I walk by this mural near Pioneer Square every day. And I always wonder, why is Elvis crying? 1. Maybe he was bitten by bed bugs at Heartbreak Hotel? 2. Guilt over being the King of cultural appropriation? 3. He just discovered how much Col. …
Category: Music

The time I drove across the Cascade Mountains and the ‘Red Headed Stranger’ rode shotgun
I recently made a long, solo drive from Seattle over the Cascade Mountains, and I found a great road trip companion: Willie Nelson’s “Red Headed Stranger.” In Eastern Washington and Oregon on my way to the Columbia River Gorge the haunting songs with sparse arrangements …
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Seven things you may not know about the life and music of country legend Merle Haggard
With songs like “Tulare Dust” and “They’re Tearing the Labor Camps Down” Haggard – like Guthrie – captured in simple lyric and melody the same sentiments reflected in the prose of John Steinbeck about the struggles of migrant workers.
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In Seattle, they put pianos in the parks, invited people to play and the music brought people together
My 10-year-old son is always on the lookout for a piano. When were visiting Florida in June, he scouted a glossy black baby grand in the corner of the restaurant at our beachfront hotel. In no time, he had talked the manager into letting him …

Ballard’s Marceau Pipe Organ Builders is the soul of the neighborhood and we should not forget it
Poke around just a little bit in my Seattle neighborhood, and you will be surprised at what you discover. That was my first impression when we stepped inside the cramped and busy workshop at Marceau Pipe Organ Builders in Ballard. The owner, Rene Marceau, was happy …