2008 is the year of the cello. Fer real! One of the reasons we love the cello is because its range approximately matches the range of the human voice–it speaks to us. One other reason is that all of a sudden Portland’s favorite indie bands (Holcombe Waller, Bright Red Paper, John Weinland, Loch Lomond, Norfolk and Western, the Ahs, Horse Feathers, Laura Gibson, Musée Mecanique) all have one.

So what better way to kick off the first First Thursday of 2008 than with The Portland Cello Project. Join us on First Thursday, January 3 from 5:30-7 pm—after work or before you hit the streets of the Pearl for gallery-frenzy. You won’t be disappointed.

The PCP is an out-of-the-park splendid group of rotating players (anywhere from four to fifteen at any given time), that features among others Douglas Jenkins, Justin Kagan, Gideon Freudmann, Skip von Kuske, Anna Fritz, Galen Cohen, Kevin Jackson, and more. An evening of PCP can run you through the paces of Beethoven, Bach or Samuel Barber, Argentine tango, Bon Jovi, The Ahs, Salt-N-Pepa (“Push It” never sounded like this!), Villa-Lobos, Loch Lomond, Manuel De Falla or such chamber music hits as Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” Utterly fantastic, musically infectious.

For this early evening performance, expect special guest appearances by two brilliant indie-music figures, the moody and elliptical Nick Jaina and stellar songwriting craftsman John Weinland.

They’ve been called hipsters and referred to as classicists for the people—one thing’s for sure, they’re a beautiful experiment in musical democracy that only Portland could produce.

ALSO Visual Art on view on the Gallery and Studio levels, a spectacular array of visual art from Pulliam Deffenbaugh: recent paintings by JAMES BOULTON (Portland/San Francisco) and a fantastic oil, Dura-Lar, enamel wall piece by Ashland-based MATTHEW PICTON; and from Blackfish Gallery: KAREN EHLER’s encaustic paintings and ANGELA PASSALACQUA’s Twelfth Night-inspired oil paintings on wood.

First Thursdays at the Armory are revving up with surprises and all manner of of auditory and visual splendor.

In February: Music by LA-based songwriter Wisely with Portland’s Per Se.