• Somebody should have booked RAY LAMONTAGNE back into Portland before now. For his first headlining gig here since 2005 (he opened for Guster at the Civic Center, in something of a strange pairing), he sold out the Merrill in record time last Friday, then added a second date and sold that out before the day was done, too. The city is dying to see him.
• Music types might be interested in a seminar being put on at the University of Maine School of Law's Moot Court Room March 4: "Owning the 'Pitch': How Copyright, Misappropriation and Contracts Affect Creative Ideas." Basically, how do you MAKE SURE YOUR CREATIVITY ISN'T CO-OPTED in the course of a casual conversation? It's free, so it's the right price for musicians, too. Register by e-mailing kmasters@usm.maine.edu.
• WILL ETHRIDGE and the folks behind the TOWER OF SONG on First Fridays are planning a TOWER OF SONG FESTIVAL in May, which would include more than your average music being pumped from the Tower above Congress Square, plus an arts festival of sorts in the square to capitalize on the tunes.
• OCEAN continue to be one of the most popular bands to come out of Portland. On Sunday, they played a PITCHFORK PRESENTS show at Public Assembly, in Brooklyn, with SALOME, RIFF CANNON, and BATILLUS. Take it from us: Lots and lots of music nerds pay attention to what Pitchfork likes. They like Ocean.
• LOST ON LIFTOFF returned to the studio this past weekend, working with JONATHAN WYMAN at the HALO on the follow-up to 2007's Mixtape Blackouts. No word on a release date, but the band say to look for something by early summer.
• RIP HOLLERIN' MAN.
