So I was about to sit down and tell you about some folks I met in Beaverton, but that can wait. See, although I can set the time on these posts to say anything I want them to, I am actually composing this one in the last few hours of darkness. At daylight, I’ll take the first step to actually exploring the friendly, friendly world, as opposed to just Portland.

Michael Byrne and I are driving to Montana in a couple of hours. There we’ll meet Mark Baumgarten and dive headfirst in the Missoula music scene. Is there a music scene in Missoula? You’d probably say no. But, honestly, there’s a music scene everywhere. That’s an idea I’ve been obsessed with lately in this increasingly broad column, and that’s what we hope to prove first in Missoula this week (as a trial-run) and then everywhere else if all goes well. The three of us are plotting a project we’re calling Lower 48, in which we’ll create a guide to the small-time music scene of the entire continental US, sticking to b-level cities and venues. It will be a music critic van tour that with any luck will help some people find some gigs, and maybe even go down in van-tour and rock-crit history.

Of course, this isn’t the first boast you’ve heard from me, so I’ll admit there’s a chance it could come to nothing. But I wouldn’t be typing this right now if I didn’t think there’s a certain magic in the idea that I hope will carry us.

Wish us luck, see you soon.