It’s on a rare occasion that I experience a performance that removes me from my comfort zone and in which I completely lose myself in the music. Zoe Keating accomplished this last Friday night with her performance at the Aladdin theatre. I’d had the pleasure of seeing the tail end of her set a few years back when she was on tour with Amanda Palmer, and I was so impressed by the song and a half that I heard that I committed her name to memory and made sure that I would see an entire performance by her at a later date. That day finally arrived last weekend and I was not disappointed.   The opening act, FearNoMusic, were a group of classically trained musicians with a modern twist in their … Read entire article »

Radiohead was amazing. It was the rest of the weekend that was strange. As soon as I heard Radiohead was coming to the Northwest I knew I had to go. But I also knew I had to do it on the cheap. After scouring the Internet for deals and an unsuccessful attempt at getting my parents to fund the trip, I settled on a bed & breakfast advertising on Craigslist. The ad said a room was $79 a night, in a quiet neighborhood, close to downtown and only three miles from Key Arena—where Radiohead was playing. I could walk. Perfect. With the room booked, tickets bought, three days away from work and a date with a band I’ve been listening to since middle school, I was shaking in anticipation.   I arrived … Read entire article »

Emily Jane White is a folk musician from Fort Bragg, California. I discovered her music a few years ago while kicking around MySpace. Her first album Dark Undercoat was about to come out.  There were a couple of singles posted on her site and I fell hard for Wild Tigers I Have Known—a song she wrote for the Cam Archer film of the same name.  The song is an unsentimental look at what it means to struggle with one’s sexual identity. On the track, White blends a simple, yet melodic guitar line and a commanding string arrangement to give her words (Cause it’s a man’s world/Say all the right words/And hold your heart from your chest/The silence and the call/And their beauty, stands right and still for you) an easily digestible edge. I bought … Read entire article »