Sun in Seattle: Jesse Sykes, Eugene Wendell... and Pie • We Blog The World

Despite my stated desire to stay a little put for a while, I found myself boarding another plane last week. Kwame’s brother Kwab, who fronts the band Eugene Wendell & The Demon Rind, was opening for an artist of whom I’ve been a fan for a number of years Jesse Sykes. It seems I’m supposed to listen to as much rock and roll as possible these days. Thus the gods (and weather) found me flying to Seattle for a quick weekend of listening and taking in a bit of the Northwest.

Stumptown Coffee was drunk, High 5 Pie was eaten and I even caught up with one of my Ashtanga/Mysorean kirtankars, Samia, who lives and creates in Seattle. Yeah for the global music & yoga network in action! Plus the rain of the previous month stopped before I got off the plane so the sun was in rare (for those parts) and full glory. Amid the many charms of the city, the motive for the visit transpired at The Tractor Tavern in Ballard. There, serious guitar-man & woman- ship ensued. Jesse was all congeniality at the merch booth but true to form, her dark, moody vibe predominated onstage to good effect. The thick guitars of her band The Sweet Hereafter as well as her haunting vocals continue to deepen and season. And Kwab’s band was pure garage rock exuberance & irony. Check ’em all out why don’t ya?

Deborah Crooks

Deborah Crooks (www.DeborahCrooks.com) is a writer, performing songwriter and recording artist based in San Francisco whose lyric driven and soul-wise music has drawn comparison to Lucinda Williams, Chrissie Hynde and Natalie Merchant.

Singing about faith, love and loss, her lyrics are honed by a lifetime of writing and world travel while her music draws on folk, rock, Americana and the blues. She released her first EP “5 Acres” in 2003 produced by Roberta Donnay, which caught the attention of Rocker Girl Magazine, selecting it for the RockerGirl Discoveries Cd. In 2007, she teamed up with local producer Ben Bernstein to complete “Turn It All Red” Ep, followed by 2008’s “Adding Water to the Ashes” CD, and a second full-length CD “2010. She’s currently working on a third CD to be released in 2013.

Deborah’s many performance credits include an appearance at the 2006 Millennium Music Conference, the RockerGirl Magazine Music Convention, IndieGrrl, at several of the Annual Invasion of the GoGirls at SXSW in Austin, TX, the Harmony Festival and 2009’s California Music Fest, MacWorld 2010, Far West Fest and many other venues and events. She toured the Northwest as part “Indie Abundance Music, Money & Mindfulness” (2009) with two other Bay Area artists, and followed up with “The Great Idea Tour of the Southwest in March 2010 with Jean Mazzei.