SSG Music
Monday was a day of rest and recovery after the exhilarating mayhem of the Capitol Hill Block Party (CHBP), but the Seattle music scene never wants to take too long of a hiatus from its faithful listeners. No rest for the weary–local band and CHBP main stage performers Fences take the spotlight again at the Ballard Sonic Boom Records. To keep your ears sharp with local sound, show up before 6pm this evening and soak up some melancholic pop melodies in a more intimate setting.
Easy Street Records
Sonic Boom Records
Silver Platters Records
Just in time for the onset of the summer, Seattle record stores are gearing up for the latest season of in-store live music performances, featuring local and global talent. All shows are all-ages and free of charge to the public unless otherwise specified. Silver Platters in Queen Anne will be hosting an in-store with William Fitzsimmons on Wednesday, May 11. Hometown blues-rock duo My Goodness will be playing at the West Seattle Easy Street on May 13 with a $5 cover. The Apache Relay is performing on May 14 at the Queen Anne Silver Platters. The Sonic Boom in Ballard will host Seattle’s Virgin Islands on May 14 and the Globes on May 18. Del tha Funkee Homosapien will be rocking the house at the Capitol Hill Sonic Boom on May 21, as will local band Grand Hallway on June 12. Catch Portland’s Viva Voce on June 22 at the Queen Anne Easy Street and Seattle’s most explosive hip-hop unit Shabazz Palaces on June 28! Mark your calendars and check out the links above for in-store performance times and details.
NPR
Sonic Boom Records has long been one of Seattle’s favorite spots for procuring new albums, exploring latest music trends and flipping through the newest releases. We’ve known it’s awesome for a while, and the rest of the country is catching on too. Today’s NPR features a story on the venerable store and an interview with owner Jason Hughes. In it, he explains, “The music community in Seattle influences what we sell greatly. Actually, if we weren’t in Seattle I don’t know if we’d still be around. The one thing that Seattle has that many other cities lack is the music infrastructure. Radio stations like KEXP that play music, clubs, and healthy array of bands that are playing in those clubs regularly. There are four major record stores that are still in this city. I don’t know of another city where that’s the case.” Catch the full interview above, and congrats to Sonic Boom!
SPIN
In honor of Record Store Day, SPIN has compiled a list of America’s 15 Best Indie Record Stores. Seattle’s Sonic Boom is up there at number five. SPIN says, “In a town with a music scene as established as Seattle’s, Sonic Boom is a welcoming hub for all the ‘types’ floating around. Its Ballard flagship and smaller Capitol Hill location have employed half the music-industry folks in the city at one point or another, and its consistently great in-store performances often turn into impromptu family reunions. But this place isn’t coasting on its rep; the selection is wide, well-organized, and surrounded with the kind of seriously pleasant atmosphere that could only be created and maintained by people who know that a great record store is about a lot more than just the music.” Check out the full list at the above link.
