May 20, 2010: A typical night in Old Ballard… folks walking and laughter echoing through the streets, people scouting hard-to-find parking, and wearing unique brands of stylish hats and scarves to keep themselves warm [Hey, as Frightened Rabbit tells us, "It takes more than just f-ing someone to keep ourselves warm!" - Ed.]. Something is different though – might it be the ever so calm Mat Brooke and the Grand Archives? Of course! We’ve been waiting for our friends to return to Ballard. This is the …

The Tractor Tavern has been the host of many alt-country/folk/indie bands, and I love to hear a genre that is sometimes ignored by some of the “indie” press. The Heligoats, one of the openers for Clem Snide on Wednesday at Tractor Tavern, did not fail to represent an indie-fied New Country that I definitely like. The banjo pickin’ that complemented frontman Chris Otepka’s Bellingham snarl was delightfully twangy, and the band put on a strong show. In their music I heard a lot of the Long Winters and Fruit Bats …

Seattle’s own folk/pop band Grand Archives will be playing at the Tractor Tavern tonight along side with See Me River (CD Release), and S (Jen Ghetto). Grand Archives is listed as a indie rock band, and although some of their songs follow that path, you’ll find that lead singer Mat Brooke’s vocals are carefully aligned with the band’s melodic balance, consisting more of a folk/pop sound of acoustical guitar, tambourine, harmonica, and – of course – what’s a band without a little whistling? In listening to their music, you’ll …