Have You Had Your Veggies Today?

I learned a lot about the food pyramid in school, though I rarely pay attention the garbage I happen to be slamming in my face at 3am on a Saturday morning. This last weekend however, I got a full serving of veggies and I gotta say I have never felt better. This was a different kind of meal though, this was the type of meal that feeds my hunger for amazing friends, great music, and a fantastic story.

Over the weekend I had the absolute pleasure of experiencing a very intimate house show with a local Spokane band known as The Canned Vegetables. To call these three gentlemen "soul food" would be an understatement. Their eclectic mix of sound lands somewhere in between surfer rock, psychedelic rock, synthwave, and bossa nova. If you think that mix would work well together, you'd be right.

Front man, composer, lead vocals, guitarist, keyboardist, and bad-ass extraordinaire, Matthew Skove Harrison knows how to get the feeling just right. Men want to be him and women want to be with him. Have you ever played for a crowd of 150,000 screaming fans? Neither has he, but he's definitely headed that direction. I hate to compare him to any other musician, but if I had to, I would say he most sounds like Mac DeMarco. He is an absolute character that demands the attention and respect of the room through his charm and whit. He also doesn't just play guitar, he pours himself into it. There is a direct link between his mind, his hands, and the frets on his guitar. Instead of showing you his music, he walks you through it, letting you see every scar and smile that helped him write it along the way. It's truly a raw expression of his life experiences all culminating together, and you feel that in the way he plays.

This brings us to the next member of this sun soaked stew of starches and tubers. Evan Ward also known as "Stones" is the beat that keeps this heart pumping in addition to providing angelic backup vocals. This beautiful man is so comfortable on the skins that it looks like breathing to him. After watching him you feel like you could hop right on a kit yourself and pick it up no problem. Not to mention he always knows the exact amount of energy to bring to every moment in a song, and I don't mean he just gets louder. He knows how to use all the tools at his disposal to fill your body and mind with a wave of sound that only amplifies the emotions that The Canned Vegetables rip out of you. He is all of these things in addition to his impressive resume of beating all three Ninja Gaidens, Battletoads, and Contra 3 while hanging on to a day job! He is one of the most kind, wonderful people I have ever met and the energy he brings to this group is pivotal to the vegetarian experience.

Directly Above Shot Of Canned Peas With Spoon On Table

The last vegetable is new to the group, but that doesn't make him any less important. Matt Delong is the bassist in the group and a perfect gentleman. He reads books in the morning, listens to NPR, hangs with cats in the evening and helps the homeless and elderly on the weekends. He is the type of guy that would hit on your mom right in front of you and you would be kinda rooting for him. He takes those fingers for a walk on the strings and they just. keep. walking. He puts the "ooth" in smooth and the "roove" in groove. Victor Wooten once heard him play, sobbed for five hours, then gave up playing bass for a year. All joking aside Matt really does provide a driving sound and rhythm to all of The Canned Vegetables music, he's a very grounding aspect to the trio. I didn't have a usable photo of him so I slapped a stock image of canned vegetables instead (but trust me, he's handsome).

Speaking of photos all photo credit goes to my man Daniel Hoke. He took some amazing photos at this event and did a really great job capturing the mood of the night. Please check out his Instagram right HERE

While you are surfing the web be sure to get yourself a full serving of vegetables and listen to their music. YOU CAN USE THIS LINK!! OR EVEN THIS ONE, OR HEEEEEEYYYYYY WHAT ABOUT this ONE. YOUR CHOICE, PICK WHATEVER LINK YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO THERE MUSIC.


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