alaska) and guitarist Jeff Munger (from Portland, OR). The band got a push start into their music career when they hit the road opening for the Avett Brothers in 2011.
The band was actively touring between 2006 and 2016 with many amazing opportunities along the way, including: playing The Late Night Show with David Letterman, and opening for Jack White, Mavis Staples, and Wanda Jackson. They released two full length records and two EPs of their unique brand of cheeky, toe tappin’ rock and roll.
Between 2016 and today the band members have been playing in other local bands. Sallie and Jeff’s band The Barbaras, Tyler playing with his quartet Barry Brusseau and Ford playing with Spencer Kelly-Valentimes.
Now Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside has reconnected earlier this year with their nostalgia and friendship inspiring them to reunite for some special shows. Be sure to catch one!
With an opening set from:
Japanese-American singer-songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler only writes songs she intends to finish, and once the debris has been blown away, the melodies remain — vibrant, sharp, and often heartbreaking. Her project MAITA’s latest LP, want, which was released in 2024 via Fluff & Gravy Records, is all of the above. A razor’s edge look at a relationship in turmoil, the record serves to strip away everything undesired in Maita-Keppeler’s life, leaving behind only that titular word: want.
“The album allowed me this opportunity to be a little more courageous about my feelings,” Maita-Keppeler says. “I grew up feeling very much like the peacekeeper. Now, I have to be really assertive about what I want for myself.”
MAITA's first record, Best Wishes, was released via K*ll Rock Stars in May 2020 — but it was bittersweet, as the album came out peak-pandemic and they were unable to tour. As restrictions loosened MAITA began to see the benefit of rave reviews from KEXP, SPIN, FLOOD Magazine, and NPR’s Bob Boilen. They toured the US and Europe and played shows opening for the likes of Mirah, Blind Pilot, Horse Feathers, Typhoon, and garnered featured slots at SXSW and Treefort as well. Meanwhile, the band was working on polishing up their third LP, want, which Maita-Keppeler penned during the isolation of the pandemic. Recorded at Echo Echo in Portland, Oregon in the winter of 2022, the record serves as the most crystallized of MAITA’s works thus far. “We felt like the songwriting had a kind of visceral quality to it,” she says. “I love high highs and low lows.” Through it all, though, runs the theme of wanting. “These songs all explore desire within the framework of a long-term relationship where you're just trying to push and dig deeper,” Maita-Keppeler says. “I feel like not a lot of songs really get to the core of those struggles and how nuanced they actually are.”
Featuring:
Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside are reuniting this fall for a mini PNW Tour!
Songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Sallie Ford (from, NC) moved to Portland in 2006 and shortly after met drummer Ford Tennis (from Anchorage Alaska), Tyler Tornfelt (from Anchorage, Alaska) and guitarist Jeff Munger (from Portland, OR). The band got a push start into their music career when they hit the road opening for the Avett Brothers in 2011.
The band was actively touring between 2006 and 2016 with many amazing opportunities along the way, including: playing The Late Night Show with David Letterman, and opening for Jack White, Mavis Staples, and Wanda Jackson. They released two full length records and two EPs of their unique brand of cheeky, toe tappin’ rock and roll.
Between 2016 and today the band members have been playing in other local bands. Sallie and Jeff’s band The Barbaras, Tyler playing with his quartet Barry Brusseau and Ford playing with Spencer Kelly-Valentimes.
Now Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside has reconnected earlier this year with their nostalgia and friendship inspiring them to reunite for some special shows. Be sure to catch one!
With an opening set from:
Japanese-American singer-songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler only writes songs she intends to finish, and once the debris has been blown away, the melodies remain — vibrant, sharp, and often heartbreaking. Her project MAITA’s latest LP, want, which was released in 2024 via Fluff & Gravy Records, is all of the above. A razor’s edge look at a relationship in turmoil, the record serves to strip away everything undesired in Maita-Keppeler’s life, leaving behind only that titular word: want.
“The album allowed me this opportunity to be a little more courageous about my feelings,” Maita-Keppeler says. “I grew up feeling very much like the peacekeeper. Now, I have to be really assertive about what I want for myself.”
MAITA's first record, Best Wishes, was released via K*ll Rock Stars in May 2020 — but it was bittersweet, as the album came out peak-pandemic and they were unable to tour. As restrictions loosened MAITA began to see the benefit of rave reviews from KEXP, SPIN, FLOOD Magazine, and NPR’s Bob Boilen. They toured the US and Europe and played shows opening for the likes of Mirah, Blind Pilot, Horse Feathers, Typhoon, and garnered featured slots at SXSW and Treefort as well. Meanwhile, the band was working on polishing up their third LP, want, which Maita-Keppeler penned during the isolation of the pandemic. Recorded at Echo Echo in Portland, Oregon in the winter of 2022, the record serves as the most crystallized of MAITA’s works thus far. “We felt like the songwriting had a kind of visceral quality to it,” she says. “I love high highs and low lows.” Through it all, though, runs the theme of wanting. “These songs all explore desire within the framework of a long-term relationship where you're just trying to push and dig deeper,” Maita-Keppeler says. “I feel like not a lot of songs really get to the core of those struggles and how nuanced they actually are.”
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Where is it happening?
202 E. Holly Street , 98225, 202 E Holly St, Bellingham, WA 98225-4755, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherThe Blue Room
