Morgen has had the unbelievable opportunity to get to know many talented local musicians. She counts The Local Strangers amongst some of her closest friends and over the past year she's been able to watch their success grow exponentially. Their most recent show at Columbia City Theatre seemed to be their best yet and at this performance Morgen captured some of her favorite moments of this fantastic group. more ›

Roll up with a Ball of Wax for some old-time music that feels wonderfully present, say goodbye to royalty, and finally get yourself some culture (and some dinner) via Town Hall. more ›

This weekend you can shower yourself in the light of burning rocks, sweeten your ears with dark country, melt the sun up in Darrington, watch pirates and ninjas drink together as family, and score against poverty. If you manage even half that, you'll be true Renaissance. more ›

If you haven't spent any time at Columbia City Theater lately then you have been missing some of the best shows of the year. Tonight is no exception with the long-awaited CD release from Noah Gundersen. more ›

It's rare to find a true storyteller amongst musicians. Granted, most songwriters are able to use words to their advantage in creating a solid combination of music and lyrics, and are able to weave them together in a way at which the rest of us jealously marvel. more ›

As expected, the show at Columbia City Theater last Friday night was undeniably the best locals show to be had. Despite the flurry of Eddie Vedder's two-night stint on the other side of town, fans of all sorts came out to support these three great groups. Kris Orlowski in particular blew us away with his charm, adorable smile and most importantly beautiful music. Joining him were other well-known locals Daniel Blue of Motopony, Allen Stone, Zach Fleury of Hot Bodies in Motion, and Tony Kevin Jr. more ›

The whole night was a family affair, as Noah brought his sister to accompany him with violin as well. Last but certainly not least, Sean McGrath sang us his unique playful sounds including "Tainted Love" on the ukelele. Love it. more ›

One benefit of being submersed in music day and night is finding new, extremely talented, musicians that hardly anyone has heard of. The immediate reaction to that is "I need to tell everyone about them!". Luckily for us, we have a platform to do that... Seattlest! One such performer that we'd like to introduce you to is Sean McGrath. He's been frequenting Conor Byrne's Sunday open mic for a couple months now and we have definitely taken notice. He is playing one of his first big shows in Seattle tonight at Columbia City Theater alongside Kevin Long and Noah Gundersen. As we mentioned yesterday, it's going to be epic so get your butts down to Columbia City. If not, regret will soon follow. more ›

Kevin Long has been a musician in Seattle for many years. An IT guy by day, he's been directing his artistic juju toward music with every spare minute he can get his hands on. A steadily growing following over the last few years, mostly in Spokane, has helped him gain some momentum as he plays live shows left and right to promote his upcoming release. more ›

For your Fourth of July weekend, honor America by drinking beer, wishing theaters Happy Birthday, and shuffling through Fremont with the undead. Also? Fire! more ›

Have you ever had a dream, but didn't know how to go about funding it? Musicians all over the world have struggled with this dilemma since the beginning of time. But thanks to the digital age and a little creative thinking the solution has arrived in the form of Kickstarter.com. more ›

If you're a reader of Seattlest at all, then you probably know about our first-ever Seattlest Music Presents show, which is happening this Friday at Columbia City Theater. And, if you're like a lot of our readers, you've been putting off buying passes. Well, readers, you're in luck--because we're giving some away. more ›

When we said you should head out to Columbia City Theater last Friday and dance, we didn't expect to see the dance party that ensued. The second Ravenna Woods jumped on stage (complete with weird ghosts in the background donning lit-up eyes) there was hardly a booty that wasn't a-shakin'. Honestly, we really couldn't blame them. Those heavy drum beats and clickity clacking of sticks on rims brings out the partyer in any sane music-lover. more ›

This, sadly, is the last mega post we'll be offering up to you for the very first Seattlest Music Presents show. It's been a crazy ride, but a fun one to be sure. We'd like to finally introduce our headlining act, Andrew Vait. He has an incredible history of music in his life, starting with jazz sax as a youngster, to the present as a singer-songwriter with a guitar slung over his shoulder. more ›

Ravenna Woods has continued to impress us both on their album, and in their live shows. With a solid heavy drum beat running through most of their songs it's hard not to tap your foot or feel like dancing (even when you're supposed to be quietly sitting at your desk and working -cough-). more ›

We just wanted to drop you a little note to let you know the tickets for our Seattlest Music Presents show are now officially on sale. For your opportunity to be at our first-ever event, featuring an epic local lineup, head to Brown Paper Tickets. more ›

Earlier this month we announced that Seattlest Music has finally gotten the chance to put together a lineup for its very first Presents show. Not only will it be on a Friday but it's also taking place at Columbia City Theater, one of our favorite venues in the Seattle area. It would probably be an understatement to say we're excited. Ecstatic might be a bit more accurate. Ok, by now you're probably saying "Who the hell is playing already?!" We hear ya, so ask and ye shall receive. This is the first in our three part series to introduce you to our lineup starting with the opener, The Elderly. Anything but old, this group of young musicians has talent to spare and we're so excited for you to get to know them. We headed over to Bud's (William Ransom, the lead singer) house to talked to the band and grab a couple photos. It ended up being a chat with what felt to be old friends and we look forward to what they have in store for all of us in the future. more ›

Exciting news, music lovers. Here's why you'll want to circle June 10 on your calendar. more ›

Tonight will be another magical night of music at Columbia City Theater as The Round enchants Seattle art lovers yet again. The Round, which usually takes place at Fremont Abbey Arts Center, is a mixture of art and music that leaves you feeling enriched and wishing you could make an Etsy store of crafts of your own. There are Rounds now being held throughout the state as well as the country; one of which was held this last week at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin (Round #7 there) with Campfire OK and Noah Gundersen performing amongst others. This is the first Round being held at Columbia City Theater, but we're pretty sure it won't be the last. more ›

It was Drew Grow's first show back after his accident and he chose to have it in Seattle at the Columbia City Theater (CCT). It was obvious he and his band mates have gone through a lot in the last couple months, strong emotions were emanating from every band member throughout the set. It put a few people off, confused others, and personally it welled up some strong emotions in us as well. To be honest, it wasn't exactly the typical Drew Grow show, but we're not sure there really is such a thing. He does what he does based on what's inside himself at the time and that's why we love him so much. The new songs they played were fantastic and we can't wait to hear them on an album. As a matter of fact they've been working on some recordings at CCT. more ›

Over the last couple months we've mentioned more than once that Drew Grow of the Portland band Drew Grow and the Pastor's Wives (DGAPW) had gotten in an accident. We also mentioned a couple benefit shows to help him pay for the medical care needed. Well, he's finally back on his feet again and excited for his first show back. Jeremiah, the percussionist for DGAPW, read a note from Drew and he spoke of how incredibly humbled and thankful he is for all the support and love over the last couple months. Now you can witness for yourselves why so many people have such a strong connection to this man, the band and their music. While you may not be religious, spiritual, or even a fan of gospel, their music isn't your typical gospel sound. It's rock with soul and you feel every single note in your heart. That's quite a boast, we know, but if you give it a try we think you'll feel it too. more ›

You've heard about all the quality bands based out of Seattle and working their way up the ladder lately. Here's your chance to get in on the ground floor and say "hey, i saw them back when...". Personally, we love it when we can do that, does that sounds braggy? Tomorrow at Columbia City Theater there are a couple bands that could fit that category and you should definitely check them out. Seismic-Sound.com presents Hotels' cd release show with The Royal Bear and The Devil Whale. To top off the night, Marco Collins will DJ the spaces in between, you just can't lose. more ›

There is no shortage of female singers in this town. One might even venture to say there's no shortage of good female singers in this town. Rarely, though, do you see someone with such intensity and earnestness in their style of singing as you see in Kelli Schaefer. Granted, she's not really "from this town", rather from our sister city to the south Portland, but the case is made regardless. more ›

Having had the opportunity to be a part of the Seattle music community for about a year now, it's hard to not fall in love with the sense of family that's created. You spend a lot of time with musicians and people who care about those musicians and the beauty they create. It's hard not to feel a sense of responsibility for each other. Performers' lifeblood is their art and they barely pay the bills with it, yet they still go at it with every fiber of their being. They spend late nights at open mics, long hours practicing to refine their skill, and weeks if not months on the road in beat-up vans on their last legs just hoping they'll make it to the next town. Amidst it all, they are forever thankful for the ability to share their craft, their gift, with the rest of the world. more ›

Ok, maybe they didn't take our socks away completely, but Saturday night's Campfire OK CD release certainly knocked them off and then some. It's incredible how intimate a group of a couple hundred people can seem. Campfire OK's release felt like a living room full of friends, amazing music and camaraderie abound. You really missed out on something if you couldn't manage a ticket to this sold-out show. You can, however, enjoy some shots from the evening. Feast your eyeballs on the flickr set for more. more ›

THE NATHAN HALE SOCK HOP: Settled in nicely at the bottom of your dial, pulsing with its irresistible signature of chopped hi-hat sixteenth notes, rabid bass lines, kick drum woofer exercises, and—on Sunday—gospel, is C-89.5 FM, the official radio station of Nathan Hale High School, national dancefloor tastemaker. This year marks four decades of student-run programming, divas-in-training, and the artful manipulation of its round the clock tick-tock heartbeat. To celebrate, C89.5 is taking over Neighbors with performances from Brooklyn Bounce, H-Boogie, Niamh Egan, Lisa Dank, and Melakai. Congratulations, C89.5, here’s to another 40. Saturday 5:30 p.m. // Neighbours // $8.95 (All-ages), VIP section (21 and over) $50 more ›

Seattlest Music has some new features afoot. One is called Listen Up! and you are about to read its first installment below. On a fairly regular (we hope) basis we will be bringing you a small sonic tasting from bands and artists that we love by streaming their singles straight from our posts. That way you don't have to scour the 'net attempting to hear samples of the fantastic bands we've been raving about both at shows and in our album/band reviews. more ›

In an attempt to hype up the rest of the show, we laid off the normal fawning we give Damien Jurado. We were particularly excited about seeing Tony Kevin Jr. Having been around town for quite some time and rubbing elbows with the rest of the Seattle music scene, we had a feeling his performance would be fantastic. more ›

Columbia City Theater is quickly becoming a great way to spend the night listening to music. We've seen countless shows there since it reopened; every single one has us excited days in advance. Add to it that Sound on the Sound is responsible for the lineup and you're sure to leave satisfied and smiling. more ›

Seattlest will be counting down to 2011 with a series of posts on our highlights of this year and what we're looking forward to in the next. Got a list to suggest? Send it our way. See the entire series here. more ›