Celebrate Northwest music on Capitol Hill
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, July 27, 2006
Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party is a celebration of Northwest music, art, vendors and nonprofit and political groups, an alternate to the Northwest Folklife Festival, the University District Street Fair and standard summer concert fare.
The Murder City Devils have reunited to play a can’t-miss Saturday concert with all the original members, no doubt a rock-rip-and-rant performance of kinetic energy.
Ex-members of Death Wish Kids, Area 51 and the Unabombers formed the group in 1996 and were soon opening for national acts and playing out the dark side. They broke up in 2001, although their final concert was recorded, called “R.I.P.,” and released by Sub Pop two years later, and then came out as a DVD in 2005.
Block Party celebrates the city’s punk and alternative rock scene, and will feature about 45 bands on three stages, including alt-country musician Sera Cahoone, Band of Horses, Black Angels, Silversun Pickups, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Schoolyard Heroes, Minus the Bear, Greyskull, Der Trash, Wallpaper, Visqueen, The Divorce, Ladyhawk, Abyssinian Creole, Six Organs of Resistance and Tennis Pro.
Korby Lenker: Not many Northwest folks grow up to be professional bluegrass singers, so Lenker is an exception. You can catch him perform bluegrass-Americana pop music Thursday in Everett. The Idaho-born performer has sung songs for Ralph Nader; his original, “Punkin Brown,” won best song at the 2002 Columbia Gorge Bluegrass Festival. He fronted the Barbed Wire Cutters, which SPIN magazine called “the young riders of the bluegrass revolt.”
Edward McCain: Southern soul, folk, blues and acoustic storytelling has paved the way to success for singer-songwriter Edwin McCain, who performs Saturday in Seattle. He’s had a top-10 hit, “I’ll Be,” which he performed on the Dr. Phil Show and was voted the Best Wedding Song by viewers. “I Could Not Ask for More” was a top-40 single by the singer that manages to sound gritty and soaring at the same time. Opening will be singer-songwriter RobinElla, singing country-influenced jazz.
Katie Melua: The top-selling female artist in the United Kingdom performs tonight in Seattle with a new album, “Piece by Piece.” The 21-year-old was born in the former Soviet state of Georgia, raised in Belfast, Northern Island, and settled in London. “Piece by Piece” has zipped ahead of Mariah Carey, Madonna and Kelly Clarkson and it’s still in the top-five best-selling albums for the year. Her pop and jazz vocals are set loose by a sensational voice.
Mark Erelli: The singer-songwriter says he doesn’t have any answers, but he does offer his insights as he grapples with the issues. He sings in “The Only Way,” “I’m too young to be so cynical, too old to be naive.” On Thursday in Seattle, he celebrates his new release, “Hope &Other Casualties.” With Erelli, the day can be full of trials, but the hope always lingers.
Shawn’s Kugel: The ensemble, with three CDs to its credit, delivers klezmer standards and originals Sunday in Edmonds (a kugel is a baked pudding of noodles or potatoes, seasonings and eggs, usually eaten by Jews on the Sabbath). The multi-instrumentalist and founder is Shawn Weaver, also the composer and arranger at Temple Beth Am in Seattle. He played woodwinds and mandolin for the Mazeltones for nine years.
Portage Bay Big Band: The 17-piece swing band has been performing swing-era and retro swing music since 1981, when it was formed from the brass and reed sections of Portage Bay Philharmonic. It performs Sunday in Everett.
Liquid Soul: Grammy-nominated fun/jazz/hip-hop eight-piece collective performs Tuesday in Seattle. The pioneers of the acid-jazz movement in the mid-’90s have evolved to covering a broader range of music.
