There wasn’t one overarching theme or sound that defined Seattle’s music community in the 2010s but that doesn’t mean it was a quiet decade. In fact, a whole lot happened this decade in local music creating plenty of highs and lows that made for a somewhat turbulent, but overall very exciting time in local music.
On the positive side of things this is the decade when the Knights of the Soundtable rode again, a thrift shopping rapper put local hip-hop on the map and the city’s biggest living musical export raised millions of dollars to help fight the city’s homelessness crisis. This was the decade when Barboza opened underneath Neumos, Columbia City Theater and The Neptune were transformed into excellent music venues, Seattle got its own Hard Rock Cafe and KEXP got a permanent home at Seattle Center. And of course Music For Marriage Equality support of Referendum 74 helped make same-sex marriages legal in Washington state.
But the decade wasn’t just about new venues, happy reunions and local pop stars making it big. The 2010s also saw the future of few venerable local institutions get placed in jeopardy, a one-time scene kingpin become rightfully disgraced and countless musicians and artists were priced out of Seattle due to a seemingly never-ending rise in the cost of living.
All of those stories and others are proof Seattle’s music scene is as lively as its ever been and show plenty of promise of great things to come come during the next 10 years. But before moving forward into the roaring 2020s, let’s take a look back at some (not all) of the top stories that made an impact in the local music scene.
Soundgarden reunites
The 12 year break is over & school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again! www.soundgardenworld.com
— Chris Cornell (@chriscornell) January 1, 2010
The decade got off to a surprising start thanks to a tweet from Chris Cornell who announced Soundgarden was returning to action. The band played their first show in more than a decade at the Showbox, performing as the anagramed Nudedragons, and went to to release a surprisingly good comeback album “King Animal,” toured and headlined multiple major headlines during its return run.
The rise and fall and rise and fall of music festivals
To say it the decade was not kind to the music festival economy is almost an understatement. Sasquatch!, City Arts Fest, the Upstream, Reverb and Reverb’s replacement the Macefield Music Festival all folded this decade.
Reverb, which was put on by another of this decade’s losses, the shuttered Seattle Weekly, was a single-day local music showcase in Ballard that delivered an insanely good amount of musical bang for your buck. City Arts Festival, which was also put on by a shuttered publication, attempted to be a cross between SXSW and Bumbershoot by hosting national and local acts in multiple venues around the city over the course of a few days. Some notable headliners included Robyn, Shy & Him and David Byrne with St Vincent. Unfortunately, it wan’t able to continue past its second year.
Additionally, Bumbershoot had a rather rocky decade (more on that in a few) and Capitol Hill Block Party came under political scrutiny. However, it wasn’t all bad news for local music festivals. This year Adam Zacks, founder of Sasquatch! created the Thing festival, which is a hybrid arts and music fest, and from all reports its first year was a success. Also, smaller festivals like Timbr and its winter counterpart Timbrr have appeared on the scene.
Sub Pop hearts local hip hop
The little big local label that could, Sub Pop, continued to add to its excellent roster by unexpectedly dipping its toes into hip-hop. And they signed some of the best Seattle’s hip-hop scene has to offer. Their first big splash was signing Shabazz Palaces. Then they signed Thee Satisfaction. A few years later they added Porter Ray to their stable of local rappers.
And it wasn’t just local hip-hop that got Sub Pop’s attention. The label also signed the excellent group clipping. The addition of some hip-hop flavor didn’t just bolster the label’s roster, it also showed the label once synonymous with the g-word still has a few tricks up its sleeves.
The Showbox goes up for sale
During the summer of 2018 a group of developers from Vancouver, B.C. filed plans to build over the site of The Showbox and replace the storied venue with a 44-story tower. The Showbox, which is operated by concert and events promotions company AEG, opened in 1939 and has hosted thousands of concerts and events.
News of the possible sale of the storied venue caused outrage among the music community which resulted in petitions and groups attempting to save the Showbox by having it declared an historic landmark. Currently, the fate of the fate of the Showbox sits with the courts and local non-profit STG has made a proposal to buy and operate the Showbox.
Chris Cornell dies
The world of music suffered a huge loss in May of 2017 when Chris Cornell committed suicide in Detroit after a Soundgarden concert.
In the years after his death there has been a flurry of activity from the Soundgarden camp in the form of 35th anniversary reissues, a live album and a Blu-Ray concert release. On the Cornell side a massive box set that spanned his entire career and featured artwork from his friend Jeff Ament was released and a concert honoring him featuring performances by Foo Fighters, Metallica and others took place earlier this year. Unfortunately, despite the activity from both the Cornell and Soundgarden teams, the two parties are currently engaged in a legal battle over the rights to vocal tracks Cornell recorded before his untimely death.
Pearl Jam fights homelessness
The city’s biggest living musical export stepped up to help its hometown in a big way during the summer of 2018 with The Home Shows. The two concerts at Safeco Field drew nearly 90,000 people and raised more than $11 million to support homelessness causes in Seattle and King County. The shows were not only the biggest concert events of the decade, they were the largest concerts in Seattle since the Rolling Stones performed two shows at the Kingdome in 1981 which had a combined paid attendance of more than 135,000.
The fate of Bumbershoot is up in the air
As previously mentioned, the 2010s weren’t necessarily kind to music festivals and while Bumbershoot still exists it’s taken quite a severe beating.
The festival nearly shut own after non-profit One Reel couldn’t pay the city the nearly $1 million it owed in operating costs. Thankfully, national promoter AEG, which operates the Showbox and helps produce Coachella, stepped in and agreed to book and operate Bumbershoot for five years. That deal resulted in five years of lineups that for the most part ditched the multi-genre format and primarily focused on pop, EDM and hip-hop with acts that skewed younger. Those lineups came with highly inflated ticket prices and a noticeable dip in attendance.
The five-year deal with AEG expired this year and AEG declined to renew its contract with the city. The status of Bumbershoot’s 2020 edition, which would be the festival’s 50th year, is currently in the air. So while Bumbershoot is technically still alive, it’s unknown for how long it will stay alive.
Macklemore’s rise to fame
You can’t talk about the decade in Seattle music without mentioning Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and you can’t talk about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis without mentioning the inescapable earworm that is “Thrift Shop.” The video for the song alone has been viewed more than 1.3 billion times, and no that isn’t a typo. They were an unavoidable force in pop music this decade and they represent Seattle to their core.
But “The Hesit,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ first full-length album, is more than a record with a catchy single that has a goofy video. The album came loaded with hits. “White Walls” and “Can’t Hold Us” are equally as good as the cut about a cold-ass honky buying clothes that smell like R Kelly’s sheets. And then there’s the impact of “Same Love,” which was a boundary-breaking hip-hop track about same-sex marriage. The guest spots were well-chosen too with Schoolboy Q, Ab Soul and Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell appearing on tracks and locals like Buffalo Madonna, Mary Lambert, Hollis Wong-Wear, Ray Dalton, Allen Stone and others popping up too.
And as is if Macklemore & Ryan Lewis releasing the juggernaut that was “The Heist” into the world wasn’t enough, they did it all as independent artists. That’s right, no major label help (which is likely why a track like “Jimmy Iovine” made the record). With “The Heist” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis didn’t just create a record responsible for millions of copies sold and billions of streams and YouTube views, giving them both generational wealth in the process, they also created hands-down the most important local album of the decade.
Dave Meinert’s alleged sexual assaults exposed
In July 2018 KUOW broke the story of several women accusing one-time local nightlife kingpin Dave Meinert of sexual assault. In total 11 women accused Meinert of acts of sexual misconduct, including rape, and two of those women filed police reports.
Meinert was never formally charged with a crime but the repercussions of the allegations were felt in the local music community. He once was a serious behind-the-scenes player in the community. He managed bands like Blue Scholars, Presidents of the USA and the Lumineers. He owned multiple restaurants and bars in Capital Hill and Queen Anne including The 5 Point, the Comet and Lost Lake (the former two bought out his ownership since the news of the allegations surfaced). And for several years he produced Capitol Hill Block Party.
Brandi Carlile’s star finally shines nationally
Macklemore wasn’t the only local who made big waves on the national stage. Ravendale’s own Brandi Carlile had quite a big decade. Locals know her as one of the hardest-working women in music, and now so does the rest of the music world. From playing shows with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, to winning Grammys and creating supergroups, Brandi’s hard work is getting noticed.
She started the decade by being honored at the City of Music Awards where she received the Breakthrough Award. That accolade was just the beginning of a great 10 years for her and her longtime songwriting partners the Hanseroth twins. President Barack Obama wrote the introduction to the album “Cover Stories,” which is a record that celebrates the 10-year anniversary of her album “The Story.” On the album, artists such as Dolly Parton, The Avett Brothers, Kris Kristopherson, Jim James and Pearl Jam covered tracks from that album.
And speaking of Pearl Jam, Brandi joined the band onstage during its first Safeco Field concert in 2018. That same year she released her Gammy-winning record “By The Way, I Forgive You.” And in 2019 she capped her decade by producing Tanya Tucker’s excellent comeback album, forming the supergroup The Highwomen and playing dozens of sold-out shows across the country.
