FOLK MUSIC GREATNESS: National touring folk music artist Tracy Grammer is in town tonight at the Fremont Abbey, making a rare Seattle appearance with Seattlest's own folk sensation Kim Ruehl. Grammer's touring for her award wining album Flower Of Avalon, and even Joan Baez speaks her praise: "Tracy Grammer is a brilliant artist and unique individual. Her voice is distinctive, as is her mastery over the instruments she plays.” more ›

We know that Seattlest Katelyn usually handles your daily blog roundup, but she had to dart out for an emergency meeting of the Black Socialist Unicorns Justice League, leaving us in charge for today only. You won't mind if all your local news is about folk music and cute puppies, right? West Seattle blog cares about puppies as much as we do, so don't judge. CHS is calling for a CD swap, which we think is bound to turn up some old timey banjo music somewhere. Okay, that's all the puppies and folk music we could wrangle out of this. Meanwhile, MyBallard has Elvis, Slog has pie, and B-Town Blog is impressed with Obama's speaking skills. It's all connected in some dreamy way, we're sure. Speaking of dreamy, we wish the Unicorns a good meeting, and Seattlest Katelyn a speedy return. more ›

GET SMARTIE: So you think you're a smartypants, eh? And you want to see that smartypants professor in the white house? Then you're in luck! Go use your brain for Obama tonight, and participate in a trivia night fundraiser at the Hi-Life in Ballard. The entry fee is a bit high for trivia night at a bar, but excessively low for a political fundraiser. Just think of how those Eastsiders paid $1k/plate when Cindy McCain was in town, and the $20 you drop for trivia will seem like chump change. UPDATE: Smarties for Obama is sold out. Sorry, but also...awesome! more ›

HIPPIES UNITE: Innovative guitarist/singer/songwriter Keller Williams is a mainstay on the jamfolk scene and, much like Yonder Mountain Stringband (also on the bill tonight), is responsible for inspiring throngs of hippies to bounce and twirl. We've never caught him live, but we understand he puts on quite the show. He'll be at Marymoor tonight, blowing some minds. more ›

Tonight, the banjos will be taking over Benaroya Hall. We think there's a banjo joke in there somewhere, but it's too early on a Monday morning to come up with it. Instead, we'll just sell you on the legendary Earl Scruggs, who's responsible for that three-finger picking style Seattlest prefers when attacking the famously untunable instrument. We caught Scruggs at the IBMA awards last year, and we can vouch for the fact that he's still got it after all these years. Go see a living legend in action. Check him: more ›

TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT: Thursday night at R Place = Amateur Strip Show. Head out, show us what you've got, and maybe you'll walk away $200 richer. Second and third place prizes are $100 and $50, respectively. Then, once you've won, buy everyone in the room a round of drinks, and then stick around for a dance party courtesy of DJ Flo'w. After all, no work tomorrow, right? more ›

Not only has Tim O'Brien worked with everyone under the sun, anything associated with him is bound to be not only good but highly praised by fans and critics alike. He doesn't just play roots music, he lives it. He understands why it's there and, when he plays it, it's more to honor the artform than it is to draw attention to his mad skills (which, by the way, he has). more ›

When Seattlest was just a wee lesbian growing up in a small southern town, we did what we reckon other wee small-town lesbians did: we listened to a lot of k.d. lang and the Indigo Girls. We went on long road trips across the whole state with the windows down, our other closeted friends with us, singing "Galileo" at the top of our lungs. Ah, those good ol' days of closeted small-town life. more ›

The ever-dangerous folk music festival scene strikes again! While we were enjoying Sasquatch and the teeming crowds of drunks it brings, there was apparently a shooting at the peace-and-love-in that is the Folklife Festival. The most intense thing at the Folklife that we knew and loved were over-enthusiastic marimba players and drum circles. Apparently, times have changed. Three people were injured on Saturday when a fight broke out near a drum circle. According to witnesses, one of the men engaged in the fight tried to pistol whip another brawler, and the gun went off. The Folklife version of the magic bullet traveled through a man's nasal passage, another man's hand, and finally ended up stuck in a woman's leg. more ›

We have a soft spot for any singer-songwriter with enough chutzpah to get an entire festival crowd to storm the stage. Such was the scene when Langhorne Slim seriously rocked Pickathon down in Portland last summer. And that, friends, is one of a thousand things we love about Langhorne Slim. Another thing we love? He's a spectacular songwriter who writes tunes you can't believe aren't already classic folk songs. He'll be hitting the stage at the Tractor tonight, and, if you don't already have plans, you'd be silly not to go. more ›

We don't really know what can be said about Kate Walsh, other than we're not talking about the hottie from Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice. We're talking about the other Kate Walsh. The one who makes us want to bawl our eyes out with every single damn note she sings. more ›

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BOOKS: Local author (from Anacortes) William Dietrich will be making the rounds of local book stores, starting tonight at University Book Store. He'll be reading from his recent book, The Rosetta Key. The book sounds a little stressful, but full of Indiana Jones-style adventure. more ›

Yeah, and it's not just Ani DiFranco, which would be fine with us. We're pretty fond of the solo singer/songwriter thing, particularly when the artist in question can write intellectual poetics and redefine the way their instrument is played. But considering she's touring these days with a killer backup band made up of Todd Sickafoose, Allison Miller, and Mike Dillon, we're kind of looking forward to this show. We're even willing to miss this week's Idol results for this show. Besides, how can you not love songs like this: more ›

We first caught Kym Tuvim opening for Tish Hinojosa at the Tractor a couple of years ago, and were so spellbound with her soulful observational songs that we tucked her name away in our memory and vowed to pay more attention to her career. Since then, of course, she's been locked up in a studio working on a follow-up record to her 2003 release On the Mend. more ›

The Starlings—a band that started with Joy Mills and her husband Tomm but has since grown into a solid foursome—have spent the last couple of years forging their way through the local music scene, touring now and then. This Saturday, they'll celebrate the release of their second independent release, Marvelling the While—a wonderful collection of country-pop-and-blues-infused Americana that further solidifies their rootsy sound. more ›

This is going to be a damn good weekend, snow or no. And, it all starts tonight with Jack Wilson and the Wifestealers at the Sunset. Tomorrow, we've got Sera Cahoone's CD release party at the Tractor, celebrating the release of her awesome new disc Only As the Day is Long (SubPop). more ›

Kaki King is one of those guitarists who makes us feel like a fool for even eying the instrument, much less admitting we've been playing it for more than a decade. She is to the guitar what Chris Thile is to the mandolin: a freak of nature, an alien, or some other otherworldly being. It's just not humanly possible to be that allied with a piece of wood: more ›

Seattlest is most familiar with Drew Emmitt through his time with the fabulous bluegrass group Leftover Salmon. Now Emmitt's coming to town with his own band (named, aptly, the Drew Emmitt Band) and will be helped by openers the Hackensaw Boys. If you haven't caught the Hackensaw Boys, their live show is a raging good time. They're the definition of high-powered, high-speed punk-rock bluegrass and, before you know it, you, too, will be hopping around the room like the big hick you are. more ›

Okay, to be fair, Seattlest has never actually been to the Tractor Tavern monthly square dance, but we love that it exists. We love the Tallboys, and we particularly love their trail-blazing in the local old timey/roots music scene. more ›

This legendary folksinger needs your help: more ›

Here's another chance to get out there and support the, cough, "dying" Seattle music scene. more ›

Man, this Folk Alliance conference has been total insanity. Last night, the wait for the only four elevators going to the top floors of the hotel (where all the artists showcase) reminded us of waiting for the subway in New York on the 4th of July. Good luck. more ›

We first saw Toshi Reagon at the House of Blues in New Orleans, where she was opening for Ani DiFranco. Not the greatest venue for acoustic music -- the NOLA HoB has an echo problem. Toshi sat on a stool center stage and just oozed music, though, and we were totally sold. Something about that woman you just gotta see and hear. more ›

In January of this year, the Weekly's Brian J. Barr described local trio the Cave Singers as "an updated version of the Anthology of American Folk Music. Not the graduate-student, learned interpretations of folk music circa 1962, but folk music approached by way of punk rock. It's sparse, melodic, and simultaneously creepy and alluring, like the widow mourning graveside in Johnny Cash's 'Long Black Veil'." That was enough to get Matador Records interested, who signed the band in May and released their debut album Invitation Songs last month. more ›