IVY ROOM PRESENTS
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14TH
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DRAG THE RIVER
FULL BAND FEATURING
CHAD PRICE + JON SNODGRASS + MIKET ERG + SAM BOLLE
DARIUS KOSKI
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DOORS 7:00PM / SHOW 8:00PM
ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE
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IVY ROOM
860 San Pablo Ave, Albany • 21+
DRAG THE RIVER
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Based out of Fort Collins, CO, Drag the River was a musical outlet for some of punk's seasoned veterans. frontman hooked up with 's and Paul Rucker and ' J.J. Nobody and formed Drag the River for a country-rock fix in 1996. Hobo's Demo's was released in mid-2000 (reissued by Suburban Home in late 2006) and captured Drag the River's rough-cut rock & roll woven around lyrical introspections.
Pedal steel guitarist Zach Boddicker was added to the fray by 2001 and Drag the River prepped for a sophomore effort while playing gigs out west. Closed, which shaped into a booze-soaked storybook of heartbreak and loneliness, was issued on Upland in spring 2002.
Recorded that July, Live at the Starlight was also released by the year's end through Mars Motors Records. Chicken Demos appeared in May 2004, comprised mostly of songs that didn't make the cut for Hobo's Demo's, before the Hey Buddies... EP followed late that fall.
Boddicker then exited to return to school, and filled in from time to time before 's Casey Prestwood took over steel duties. Rucker exited in late 2005 and was replaced on drums by Dave Barker (ex-). Drag the River then released It's Crazy in June 2006, also contributing the track "Portland" to October's tribute album, We'll Inherit the Earth.
They closed out the year on tour dates with and spent the first part of 2007 on the road opening for . The latter tour saw dropping out of the band's ranks midway through (he simply left the tour, not the band), which left fans asking questions. Things didn't really get better for Drag the River, and in May members announced they were amicably going their separate ways. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi
DARIUS KOSKI
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The list of punk frontmen gone solo is an extensive one, and it seems to grow exponentially each year. It’s no surprise, really: More and more bands find it difficult to survive on the road, forcing singers to continue on with nothing more than an acoustic guitar as a way to pay the bills if nothing else. But that’s not the motivation behind Darius Koski’s debut solo album. Koski is best known as the guitarist/vocalist of well-respected San Francisco street-punk band Swingin’ Utters, a group formed in 1988 and one he joined in 1990 and has been a permanent fixture in ever since. It’s not like the Utters have been slowing down, either: The band have released three full-lengths in the past four years and recently completed a tour of packed houses with Lagwagon. No, it’s not out of financial necessity or declining relevance that Koski is releasing Sisu. He’s releasing it because he has to.
“Honestly, I’ve been writing songs in this general style for as long as I’ve been writing songs. I have more songs like this than I do punk rock songs,” he begins. “I’ve been wanting to have an outlet for it for so long—for longer than I’ve been with the Swingin’ Utters, basically. And I just hadn’t done anything with it. I didn’t really know how I was going to release it, I hadn’t done much live, I have problems remembering lyrics... So I’ve been putting it off for so many years, but it’s finally coming together, and I’m thrilled about it. I’m totally going to go for it.”
