tkj, ko & yrm @ cct

so. many. initials.

and if you don't know what they stand for, you clearly aren't a rapacious seattle indie music glutton. friday night i not only had my first experience with fireball cinnamon whiskey (so much more to come on that later) but also with the columbia city theater and tony kevin jr. you could kind of say it was like a first date for junior and i - one where he sang sweet nothings into my ear and i stood there tucked in the back row with my mouth hanging open in unabashed awe. disregard the fact that everything i do is unabashed. listening to TKJr. is like hearing an old friend again - his voice will take you back to every golden and devastating spot in your life. he opened his mouth and all of a sudden i was couples skating with justin keller to boyz II men and getting my heart broken by my first love all at the same time. tony did this all while channeling "lonely" better than charlie brown's christmas tree.in just one song TKJr. can take you from the mountaintop to the valley and back again. maybe this has something to do with the fact that his father (tony kevin senior) is battling cancer and he sings every song for his dad (be still my heart). the only crushing disappointment of his set was that i arrived halfway through it. shame on me.

if tony kevin jr. were a musical mathematical equation, methinks he would be something like this:

[ivan & alyosha] + [eddie vedder] + a dash of [damien rice] = tony kevin jr.

*feel free to disagree with me (see below)

TKJr. is that dapper fellow on the far right

now that tony had reduced me to a nostalgic heap, i looked to kris orlowski and friends to lift my spirits back to an appropriate friday night, whiskey guzzling level. and he did not disappoint. kris opened with a flawless a cappella rendition of paul simon's "the boxer" alongside motopony's daniel blue and seattle's flaxen-haired stevie wonder, allen stone. no, they unfortunately didn't ditch clothing like in the video below but you get the picture.

perhaps the COOLEST shit i have ever seen

and flawless seemed to describe the rest of kris' set, with each song rising to meet my every expectation of damn good music. i've got to give major ups to the band as well (scott shrock on bass, ivan gundersen on drums, torry anderson on keys/vocals and mark izakson on guitar) who were the best i've seen in a long time. kris was later joined on "your move" by a bevy of local talent including daniel and allen, tony kevin jr. and zach fleury from hot bodies in motion. my note from that song only says, "AWESOME" and that's exactly what it was. i made a move to get close enough for a high-quality iPhone 3G picture (drip goes the sarcasm) and in my frenzied attempt at amateur photography, dumped half of my delicious cinnamon whiskey down my dress. on the plus-side, i maintained enough composure to get the A+ pic below and caught most of the fireball in my hair, making me smell like a cinnamon gummy bear for the rest of the night. forget the fact that the left side of my hair was crusted stiff...i smelled like candy!

fun fact of the night: kris tried to defy all odds and began his set with his hair parted on the wrong side of his head. over the course of the night, it naturally migrated back to its safe place on the left. i'm an observer of people. i notice these things.

quote of the night: (from drunk heidi in line for the bathroom) "maybe YOU need sex but I had sex YESTERDAY. I HAD SEX YESTERDAYYYYY!"

(OKAY HEIDI. you don't have to rub it in my face like that)

i would continue this review with my thoughts on youth rescue mission but they've turned out to be a bit disappointing for me. the first time i encountered YRM (at a hot bodies show), i was too busy avoiding a run-in with an overly zealous ex to pay any attention to them. dodging a college flame while double-fisting rolling rocks is not easy people. friday night, they were not my cup of tea. just not my style and some poorly executed four part harmonies let me call it a night a little earlier than expected. BUT, i'm a fan of second and third chances so maybe next time they'll wow this blogger.

** be sure to keep your eyes peeled in the coming days for a video from our friends at all cameras on who had audience members record kris' song "jessi".

50 & 50

have you heard about 50 and 50? i'm officially over the moon for this state mottos project being heralded as "a kind of designer's atla". this curated art project is the brainchild of brooklyn designer dan cassaro and his attempt at constructing a "handsome new way of looking at our country". i can dig that idea. even more so, i'm digging the project itself. 50 of america's BEST designers have been called upon to illustrate their state motto and the results will get you all sorts of giddy. my favorites are posted below including my beloved oregon which, unfortunately is one of the few states with no print for sale yet. boo.

p.s. happy friday. hope to see you at the kris orlowski show tonight.

WA state motto = "alki" a chinook word meaning "by and by" or "hope for the future"

virginia

my blessed adopted home state of TX

sweet, sweet home. best motto EVER.

the empire state

the indian lover in me is natch drawn to nevada's print

that's what she said? thanks new mexico

new hampshire knows what's up

"if you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you"

MI even snuck the hand in there (so where on the mitten are you from?)

the mile high state

beloved arkansas

minnesota

kris orlowski

you ever get that 90's sensation the "skip it"? i remember my first and all the emotions that swirled when i finally had it in my hands - like i wanted to weep, leap and natch, skip it, all at once. that's kind of how i feel when i listen to my shiny new friend, kris orlowski.

kris is coming into his own this year in seattle's indie music scene and i feel privileged to watch his comet rise. i can't listen to his fremont abbey EP enough - from day one it was (and still is) on heavy, heavy rotation as i've tried to nail down his sound. if kris were a vocal math equation, i feel like he'd be something like zis:

mat kearney x blue merle + a dash of chris martin = kris orlowski

hearing him sing feels kind of spiritual for me - he spins stories into songs and you can't help but be lured into the tale, feeling sadness looming, joy swelling, hope rising all at once. see what i mean?



this video was recorded off-the-cuff in seattle's capital hill just two days ago (by the brilliant eratosthenes fackenthall). so saying it's fresh to death is a bit of an understatement. i mean, when he wails, "lean on me" there's literally nothing else i'd rather do. he's a genius...and it doesn't hurt that he's sexy as hell.

waltz of petunia was recorded at the fremont abbey and if you have a sharp seattleite eye, you'll notice it's a mini "who's who" of seattle musicians including allen stone, lerin herzer and HBIM's own, zack fleury (among others). now that i have you hooked on kris, show him some love this friday at the columbia city theater @ 9 pm. for $10 you can have your own "skip it" moment and hear some lovely guests like youth rescue mission and tony kevin jr. getcha tickets HERE.

allen stone w. eternal fair

last friday night at the crocodile, i was that girl. you know, front row, sweaty, screaming and whipping out my iPhone every 6-9 seconds to type a longggggg ass note reviewing the allen stone show with openers eternal fair and special guests alessandra rose, kris orlowski, and ben carson of hot bodies in motion. blew my muthaeffin mind people. in case you were lame enough not to show, here's the rundown.

the sold-out show kicked off with emile hirsch's long lost cosmic twin, andrew vait and his band, eternal fair. i nearly shed a tear when he said they didn't have any albums available yet BUT that didn't dampen the golden set these indie rockers flawlessly executed. though definitely harnessing his own sound, andrew had the innate ability to conjure phil collins, kings of leon's caleb followill and panic! at the disco's brendan urie all at once. other times, he just let his fingers do the talking with some face-melting guitar solos (although i was strongly tempted to let MY fingers do the talking in his gorgeous mop of hair...le sigh). all in all, a rousing set by a group hitting their musical stride. do yourself a favor and see them next friday, july 22nd at ballard's own sunset tavern.

now, where do i even begin with allen stone? he's a black voice trapped in a white body. stevie wonder's gestures and head sway with john mayer's facial expressions. he's got a ridiculously soul-filled sound that would make the likes of elvis and jackie wilson roll in their graves. he's that damn good. he opened with some crowd pleasing folk covers further enhanced by the bevy of friends including some of seattle's finest up-and-comers. when he finally did launch into his own arsenal of songs there wasn't a bystander in the house. hundreds of literal hot bodies in motion were funking the shizzzzz outta the place as allen brought the house down. big ups to the two wasted girls to my right who shoved and spilled beer on me roughly 23 times. you weren't annoying at all. allen ended up performing (with a costume change and ever-present prospector's hat) for just over two glorious hours and i couldn't wipe the grin off my face. he's a master at what he does - born to perform and croon to the masses. for an encore, allen KILLED ITTTTTT with his fan favorite, "last to speak". video of that and my favorite song "figure it out" below.

with alessandra rose and ben carson from HBIM

with alessandra rose, kris orlowski, and andrew vait of eternal fair