Mountain Xpress and Sherwood’s Music present: Pretty Pretty

Pretty Pretty performing at Sherwood's Music. Photo by Carrie Eidson

Our series with Sherwood’s Music — showcasing local musicians through stripped-down performances for the web — is returning for a limited run this summer. This week Pretty Pretty performs “Boots and Stoots.”

Pretty Pretty is keyboardist/vocalist Justin “JB” Bowles and guitarist Mike Clair. “JB, with the fashion sense and mischievously twinkling eye of an African Trickster God, croons like a doo-wop cherubim,” says the band’s bio. “Mike, vaguely reminiscent of a grown-up Charlie Brown, sends forth winding, gently grasping guitar lines that wrap themselves around the keyboard melodies like the vines of the Great Pumpkin.”

Bowles and Clair have been playing together in some form for more than seven years, perhaps most notably as a three-piece called Grammer School. The pair made their public debut as Pretty Pretty in early March at The Mothlight. They’ll return to that same venue next Tuesday, July 21, for their second-ever show. The rest of the lineup includes The Toothe and acoustic artist Ryan Furstenberg of The Moon and You. The $5 show begins at 9:30 p.m.

The music of Pretty Pretty is designed to be unpretentious, joyous and infectious. “Atop a stout and sturdy foundation of electronic beats, chirping keyboards and sinewy guitar tones find their way into our spinal cords and the soles of our shoes,” continues the band’s bio. “This duo may not have requisite pretension to conquer the world, or even their hometown, but that’s not what they’re after. They’re not about affect or swagger. . . . Their pursuit is fun.”

This video web series is produced by Mountain Xpress and Sherwood’s Music, a local, independent repair and consignment shop specializing in modern and vintage gear. Sherwood’s is located at 180 Patton Ave.

Pretty Pretty performs “Boots and Stoots” at Sherwood’s Music. Video by Carrie Eidson and Sarah Whelan.

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About Carrie Eidson
Multimedia journalist and Green Scene editor at Mountain Xpress. Part-time Twitterer @mxenv but also reachable at ceidson@mountainx.com. Follow me @carrieeidson

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