Kris Orlowski is number seventeen in Morgen's countdown in photos. He's a wonderful musician and a great example of what Seattle musicians hold dear: honesty and sincerity. Whether other critics find sincerity trite or not, we value it and hold it dear. more ›

The Sounds are on the road for their first national tour in two years. Supporting their self-produced fourth album, “Something to Die For,” these Swedes will bring their electro-infused breed of indie dance rock to the Neptune later this month. For a taste of what’s to come, here are a few words with guitarist/keyboardist Jesper Anderberg. more ›

Kris Orlowski has wowed us time and again at his sold out Triple Door show with a full string section, at his Columbia City Theater cd release, returning to the Triple Door to open for James Vincent McMorrow and most recently at Bumbershoot's EMP 3rd floor stage. He's got a lot in store and here's your chance to get in on the ground floor and say 'I saw him way back when...' more ›

James Vincent McMorrow is a singer/songwriter from Dublin, Ireland. His first (and currently only) album Early in the Morning released early last year to critical acclaim. Since then he seems to have caught the touring bug and is out on the road for most of the year. We caught up with him on the last stop of his ten-show tour with The Civil Wars. more ›

You may or may not have heard of Hot Bodies in Motion (HBIM), but you have to admit it's a killer name--even if you have no idea who they are. Here at Seattlest, we've come to know and love this band for one very good reason: they don't play folk/Americana/singer-songwriter style tunes. In fact, that might be the very reason you haven't heard about them. more ›

It's been an incredible experience to get to know each of the three bands taking part in the first Seattlest Music Presents show. Feeling as though we've known each other for a while, the conversations take on a light-hearted and fun atmosphere. It's especially obvious when talking to The Local Strangers. Both Matt Hart and Aubrey Zoli have huge grins on their faces the entire time we speak because we're talking about what they love more than anything else in life: music. It's not just a matter of making music for them, it's what they have a passion to do. Whatever it takes to get them there they'll do it and it shows in their music. With beautiful harmonies and quotable lyrics that echo in your mind long after the music stops, you'll have no choice but to set them to repeat. The new EP will be released in physical form at our show but their first single, "Hunted by Ghosts", is available now for free download on their bandcamp site. Listen below for a taste while you read the interview, you'll thank us later. more ›

We had an opportunity to chat with Crash Kings before last night’s killer performance at Showbox SoDo. The amicable trio lounged on leather couches in their surprisingly tidy dressing room as we discussed the tour, music and their affinity for our fair city. Here are some highlights. more ›

Art Alexakis of Everclear took some time out from rehearsal on Thursday to talk with Seattlest about what he's been up to and the sold out show tonight at Columbia City Theater. What did we learn? He loves Seattle, he's excited about recording the show at Columbia City, and he loves playing in Everclear with its ever-changing cast of characters. Read on for the interview in full. more ›

Songwriter Shannon Stephens began her career in the early 90s as the lead singer in Sufjan Stevens (no relation, obviously) now-defunct folk band, Marzuki. After moving to Seattle in 1999, Stephens released a self-titled album, and proceeded to take a nine-year break in which she "read copius amounts of books, had a daughter, and did lots of hippie stuff like grow potatoes, can preserves, and make kombucha." Since re-emerging as a public musician in 2009, Stephens has released The Breadwinner, and in July of 2010 Asthmatic Kitty Records reissued her self-titled record. We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ask Stephens about her songwriting, the music community in Seattle, and her favorite flowers. more ›

As we reported on Friday, JBM played the Tractor with AA Bondy and Joseph Giant. As predicted, Jesse B. Marchant, who goes by his initials on stage, won over the crowd with his signature ambient folk-tinged tunes. While in town, Marchant was kind enough to answer some questions about his life as a songwriter and touring musician. more ›

Mark Doty will be reading as a part of the Seattle Arts & Lectures 2009-2010 Poetry Series at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, February 26, at Benaroya Hall. Tickets range from $10-50. As Continued from yesterday... more ›

The other is a real risk I see is in the forecast of a very slow recovery. Broad consensus now is that it will be the middle of the decade before we return to normal unemployment. That can give rise to political reactions that are very strong and very unpredictable, in the sense that they may not lead to the right solutions. more ›

There are many things that Doty is well-known for regarding his work in both poetry and memoir. Doty has been featured in popular literary publications such as The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly; was a New York Times Bestseller for his memoir, Dog Years; has was honored with the National Book Award for Poetry (Fire to Fire) among many others, and most impressively, was the first American to have won the U.K.'s T.S. Elliot Prize for My Alexandria (which also won him the National Book Critics Circle Award.) more ›

You’re active a number of charities involved with adult entertainment -- can you talk about that briefly? I work with the Free Speech Coalition. I do BABE (Breast Awareness Benefits Everybody), which is a breast cancer charity that my good friend Dan Davis set me up with. It’s good to give back, to be able to help the industry and other people. What drove you to get involved in the business end of things? I wanted better for myself. I wanted to make the money. I was tired of all the companies that I worked for making all the money. I wanted to make the money. more ›

What do you look for when you're prowling the streets? What is fashion forward to you--to 21 Arrondissement? Originality...standing out. This can be done for $0. That's the best part. It's not what you're wearing, but HOW you wear it. more ›

Big companies are making life uncomfortable for leaders all the time. They’re making life pretty uncomfortable for leaders who want to do something good, they’re pressuring them very strongly not to do good, and we’ve got to make life uncomfortable for them in the other direction. more ›

UmberDove’s Etsy store is awash with color: hand-sewn pillowcases, pouches, clutches, and table runners each patch-worked together in a blend of fabric and shape. The artist, Seattleite Kelly Clark, sews and posts new items on a regular basis…and they sell just as quickly. Her whimsical thematic pieces are a mish-mash of fabric scraps, often punctuated with floaty wool feathers or free-hand machine embroidered springs of plant life. These elements of the natural world also strongly influence Kelly’s more focused work: paintings, poetry, and sculpture. But let’s learn a little bit more about her sewing, shall we? more ›

Are there memories in particular that stand out when you think about playing Seattle or just memories about Seattle in general? I remember seeing some very straight but totally homoerotic lumberjacks at four in the morning somewhere. And it was one of the most enthralling visions of my West Coast existence. I always remember Seattle as a very sexy, rough and tumble town. more ›

Seattle’s vintage clothing and boutique stores are some of the best places to find pieces done by local artists. We stumbled upon these slips while browsing the racks of the fifties-femme shop Pretty Parlor on Capitol Hill, and brought one up to the counter along with a simple question: "Who made this?" more ›

"You could say that this book is about what happens when you give your rites of passage a body-swerve." more ›

With the premiere of Project Runway tonight and Product Runway coming up on August 28th, what better time than now to catch up with Project Runway alum and Seattle native Jack Mackenroth? We got a chance to catch up with Jack and get the deets on PR, Tim Gunn, Kevin Christiana, and the fashion design event coming to Seattle next week. more ›

It's right smack in the middle of Seattle's 2009 Elections, and we've noticed a familiar name on the ballot. Kay Smith Blum...Kay Smith Blum--like, CEO of Butch Blum? Yes, Seattle's premier high fashion retail exec is running for Seattle School Board Position #5, and we got a chance to ask her what's the deal. more ›

Our August 18 primary is being held entirely by mail--we got our ballot last week. If you're still scratching your head over the mayor's race, check out Publicola's interviews with the mayoral contenders (scroll down to item #5). more ›

It's been over a decade since The Big Lebowski first graced the big screen. Lauded as the first cult movie of the Internet age, the film has brought out a dedicated and undying following over the last few years. This has culminated with the touring, annual Lebowski Fest. The fest brings together Achievers from far and wide to celebrate bowling, White Russians, and everything else Lebowski. Seattlest chatted with (Co-)Founding Dude Will Russell, who was responsible for the first Lebowski Fest in Louisville in October 2002.

Making music together since the turn of the millennium, Portland’s The Decemberists are one of the Pacific Northwest's most dynamic musical acts. Among other accomplishments, the band has established themselves as strong storytellers who artfully blend disparate elements of folk, rock, and country. The band’s often weird and winding narratives parallel the kudos picked up by the band along the way, including participation in a one-on-one shred-fest against Stephen Colbert (and his pinch guitarist Peter Frampton), among many other more traditional honors. This evening, the band will be playing in Redmond for the first time and are looking forward to exploring the sonic expanses through a live performance that may or may not include their cover of a local legend. We were album to catch up with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk on the eve of tonight's Marymoor Park show. more ›

Despite what you might infer from their name and the (current touring) company they keep, Foreign Born is a band that was born and raised in the good ole U.S.A. While the band shifted south from San Francisco to L.A., they are by no means a band that can be easily classified as having an "L.A. sound," typified by heavy fuzz and a fascination with glam. Instead, the band finds inspiration from artists like ELO, Bruce Hornsby, and the Doors--or at least Val Kilmer’s portrayal of the Doors--and can count Ed Droste of critical darlings Grizzly Bear among the band's growing legion of fans spread across the globe. In advance of Foreign Born's show at Chop Suey tonight (with headliners The Veils and openers The Other Girls, $12, 21+), we were able to catch up with lead singer Matt Popieluch to discuss the band's sound, influences, and upcoming plans. more ›

It has been quite a year for Deer Tick. In addition to being named the "#1 Breaking Band" at SXSW 2009 by Rolling Stone, the band found itself in an unusual but fortuitous situation by attracting the eyes and ears of one of TV’s biggest names. As it turns out, newsman and self-described avid music enthusiast Brian Williams can be counted among the growing masses of Deer Tick's devoted fans. Williams hand-selected Deer Tick as the first band to be featured on his new web-only music interview series, BriTunes. more ›

Husband and wife theater team Mike Daisey (the monologist) and Jean-Michele Gregory (the director) met and began collaborating together in Seattle before moving to New York eight years ago. We spent an afternoon in their ground floor Brooklyn apartment, talking about the move, about how starting out in Seattle helped their careers, and what they miss about our town. more ›

Phillip Margolin will be reading from his most recent suspense-filled legal thriller, Fugitive, at 7 p.m., on Wednesday, June 17, at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. Margolin was nice enough to share some insight with us on his latest novel, and his life in general. more ›

Seattle-born and Mercer Island-bred, Burnett’s the kind of guy you want making movies—He’s genuinely in the business for the love of it, but he still possesses enough savvy to endure amidst the industry rat race. And when you ask him about screening his horror movie The Hills Run Red at the Seattle International Film Festival, he’s pretty much over the moon. more ›