R&B artist Javier satirizes a country music song during his performance April 21. Megan Myer /Online editor

R&B artist Javier returned to Linfield on April 21 for a Professional Cat Cab sponsored by the Linfield Activities Board.

Like his first Cat Cab two years ago, the event was popular. Even with the addition of extra chairs, some students stood or sat on the floor or gathered on the balcony.

Javier performed a collection of new and old songs, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He also included a few popular country songs and encouraged the audience to sing along. He told the audience that he has come to enjoy country music because it is the last genre that supports storytelling, and he thinks of himself as a storyteller.

“I think that music can express emotions better than just spoken words. People can connect to music, and you can really hear emotions,” he said.

Javier said that he liked singing from an early age and that he has always been interested in music.

“My dad liked to play the radio,” he said. “We always had a radio playing in the house. I think it was around seventh grade that I realized I really liked singing, but even before that, I would sing around the house.”

Javier is recognized as one of the most versatile R&B artists of the times, mixing pop, hip-hop, neo-soul and acoustic sounds into his music.

“I liked listening to a lot of different stuff when I was a kid,” he said. “I just love everything, and just from listening, I got to appreciate all these different styles of music.”

He is scheduled to appear on NBC’s new reality talent show “The Voice” when the show premiers on April 26. He talked enthusiastically about the audition and encouraged audience members to watch the show.

“It was an extremely nerve-wracking audition, but it was exciting,” he told the audience. “It’s weird to see myself on TV because they didn’t tell me they were using my audition in commercials for this new show.”

A native of Connecticut, Javier Colon attended the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, where he graduated with a degree in Music Education in 2000. After performing with two other bands, Javier began a solo career in 2002, according to his website.

Javier’s music attracted the attention of Capitol Records, and he released his debut album in 2003. Three years
later, Javier released his sophomore album, “Left of Center.”

His third album, a collection of acoustic songs titled “The Truth-Acoustic – EP,” was released in 2010. The album is meant to reflect how the sound of his music has changed over the years. Javier writes on cdbaby.com that a fourth album, titled “Ok… Here’s the Truth,” will be released this year.

Sharon Gollery/For the Review
Sharon Gollery can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com

Singer of The Angry Orts Sara Hernandez performs at the Cat Cab on April 15. Victor Zhu/Photographer .

The “not-so-angry” Angry Orts encouraged students to get up and dance during a Cat Cab performance April 15.
The Angry Orts played upbeat, high-energy music, with several songs that incorporated an accordion, a tambourine and a xylophone.
Guitarist Aaron Ettlin rocked out on his electric guitar during a couple of solos, bassist James Puryear strummed away at a fast-paced rhythm and drummer Matthew Hernandez kept the beats coming, sometimes blending right into another song.
Singer Sara Hernandez whirled around the stage as the audience crowded toward the front to get a better glimpse of her wild dance moves and air guitar. There was never a point during the show where she stopped dancing — or did the audience. She even stepped out into the crowd to dance with them.
“I loved the band’s energy; they were really engaging, and I liked that they had the audience up and dancing along with them,” freshman Ryan Nolan said.
At one point during the show, Sara Hernandez handed out instruments to the audience members, such as a tambourine, maracas, bells and a Kabasa (percussion instrument similar with shekere) so that they could play along to the beat.
“It was really fun performing here because a lot of times in Portland people in the crowd just stand there and nod their heads; here, people were dancing with us,” Sara Hernandez said. “Usually we only play 30- to 35-minute sets, so I’m glad we were able to last this long. It was rad.”
The Angry Orts began as a three-member band with guitarist Ettlin, bassist Puryear and singer Sara Hernandez in 2003. However, drummer Matthew Hernandez, now Sara’s husband, began playing with the band shortly there after.
Ettlin and Puryear attended high school together and played in bands during that time. The Angry Orts’ name came from a friend of theirs who noticed that “orts” often appears in crossword puzzles. It means crumbs or scraps left over from a meal. The title literally means “the angry leftovers.”
The Hernandezes, who met after joining the band, united with Ettlin and Puryear after individually answering their ads. They all decided to keep the name because it is metaphoric and actually the opposite of their high-energy, garage-pop music.
“Playing together has been a work-in-progress because we come from different musical backgrounds and have started listening to more similar music,” Sara Hernandez said. “We have grown and developed similar tastes, which we now use in writing our own music.”
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Sara Hernandez:
Sara came from a musical family that raised her to believe that singing all the time was normal. Her parents sang constantly and encouraged her to do the same.
“My parents had the rule of ‘no singing’ at the dinner table,” she said. “I’m sure other families don’t have weird rules like that, though.”
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Matthew Hernandez:
Matt began playing the drums in band during his teenage years. His teacher needed a drummer, so he agreed to do it and has been playing since, Sara Hernandez said.
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James Puryear:
James’ family is also heavily involved in the music scene. He began playing the guitar when he was young, and he later switched to the bass after playing in different bands.
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Aaron Ettlin:
Aaron was encouraged to take up an instrument at an early age. He started playing the bass when he was in junior high school and then later switched to the guitar.
“It was funny because James and Aaron started out playing each others’ instruments and then swapped after playing in bands together for so many years,” Sara Hernandez said.
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Senior Jesse Hughey, Linfield Activities Board co-musical chair, first discovered The Angry Orts when he purchased the then newly released record, “The Purple Rhino Squad versus The Blue Whale Super Heavy Assault Troops” in 2008. Since then, Hughey has been to a few of its shows and his band, Jack Ruby Presents, once opened for The Angry Orts.
Hughey and the other co-musical chair, senior Chris Hernandez, worked with LAB to choose and book this year’s band performances. The group booked The Angry Orts six months in advance after Hughey presented the band to the board members.
“This year, we have been too folk heavy, so we wanted to find something completely different because it is important to represent all groups of music,” Hughey said. “The Angry Orts is more disco-punk or dance-punk, but I hate putting it in a category because it’s in its own league.”
The Cat Cab was The Angry Orts’ first college performance. However, Sara Hernandez said she hopes that the band will become more involved in the college scene because the students are enthusiastic. She also said there is talk of a possible collegiate tour in the fall.
In the meantime, The Angry Orts just finished working in a studio mixing its second album, which will be released August 14, 2010.
“This album is a big improvement from our last,” Sara Hernandez said. “We are proud of our last album, but this one is more garage/indie-pop focused and has better lyrics and rhythms; it is more dance focused.”

Jessica Prokop
Culture reporter Jessica Prokop can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com

Professional band Breathe Owl Breathe brings its storytelling songs to Linfield in the March 11 Cat Cab. It is one of Michigan’s most excellent folk bands. -Megan Myer/Photo editor

A packed crowd of students clapped and sang along with the caped members of Breathe Owl Breathe during the professional Cat Cab on March 11.
“It was totally not my type of music, but it was super good, and I really want their music now,” sophomore Lindsay Holmstrom said.
Breathe Owl Breathe had students make hand motions and sound effects as the band sang folk songs about saber-toothed tigers, walking dogs and playing wiffle ball.
“I love their quirkiness: They sang about saber-toothed tigers, and I felt like I was four years old again,” sophomore Rachel Coffey said.
Breathe Owl Breathe united as a three-member band in 2006, but the musicians began preparing for a life of songs and storytelling long before then.
Andrea Moreno-Beals:
Moreno-Beals grew up listening to her mother play piano and chose the flute as her first instrument before becoming a cellist.
“I was a bit over-eager when I went to my first flute lesson,” she said. “I actually didn’t breathe enough and fainted. When I woke up, I was so scared by the experience that I didn’t want to play flute again. Eventually the strings teacher, a beautiful blonde cellist named Aria, convinced me that I was supposed to play cello.”
Micah Middaugh:
Middaugh lived near a pasture with a white horse when he was young. He said his dad would take him to the field to play music while watching the horse.
“The line between music and stories has always been blurred for me,” Middaugh said. “It’s like when you’re around a fire telling stories: It’s not about if the voice is a sweet voice or a rough voice; it’s about the kind of story that is being told.”
Trevor Hobbs:
Hobbs spent a lot of time on the kitchen floor as a child, pounding pots and pans together while his mother cooked. He said he eventually switched to a real instrument when he found his father’s 1950s-era, sparkly, red drum set.
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Moreno-Beals said she and Middaugh recorded their first songs together on a cassette tape in a small, messy room.
Several months later, Middaugh said he met Hobbs when they were invited to a party and didn’t know anyone, so they decided to make a movie with a VHS camera.
“The movie was about zombies who were getting to know each other,” Hobbs said. “Everyone at the party had parts by the end of the night.”
Hobbs said he joined Breathe Owl Breathe in 2006.
“We’ve evolved as a band a lot since then,” Moreno-Beals said. “It started out simple, and even though we still treasure simple moments in our songs, we’ve gotten more excited about experimenting with different instruments.”
Hobbs said the band has played with things such as plastic toys, a wooden box and an old karaoke machine.
“We go to garage sales on the way to shows,” he said. “It’s hard to pass them up, and we’ll even be late for the show because we’re looking for new instruments.”
Breathe Owl Breathe is working on its fourth full-length album.
Middaugh said he remembers decorating their first CDs with white stick-on labels and crayon art.
“We were getting more and more into layering the labels with crayon drawings until we slowly realized some peoples’ CD players were starting to smell like melted wax,” he said. “We’ve learned from our mistakes since then.”
Hobbs advises aspiring artists and musicians to pour themselves into creating their music.
“It’s about never forgetting why it feels good to make music,” Middaugh said. “You can record when you want to record and have great ideas, but it is just as important when you don’t have any ideas and don’t feel like recording.”

Joanna Peterson
Culture reporter Joanna Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com