Every year Seattle either trades their 4th of July weather for their Memorial Day Weekend weather or vice versa. Since we had a great 4th, it seemed only fair for the weather to be crappy for Bumbershoot.
I sat down to write about this album — the self-titled debut full-length from MXPX front man Mike Herrera’s new side project — at least ten times. But it didn’t feel right until I had a beer in hand.
Kasey Anderson – By now, anyone who has followed the career of Steve Earle with even a modicum of consistency has heard or read several dozen stories about his relationship with the late, great Townes Van Zandt. Part friendship, part apprenticeship, Earle and Van Zandt forged a relationship that stood the tests of time and mutual substance abuse until Van Zandt passed in 1997 (which Earle promptly acknowledged with the poignant, heart-wrenching “Fort Worth Blues”).
Matt Ashworth – Branden Daniel & Everybody Gets Laid is one of Seattle’s few unabashed rock n’ roll bands. No pretense, no bullshit. They’ve teamed up with longtime proprietors of loud, guitar driven local rock Flotation Records for their third (and best) release – a five song EP they call Self Titled.
Aaron Burkhalter – Finding a competent, enjoyable and eccentric musician in Montreal these days is like finding a liberal in Seattle who refuses to shop at Walmart. The vast collection of musical Canucks are not so much riding on the coattails of the first breakthrough Canadian acts — say, Arcade Fire — as they are swept in a massive outpouring of music that North America consumes with glee.
