Author: Rick Bowen

Anchored by the singer-songwriter, father/daughter tandem of Steve Erickson and Lindsey Erickson Willis, the Seattle band Third Train Running released their debut album Dancing in July in September 2019.

Let’s hope That Hot Spring Water #1 is just a beginning of a great new sound coming out of the hard-working towns of the Kitsap region. 

Initially conceived as a project for fun and occasional gigs, The Weary Times have put together a strong debut that should help them chisel out a notch in the northwest music scene.

When like-minded souls come together and fuse their talents and ideas into a focused common message, that is when they move from being a group of players to being “a band.”

The fifth album from Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers may prove to be their finest effort yet, as the group certainly did find the Heart of Memphis and brought her home.

The 10 original tunes and an inspired cover of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s Kokomo are presented as a Blues duo format of guitar and drums that scored Benton placement in the semi-finals at the IBC in Memphis.

The Dip, being a group of players conspicuously under 30, may be a sign that the next generation is ready to embrace organic sounds and mix conventional rock, blues and soul set-ups with elaborate layers of harmonies and timely conventions into a new type of old school.

Seattle has long been known as the hometown of jazz pioneers from the Jackson Street era with Quincy Jones, Ray Charles and Ernestine Anderson all getting their start in the district decades ago. The Blues Chanteuse aka Nora Michaels also got her start in the emerald city and has been singing ballads and torch songs in nightclubs for over fifty years.

Recorded by Portland legend Jimi Bott at his Roseleaf Studios, the new album is a sweet mix of roots, blues and soul with Rice joined by a few other talented friends and northwest music scene staples like Mitch Kashmar, Paul Brainard, Dave Melyan and Natasia Greycloud.