100 Bands in 100 Days Presented by Verity Credit Union — Day 69: The Black Tones
Music fans of the Pacific Northwest, hello and welcome back to our third annual year-end daily countdown, 100 Bands in 100 Days, where every day until December 31st, we’re showcasing a new band or artist you have to know about, presented by Verity Credit Union. Follow the #100Bands100Days hashtag on Twitter to stay on top of all the bands featured and make sure to follow Verity on Twitter as well. Some days the featured act could be an established and locally-adored northwest-based musician that perhaps you haven’t been turned onto yet, and other times they could be a band with a small following that just hasn’t had their deserved time in the sun yet. Either way, we’re fairly confident you can come away from this daily segment with plenty of new favorites. Today’s musical offering is a band called The Black Tones that calls Seattle home.
Today’s artist is a band that has a quite diverse sound and although all the members are brilliant musicians, it’s hard to deny that Eva Walker makes this band special. They can drift back and forth between a banjo-driven americana-esque folk sound to stripped down blues to indie with ease, all powered by the pipes of Eva Walker.
The Black Tones were started by twin siblings Eva and Cedric Walker in 2011. Although they were born and raised in Seattle, their entire family is originally from New Orleans, which undoubtedly has helped shape their musical style of blues and rock ‘n roll. To round out the three-piece Eva and Cedric are joined by blues bass player Giordan Montero, who has been with the group from its start.
Their album Mr. Mines was chosen earlier this year and is now featured on the Seattle Public Library Playback series along with other well known local artists, Grace Love, Fly Moon Royalty and more. This summer they provided the soundtrack for a indie movie, The Noise Made by People set to release this year at several film festivals across the country, earning their first movie credits. They were featured in the production of “Dear White People” in two sold out shows at the Theatre Off Jackson. The Black Tones have opened for bands such as NighTrain (Seattle), Hot Panda (Canada), The Pauses (Florida), The Rockonigles (California) and many others.
The band considers one of its biggest honors was getting to perform with the students of School of Rock Seattle as they performed their song “Woman in Black” in a showcase the school put on, dedicated to front women in rock n roll. You can also catch Eva in the upcoming film documentary Nice & Rough: Black Women in Rock produced by Sheila Jackson.
If you are looking for a northwest band to love that doesn’t follow any particular rules, you might have just found your new favorite.
(You can check out The Black Tones on Facebook and you can listen to them at Bandcamp and/or stream “Too Many Times” below)
Submissions for 100 Bands in 100 Days are still open(today is the last day) to any Pacific Northwest band interested in submission. If you would like to have your band submitted for a chance to be featured in this segment, consult this link for more information on how you can do so.
