Grand Hallway, Seattle Rock Orchestra and Kevin Cole
photo by Christopher Nelson (more photos)

You’ve likely heard Grand Hallway live on KEXP several times before (in-studio and at our 2009 Yule Benefit), but you’ve never heard them here like this: six members of the Seattle Rock Orchestra join Grand Hallway’s Tomo Nakayama, Shenandoah Davis, Alina To, and Jaclyn Shumate for a lush acoustic session. Tomo and the band played two new songs and two older favorites with these beautiful new arrangements, which words just will not do justice. Watch for yourself:

photo by Christopher Nelson

Who didn’t want to be a rock star when they were a kid? But who also had the opportunity to learn from the age of 7 not only how to play an instrument, but how to actually perform before hundreds of fans on stage? Well, kids attending the nationwide franchise of the Paul Green School of Rock do. Developed by the man who inspired the movie, School of Rock offers a variety of classes year round to help young budding musicians realize their potential and offer them the opportunity to perform live on stage. From the school’s own website:

In addition to the weekly lessons and rehearsals, we also hold rock classes, open jams, and seminars that are free to students with such themes as Songwriting, Music Business 101, Tightening Up the Rhythm Section, What Really Goes Into a Tour, How to Get Gigs and Promote Your Band, and more. We also arrange for professional, touring musicians to come to the school and meet, talk with, and most importantly JAM with our students!

For many kids, it’s a dream come true, and just over a month ago on Audioasis with host Hannah Levin, the students of the Seattle school demonstrated their chops on a selection of Northwest heavy hitters — “Stop The Show” by Built To Spill, “Second Skin” by The Gits, “When I Died” by The Thermals, “Shot Down” by The Sonics, and “Outshined” by Soundgarden — live in the KEXP studio. Check out who’s going to be blowing your mind in the decade to come!

Check out more great photos from the session here.

Justin Townes Earle w/ Cheryl Waters
photos by Christopher Nelson

Whenever Bloodshot artist Justin Townes Earle comes to town, we feel compelled to put him on air — no matter how bleary-eyed he might be when he reaches the station or what kind of night he had before. Though he claimed to be a bit worse for wear from the travails of the tour, the always-charming songwriter didn’t show it as he performed a solid solo set of roots-driven songs, which included a few new ones plus the title track to his 2009 album, Midnight at the Movies.

photo by Dave Lichterman

Mad scientist, experimental music producer, dandified DJ — Daedelus makes electronic music that’s not only fun to dance to but to watch as well. Combining minimalist gear, foppish dress, and just about any genre into a funky mix, the L.A.-based musician brought his crazy Monome setup and his fellow beat beatmaker Nosaj Thing (aka Jason Chung) to the KEXP studio. Nosaj’s downtempo — but no less complex — arrangements were a fine compliment to Daedelus’ jerky robot antics. Both provided an amazing performance of improvised sets for KEXP listeners:

photo by Kyle Johnson (view set)

Since the mid-90’s songwriter David Bazan has been a powerful force in Seattle music. With Pedro the Lion, he gathered a legion of fans, many identifying with his emotive voice and thematic spirituality. Things change over the years, though — most quickly, the lineup; but most significantly, Bazan’s faith. Curse Your Branches, released last fall, is Bazan’s first full-length under his own name, and it’s a much more searching, critical, and even condemning body of work on both a personal and spiritual level. Yet while his subject matter and perspective continues to twist and turn, Bazan’s affecting voice remains unbending, and fortunately for KEXP listeners, David Bazan brought his new lineup to the KEXP studio to perform some of the new songs.

photo by James Bailey

While touring the UK in 2008, Asobi Seksu spent a day at Olympic Studios and made one of the last albums ever set down to tape in that legendary space, where The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, Queen and Led Zeppelin all once recorded. The result was a tour- and web-only album, originally called, simply, Acoustic At Olympic Studios. Now officially released as Rewolf, the album features stripped down reworkings of older songs and a cover of Hope Sandoval’s “Suzanne.”

Touring behind this special collection, the typically effects-heavy Asobi Seksu performed as the “Asobi Seksu Acoustic Ensemble,” and played a wonderfully lush set at The Triple Door last month (read the live review here). Before the show, they stopped at KEXP and performed two originals and two covers (the Hope Sandoval song and The Jesus & Mary Chain’s “Never Understand”) live in-studio, and you can watch the videos here now:

photo by Laura Totten

Grant-Lee Phillips has had a long career in the college/alternative/independent radio scene, going back to his days in Grant Lee Buffalo (his second band, actually, but the first to capture national attention). Through multiple label, band configuration and even stylistic changes, Phillips has never lost his distinctive, otherworldly voice. Fans of the band’s early hits like “Fuzzy,” “Mocking Birds,” and “Truly, Truly” found as much to love in Phillips’ solo work, like “See America,” “Calamity Jane,” and now “Strangest Thing” and other songs on his latest release, Little Moon.

While many songs on the new album are lush compositions of orchestral pop, for his recent in-studio performance at KEXP, Grant-Lee Phillips brought only his acoustic guitar… but with a voice like his that’s all he really needs! From the session, here are four songs he performed from the new album:

photo by Christopher Nelson (more here)

It’s hard to think of a Northwest band that does smart, quirky and ultimately dancy indie pop better than Seattle’s BOAT. Although lead songwriter, singer and guitarist D. Crane often claims to be just barely above the functioning level of the sixth-graders he teaches, BOAT’s lyrics are clever enough to be favorably compared to Pavement and They Might Be Giants. Their true gift, though, resides in the peppy “post-twee” guitar rock song structures that are so catchy they make the lyrics almost incidental.

Recently, the band performed five hook-laden songs from their latest effort, 2009’s Setting the Paces (Magic Marker), live in the KEXP studio. Check ‘em out here:

photo by Alex Crick (more)

Joseph Arthur has long been a favorite of KEXP listeners and DJs and most definitely ranks among the most visited in-studio guests at the station. Over the years, he’s performed solo acoustic, with a full band, and armed with guitar effects and loop pedals, but no matter what incarnation he appears in, Joseph can be relied on for achingly emotional delivery and powerful songwriting. During his seventh performance (at least) live on KEXP, Joseph Arthur filled the Triple Door’s stage with a bank of electronics, his guitars, and a white canvas propped on an easel surrounded by paint bottles and spray cans while playing a long set exclusively for members of KEXP’s VIP Club.

The eight songs spanned Joseph’s career, from his debut, Big City Secrets, to new ones he’s still working on for an upcoming album. But what made this performance truly special was the improvisational painting he did during “Crying Like a Man.” After laying down a beat and rhythm, Joseph started layering swaths of blue, red and black paint atop a rough sketch he made at the beginning of the set — all while continuing to sing! After the show, the painting was sold, as he’s doing after every show during this current tour, with proceeds going directly to support Haiti relief.