By MIKEL TOOMBS Hey, Jack Kerouac! Next Thursday (Feb. 28) the Seattle U-District dive bar you (supposedly) frequented, the Blue Moon Tavern, is hosting the…
Read Full ArticleThe Not-Its! throw a party for ‘dance-happy kids’ and their parents
By MIKEL TOOMBS The Not-Its! will put the Vera Project’s “all ages” designation to the test when they appear there Saturday, Feb. 9. Performing at…
Read Full ArticleLeni Stern’s new CD, ‘Smoke, No Fire,’ was recorded in war-torn Mali
By MIKEL TOOMBS “My last album before this one, ‘Sabani,’ was a really happy album. Times were good in Mali,” Leni Stern explained in a…
Read Full ArticleRapper Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis top the Billboard Hot 100
By GENE STOUT In their 16th week on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Seattle rapper Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis have reached the top of…
Read Full ArticleSession musician Petra Haden goes ‘Psycho’ on new soundtrack album
By GENE STOUT Petra Haden, a talented session musician who has worked with Beck, Foo Fighters, The Twilight Singers and The Decemberists, among many others,…
Read Full ArticleCanada’s Steph Macpherson opens her West Coast tour in Seattle
By GENE STOUT Up-and-coming Canadian singer-songwriter Steph Macpherson, who made an appearance at the 2010 Lilith Fair and has opened concerts for such artists as…
Read Full ArticleRandom ‘Acts’ of discovery inspired Jeff Ament’s latest side project
By GENE STOUT A “random” meeting by Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur in New York more than a dozen years ago…
Read Full ArticleCONCERT PREVIEW: Seattle harpist Anna Cate gets in tune with ‘This Old Radio’
By MIKEL TOOMBS “It was difficult writing indie rock on the harp,” Anna Cate begins. It is a truth universally acknowledged, you nod, and then,…
Read Full ArticleCD REVIEW: Taylor Swift’s new album may be a step back, but sparks fly
By MIKEL TOOMBS Pure pop for now people. The prescient Nick Lowe had Taylor Swift’s new album, “Red,” sized up many years ago, well before…
Read Full Article‘Rockabilly Filly’ Rosie Flores rides into the Sunset Tavern
By MIKEL TOOMBS All the flat-top cats and dungaree dolls will be in rockabilly heaven Tuesday, Oct. 16, at Seattle’s Sunset Tavern. That’s where Rosie…
Read Full ArticleA sonic homage to Van Halen from Swedish synth-pop act Hortlax Cobra
By MIKEL TOOMBS Pierre Menard just tweeted Hortlax Cobra: “Dude, you stole my shtick.” Menard, the Jorge Luis Borges character who offered a new take…
Read Full ArticleAlessandra Rose celebrates release of ‘You Are Gold’ Saturday at Tractor
The phrase “You Are Gold” could easily apply to Seattle singer-songwriter Alessandra Rose, whose tender, melancholy vocals distinguish her impressive debut solo album. In fact,…
Read Full ArticleElvis Presley, pink Cadillacs, John Hiatt and the allure of ‘Tennessee Plates’
By GENE STOUT My closest friends know me as a collector of oddball automobilia — vintage cars, parts, signs, chrome baubles, plastic geegaws, bric-a-brac and…
Read Full ArticleBlitzen Trapper releases poignant ‘Girl in a Coat’ video via Rolling Stone
By GENE STOUT Portland alt-country band Blitzen Trapper, which records for the iconic Seattle label Sub Pop Records, has released a video of its melancholy,…
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