Montana country musicians include
Rob Quist, formerly of the
Mission Mountain Wood Band. The Bridger Creek Boys , of Bozeman, are a Bluegrass band that were finalists at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's 2007 Best New Band Contest. Other popular musicians from Montana include Seattle's
Pearl Jam bassist
Jeff Ament (who attended the
University of Montana), and guitarist/producer
Steve Albini. Grunge pioneer
Bruce Fairweather is also from Montana. Rock and roll musician
Chan Romero of Billings is the writer of "
Hippy Hippy Shake", a song that was often performed by
The Beatles and was a hit for
The Swinging Blue Jeans. Another well known band includes Helena and Missoula's
The Skoidats, who recorded on New York City's
Moon Ska label in the late 1990s. Lead singer
Colin Meloy and members of the
Portland band
The Decemberists are from Montana, and were in a band named after the small town of Tarkio, in
Mineral County. Meloy graduated from the
University of Montana in 1998. Seattle's
Modest Mouse lead singer
Isaac Brock was born in Helena. One of Montana's favorite modern era rock bands is Dawghouse from Helena. Jared Blake, Nashville singer/songwriter, finalist from season 1 of
The Voice, sings about the beautiful Montana Skies in his song "Oak Tree" and the video was filmed in Montana. It features the Montana-based Bikers Against Bullies USA non-profit organization and their national anti-bullying campaign. The largest, indoor concert venue in Montana is the
MetraPark Arena, which opened in 1975 in Billings. ==Notable songs about Montana==