A trip to Portland has left me with surprisingly little to say.

The night before my little journey, I saw one of my favorite local bands Musha Rig, an Irish drinking/punk-ish group that is always high energy and is fun to bounce around to. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned my love of bouncing.

This particular show at Stillwater was somewhat disappointing because the usual rambunctious group of people I see at their performances must have been at the Mystic Garden party. Yes, I also missed the Mystic Garden party, please, don't rub it in.

Unfortunately, for all of you, Musha Rig is taking August off from performing and you'll have to wait until September to partake in the drinking, Irish jig bounce around show.

This week is offering an abundance of choice in the music available. I know I have a couple tough calls to make about who to see... or maybe even make a hectic attempt to see it all.

Wednesday is the first all-Beatles open mic at the Wild Goose. Particpate or spectate, either way it will be interesting to see the local musicians who come out to pay homage to the Beatles with their renditions of the beloved songs. It's free and starts at 8 p.m.

--OR--

There's the weekly open mic night at Alex's where you can catch original tunes performed by local musicians and usually kicks off around 9:30 or so.

Thursday offers a couple more choices with Zepperela at the Applegate Lodge. This is an all female Led Zepplin cover band. I have heard rave reviews of what they do. This one is $10 in advance or $13 at the door. Check out previous blogs for a link to the site.

--OR--

Brynna Dean and Her Sympathetic Strings will be performing at Alex's. they are a new group that's worth checking out.

Of course Friday is First Friday and all you need to do is stroll around and listen for a beat to find some local musicians strutting their stuff for your listening pleasure.

A word of warning about these videos: Musha Rig is loud and Stillwater likes to have their sound blaring (sometimes painfully). I recommend turning your sound down and slowly adjusting it as you listen.