It’s a new year which means there’s likely going to be a whole new crop of local musicians making some noise that your ears will end up falling in love with during the coming 12 months. While it’s difficult to predict the future and say band X is going to come out of nowhere and dominate the local music scene in 2013 a la last year’s rise of Reignwolf, there are quite a few up-and-coming locals worth your attention. Here are five of those fast-rising local stars I recommend checking out to help jump-start your 2013.
How you might know him: I can’t speak firsthand on this because I have yet to check out Ben Union live, but apparently his live shows are quite impressive. During his last show at Neumos he jumped into the crowd from the upper balcony, which is quite a feat as you can tell from the video clip above.
Why you should know him: See above. Also, his upcoming record, This Blessed Union Vol. 2, is a rock ‘n’ roll kick in the pants. See him live at the Crocodile on Saturday.
How you might know them: They’ve received some P4K love as well as recognition by MTV Hive and made my colleague Matson on Music’s best of 2012 list.
Why you should know them: They play standard-ish garage rock with an experimental twist and as an added bonus they’re currently based out of Olympia, and everyone knows only the coolest of cool rock comes out of Olympia (see: Sleater-Kinney, pre-Bleach Nirvana, multiple K Records bands …). See them live at Cairo Saturday night Jan. 19.
How you might know her: She sings the hook on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love.” Also, she’s a champion slam poet.
Why you should know her: I love beautiful voices (as if you couldn’t tell by how smitten I was with Alessandra Rose’s debut album last year) and Mary Lambert’s voice is flat-out amazing. She released her solo debut last year and now that the Macklemore train is slowing down a little, or rather now that she isn’t on the road with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, hopefully she’ll begin to spread her wings as a solo artist.
How you might know them: Well, I did write about them during last year’s Block Party. They pretty much blew me away immediately after Ryan Granger hit the first note on his guitar. I even went so far as to call them “one of my new favorite local bands” which is a statement I stand by some six months later.
Why you should know them: Did you see that I called them one of my new favorite local bands? Also, their new EP, Thick Hand Grip, comes out Feb. 1 and you’re going to love it. And I haven’t even got to the part where I tell you how badass a drummer TGM’s Whitney Petty is. What I would give to watch her and The Maldives’ Faustine Hudson in a drum-off. Catch The Grizzled Mighty live at Neumos Feb. 1 and find out for yourself why I love these guys so much.
Why you might know them: They won last year’s Sound Off!
Why you should know them: Not only is their music great, but previous Sound Off! winners have gone on to do some pretty impressive things locally (Mon Frere, New Faces) and nationally (The Lonely Forest) so the sky is the limit for this talented group of youngsters.
