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March 16, 2012

Kay Kay’s Speakeasy Cover Band

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Partly sprung from a conversation between our own Abbey and Kirk Huffman about the need for a dancing speakeasy in response to the latest row over the egregious enforcement of a “dance tax,” considering how they might be the house band for such an establishment the lead singer of Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground and friends have been cooking up a covers set to get people moving. Lucky for us they’ve been recording along the way and are releasing a song a week on Friday for our listening pleasure. Last week’s first installment was a yacht-tastic cover of Hall and Oates:



Today we got some classic Mary J Blige:



They’ve promised the whole list in fact:

Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground Perform Songs By :

- DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES - MARY J. BLIGE - JANET JACKSON - EVELYN “CHAMPAGNE” KING - BLACKSTREET - NU SHOOZ - NEXT - DAZZ BAND - KENI BURKE - TEENA MARIE - SHEILA E. - BOBBY BROWN

Stay tuned every Friday at soundcloud.com/kirkhuffman . I know you want to hear that Blackstreet cover.

December 14, 2011

Abbey’s Favorite (Almost Entirely Local) Songs of 2011

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Bryan John Appleby Cataldo Charles Bradley Curtains For You Dan Mangan David Bazan Dolorean Fleet Foxes Gold Leaves Grand Hallway Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground Kelli Schaefer Lemolo My Goodness Pickwick Quiet Life Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside Shenandoah Davis The Head and the Heart Zoe Muth Radiation City Dude York Wild Flag

 

Kelli Schaefer ::: photo by Dylan Priest

 

 

Having fallen deep down a used-vinyl sized hole this year, I managed to completely miss most of the national blog buzz bands and mp3s making the press release copy&paste rounds of 2011, those things that so often fill end of the year lists. But considering the immense output from our little corner of the country, I don’t feel I suffered or starved for new songs to keep me company. These are the forty songs from 2011 that were my soundtrack and that I played on repeat. I’m not bold enough to say they are the best songs of 2011, but they are my favorites.

While this list is not enumerated, my very favorite song of the year, Kelli Schaefer’s heart-aching-to-the-point-of-breaking “Gone in Love,” is at the top with some other absolute favorites. “Gone in Love” is a song that has not lost its emotional wallop despite hundreds of listens and many live performances over the last 12 months. And every time I see Kelli sing it, I can’t stop my chin from quivering. “Gone in Love” isn’t just one of my favorite songs of 2011, it is one of my favorite songs.

That’s hardly true for every song on this list. Every year has its one-hit wonder and I have no shame in saying I played the hell out of 2011′s. Whether its a song that stays with you for decades or a song you only blast until the end of the year, I hope you might discover a new favorite of your own by taking a listen to some of mine.

 

 

“Gone in Love” – Kelli Schaefer “Before the Night is Gone” – Zoe Muth and Her Lost High Rollers “Montezuma” – Fleet Foxes “Letters” – Lemolo “I’m Not Leaving” – Big Sur

“I Found You” – Alabama Shakes “I’m Losing Myself” – Robin Pecknold / Edward Droste | download “Father’s Clothes” – Grand Hallway “Leaves, Trees, Forest” > “Rows of Houses” – Dan Mangan “Boys” – Bryan John Appleby

“The Round” (From the Basement) – Pickwick “Park” – Radiation City “Twins” – Gem Club | download “Mute” – Joshua Morrison “My Silver Hand” – Case Studies | download

The rest of my favorite (almost completely local) songs of 2011 (more…)

November 17, 2011

Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground: Weed Machines Watch Trains Speed Toward Pittsburgh and Dig Space

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Weed Machines Watch Trains Speed Toward Pittsburgh and Dig Space from Devin Ensz on Vimeo.

As one would expect, tour with Kay Kay and His Weathered Undergound is a trippy, well, trip. If you needed further evidence, just tune in (and drop out) to this psychedelic tour video.

June 15, 2011

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground Introduce Introducing…

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Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

On Sunday night at the Triple Door Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground introduced their second full-length album Introducing Kay Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground during a weird and wonderful show that included bikini clad burlesque dancers wearing gigantic animal heads, hallucinogenic projections, dance sex and its very own hype man. It was a night spent suppressing the urge to rub your eyes and wonder aloud, “Am I really seeing this? Or did someone slip something into drink?”

Twelve-members large (and loud) Kay Kay took the stage after a somber, sweet moment, the first track off the album “Sweet Strange Dreams” playing over an empty stage with a photo of band-members mid-laugh with Tom Pfaeffel projected across the Triple Doors full-sized movie screen. The band would dedicate their final song of the evening to Pfaeffel and his family, but between those touching moments of remembrance, was a psychedelic celebration. Playing Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground in its entirety, it felt a little like watching a hip Lawrence Welk Show the day the PA passed peyote around the polka playing orchestra. Composed of some of the most talented classically trained musicians in Seattle Kay Kay is making music and putting on shows like no one else in town. Everywhere else in the world, musicians like Jacob Hoffman, Sam Anderson and Tori Parker would be sitting first chair in a symphony. In Seattle, they’re guiding audiences through a vaudevillian, experimental, orchestral journey – it’s a trip, but it’s a good one.

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

The Young Evils ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

The Young Evils ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

February 16, 2011

New Local Listens on Bandcamp: Baltic Cousins & Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground

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It used to be that you had to wait until Tuesday’s for new records to drop at your local record store, but with the advent of Bandcamp, SoundCloud and of course the prevalence of pre-release date leaks, that’s no longer the case. With that in mind and with no promises of this being a weekly feature, I bring you “New Local Listens on Bandcamp,” where we share a new local release or two available for your streaming and (often) purchasing pleasure. This is your chance to hear music you might not hear otherwise and to form your own opinion, full record reviews on the albums featured will be forthcoming. The goal for this column is all about access and exposure.

Up first, is the debut full-length from Bellingham’s Baltic Cousins. This “angry Americana” band combines a punk aesthetic and penchant for loudness with dark dirges and screamed shanties of hard-working, hard-drinking small-town living and their full length is a worthy follow-up to their debut EP, which we featured in our Top 25 Northwest Releases of 2010. You can see Baltic Cousins in all their grimy glory March 4th at Columbia City Theater for a Sound on the Sound Presents showcase with Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives and AgesandAges.

On the completely opposite musical spectrum of things comes the follow-up full-length from psychedelic orchestral misfits Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. The bigger than ever band, now with 12 members featured on its delightfully retro album cover, is still exploring the theatrical side of the ’60s, like Lawrence Welk on peyote. Its cheeky, experimental and daring; and even if its not your cup of (mushroom) tea the musicality and creativity on display on Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground is laudable. You can hear Kay Kay this weekend on KEXP’s Audioasis, Saturday at 6pm, we imagine they won’t be playing “You Motherfuckers” unfortunately.

August 30, 2010

Bumber-Planning: Kick-Off and After Parties [Win Tickets!]

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If the cornucopia of choices Bumbershoot gives you doesn’t satiate your taste for live music or if you just want to keep the party going longer, there are a couple recommended kick-off and after parties happening around Seattle.

Fellow local blogger and friend Travis Hay is hosting two official Bumbershoot parties. First up is a kick off show Friday night with a bevy of local talent, where with a five dollar raffle ticket you can enter to win a pair of tickets for each day of Bumbershoot, a Sub Pop Records prize pack, a EMP/SFM prize package and a pair of tickets to Bumbershoot for Sept. 5 that give the winner side stage access to the main stage to watch Rise Against, Hole and Weezer. Hell, I’m going to buy a ticket to see if I can watch Courtney Love from the side stage.

On Sunday Travis plays host again to two big name touring bands: Surfer Blood and Dead Confederate. (Plus another Athens’ SOTS favorite: Futurebirds.)

Drop your full name in the comments below and you’ll be eligible to win a guest list spot to Sunday’s after party courtesy of Hard Rock Cafe, Travis Hay and Sound on the Sound. We’ll choose a winner on Thursday at 12pm.

Saturday night the after party is at The Crocodile with a Bumbershoot artist taking the stage for the second time that day. In the name of community courtesy, we’re not going to come out and say who it is, but we did do the research for you.

Here are the specifics on all three nights of Bumbershoot parties:

Friday September 3rd

The High Dive – The FunOfficial Bumbershoot Kick Off Party with Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, Thee Emergency, Curtains for You, and Sol – $10

Saturday September 4th

The Crocodile – A Warp Records Recording Artist and Fresh Espresso – $17

We did the internet research for you … there is only one Warp Records artist playing Bumbershoot.

Sunday September 5th

Hard Rock Cafe – Official Bumbershoot After Party with Dead Confederate, Surfer Blood and Future Birds – 10 adv/15$ night of show

August 9, 2010

Sound on the Sound Presents: A Sold-Out Show at Columbia City Theater

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The Head and the Heart Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground Columbia City Theater Sound on the Sound Presents

 

The Head and The Heart ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

 

 

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

 

We can’t really review Friday night’s sold-out show at Columbia City Theater with The Head and The Heart and Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. It would be like asking us to judge our own baby in a cute contest, it is impossible to have the objectivity to do so. What we can do, is say thank you.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the show, it sold out by The Head and The Heart’s second to last song. Thank you to The Head and The Heart and Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground for not just playing, but playing with inspiration and beauty. Thank you to Columbia City Theater for having us put on nights like this, where we get to watch our dreams unfold in a manner so big and beautiful that there aren’t words to express the pride and happiness they make us feel. Thank you to Kevin Sur who trusted my judgment enough to let me book a band back in early April that had never gotten an inch of press. Thank you to Josiah and all of you who cheered when my Mom and Dad were shouted out as members of the audience. And thank you to all of you who sang along to The Head and The Heart, hearing your sweet choir accompany the band made me feel like I was witnessing, and that I have been a part of something supremely special.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

 

 

 

See More Photos from the Evening on Our Flickr

July 19, 2010

Sound on the Sound Presents: Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground & The Head and The Heart

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Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground The Head and the Heart Columbia City Theater Sound on the Sound Presents
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We just got back the beautiful poster for our August 6th Sound on the Sound presents show at Columbia City Theater with Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground and The Head and the Heart. We commissioned local artist Jill Labieniec to do the poster and even though we’ve been fans of her work for years, we think she out-delighted herself (and us) with this one.

You can purchase tickets for the show at Brown Paper Tickets and we do recommend you get them before the day of the show, we expect the show to sell out and we definitely don’t want you to miss it.

July 4, 2010

On the Road with Damien Jurado: The Northwest Smells Better Than Anywhere Else

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Reunited ::: Photo by Caitlyn Mirete

July 3rd

After driving all night long from San Francisco, we arrived this afternoon, covered in sunshine, in Portland’s Mississippi neighborhood. We were so disoriented from 20-minute sleep intervals and not stopping for food that it felt like heaven on earth to have a cup of Stumptown coffee and take a minute to browse some vintage shops.

A large number of Seattle folks came down for the final show at Mississippi Studio; it felt like home for certain! Tomo from Grand Hallway opened the show and then a troupe of Kay Kay fans (myself included) danced through their whole set. Damien’s voice recovered after his cold and every song sounded effortless as he sang to the hushed crowd.

I don’t want this tour to be over. I’d rather wake up tomorrow in an over-crowded motel room than in my own apartment. But since we’re already cruising up I-5, I’ll just relish the last few hours in this big silver van and look forward to the next tour I get to be a part of.

Cheers, and happy Independence Day!

July 2, 2010

On the Road with Damien Jurado: Magic Melon Juice

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Sarah Jurado at Mona Lisa Deli ::: photo by Caitlyn Mirete

July 1st – Los Angeles, CA

Being out on tour, all the days just seem to be one, long, continuous Saturday. Since my last post, we drove through the middle of the sweltering Arizona night and made it to the Pacific in San Diego! The venue for the night was The Casbah, situated adjacent to the airport, and we gazed in amazement every time an airplane flew dangerously low toward the landing strip. The show sounded great and I cannot wait to post the photos I took that night. My laptop is broken – so check back!

Last night we were in the Silverlake neighborhood of LA. Lots of familiar faces were at the show, and with the buzz of magic melon juice from a local dispensary, the Kay Kay guys absolutely killed their set! Damien has been fighting off an unfortunate cold but his songs were almost more moving with his voice not as strong as usual. The crowd was impressively quiet during his acoustic songs.

This morning we woke up slowly and between the 10 of us we made about 15 trips down the street to Cafe Tropical, for coffee and croissant sandwiches. Now we are in the small town of Visalia at The Cellar Door and I look forward to the jams once again!

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Soundcheck in Visalia ::: photo by Caitlyn Mirete