Spokane “The Band”
February 16, 2009 
6 Comments
The excitement of who’s-who at last Friday’s 4th Annual Sommy Awards got us thinking about band names. But we’ll leave all the juicy details of the Sommy’s up to Skywalk Sensation, a local live music blog who’d be remiss in failing to cover the big event.
Meanwhile we’ll take the subject of Spokane music in a different direction. Did you know that like Beirut and Barcelona, the city of Spokane has it’s very own collection of namesake bands? While it makes sense for a musician to pick a city that evokes bygone romanticism or cultural flair, one wonders what inspired Spokane (the bands) to name their art as our town.
First we have Spokane hailing from Richmond, Virginia (pictured above). Categorized as Indie/Ambient/Folk on MySpace, an intentional connection to our fair city seems possible after reading the group’s concept statement:
Principle vocalist and songwriter Rick Alverson founded the band in 1999 with the intention of exploring that small, quiet, sometimes disturbing (and most often ignored) space in life between events and behind the glare of the overtly mentionable, as a vehicle to stand (however quietly) in objection to the west’s cultural addiction to the fast, loud and ostentatious.
Then there are the music videos. If it weren’t for the ice cream shop and the width of the trees next to downtown storefronts, it sure looks like Spokane.
Then we have the UK based Spokane, although you certainly wouldn’t know it from their accents (or lack thereof). Not only is top song “North Bend” about a city with bars and low rent motels, but their MySpace quote reads “Loving the sunny white room” – reference or coincidence? You decide.
To clear up any confusion, they’ve dubbed their Facebook group “SPOKANE fans (the band, not the town)” so we’re probably just flattering ourselves here with mindless speculation. After all, Idaho has a namesake band based out of Los Angeles with no obvious connection to the state, and there is the rather unremarkable Portugese grunge tribute band called Seattle.
About the Author
Twould be great for a rheacap of the sommies, maybe just a photo slideshow? Unfortunately I had to work, but I heard it was fun…
RE: pronunciation?
Hi Spovangelist,
of course we pronounce the name Spo-can, how else?
i was born in spokane at sacred heart hospital and lived at the corner of east mont way and n monroe st near holy cross cemetery. my father and gradfather (1890) were born there also. my great grandfather was a resident before washington was a state. but the band being named spokane is just a coincidence!
all best,
r. alverson
—————– Original Message —————–
Date: Feb 15, 2009 11:22 PM
Subject: pronunciation?
Hi there,
I am a civic blogger out in Spokane, WA and I am doing a blog post about how your band has the same name as our city on Spovangelist.com.
I was wondering, what was the inspiration for your band name, and how do you pronounce Spokane?
Is it “Spo-kane” or “Spo-can”?
Thank you so much for your response, and best of luck to you in your musical career!
Sincerely,
The Spovangelist
Heh, just read your blog AND got an email from the other Spokane.
Well, they are signed, have released albums and clearly have more of a claim on the name, so I guess we will be changing or clarifying our name in due course. We are no longer active, so it is not a problem.
To answer your question, the inspiration for the name was that I wanted to call the band Sparkwood & 21 (which is a reference from the TV Show “Twin Peaks”). However, that name was already taken by a UK band. I adore the Pacific NW and Washington State, and Twin Peaks, so I decided to limit the universe of potential names to this. I had a cool photo from a visit to Snoqualmie railroad museum of an old traincar with “Portland-Spokane” written on it, and I just liked how the word Spokane looked and both the ways it seemed to be pronounced.
So, to answer the second part of your question, I have always heard it both ways. Although I believe the more correct pronounciation is Spo-can, I personally prefer Spo-kane (as that is how I first heard it said in other parts of the US and in the UK) but I would always kind of slide down the middle of the two pronounciations so people heard whichever was was most familiar to them!
I must admit I have never been to Spokane though…only Seattle and the Snoqualmie, North Bend and Fall City area.
Thanks,
Dan Morgan (of the band formerly called Spokane…)
San Diego CA (originally Oxford, UK)
Spokane the band from VA is REALLY REALLY good.
I like your music and the video is great. I’d like to have your music on my website based on spokane artist.