It’s Grammy Awards weekend (Feb. 1), and among the many megastars taking the stage — Lady Gaga, Lauryn Hill, Justin Bieber — is a mighty contingent of local talent.
Country singer/songwriter Brandy Clark (born and raised in Morton, Wash.) will perform with Reba McEntire and Lukas Nelson during the In Memoriam segment; Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan (born, raised and based in Seattle) will perform with Slash and Post Malone during an Ozzy Osbourne tribute.
Art x NW (formerly ArtSEA) is a weekly arts and culture newsletter from Cascade PBS. Read past issues and subscribe for more.
As for Northwest nominees, there are plenty of musicians to root for this year — offering a chance to practice your Superbowl energy.
It’s the first nomination for dreamy brass quartet The Westerlies, founded by Riley Mulherkar (a Garfield High grad) and Andy Clausen (a Roosevelt High alum). The name hints at the band’s geographical origins: young West Coast musicians who blew east and landed at Juilliard. The group (including Seattle-born Chloe Rowlands and Addison Maye-Saxon) is up for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella for the song “Fight On,” which is based on a 19th-century Sacred Harp hymn yet feels especially timely. (See The Westerlies play in Seattle at Westerlies Fest in April.)
Also up for a golden gramophone is vocal group säje, for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals (which is somehow different from the award above). The group, which includes Cornish College Music Chair Johnaye Kendrick, earned the nom for “Big Fish,” a collaboration with drummer Nate Smith. The quartet (with Erin Bentlage, Amanda Taylor and Seattle-born Sara Gazarek) won this category the past two years, so here’s hoping for a three-peat!
Singer-songwriter Zach Top (from Sunnyside, Wash.) has taken Nashville by storm with his “neotraditional” country songs, and has now earned his first three Grammy nominations: Best Traditional Country Album, Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance (the latter two for “I Never Lie”). And Bellevue violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan is also in the running, as his group Shakti is up for Best Global Music Album and Performance (which it won two years ago).
And of course no Grammy list in recent years would be complete without a nod to Northwest superstar Brandi Carlile (from Ravensdale, Wash.), who this year is up for Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, both for Who Believes in Angels, her collaboration with Elton John.
But it’s not all red carpets and glamorous get-ups on the local music front. One revered venue has revealed money troubles.
In late December, independent music and comedy venue The Crocodile permanently closed its two smaller performance rooms (Madame Lou’s and Here-After), due to financial strain. After successfully moving from its original, storied Belltown location to larger digs four blocks away in 2021, the independent business now faces $1.6 million in debt.
The main showroom remains open, as does the Hotel Crocodile upstairs, but last week the ownership group revealed that the entire venue is in receivership and up for sale. According to The Seattle Times there’s still hope that another group of music fans will step in to save the day, so keep those crocodile claws crossed.
In positive news, Seattle music organization The Vera Project just announced plans to open a new space in Georgetown while retaining its Seattle Center footprint. Having celebrated 25 years in operation this week, the all-ages nonprofit is currently fundraising to open Vera Georgetown. Described on its website as “a mix between a DIY music venue and black box theatre,” the new space will have a 250-300 person capacity (all-ages, of course). It’s due to open in early 2027 near Ruby Chow Park.
Also in venue news: Longtime music store The Trading Musician — a venue of sorts, at least for noodling instrument buyers — has reopened in a new location after closing in 2024. The independent business operated for 30 years in its Ravenna space (former home of the first Honda motorcycle dealership in the U.S.). Now the revived shop is settling in two blocks away with an appropriate name, Re-Animated Music.
And West Seattle venue Kenyon Hall, the charming and historic space that houses a Mighty Wurlitzer organ and presents all manner of music, will re-open this weekend (Jan. 29 - Feb 1) after extensive upgrades. (A gathering space for the past 110 years, the building was in need of some spiffing up.) Check out the makeover at the inaugural Rootbeer Social and open house (Feb. 1, 2-4 p.m.).
One last musical note: Tune in to KEXP on Monday (Feb. 2) for Black History Now, a full day of radio programming dedicated to Black History Month and the musicians past and present who’ve broken the sound barrier.
Shall We Dance?
We’ve got a whole lotta dance happening around town this weekend, from ballet to experimental, Black majorette styles to street movement.
Pacific Northwest Ballet presents Cinderella (Jan. 30 - Feb. 8), the classic fairy tale as choreographed by PNB founding director Kent Stowell, with original 1940s score composed by Sergei Prokofiev.
Brooklyn-based movement artist Ogemdi Ude presents Major (Jan. 29-31 at On the Boards), an exuberant exploration of majorette dance forms rooted in Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Ephrat Asherie Dance and Arturo O’Farrill bring Shadow Cities to Meany Hall (Jan. 29-31), featuring club-style contemporary dance with live Latin jazz.
At Mini Mart City Park in Georgetown, two Seattle dancers present the split bill Imaginary Observable (Jan. 29-31), including Alyza DelPan-Monley’s “keepsake,” about the fleeting time we have together; and Leah Crosby’s “The Marine Iguana,” which uses the animal’s adaptive traits to explore “misfit bodies, social behavior, and persistent friendly ghosts.”
At Method Gallery in Pioneer Square, three Seattle dancers will immerse themselves in the new sound and light exhibition called Undercurrent. In The Body Resonant (Jan. 31 at 1 p.m.; space limited), Nia-Amina Minor, Mary Sigward and Birdy Adler wend through the installation’s water-based architecture.
In Georgetown at Base, artists in residence The Bonnies, aka Kaitlin McCarthy and Jenny Peterson, present Entry Point (Jan. 31, 4 - 6 p.m.), an interactive movement workshop for the brave souls who enjoy this sort of thing. “Can we loosen our grip on reality long enough to let the body lead us into imagining new possibilities?” the Bonnies ask. Umm, can I get you that answer in writing? Luckily they have a sense of humor — and there’s no dance experience required.
Arts News from All Over
We’ll close with a few updates on how the Trump administration is impacting the art world:
> Composer Philip Glass joins Seattle Children’s Theatre and other artists pulling out of Kennedy Center performances. (ARTnews)
> A U.S. Customs and Border Protection proposal (public comment through Feb. 9) requires foreign visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries, including ally nations, to surrender five years of social media history, 10 years of email contacts, DNA samples and more before entering the United States. If approved, it would have a chilling effect on the American art market and cultural exchange. (Hyperallergic)
> The Boss has released a new protest song, in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, both killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis. Thank you, Bruce, for continuing the long tradition of musical protest. (The New York Times)
Check out Season 2 of our tv show Art by Northwest, featuring in-depth interviews with the printmakers, painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers who are creating captivating work across Washington state.
