Andy Dunnigan, front man for the Montana-based Bluegrass band, The Lil Smokies, thinks the genre he loves is on the verge of something significant. While mountain string bands may not be the first to top most contemporary charts, Dunnigan thinks that’s evolving, changing. That the comradery and harmony offered in the music is pushing it center stage and, if it continues to grow, people will continue to listen.
Read MoreIt is odd to think that a major rock band had to be brought out of its shell. That, at least according to Brian Aubert, is exactly happened with Silversun Pickups.
Aubert, front man for the Los Angeles-based alternative rock band, explained that the group honed it’s signature distorted-yet-bright vibe in its early days from being inside intimate venues. That the SSPU sound wasn’t coaxed out in a marathon rehearsal or songwriting session but from playing live in front of small audiences in intimate local clubs.
Read MoreBefore becoming a renowned cartoonist, Tony Millionaire struggled to find any work at all. But after quitting a middling dishwashing job, he had an epiphany. He decided to go door-to-door in wealthy neighborhoods and draw the manicured mansions and sell the pictures to the people who lived there, earning a living one $25 piece at a time. In the winter, though, the drawing work dried up and Millionaire had to scramble to find new income, eventually landing a job as a demolition man.
“The people who had money to spend on drawings lived in big, fancy houses,” recalls Millionaire, a nationally syndicated cartoonist. “If you have a nice, big old house, the garden comes in perfectly, the roof is fixed, the flowers are coming in nicely. How do you put a period on that? You have somebody draw a picture of it. But you can’t really do that in winter. So, I had to find a job in construction. I used to do the demolition inside houses. I’d tear them down in winter and draw them in summer.”
Read MoreProfessional card counter, David Drury, began his career calculating odds and beating casinos because of a little “divine intervention.” Dury, a regular churchgoer, had picked up a few card counting tricks from books and was instantly hooked. Not long after, a friend from church started a high stakes blackjack team (“What are the chances?” Drury says). Dury joined and honed his skills and since, he’s flown the country, stayed in suites and bet thousands of dollars of other people’s money. For a time, he was even known as the Most Notorious Card Counters in America.
Read MoreSeattle native and 19-year NBA veteran Jamal Crawford grew up with a basketball in his hands. By the time he was 8 years old, he says, he was already hitting reverse layups while other kids struggled with the basics.
Read MoreWhen chef Edouardo Jordan encounters something, he examines it thoroughly. For the Seattle-based restaurateur, winner of two prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards (Best Chef Northwest and Best New Restaurant for JuneBaby), nothing important is taken at face value. Rather, Jordan is interested in a thing’s origin and what it might be used for in the future, whether traditionally or untraditionally. Which is why, when he decides to celebrate and highlight Black History Month in his trio of stellar restaurants, it means something both flavorful and educational.
Read MoreTrans-identifying, Seattle-based artist J Mase III has held many jobs in his life: in the nonprofit sector, in university settings, and as a boots-on-the-ground human-rights activist. But it wasn’t until Mase was fired from his most “cushy” position in higher education six years ago that he finally chose to hang up the nine-to-five lifestyle and become a full-time working artist. Ever since, Mase has been creating opportunities for himself and others while also making a living. In fact, his next artistic endeavor is centered on that delicate balance.
Read MoreAfter performing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in support of Macklemore (aka Ben Haggerty) alongside fellow Emerald City rapper Dave B. (aka Dave Bowman) and world-famous DJ Premiere last year, Travis Thompson got stoned with two of his best friends atop his Times Square hotel. The moment, both in metaphor and in real life, was a high point for the Seattle-born lyricist. But, Thompson hopes, it won’t be the last view from atop a peak on the landscape.
Read MoreEven though he’s won eight state championships and coached some of the most talented and successful players in the world in his nearly 25-year career, Rainier Beach high school boys basketball coach Mike Bethea approaches each season like it’s his very first.
Read MoreJohn Popper can sing the complicated jazz tune “Whiplash” practically in his sleep. The song, featured prominently in the Oscar-winning movie of the same name, is burned into Popper’s brain because of the same man who inspired the devilish bandleader in the film: Anthony Biancosino. “Dr. B,” as he was affectionately known, was an award-winning high school band teacher at Princeton High School in Princeton, N.J. (where Popper and Whiplash director Damien Chazelle both attended, decades apart). And while he wasn’t nearly the authoritarian as he’s exaggerated to be in the 2014 movie, Dr. B did help Popper — the frontman and harmonica player for the Grammy-winning band Blues Traveler — flourish as a musician.
Read MoreThere are many ways front people try to connect with their audience. For some, it could be a sunny song about tequila and the beach. For others, maybe a short skirt lures listeners. But for Shaina Shepherd, lead singer of the Seattle-based band BEARAXE, the connection is rooted in stories of resilience.
Read MoreFor Kevin Murphy, everything changed the week he and his then-Seattle-based rock band the Moondoggies released their album, Adios I’m A Ghost, in mid-August 2013. But not because the LP took off in any meteoric way. Rather, that’s the week the singer/songwriter met his now-girlfriend and began a new life.
Read MoreFor their new album, “I’ll Be Your Girl,” released in March, the members of Portland-based rock band The Decemberists set out to challenge themselves. The group hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with its 2011 LP “The King Is Dead” and has built a following for creative sounds and lyrics. But fresh tactics, says frontman Colin Meloy, had to be taken to keep making invigorating music.
Read MoreThirty years ago, while Matt Vaughan was attending Seattle University, he established the monument to local music that is West Seattle’s Easy Street Records. In the interim decades since, Vaughan has watched the neighborhood around him change dramatically and watched friends, like members of Alice in Chains, rocket to stardom and then tragically fall. Vaughan was there when Sir Mix-A-Lot first began hustling his debut, Swass; there when Macklemore sold his first CD; and he’ll be there when the next sensations—Thunderpussy, Car Seat Headrest—rise to the top of the charts. No one has followed Emerald City music quite like Vaughan; in a way he is the eye of the local scene’s storm.
Read MoreMs. Briq House—a burlesque performer, sex work advocate, professional cuddler, stripper, educator, and entertainer—wants you to see the light. Raised by her grandparents as a Southern Baptist Christian, House was an active member of the church as a youth. She worshiped. She spread the word. But, at twenty-five, she sought a divorce from her then-husband (with whom she remains in amicable contact), and that is when, “We saw people’s true colors,” she says.
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