Lakebottom Sound

03/28/2024

Thanks Cory and all.

The monthly FreeSessions invite people of any instrument and genre to collaborate at the Missoula Public Library.

03/25/2024

Announcement: New Life for the FreeSessions - TONIGHT | Lakebottom Sound Comes to A Close.

Hello Missoula,

Thank you for your support over the years. I'm writing to announce that Lakebottom Sound is coming to an end. I will continue to contribute to the Missoula landscape as a creative musician, instigator, and educator, but no longer through this organization. I am excited to announce that the FreeSessions will be living on under the care of the Missoula Community Radio and Daisy Chain Productions!

When Lakebottom Sound started in 2017, the community support that immediately rallied behind Lakebottom Sound was immense. We put on 10 amazing Sound Series concerts across genres at venues all over Missoula, guaranteeing musicians fair pay, featuring local and touring musicians from Canada all the way to New York, and fostering a culture of intentional listening that I believe still ripples through Missoula. We held classes and workshops supporting the musical expression of folks ranging in age from 9 to 70. And finally, we held countless FreeSessions cultivating a climate of listening, improvisation, expression, creativity, and collaboration across genres and media. I am fortunate to have had so many folks and sponsors get behind this vision so quickly.

As I have been focusing on my own musical career and family over the past few years, I have been unable to continue this programming. My FreeSessions co-founder Bill Kautz and I have made the decision to step away from facilitating the FreeSessions, and we are thrilled that Missoula Community Radio and Daisy Chain Productions has stepped up to continue fostering this community improvisation space. We believe their community-oriented open-mindedness and unique location in the library is a beautiful continuation for these sessions to live on and thrive with new potential participants and collaborators. I'd like to thank Bill Kautz, Jay Bruns, Joe Glassy, Heather Adams, Tom Benson, Imagine Nation Brewery, Robert and Fernanda, Kelly Bouma, The Westside Theater, all the FreeSessions volunteers over the years, and the whole Arts Missoula community for all the support!

Please check out the FreeSessions. I am honored to help with the transition and curate the first FreeSession run by Missoula Community Radio on March 25 at 6pm at the Library.

Learn more at:
https://www.1015kfgm.org/freesessions

With love and gratitude,
Naomi Siegel
Photo by Donal Lakatua

03/08/2024

Thank you for all the years of support for Lakebottom Sound and the FreeSessions. The FreeSessions will be living on under the direction of Missoula Community Radio and Daisy Chains Presents at the Missoula Public Library, kicking off on March 25. We love you, Missoula!

05/02/2023

Friends,

Thank you for a great return to in person sessions this season now at The Westside Theater. Your support, enthusiasm and presence has been felt and appreciated. 

At our April session we mentioned directing our efforts to support another event happening at The Westside Theater this weekend in lieu of another FreeSessions. Regrettably that event was cancelled so we will need to wait to gather again until the start of our next season in September. 

A big thank you to our curators this year: Billy Kautz, Naomi Siegel, Jesse Blumenthal and Michael Musick, Kelly Bouma and Will Stoskopf. 

Our sponsors Amy Donovan Photography, Rattlesnake Cable Company and Slant Street Records.

Our coordinators Billy Kautz and Naomi Siegel, and volunteers Molly Liu Buchanan, Joe Glassy, Dónal Lakatua, Justin Matousek, Tricia Opstad and Ed Stalling. And a thank you to the many who brought in and shared their gear for the good of all. 

As we start planning for next year, we can use your help. If you would like to be more involved or have feedback, please get in touch with us through a direct message here.

We also need more financial sponsors to keep doing what we are doing and aspire to do. If your business would like to support our work at The FreeSessions, please get in touch with Kelly Bouma at The Westside Theater or direct message us here. 

Thank you! We will see you around town!

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04/03/2023

Thank you to Will Stoskopf and Sounds of Speciation for curating our session last night and to Mickey Haldi's live painting all night.

A big token of gratitude to everyone who had skin in the game in making the session run so smoothly:
Kelly Bouma, Joe Glassy, Billy Kautz, Dónal Lakatua, and Tricia Opstad. Thank you friends. We can't do this without you.

Will Stoskopf is directing this session's proceeds to Please also contribute if you feel inspired.

We will direct FreeSessions folks to attend an event on May 6 at The Westside Theater put on by Life Drawing and KFGM. From there, we will look forward to starting up our next season of The FreeSessions in September. We look forward to seeing you all again.

Thank you to our sponsors Slant Street Records, Rattlesnake Cables and Amy Donovan Photography.

Be well and go start a band!


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03/31/2023

Join us Sunday, April 2nd at 7pm at The Westside Theater as our friend Will Stoskopf curates with Sounds of Speciation! Thank you Will!................................................................

My name is Will Stoskopf, of the Missoula psychedelic rock band Cosmic Sans, and for the next FreeSessions on April 2nd I will be accompanied by the members of local improvisational psychedelic group Sounds of Speciation, which includes guitarist Cooper Godfrey and percussionists Noah Glover and Carson Smith. I brought this ensemble together in an attempt to bridge conventional music and song structure with pure improvisational sound.

I’ve been combing through “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert Pirsig lately, and an excerpt from it gave me some inspiration for the direction of this next FreeSessions. Most of the book is spent with the author attempting to understand the concept of “Quality” (capital Q), and one way he attempts to accomplish this is by  imagining a world without Quality. “If we can show that a world without Quality functions abnormally, then we have shown that Quality exists, whether it’s defined or not.” Pirsig then imagines a world where Quality has been removed from the fine arts, and asserts that “there’s no point to symphonies, when scratches from the record or hum from the record player sound just as good.”

 I struggled with this statement, especially since coming to FreeSessions, since in previous curations and ensembles noise of definite Quality arose from chaos and musical nonsense. 

For my curation, I ask members to consider how the role of Quality in music and sound can be stretched beyond the role Robert Pirsig gave it. For my performance with Sounds of Speciation, we will be attempting to create a form of Quality through the intentional addition and subtraction of the conventional description of Quality. 

This month I chose to highlight the Music Inclusion Coalition (MIC). MIC helps subsidize costs for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students for auditions, private music tutoring, and education application costs.

Photo by Amy Donovan Photography

03/26/2023

Join us this next Sunday, April 2nd at 7pm at The Westside Theater as our friend Will Stoskopf curates with Sounds of Speciation! Thank you Will!

Read more below!................................................................

My name is Will Stoskopf, of the Missoula psychedelic rock band Cosmic Sans, and for the next FreeSessions on April 2nd I will be accompanied by the members of local improvisational psychedelic group Sounds of Speciation, which includes guitarist Cooper Godfrey and percussionists Noah Glover and Carson Smith. I brought this ensemble together in an attempt to bridge conventional music and song structure with pure improvisational sound.

I’ve been combing through “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert Pirsig lately, and an excerpt from it gave me some inspiration for the direction of this next FreeSessions. Most of the book is spent with the author attempting to understand the concept of “Quality” (capital Q), and one way he attempts to accomplish this is by  imagining a world without Quality. “If we can show that a world without Quality functions abnormally, then we have shown that Quality exists, whether it’s defined or not.” Pirsig then imagines a world where Quality has been removed from the fine arts, and asserts that “there’s no point to symphonies, when scratches from the record or hum from the record player sound just as good.”

 I struggled with this statement, especially since coming to FreeSessions, since in previous curations and ensembles noise of definite Quality arose from chaos and musical nonsense. 

For my curation, I ask members to consider how the role of Quality in music and sound can be stretched beyond the role Robert Pirsig gave it. For my performance with Sounds of Speciation, we will be attempting to create a form of Quality through the intentional addition and subtraction of the conventional description of Quality. 

This month I chose to highlight the Music Inclusion Coalition (MIC). MIC helps subsidize costs for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students for auditions, private music tutoring, and education application costs.

03/20/2023

Will Stoskopf curates The FreeSessions on Sunday April 2nd

7-9pm at The Westside Theater

Stay tuned for more details.

All our best to all y'all!

03/05/2023

TONIGHT!! 7pm at The Westside Theater!

All are welcome. Ages, mediums, skill level, everyone. Come join us.
.................................,...........................................

It gives us great pleasure to welcome Kelly Bouma as our curator for the upcoming FreeSessions Tonight March 5 from 7-9pm at The Westside Theater.

Kelly will be joined by the great Travis Yost for her curation.

Kelly asks that we direct this session's proceeds to Joel Hall Dancers and Center in Chicago. https://www.joelhall.org/give

Below is a description from Kelly about her background and frame for the session..............................................................................

Kelly Bouma is a producer, director and teaching artist based in Missoula, MT. Her background as a performer, dance-theater maker and improviser (both in comedy and movement) informs her work both in video and on stage. For Kelly, improvisation is a way of living...and a way for dance and movement to become accessible to anyone (this from someone who never trained as a dancer). 

Kelly will curate FreeSessions on March 5th with a demonstration on how to approach improvisational movement, exploring the philosophical teaching system of Mary Overlie's 'Six Viewpoints." Overlie's research on the Six Viewpoints originated in the landscape of Montana.  

In Montana the light seems to come from under your feet. Space becomes a primary language for the mind. In this environment distance has a physical impact on the body. The combination of high prairie and mountains inundate you with a sense of space and perspective.

-Mary Overlie

The Westside Theater] The Westside Theater]

03/01/2023

FreeSessions is back on Sunday at 7pm with Kelly Bouma curating.

This is Dónal playing bass, not Kelly. Just to be clear. Photo by Amy Donovan Photography.

Read more about what Sunday will look like below: .....................................................................
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Kelly Bouma as our curator for the upcoming FreeSessions next Sunday March 5 from 7-9pm at The Westside Theater.

Accompanying Kelly for her curated portion will be Travis Yost.

Kelly asks that we direct this session's proceeds to Joel Hall Dancers and Center in Chicago. https://www.joelhall.org/give

Below is a description from Kelly about her background and frame for the session..............................................................................

Kelly Bouma is a producer, director and teaching artist based in Missoula, MT. Her background as a performer, dance-theater maker and improviser (both in comedy and movement) informs her work both in video and on stage. For Kelly, improvisation is a way of living...and a way for dance and movement to become accessible to anyone (this from someone who never trained as a dancer). 

Kelly will curate FreeSessions on March 5th with a demonstration on how to approach improvisational movement, exploring the philosophical teaching system of Mary Overlie's 'Six Viewpoints." Overlie's research on the Six Viewpoints originated in the landscape of Montana.  

In Montana the light seems to come from under your feet. Space becomes a primary language for the mind. In this environment distance has a physical impact on the body. The combination of high prairie and mountains inundate you with a sense of space and perspective.

-Mary Overlie

The Westside Theater] The Westside Theater]

02/04/2023

Join us tomorrow, Sunday, at 7pm at The Westside Theater for our next FreeSessions.

Session proceeds will be donated to the NAACP Memphis branch.

All ages, abilities, modes of expression and levels of intrigue are welcome.



Photo by Amy Donovan Photography

02/01/2023

FreeSessions at Westside Theater - 2023! - https://mailchi.mp/81fd37e0694f/freesessions-at-westside-theater-2023