The b.side Lounge opened this summer at the old Trilogy location, and the downtown venue's gearing up to bring in a solid schedule of local bands, national acts and DJs. Tonight, national recording artist Meiko visits the b.side Lounge to kick off the club's end-of-summer fun.

If you haven’t heard the name Meiko, you’re going to be hearing a lot from this new singer-songwriter. Yesterday, the musician logged in over 88,000 hits on her MySpace site! She’s also had over 200,000 music downloads on iTunes.

Fans are being drawn to Meiko’s emotive tunes and the keen sense of detail found in her lyrics. The media has been catching on, and the performer’s songs have been heard on TV shows like “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“I grew up in a little town in Georgia that had a population of 800,” said Meiko. “I lived with my dad in a log cabin, and the first time I ever performed was when I sang ‘White Christmas’ in a church. As a kid, I used to practice singing into this old clothes dryer – it had these really cool acoustics! It was a great thing to do when I was bored.”

The dryer must’ve helped, because the practice sessions encouraged Meiko to pursue her musical dreams. The singer/songwriter moved to Los Angeles and started playing at the famed Hotel Café. To help pay the bills, Meiko waitressed at the club.

“It took me three years to get the courage up to play in L.A. and I finally got up the nerve to play open mic nights,” explained Meiko. “Things started happening then, and I got to play the Sundance Film Festival. I also started recording my own record. I had no money, so I wound up calling in lots of favors and recorded at 3 a.m. – when no one else was using the studio.”

It took two years of hard work to make the CD, but things are starting to pay off for Meiko. The artist was signed to Lucky Ear/MySpace/DGC Records, and this week she’s also playing a private showcase for Triple A radio programmers.

“I’d call my music indie-rock-pop,” said Meiko. “I like to write about first-hand situations and about relationships. It’s hard for me to write about things that I haven’t gone through. It took me two years to make this record and it really was an experience to put it out on my own. Things have been really cool. Now, I’m one of the first artists signed to MySpace Records. They have some really cool ideas about marketing my music.”

Check out Meiko at the b.side Lounge tonight. The artist will be sharing the stage with Gregory Alan Isakov and The Legendary Beep Beeps. Saturday, Angie Stevens plays the venue, and Monday Nellie McKay performs a special showcase at the club. The show starts at 10 p.m. and is $7.

JJ GREY & MOFRO’S FREE HILL SHOW

Everyone loves free shows, so don’t miss the Triple A Radio Summit concert with JJ Grey & Mofro tonight at 9 p.m. The concert will take place at the parking lot on the Hill – across from The Sink. Get there early, as the buzz is on about this show!

Tonight, the Fox hosts its second Triple A Music Summit night featuring Augustana and Donavon Frankenreiter at 8:30 p.m. You can hear both those artists and Brett Dennen on KBCO’s Studio C this afternoon.

REALM MUSIC FESTIVAL

If you still can’t get enough of JJ Grey & Mofro, you can catch the band at this weekend’s Realm Music Festival in New Castle, Colo. The concert site is located just outside of Glenwood Springs. The three-day, rock- and jam-music party starts Friday and it runs through Sunday.

The promoters didn’t slouch on the Realm Fest line-up, as the three-day party features sets by Rose Hill Drive, Mofro, Outformation, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Banyan, DJ Logic and Super 400. Special guests on the bill include Colonel Bruce Hampton – in a rare Colorado appearance – and Oteil Burbridge of the Allman Brothers. And yes, party people – there is on-site camping at the fest. Go to www.TheRealmofMusic.com for more info.