On tour to promote “Kingsized,” their latest CD on Yep Roc Records is Dressy Bessy. One of our all-time favorite sugary, power pop confectioners from Denver, and tertiary affiliate of the Elephant Six Collective. The new record is their first in nearly 8 years, and only adds to an impressive resume. Standout tracks include “Lady Liberty” and “Pop Phenom.” If more dads and moms bought Amber or Tiffany a guitar instead of a case of Stevia for non-denominational Christmas maybe we would have more excellent female frontpersons like Tammy Ealom. Half the bands played on Sirius XMU owe Tammy some damn reparations. Hashtag truth.

If they were disappointed to be playing to a small crowd of around 30 diehards, then disappointment turned to surprise when Pittsburgh Mayor Bill “Bill” Peduto walked in. The set was tight, and the power was oh so poppy. Maximum Tom and I sat close enough to the stage to ever hope to hear again. Which is fine by me. I don’t need to hear to hand surgeons their stupid tools.

Here’s me offering Tammy some good old-fashioned PeePaw advise. Yikes! She and the gents played for a good 90 minutes, and about the only thing missing was the occasional blast of a harmonium. Elephant Six much? But I digress. My only complaint, and yes, I bring it up in the interview, is one song they didn’t perform. I guess I’ll get over it. Now – another award-winning interview:

Me: Tammy, great show. Thank you.

Tammy: Thanks. Man, I was nervous. I’ve never played for a mayor before.

Me: You take Portlandia way too seriously. You a Broncos fan. Me neither. Right?

Tammy: I am.

Me: So, you didn’t play “Superstar Everything.”

Tammy: No. No, we didn’t.

Me: Um, I know. What the hell?

Tammy: Just didn’t make the set.

Me: But I requested it. With my heart. Ok. Next question: favorite movie?

Tammy: Really? Wow. This is hard. Um, “Little Darlings.”

Me: Oh, sorry, we were looking for “Mad Max: Fury Road.” That’s the best movie ever. Ever.

Tammy: Well, I..

Me: Final question that I ask everyone: Stones or Blur?

Tammy: That doesn’t even make sense. Of course, it’s the Stones. Are you going to buy the CD?

Me: I’m asking the questions, and, yes, I already did.

Great show. Great interview. Terrific Mayor. What more do we need? Oh, yeah, the song that must be played! Enjoy.