Amazon put out their "Outstanding 2011 Albums You Might Have Missed" list and the Pacific Northwest is littered throughout including a number one spot for Shelby Earl. We knew about them and we're glad everyone else is about to discover them too. more ›

Loch Lomond and Viva Voice opened up the night and it was already packed early on in the evening. We managed to scootch our way up to the front for the headliner and he was incredible. That was evidenced by the completely silent house during every one of his heartfelt songs. He's headed out on tour now with stops in San Francisco, Little Rock, SXSW and Phoenix. We'll be happy when he makes his way home to Seattle though. more ›

Have you noticed that they aren't making it easy on us anymore here in Seattle? There are entirely too many insanely good bands hitting the bars and venue stages lately. The problem is, they make us decide which great show to go to and you're left wondering "did I make the right decision?" Well, tonight is no exception. There are three incredible shows, so you have no excuse to sit home in your jammies eating icecream. Get out there and shake your booty! more ›

"I think the Decemberists are a great band, and I think there are some similarities: we are both folkish and use more varied instrumentation than most rock bands. I think that if you actually sit and listen to both bands, you'd see that they both are coming from very different places. The era of songs that drive and influence the majority of the Builders' material is early Depression-era blues, folk, and gospel, and weirder stuff like Tom Waits." more ›

If you care at all about surprising chamber folk music, the kind that will move you and make you question what you thought you knew about chamber folk music (did you know there was such a thing?, for example), then you'll get out to Ballard tomorrow night to catch Portland's Loch Lomond. They're the kind of band that we really believe can do anything. We've seen them rip a sheet of paper as a form of percussion before. Brilliant! They'll be joined by Seattle's own equally fabulous Carrie Biell and Husbands Love Your Wives. more ›