Malkmus Marty Walla

Dude Pilgrimage. Idol encounter. Mind blown.

Nov 06, 2023

I went on one of those middle aged dude pilgrimages this weekend. You know, the kind of guy trip where you meet up with old friends in some remote town you’ve never been to, reminisce about old times, try to catch up on what grades your friends’ kids are in, and pretend to engage in some sort of healthy outdoor activity but just end up drinking from morning until night for a few days? Oh, and we just so happened to hang out with our number one all time favorite rock god legend, Steve Malkmus. The melodic master mind poet and guitar virtuoso from Pavement. The best band in the entire world.

We went on this little lark because my best friend, Marty, threw down the gauntlet. Martin Daniel McLean. Marty Montana. Senator Night Train. We’re old college roommates who have known each other for 30 years. We’ve been the Best Man in each other’s weddings. But he lives in Seattle and I’m in Chicago and even though we have adventured together in Detroit, New York, Vegas, Milwaukee, Missoula, Miami, Montreal, Florence, and the isle of Spetses, the reality of life lately is such that years go by where we don’t see each other. We’re both creeping up on 50, and a few months back Marty said, “We’re not getting any younger. We’re best friends. We don’t see each other nearly enough. Let’s go see a show somewhere together. Anywhere in the world.” I couldn’t have agreed more.

I envisioned us jetting off to Athens or Buenos Aires or Hanoi to see some band that we had a mutual affection for. Radiohead. Modest Mouse. Built to Spill. Pavement. Bands that we listened to in college but still love today and with a little luck you can find them popping up to do a show in some exotic location.

The first band I looked up was Pavement. I’ve seen them play many times, but was now hoping they were hankering to reconvene themselves for a show at some watering hole in Portugal. No luck there. Next person I looked up was Steve Malkmus who is Pavement’s lead singer, but also seems to have numerous other projects with his recent band, The Jicks, or his solo stuff. I stumbled upon a listing on a website I had never seen before that was displaying the one public appearance that Stephen Malkmus was supposedly making this entire year. It happened to be a few weeks away, and the venue was just a few hours drive from Marty’s house in Seattle. It wasn’t Coachella or Red Rocks or even that wild Sphere thing in Vegas. No, Stephen Malkmus was going to be playing at a wine festival inside a converted car dealership in the middle-of-nowhere mountain town of Walla Walla, Washington.

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Walla Walla Wine Country

This off the beaten path wine valley in the southeast corner of Washington has a history that stretches from Lewis and Clark to Drew Bledsoe to the great Grenache Fest sighting of Steve Malkmus. There’s mindblowing prehistoric scenery all around from the vast lunar desert stretches in the north to the otherworldly wavy palouse in the west to the nearby Columbia River Gorge which is so gigantic it creates its own weather. The small town has plenty of great bars and restaurants within walking distance, and you’ll find plenty of scenic wine estates to explore just a ten minute drive out of town.

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List of Best Stephen Malkmus Lyrics

Stephen Malkmus is an underrated indy rock God. He’s the founding member of the 90s era band, Pavement, as well as his follow up band, the Jicks, and some solo efforts. He’s known for inventive guitar licks and melodies, but he also has a knack for astounding word combinations that evoke moments in time, cultural commentary, and the every now and then genius gibberish. Occasionally nonsenical? Perhaps. Melodically magnificent, nonetheless. Read into them what you will.

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