Gabrielle Aplin, who made a name for herself via YouTube, played a solo set at the Vera Project last week in support of her fourth and latest EP, English Rain. Near the end of the show, someone in the crowd handed her a gift which she gladly accepted. For the encore, Aplin asked everyone to sit on the floor as she made her way into the hushed audience.
Gabrielle Aplin
The talented, Grammy-nominated Sarah Jarosz played a sold-out show at the Tractor Tavern. Accompanied by Nathaniel Smith (cello) and Alex Hargreaves (fiddle), Jarosz played a variety of instruments including guitar, mandolin and banjo. The three of them performed numerous songs from her latest album, Build Me Up from Bones, as well as her two prior records.
Nathaniel Smith
Alex Hargreaves
Priscilla Ahn played at quaint Columbia City Theater last week in the middle of her current US tour. Accompanied by Wendy Wang on guitar and vocals, Ahn told a great little story with every song. Her very enjoyable latest album, This Is Where We Are, explores electropop which is a departure from her typical folk and pop style.
Priscilla Ahn
Battleme @ El Corazon, 3/27/14
Review by Jessica Price
Battleme
Ah, the exquisite pain of standing in an achingly slow-moving line in the rain, knowing that the band you really came to see is already on stage because you can hear them starting up, less than 50 feet away from you, through the decrepit walls of El Corazon. Battleme opened for The Supersuckers and The Toadies in Seattle – kind of an odd bill, but not so much when you consider all three are descendants of a sort of scrappy rock n’ roll outlaw prototype; although radically different in delivery there’s a similar intent (feel good, rock out, the end) and varying degrees of South/Southwestern state connections (Battleme’s Matt Drenik, a Portland-by-way-of-Austin transplant, was showing his colors in a faded Bocephus T-shirt).
Battleme’s opening set was just what I’d hoped for: raw and crackling with pent-up energy, lots of spitting and wild-eyed looks flying around, the kind that make you feel like you might be in trouble if you’re not paying attention in the first couple rows and get some eye contact. (A frontman that puts the fear of god in you with some piercing eye contact is never a bad thing. . . unless you’re standing still). Battleme’s jangly but solid songs are built on that mysterious combination of elements that many aim for but few honestly do well: songs that can make your heart swell or tears spring up because they just sound so crucial somehow. It’s warm weather music, made to crank up in the summertime.
Having said that, Battleme’s second album – Future Runs Magnetic – came out March 11 on El Camino Records. It’s probably the only record I’ve played and played again obsessively from the get-go since Prince started mysteriously dropping new music with 3rdEyeGirl on his website last year. It’s fucking fantastic, and I can’t put it down.
Looks like I’ll have a chance to make up for my lost 15 minutes of set time when Battleme returns to Seattle June 5 as they’ll be headlining over at Barboza. Get tickets HERE. They’re gonna go fast.
Have I mentioned it’s been a minute since I blew all my fun money a week before payday at the merch booth, stocking up on super-soft T-shirts and vinyl?
Eilen Jewell recently made a stop at the Tractor Tavern near the end of her current US tour. Backed by Jerry Miller (guitar), Johnny Sciascia (bass) and husband Jason Beek (drums), Jewell is supporting her latest album, Queen of the Minor Key. Initially hidden behind her guitar, it soon became apparent that Jewell was very pregnant. Commenting that she and Jason didn’t know the baby’s sex yet nor have chosen a name, someone in the audience suggested “Tractor,” much to the delight on the crowd.
Jerry Miller
Jason Beek
Johnny Sciascia
Eilen Jewell
