Edmonds bluesman LeRoy Bell spent most of the past decade playing clubs with His Only Friends band.
The singer and songwriter has been around for decades, penning songs for luminaries that include Elton John, but Bell, 60, didn’t become a household name until this fall.
That’s when he was a finalist on Fox-TV’s “X Factor.”
“I’d never done anything like that before,” Bell said. “It was a great experience. Something totally different than I’d ever done. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun.”
The television show gave him exposure to people around the world, many of whom now follow Bell on Twitter.
But his New Year’s Eve show at Seattle’s Moore Theatre is really intended for his hometown fans.
He wants people to come and see him play with his band, and to say thank for you the support he received while on “The X Factor.”
The show’s timing is incidental.
“It just happened to be on New Years’,” he said.
Bell’s songs don’t fit neatly into one musical category. He gravitates among R&B, soul, adult contemporary and rock ‘n’ roll.
“I tend to write all over the place,” he said. “It’s more fun for me too, I hate getting stuck in one genre. I like to move around.”
There is one song he said he and the band will rehearse before Saturday’s concert.
“I guess we’re going to have work out ‘Auld Lang Syne,’” he said.
He’s appearing with special guest Clinton Fearon.
The concert will start at 9 p.m. Saturday at The Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle.
Tickets for this 21 and over concert cost $32.50 to $47.50 at stgpresents.org or 877-784-4849.
Another local musician who has made it on the national stage is Brandi Carlile.
Her soulful and gorgeous voice is backed up by Mountlake Terrace natives and identical twins Tim and Phil Hanseroth.
The latest album from the gang, “Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony,” is terrific.
Carlile and the twins love playing for a hometown crowd, so their New Year’s Eve show should be a blast.
They’re joined by another Seattle band, Ivan &Alyosha, named for characters in Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov.”
The band’s members are “not nihilist indie rockers but a new brand of tender dreamers,” according to their website.
Catch it all at 9 p.m. Saturday at The Neptune,1303 NE 45th St., Seattle.
The show is 21 and over and tickets are $125 at stgpresents.org or 877-784-4849.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3447; jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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