Break out the hackysack and butterfly wings, because former Phish bassist Mike Gordon is at the Tractor tonight in support of his new solo record, The Green Sparrow. Sub Pop singer-songwriters Sera Cahoone and Daniel Martin Moore play Neumo's, while The Architects bring the crazy to El Corazon.......

If you've still yet to hear about the Everybodyfields, the only thing you should worry about at this point is getting a ticket to see them at the Tractor on Thursday. We love them for their tight knit harmonies and their nanananas, but also for everything else, really. They're part of that Ramseur Records Carolina/Tennessee new folk scene going on (think of label mates the Avett Brothers, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Bombadil). They'll be appearing......

WHAT A WICKED GAME YOU PLAY: There's some pretty good national names hitting town tonight. But, since Emmylou Harris is sold out at the Zoo, perhaps you'll enjoy the warbling sounds of Chris Isaak at the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery. Tickets for that are still on sale. 7 p.m. // Chateau Ste. Michelle // $45-69 THE SLAVES' WAR: Local author Andrew Ward will be reading from his latest compelling historical account of what some of......

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? 9 p.m. // R Place // Free......

BEST LOCAL SHOW EVER: Okay, maybe that's too strong a statement. There are people who would argue otherwise, but Seattlest is pretty thrilled with all the bands on the bill tonight at the Tractor. It's a big ol' acousti-pop night in Ballard with Grand Hallway, Kate Tucker, Odessa Chen, and Husbands Love Your Wives. Yeah, we know. Hot action. Maybe it's not as killer as a Pearl Jam-Dave Matthews-Death Cab-Heart show would be, but it's......

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). No doubt when he......

We’re not sure how we first stumbled upon Jude and his music, but we have a vague recollection of hearing him on the radio as a guest DJ while we passed through Seattle on a business trip in the late '90s. An amazing song set made us think "this guy really knows music," and when we picked up his 430 N. Harper Ave., we were hooked from the first lyrics: Tortilla chips Are on my......

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......

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. Take this song "Tonight," for example: Also at the Tractor tomorrow are Brandi Shearer and Quincy Coleman. 9 p.m. // Tractor Tavern // $10 adv, $12 dos......

Austin-based band Monahans do to music what poetry does to words. Tonight, they'll bring their stylin' tunes to the Tractor. Also on the bill is local songwriter J. Tillman and the very pretty Zera Marvel. We called up Monahans frontman Greg last week during their brief stint with the Cowboy Junkies to find out why he thinks people should come to tonight's show. 9 p.m. // Tractor Tavern // $7 Where are you right......

CINCO DE MAYO: We may not have a ton of great tacquerias in town, but our local Mexican joints do a fine job with their margaritas. Our favorite is out in Ballard—La Carta de Oaxaca. Also worthy are Jalisco's various locations and, of course, Mama's Mexican Kitchen in Belltown. Or take it one step further and head to Tacos Guaymas in Greenlake to catch Pedrito Vargas y su Grupo Ashe. 4 p.m. // Tacos......

Our finest local rotating-member all-star bluegrass band, Dysfunction Junction (behind the Monday night bluegrass jam at Conor Byrne) will be gathering their friends and fans together Sunday for a potluck and barbecue at the Tractor Tavern. It's an annual shindig they throw to raise money for the New Beginnings women's shelter. According to their email announcement, "This is a very under-funded and needed service in our community, and community building starts with the individual......

POETRY: Seattle Arts & Lecture's Poetry Series welcomes Lucille Clifton to the Intiman tonight. Born in Depew, New York, in 1936, Clifton is one of the preeminent writers of her generation. Winning awards in about every genre she takes up (poetry, fiction, memoir, children's books), she often writes about family, race, and women's experiences. This is from her poem, "A Dream of Foxes": "so many fuckless days and nights / only the solitary fox......

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. The party's at the Tractor, where all rootsy CD releases tend......

As previously mentioned, tonight's Wig Bash at the High Dive, as well as the second, final, and sold-out performance of Nada Surf at the Showbox. Also sold out: Springsteen at Key Arena Saturday. But never fear, there's still other options out there, like Golem at Nectar tomorrow night. We don't know much about them, but we've heard that the six-piece klezmer band play "Eastern European drinking songs" and that they're "fun as hell." That's enough......

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). And then, the whole weekend will round off with Bob Schneider at Chop Suey. We're happy about all this because we love all......

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: She's one of those people who, when......

DAYTIME MUSIC: The venerable Kell's down in Post Alley is having a St. Patrick's Day Festival (10am-2am, $20), with an all-day line-up of Irish music. So is downtown's Fado (10am-2am, $15, with $10 gift certificate for next visit). Over in Ballard, Conor Byrne opens at noon, with live traditional Irish music starting at three. At 8pm, they modernize the music with DJ Mapes's collection of Pogues, U2, Thin Lizzy, Waterboys, Stiff Little Fingers, Boomtown......

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......

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. In case you're unfamiliar with the band, here's a peek: Now throw on some overalls and get thee to the square dance. 7 PM // Tractor Tavern // $5 singles, $8 partners......

MUSIC: If you're not heading to the Gutter Twins, maybe try another direction. Almost exactly two years ago, we went to hear Trespassers William and their psychedelic folk pop. Said Audrey, "with the band's varied instrumentation and singer Anna-Lynne Williams' steady, hollow voice, their sound is haunting and hypnotic." The question is, have they found a hook to hang a song on? You make the call--check out one of their newest songs on the......

In short, no. (Duh.) But, Paste magazine ran an article recently suggesting that, perhaps, it's on its way out. We thought the article made a lot of valid and interesting points, like this one: “Mayor [Greg] Nickels and other city leaders don’t have a clue about the impact of their policies on this community,” says Tim Hatley, lobbyist for the Seattle Nightlife & Music Association. “If you’re Dan [Cowan, owner of Seattle fixture the......

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. She's the daughter of Bernice Johnson Reagon--the woman responsible for Sweet Honey in......

If you've been monitoring the lives of "Awesome" lately as we have, you know these things: 1. They've been spending time in the studio with Jon Auer, recording a song called "I'm on T.V." for Puppet Entertainment Television (Strangercrombie auction winners). 2. Evan's nose has a furry new friend. 3. Evan (and his nose) and melodica player (amongst other things) John Ackermann had birthdays recently! Which brings us to tonight's show. It's a birthday party!......

We're sure we don't need to say this, but you can't miss your caucus. This is the first year in our whole time in the Pacific Northwest where it matters what Washington voters think. If you're still wondering where to go, here are two Dem or GOP caucus locators. Caucusing starts at 1pm. We understand that if you know who you support and you don't want to spend an hour or two talking about it,......

Jesse Sykes is playing at the Tractor Tavern this Friday and we couldn't be happier about it. Along with Neko Case, we can't think of a local-grown voice that we like better than Jesse's. What makes it even better is that she's billing it as "a special last-minute acoustic show" according to her MySpace page. If you know Jesse Sykes and her music, you already know why this is so exciting. Her melodic, sometimes ephemeral,......

Time magazine claims, "You can't swing a dead cat this time of year without hitting a Top 10 List." Never one to waste a perfectly good dead cat, we decided to take a swing and create a Top Random-Number Shows Seattlest Saw This Year. And now, without any further ado, here's how your favorite bloggers broke down the year: According to Dante, everything else pared in comparison to Daft Punk at WaMu Theater 7/29/07. OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!......

Boy, we really like Sera Cahoone. We're sitting here trying to think about what we could say that would motivate you to get out to the Tractor tomorrow to check her out, but really there are few words. She's a little bit country, a little bit folk, a little bit rock and roll. She looks a little bit like our friend Elaine, her band is hella tight, her songs will stick to your sides. She......

Dear, sweet Arthur & Yu. The local band (on new Sub Pop pseudo-imprint Hardly Art) has dreamy duo Grant Olsen and Sonya Westcott at its core, with Bobby Wane, Ben Kersten, and Scott Blue rounding out the group. Their music is simple and pretty and straight outta the swinging 60s. So sez Gorilla Vs. Bear: You know how on MySpace bands always list their "influences," and as you listen to the songs, you can't......

The Tallboys are only Seattle's finest old-timey group, and the Flat Mountain Girls are coming up to represent Portland. Get on out and help the former celebrate the release of their fabulous new CD, Rubber Dolly. The album is packed with pretty much everything you'd expect from the band: kicking fiddle tunes, tight banjo solos, sad and fun songs with which you can sing along, and a good dose of clogging. The Tallboys, with......