Kevin Morby Welcomes Carrie Brownstein for “Modern Girl” at Portland’s Revolution Hall

On May 20 at Revolution Hall, Kevin Morby did something that wouldn’t make as much sense anywhere else. He brought out Portlandia star and Sleater-Kinney founder Carrie Brownstein for a handful of songs, including the band’s 2005 single “Modern Girl.” The choice of track felt less like a random cover and more like an unspoken acknowledgment of place. Brownstein named her 2015 memoir after the song, and for a room full of people in her city, hearing it shared between two careers carried a quiet, specific weight.

Morby is on tour behind Little Wide Open, his first solo album since 2022’s This Is a Photograph. The new record landed on Dead Oceans earlier this month and pulls him across North America before a European run. The Portland stop landed right where the road and the local canon overlap. Brownstein’s presence turned a standard tour date into something the city could claim as its own.

Sleater-Kinney themselves are not far removed from activity. Little Rope arrived in 2024, followed quickly by the Frayed Rope Sessions EP, three alternate versions that showed the songs still bending. “Modern Girl” stayed untouched, of course, but its contours are durable enough to hold weight in a new moment. Morby’s own writing often returns to place and memory, and this duet felt like both artists acknowledging that overlap without forcing it.