Check this poster!!! ::: Poster by Stubby

We, the humble proprietors of Sound on the Sound, want you to recognize that this April, Seattle is celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the venerable Blue Moon Tavern. Over those many years the Blue Moon as been through countless incarnations, seen the construction of the interstate on it’s doorstep and the rise of downtown skyline across the lake. At this point in time the Blue Moon survives as a rock n’ roll stage most nights under the watchful eye and ear of booker Jason Josephes (JJ), and we thought there would be no better way to help celebrate this milestone than to sponsor two consecutive Saturdays with can’t miss bills packed full of our favorite local bands.

The first show happens this Saturday and brings together the secret headliners from both of our Blue Moon birthday shows, Thee Emergency and the Whore Moans. And if two of our favorite current local bands weren’t enough, how about one of our most missed dearly departed Seattle bands: Hopscotch Boys. JJ was able to rouse the Hopscotch Boys from premature death onto the bill to salute the venue with a one-off special performance. Rounding out the night is High Class Wreckage. Since there are four bands the first set will start at 9pm and since this is an extra special show the cover will be $7. Do not show up to late, or you will not get into this show. Even our friends. You have been warned.

The second Saturday in a row, April 18, features a trio of bands who are likely to make for just as unforgettable a night. Previous A Gun that Shoot’s Knives performances have turned the Blue Moon into all manner of environments including turning the stage into a “womb.” As we have seen time and again, WE Wrote the Book on Connectors know how to deliver a stellar party. While Junkface… Junkface you pretty much have to see to believe. All in all, these are two epic bills not to be missed.

The complete details for both dates are below:

Sound on the Sound Celebrates the Blue Moon Tavern’s 75th Anniversary with two nights of incomparable rock n’ roll

Saturday April 11
Sound On The Sound presents:
Whore Moans
Thee Emergency
The return of the Hopscotch Boys!
High Class Wreckage
$7, show starts at 9pm

Saturday April 18, 2009
Sound On The Sound presents:
We Wrote the Book on Connectors
A Gun That Shoots Knives
Junkface (from Portland, OR)
$5, show starts at 10pm

CHAMPAGNE CHAMPAGNE

It’s the weekend, meaning that there are a lot more things to do.  These are the two and half days where you should feel bad, sitting in the smelly darkness of your house wasting your hours interacting with online orcs and dragons.  You don’t need to do that, get out there and go to one of these great shows!

FRIDAY!

PWRFL PWR w/ Grandpall Jookabox, The Terrordactyls @ THE VERA PROJECT

or

The Dirtbombs w/ Thee Emergency, Little Claw @ CHOP SUEY

So here’s your choices: bizarre little Japanese man and his guitar (whom I saw snorting suspicious white powders off the pool table at Linda’s one evening) paired with bizarre big white-man and his looping pedal or mind-blasting rock and roll from some serious Sound on the Sound favorites.  Dita Vox, I, as always, heart you.  Both, I presume, will be winners.

If I go out to a show, I will most likely attend Thee Emergency as I do not want to deal with 15 and 16 year old children and a place that only serves sodee pop.

SATURDAY!

Champagne Champagne @ NEUMOS (some sort of snowboarding bonanza)

or

Thao Nguyen w/ Rachel Yamagata, and assorted other women @ CHOP SUEY

If heard nothing but good things about this hot-as-burning-hell-fire hip-hop trio.  Whomever the hype man is referred to my good friend Budo as “The Diamond Jew”, though he thought at the time he was talking to his brother and just referring to him.  But alas, he was in honest talking to the real Budo and was just very confused … and quite drunk.  This show will be quite good.  Forgive the douchy snowboarding kids, they’re people too.

Or you can indulge your feminine side and check out a bunch of talented fems at Chop Suey.  Thao is brilliant, beautiful, and a pleasure to see perform live.  You will not be disappointed.

SUNDAY!

Vic Chesnutt w/ Elf Power @ CHOP SUEY

I really don’t know that much about either of these bands, but they’re names are always bandied about on blogs that are cooler than me, and I want to be cool, so you should go to that show, and through that I’ll vicariously be cooler.  Right?  No, seriously, these guys just released an album together that is very good, and Vic Chesnutt is a legend of independent music.  Those are good reasons …

Have a good weekend!

A Needle in the Hay is our Bumbershoot Artist Profile series for 2008, provided to help you sift through the daunting schedule at our town’s flagship festival. In it were seeking provide insight into the diversity of great local talent being showcased and give you a few good bands to structure your schedule around. In other words: these are our recommendations for who to see at Bumbershoot.

Artist Name: The Maldives
Hails from: Seattle, WA
Get their kicks playin’: Rockin’ Americana
Latest Release: The Maldives
Other Bumbershoot acts you might know that they’re akin to: Neko Case, Old 97’s

Occasionally it seems like country music is the sole domain of the Kenny Chesney’s and the Tim McGraw’s of the world. With popular country stations often even more predictable than their modern rock counterparts and Seattle being far from the central geography of the genre’s core demographic, me coming across a great new country(ish) band is usually a random happening. In the case of the Maldives, they sent me their album a while back, I gave it a listen, and I was genuinely floored.

After a couple of failed attempts at making a show early this year, we finally got to catch the band in their full glory, 10 men strong, playing the rock heavy Sasquatch Festival of all places. Banjos, fiddles, and steel-pedals, all hallmark instruments of the so-called “country” genre, are given full-time positions in this band of Puget Sound Playboys.  But as I’ve learned from experience, to pigeonhole them as just another country band would be a huge mistake. Jason Dodson’s singing doesn’t really strive to fit the modern country mold, and the band don’t care to dabble in punchy, short hooks to bring up the excitement. Instead, I’d have to say their taking cues from red-headed stepchild of country, bluegrass, something I know a little about since that was what I grew up on. But just to be clear though, this isn’t really bluegrass either.

Thoughtfully executed quiet acoustic numbers are met with multi-part vocal harmonies and a weepy fiddle (see “By the Wind Sailor”). Instrumental sections that on the record that only hint at their rock potential are drawn out into full band breakdown’s of epic proportions when played live, the previously sedate group of musicians suddenly transforming into Wrangler Headbangers (see “Goodbye” and “Blood Relations”). When they do decide to make a return to the more traditional side of things (see “Cold November” and “Tequila Sunset”), the results are sharp and radio ready, evoking the unbridled energy of a similar rock/country hybrid band I happen to love, the Mavericks.

If you see just a few bands on Monday, make sure this is one of them.

The Maldives play on Monday September 1st at 4:30 pm in the EMP Sky Church.

Photo by Josh

Artist: Shane Tutmarc and the Traveling Mercies
Hails from: Seattle
Sounds Like: Seattle’s most talented family (sorry Pecknold’s) taking on the Delta Blues & American Roots music.
Latest Release: Hey, Lazarus!
If you love these people’s blues at Bumbershoot, you’ll fall for The Mercies too: Neko Case, The Black Keys

Before the Fleet Foxes became Pitchfork darlings and The Moondoggies got signed to Hardly Art, there was already a seasoned Seattle performer mining the best of the rootsy-bluesy past to write some brilliant new songs. Shane Tutmarc and The Traveling Mercies have the Delta running in their veins, despite being raised on Seattle rain.

There are few finer front-men in Seattle than Shane Tutmarc. Seeing him on stage in a dapper suit, strapping on his hollow body guitar, singing the blues and crooning love songs into an old school microphone–you get the feeling he missed being a huge teen heart-throb of Elvis proportions if only he’d been making music 50 years ago. And that’s not just for the handsome similarities, Shane’s been proving himself as one of Seattle’s most talented song-writers for close to a decade. A Traveling Mercies show will take you back, in the best way — to the roots of rock’n'roll, with some dirty blues and country twang thrown in.

Shane and his brother Brandon spent the whole summer in the (deep) South, playing and recording in towns and bars where American music was born. We imagine their days in Memphis, nights in Austin, and storied visit to Graceland has spawned many great new songs and we can’t wait to hear a few. Monday’s set will be extra special because the boys will again be joined by their cousin, “Cousin Ryan” on drums for the show. Ryan’s gone off to NYC for school, but is coming back to play a special set on the skins–the reuniting of the Tutmarc Family Band. We guarantee, it’ll be the best family reunion you’ve ever attended–with no awkward aunts or 2nd cousins or anything!

Shane Tutmarc and The Traveling Mercies play Monday September 1st at the EMP Sky Church at 3:00-4:00pm

You’ve seen a few of my recommendations with a few more coming, but here’s what my honest to god Bumbershoot Schedule is going to look like.

Start Your Bumbershoot with the New Faces::: photo by Josh

SATURDAY AUGUST 30

Sad to say it, but I’m a little under-whelmed by Saturday’s schedule. Still, a few of my must catch acts are playing early on Saturday–so I’ll be there from the very start.

12:30 -1:30 : NEW FACES @ the EMP Sky Church
1:00 - 2:15 : NEKO CASE @ Mainstage (i.e. Memorial Stadium)
3:30 - 4:30 : THE VALLEY @ EMP Sky Church
4:00 - 5:00 : THAO with THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN @ The Broad Street Stage
for me the really interesting stuff ends there, so I’ll probably spend sometime walking around the always amazing, tempting, and ultimately bank-breaking FLATSTOCK 
7:30 - 8:45 : MAN MAN @ the Broad Street Stage
9:15 - 10:45 : BECK @ The Mainstage

End your Sunday w/ Thee Emergency ::: photo by abbey  

SUNDAY AUGUST 31st

For me, this is Bumbershoot’s most exciting day line-up wise and it has almost nothing to do with the Headliners or “big acts” (minus the Black Keys, who I am so so excited to see I can hardly contain myself).

12:00 - 1:00 : STAR ANNA @ the Mural Amphitheater (i’m skipping out early to catch)
12:30 - 1:30 : THE LONELY H @ EMP Sky Church
2:30 - 3:30 : THE SHACKELTONS @ the Broad Street stage
5:00 - 6:00 : RAVENS & CHIMES @ EMP Sky Church
6:00 - 7:00 : THE WHIGS @ the Broad Street stage
7:45 - 8:45 : THE BLACK KEYS @ The Mainstage
9:30 - 10:30 : THEE EMERGENCY @ EMP Sky Church  
 * since the Sky Church will doubtlessly be full for Thee Emergency. If you don’t make it in, wander over to The Broad Street Stage and catch TAPES’N'TAPES

End your Bumbershoot with Black Eyes & Neckties ::: photo by josh

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 1st

Holy fuck, how is already September? How is it already the end of Bumbershoot?!? At least the festival ends with a bang this year, while half of the city will be trying to see Death Cab for Cutie at the Mainstage–I am going to blissed out as Black Eyes & Neckties turn the EMP Sky Church into a gothic masterpiece of theatre and screams.

12:00 - 1:00 : VINCE MIRA & THE ROY KAY TRIO @ Mural Amphitheater

at this point my day could go two very different routes:
2:30 - 3:30 : MONOTONIX @ Exhibition Hall
4:15 - 5:15 : DAN DEACON @ Exhibition Hall
                       OR
3:00 - 4:00 : SHANE TUTMARC & THE TRAVELING MERCIES @ EMP Sky Church
4:30 - 5:30 : THE MALDIVES @ EMP Sky Church

6:00 - 7:00 : FERAL CHILDREN @ EMP Sky Church
6:45 - 7:45 : ARTHUR & YU @ Mural Amphitheater
9:00 - 10:00 : BLACK EYES & NECKTIES @ EMP Sky Church

Artist: Thee Emergency
Hails From: Seattle
Sounds Like: my favorite band in Seattle today — rock’n'roll swagger, heavy soul, and a bit of the blues
Latest Release: SOLID
Run From This Headliner to Catch Thee Emergency: The Black Keys

I try not to play favorites too much in any part of my life and if I have favorites, I attempt to be gracious enough to not mention it. However, when people ask me in absolutes who my favorite Seattle band is, the name instantly on my lips is Thee Emergency.

I love Thee Emergency because despite already being really really great at what they do, they still ooze unmined potential. The band is steeped in and reverent of all kinds of music, as made obvious by their eclectic recordings. The first Thee Emergency record was largely Detroit blues and punk, their most recent release SOLID was more psychedelic, and currently the band is recording a old school country album. And somehow, with each layer and incarnation, the core of Thee Emergency’s songs and performances improve. Singer Dita Vox has more sultry swagger in her little finger than the entirety of this years Bumbershoot line-up. And with a eager audience, epic venue, and huge sound system Thee Emergency is sure to put on one hell of a show this Sunday. There’s a lot going on that night, but this a show you won’t want to miss. Then, when they’re the biggest band in Seattle (it’s only a matter of time) you can say nostalgically “I saw them way back when…”

Thee Emergency play Sunday August 31st at the EMP Sky Church at 9:30-10:30pm

Artist Name: The Lonely H
Hails from: Port Angeles, Washington
Sounds Like: the greatest long lost 70’s rock band.
Latest Release: Hair
If You Plan on Passing the Pipe at These Sets, Don’t Miss The Lonely H: Howlin’ Rain, Thee Emergency

In 2008, The Lonely H has been a local band in name only. The band has been on the road almost non-stop since February, criss-crossing the United States more than once. We were lucky enough to catch up with The Lonely H in Austin and have dinner with them. The boys we first fell for on their last day of high school, looked more like road-weary men (albeit baby-faced ones). Over grits and greens the guys told us about playing after a wet t-shirt contest during spring break (a well-paying disaster), seeing the country, meeting some great new bands, truck-stop shopping, growing up, and missing home. While traveling the highways of the U.S. the Lonely H has been busy writing new material, including at least one song about the Lonely H mom’s that is sure to melt your heart. We’re super excited to see what the last three months of life on the road has inspired and brought out in the Lonely H, as well as hearing a few of our old favorites of our Number One Local Release of 2007, Hair.

The Lonely H play Sunday August 31st at The EMP Sky Church at 12:30-1:30pm

Artist Name: The Shackeltons
Hails From:Chambersburg, PA
Sounds Like:poetic insanity with punk riffs, a front-man for the ages, and a drumming prodigy
Latest Release: The Shackeltons
If You’re Impressed with the Antics of the following, Give The Shackeltons a Try: Monotonix

If you’re even a casual reader of this blog, you know we love The Shackeltons. A lot. This five-piece from clear across the country is making some of the most emotionally compelling music today, with a debut album and live performances that do nothing short of speak to my soul. If you haven’t been convinced by the hundreds of photos and tens and tens of previous posts on The Shackeltons, nothing will convince you. But I contend, The Shackeltons are one of the few unmissable acts in America. Anytime they are near your town be it a work night or an anniversary, seeing The Shackeltons do what they do best with such abandon and authenticity, is worth any consequences. Obviously that means there is no excuse to miss the band perform on Sunday, I’ll be there pressed against the stage–beaming like a proud mama and breathless from what is sure to be another incredible performance.

The Shackeltons play on Sunday August 31st at the Broad Street Stage at 2:30-3:30

Artist Name: Ravens and Chimes
Hails from: NYC
Plays Songs That: make your heart ache with meticulously crafted lyrics and orchestration.
Latest Release:  Reichenbach Falls
You’ll Adore Ravens & Chimes if the Headliner You’re Most Excited For is: Death Cab for Cutie

Of all the up and coming bands I was most excited to see on the Bumbershoot line-up this year, New York’s Ravens and Chimes was at the top of the list. The bands debut album Reichenbach Falls has been a constant companion since first listen. Ravens & Chimes is led adeptly with quiet confidence by singer-songwriter Asher Lack. The band and their songs have echoes of Arcade Fire and Lifted era Bright Eyes – however, what is truly laudable and lovable about Ravens & Chimes, is that they inhabit their own sound and style. If you need a few new hopeful and haunting songs to fall in love with or to help you make it through the Fall, Ravens & Chimes is that band and Bumbershoot is your opportunity.

Ravens and Chimes play Sunday August 31st at the EMP Sky Church from 5:00-6:00pm

The Come are rightfully calling it their weekend schedule the  COCK BLOCK PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA (caps not mine).  To state the completely obvious: it would suck to be a venue within the festivals boundaries that wasn’t an actual venue. Your only potential customers are the people who’ve already paid money to come and see someone else play music. Rough sell–but if anyone can do it, it’s Mamma Casserole and her crew at the Comet. Here’s the weekend schedule:

Jul 25 2008 11:00P
COCK BLOCK PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA -W/THE GIRLS , THE VALKYRIES -FREE!!!!!!

Jul 26 2008 11:00P
COCK BLOCK PARTY W/CHEAP TIME (NASHVILLE), THE UPSIDE DOWN (PDX) FREE!!!