With a composed, sweet, and measured voice, the woman behind the spastic, exaggerated femme persona known as Cherdonna Shinatra describes her upcoming projects. The tone of the conversation is markedly different compared to the character’s at-times cartoonish physicality, but the woman behind Cherdonna, Seattle’s Jody Kuehner, has no problem with the concept of dichotomy.
Read MoreAt age 41, Sera Cahoone says she’s now more secure in herself than ever. This confidence runs throughout the Seattle-based Americana singer-songwriter’s new record, “From Where I Started,” which is set to be released at a sold-out show Saturday, April 1, at The Tractor Tavern.
But confidence is a funny thing. It can be false or it can be rooted in the accepted eccentricities of our own unique, creative selves. For Cahoone, it’s the latter. While she says she can still feel “all over the place,” she’s also less “in her head” than she used to be, both as a person and as a songwriter.
Read MoreLos Angeles-based rock group Dawes is one of the rare acts to observe and learn from musical legend Bob Dylan. The band recently toured with the Nobel Prize winner for about six weeks. And now Dawes will take the lessons learned and use them on its own 50-date tour, which includes a stop in Seattle on Friday, Feb. 24.
Read MoreSeattle-based violinist/composer Andrew Joslyn has toured the world on the strength of his playing. He is most definitely a musician. But the prolific artist could easily have been the world’s most accomplished juggler.
Sitting across a table from him in West Seattle’s cozy Uptown Espresso, plans, words, and ideas tumble out of his mouth at an amazing rate—objectives he seems to keep afloat, bouncing in midair—but they aren’t just wishes, they’re descriptions of the many actual projects he has his hands on.
Read MoreAnthony Ray — aka Sir Mix-A-Lot — still loves an intimate rap show, which is why the man who made the big butt immortal will perform at Seattle’s 475-person-capacity Nectar Lounge on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 2 and 3.
Read MoreOn a bright Sunday afternoon, Jamil Suleman walks through the doors of Columbia City’s Royal Room and people instantly turn toward him and exclaim, “Hey! Jesus!”
Read More“It’s one thing to say to folks, ‘Go and do the work,’ ” says Seattle activist and writer Marissa Jenae Johnson. “I certainly understand that sentiment, but it can be hard for some people to grasp.”
The work she’s referencing, of course, is visible, tangible efforts made by everyday citizens to dismantle oppressive systems like racism, ableism, and the patriarchy. Johnson, world-renowned for her work with Black Lives Matter, is a staunch advocate for sacrifice, especially when it comes to privileged white people giving up their comforts to people of color and the marginalized, who have suffered at the hands of an abusive system for hundreds of years.
Read MoreWhen Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready walks into a KEXP music fair wearing your record label’s T-shirt, you know you’ve officially made it.
That’s what happened for Freakout Records, a new Seattle-based venture started by four locals — Ian Cunningham, Skyler Locatelli, Guy Keltner and Nathan Casey — who, in addition to running the label, are putting on a loud, two-day music festival Thursday and Friday (Dec. 8-9).
Read MoreNatasha Marin, the Seattle-based conceptual artist who created the donation website Reparations.me, which gets tens of thousands of clicks daily from all over the world, remains surprised at the number of people in need and how relatively little it takes to help.
“You think you know what’s going on,” she says, Facebook notifications dinging incessantly on her computer. “Then suddenly you’re facing this portal—like, wow, there are a lot of people out there that have no choice but to take a chance on this project. There are people who are dollars away from having their lives saved short-term. That’s shocking.”
Read MoreFor Seattle University’s Quinton Morris, one of two tenured African-American violin professors in the United States, the violin is both an instrument and a seed. And with it Morris is growing a great forest—his most recent plot being south of Seattle, where he’s founded Key to Change, a violin studio with branches in Renton and Maple Valley for students of color with limited financial resources.
The studio’s origins began way back in the ’90s, when Hank Linear, then president of the Renton Black Parents Association, saw Morris had talent. Linear, through his organization, made it possible for Morris to attend college tuition-free and bought him his first violin. Now Morris wants to pay that generosity forward.
Read MoreFor any fan of National Public Radio, the names “Fresh Air,” “This American Life” and “Prairie Home Companion” are quite familiar. But there’s another program quickly rising up the NPR listener ranks: the Pacific Northwest-based variety hour “Live Wire!,” which will host a live show Saturday (Sept. 10) at the Neptune Theatre.
Read MoreIn the male-dominated world of hip-hop, it’s not easy to be a woman. It’s even harder if you’re a woman of color who identifies as queer.
But that’s exactly the position Christy Karefa-Johnson — aka Seattle-based hip-hop artist DoNormaal — finds herself in.
Read MoreFor the psychedelic soul singer and producer SassyBlack, who will release her first solo record, “No More Weak Dates,” on Tuesday (May 17) at Barboza, much of what shapes her aesthetic has roots in things odd and uneven.
Read MoreBands are often described as creating “driving” songs — as if their melodies and rhythms propelled the listener forward. But with Seattle hip-hop duo Sleep Steady — at the Central Saloon on Wednesday (May 11) for the next BAD DAD Collective showcase — that descriptor is especially apt. These guys make music they want to listen to in the car.
Read MoreIt still brings tears to Erik Blood’s eyes.
“It” being the final track on his new record, “Lost in Slow Motion,” which the Seattle producer will celebrate with a release show Saturday (April 30) at the High Dive.
Sinking into a small, orange-cushioned chair in his dark studio near the old Rainier Brewery, Blood seems lost in thought. He’s staring into space as “Out This Way” — that final track — plays on his monitors. He sips a cup of coffee, tears percolating in the corners of his eyes.
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