Rapper, producer, singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, electronic musician, and Stranger Genius award-nominee Katie Kate does it all. A classically-trained pianist, the adept Cornish alum is working on not only her new album Nation but also music for a fringe theater show called "Love in the Time of Zombies" that will be opening in Ballard on June 7th.
It's inspiring to see someone do what they love, and see how much they really love it. Katie Kate lets her artistic energy take hold, and her performances are a great display of her overflowing expertise. What makes KEXP's Hood-to-Hood Celebrations special is the way it brings communities together, and the crowd was a diverse mix of young and old. There was nothing more heartwarming than seeing a group of elementary-school-age children gathered at the foot of the stage, staring up at Katie Kate with wide-eyed innocence. (At the end of their set, drummer Trent Moorman handed two youngsters his drumsticks.) Hopefully, her lyrics of empowerment rang in their young minds, and maybe one of those kids will grow up to be a drummer. The moment encapsulated how KEXP plays a part in our community, and was the perfect way to wrap up our Hood-to-Hood broadcast.
Set against the illuminated backdrop of the many pallets of Chrome Satan at the Hilliard's Beer Taproom, The Faint, during their performance, looked like dance-punk dictators, rulers of some Mad Max dystopia in which beer's more valuable than gold. In case you missed it, or in case you just wanted …
Inspired by Sufi poetry, their obsessions with writing, and limitation, Benjamin Verdoes and Nathan Quiroga, the creative masters behind Iska Dhaaf (a Somali phrase which roughly translates to "let it go"), have been collaborating for the past couple of years with impressive results. At first glanc…
