STG Presents Brandi Carlile With Katie Herzig 10/24 At Paramount Theatre

BroadwayWorld

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) presents Brandi Carlile with special guest Katie Herzig on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 8:00pm at the Paramount Theatre.

A gifted singer/songwriter whose rich voice and literate storytelling belie her youth (she was only 23 when she released her major-label debut), Brandi Carlile was born in the small town of Ravensdale, WA, an isolated community 50 miles away from Seattle. With few neighbors or friends nearby, Carlile grew up learning to make her own entertainment, camping and hiking in the nearby woods and teaching herself to sing. Carlile grew up listening to the classic country music her parents doted on (Patsy Cline remains Carlile's favorite singer), and she made her stage debut at the age of eight after she was taken to a local country radio show by her mother.

At 17, Carlile picked up the guitar, having developed a taste for rock & roll through Elton John's classic albums of the 1970s (she cites Tumbleweed Connection as a particular favorite), and she began hitting the Seattle bar scene, playing anywhere she could get a gig (including a stint singing backup for an Elvis Presley tribute act). While playing clubs, she encountered a band called the Fighting Machinists, featuring twin brothers Tim Hanseroth on guitar and Phil Hanseroth. Impressed by their instrumental skills and spot-on harmonies, Carlile became an instant fan of the Fighting Machinists, and when the group broke up, she persuaded the Hanseroth twins to form a group with her.

While they started out as an aggressive rock & roll band, Carlile's emotionally powerful songwriting and acoustic guitar work soon became the dominant component of the group's sound, and they began touring regularly, headlining small venues and opening shows for Dave Matthews, Shawn Colvin, and India.Arie. In 2000, Carlile recorded the first of several self-released recordings that sold briskly at shows, and in 2005 Carlile was signed to Columbia Records, releasing a self-titled album later that same year. The album earned enthusiastic reviews, and Carlile was named one of 2005's "Artists to Watch" by Rolling Stone. In 2006, Carlile and her band began work on her second Columbia album, with T-Bone Burnett producing. Titled The Story, it was released in spring 2007.

Tickets: $30.50, not including applicable fees. Tickets are on sale now at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount or Moore Theatres box offices, 24-hour kiosks located outside The Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at 877-STG-4TIX, or online at STGPresents.org.

Seattle Theatre Group is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that operates the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping these two landmark venues alive and vibrant. STG presents a range of performances from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and jazz to comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at both historic theatres in Seattle and venues throughout the Puget Sound and Portland, Oregon.

STG Presents Grizzly Bear 10/16 At The Moore Theatre

Broadway World

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) & Sealed With A Kiss present Grizzly Bear on Friday, October 16, 2009 at 8:00pm at the Moore Theatre.

Grizzly Bear released Yellow House in 2006. It was a slow, steady and stunning ride-boundless in scope and elegance. Given the album's otherworldly charm and staying power, it's hard to believe three years have gone by.

That might seem like a long time. But given Grizzly Bear's hectic touring schedule, including stints with Radiohead, TV On The Radio and Feist-as well as several performances during a five-night tribute to Paul Simon at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, a co-headlining show with the L.A. Philharmonic, and the release of Friend, a 10-song EP of re-recorded and re-worked songs, collaborations and covers-all of this seems very reasonable. They've been busy.

But about a year ago, singer/songwriter Ed Droste, drummer Christopher Bear, bassist Chris Taylor and singer/songwriter/guitarist Daniel Rossen -whose other band, Department of Eagles, released the sublime In Ear Park last fall-began passing demos around and working together creatively in different pairs and permutations. A few months later, blessed with producer/engineer Chris Taylor's willingness to transport his recording equipment, they began the recording process for Veckatimest, which would unfold over the next six months in three very singular locations. And in many ways, it is the recording process that reveals this record-each space catalyzing different interactions, inspirations, and ultimately, songs.

In July, the band spent three weeks at the Glen Tonche house in upstate New York. The beauty, mystery and surrealistic feel to the estate made anything seem do-able, possible and even magical. Though still finding their feet, much of the album's groundwork was laid there. After breaking briefly for the Radiohead tour in August, the band convened at a house on Cape Cod (graciously provided by Droste's grandmother) where they re-addressed and solidified the compositions they'd started at Glen Tonche. Lastly, Grizzly Bear came home, to a church in NYC, to fine-tune and complete the album-named Veckatimest, after a tiny, uninhabited island on Cape Cod that the band visited and was inspired by, particularly liking its Native American name. Following initial mixes by Chris Taylor, the band brought Gareth Jones (Interpol, Liars) over from England for a final mixing session with Taylor. The album was then mastered by Greg Calbi. Artist WilLiam O'Brien created Veckatimest's colorful, hand drawn artwork-a perfect compliment to the album's enigmatic title.

There is an unbelievable clarity of sound and vision to Veckatimest: vocals (a duty now shared by all band members) are sharper and more complex, arrangements are tighter, production is more venturous and lyrics more affecting. Having opened the creative dialogue at such an early stage, Grizzly Bear was able to realize these 12 songs together as a band, making it their most collaboratively compositional album to date. Taylor's artistry as a producer and engineer has only gotten stronger, both Rossen and Droste's conviction as singers and lyricists has swelled, and Bear's authority behind the drums is striking.

This yielded an unexpected mix of material that feels more confidant, mature, focused-and most of all, dynamic. From songs like "Dory" (a gracefully psychedelic, ever-evolving work),"Ready, Able" (a synth-y opus, and one of four songs that boasts string arrangements by composer Nico Muhly) and "Foreground" (a plaintive, vocal-driven send-off, and one of two songs to feature choral arrangements also by Muhly) to more resounding pop songs like "Two Weeks" (an other-worldly doo wop featuring backing vocals from Beach House's Victoria LeGrand) and "While You Wait For the Others" (a triumphant and melodically cacophonous pop masterpiece), Veckatimest is an album of the highest highs and lowest lows-an unbelievably diverse collection of songs that celebrates the strength of each band member, and the power of the whole. It was well worth the wait.

Tickets: $25.00 not including applicable fees. Tickets are on sale now at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount Theatre box offices, 24-hour kiosks located outside The Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at 877-STG-4TIX, or online at STGPresents.org. More information can be found at SealedWithAKissPresents.com, as well.

Seattle Theatre Group is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that operates the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping these two landmark venues alive and vibrant. STG presents a range of performances from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and jazz to comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at both historic theatres in Seattle and venues throughout the Puget Sound and Portland, Oregon.

STG Announces SWITCHFOOT, Added To The Blue October Show 7/30 At Moore Theatre

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) is pleased to announce the addition of Switchfoot to the Blue October show, with Longwave on July 30th, 2009 at 7:30pm at the Moore Theatre.

Switchfoot are a critically-acclaimed San Diego band, who are known for their energetic live shows. Following the huge success of the The Beautiful Letdown & Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot will be releasing a new album in the Fall of 2009.

Tickets: $35.00 not including applicable fees. Tickets are on sale now at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount Theatre box offices, 24-hour kiosks located outside The Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at 877-STG-4TIX, or online at STGPresents.org.

Seattle Theatre Group is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that operates the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping these two landmark venues alive and vibrant. STG presents a range of performances from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and jazz to comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at both historic theatres in Seattle and venues throughout the Puget Sound and Portland, Oregon.

Tickets.com Client Spotlight: Paramount Theatre

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) presents Bob Weir & RatDog on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 7:00pm at the Paramount Theatre.

Broadway World
BWW News Desk

Bob Weir already has a secure place in rock history as the Grateful Dead's co-vocalist and what Andrew Clarke (in one of England's leading newspapers, "The Independent") called the genre's "greatest, if most eccentric rhythm guitarist." When you have a modest, anti-promotional personality - and when you spend 30 years next to an icon - it's easy to fall under the radar.

There's a second reason he doesn't always get quite the attention he deserves. Although always a gentleman, Bob Weir can be...contrary. This is the man who, when his muse required that he go study music, chose McCoy Tyner - not exactly a rock rhythm guitarist - as his model. And just as his personality has a discriminating antiauthoritarian streak that leads him down his own road, his composing is just as distinctive and impossible to classify. So that in "Lazy Lightnin'" he combined r & b/disco chords and a time signature in 7. His go-your-own-way point of view is perfectly articulated in John Barlow's lyrics for "Throwin' Stones," which Weir called an "anarchist diatribe." And the dry, offbeat humor of so many of his songs lets you know - his is a nuanced, special voice. Bob Weir was born in San Francisco in 1947 and grew up in the suburb of Atherton. After less-than-popular-with-the-family-and-neighbors experiences with piano and trumpet, he glommed onto the guitar at the age of 13, and hasn't let go since. He soon became the most-junior member of a folk scene that centered on a Palo Alto, California, club called the Tangent, which hosted such future legends as Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, and Janis Joplin. Kaukonen was his guitar-picking role model (Garcia, at that time, was a banjo player), and Weir soon became a full-fledged, if young, folkie, listening to Lightnin' Hopkins, Joan Baez, and the Greenbriar Boys, as well as the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry.

By 1964, at the age of 17, he'd become a fixture at a Palo Alto music store called Dana Morgan's. That summer, when Jerry Garcia went off on a bluegrass odyssey, Weir assumed responsibility for his guitar students. In the wake of "A Hard Day's Night," rock and roll had swept away even the most purist folkies' doubts, so that when late that year Ron "Pigpen" McKernan urged Garcia to electrify their jug band instruments and become a rock band, Bob Weir - already a Beatlemaniac - evolved from jug to the rhythm guitar chair. They started as the Warlocks, played a lot of bars, and then in the fall of 1965 underwent a trial by fire, serving as the "house band" for a series of psychedelic explorations thrown by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the "acid tests." By early 1966, the tests had grown into events involving many thousand people, and history was never quite the same. And the Warlocks had become not only unimaginably fused brothers, but also the Grateful Dead.

Weir was "the kid," and while his first Dead song, "The Other One," was not only brilliant and enduring - The Dead play it to this day - his early songwriting had its up and downs. His next song, "Born Crosseyed," was actually out of his vocal range, and for a while he gave up songwriting.

Finally, in 1970, he regained focus with a number of tunes. One was "Cassidy," about a young woman of that name whose birth he attended, combined with the same-sounding legendary hero of "On the Road" and the acid tests, Neal Cassady. With this and other songs, he began a songwriting partnership with John Perry Barlow, an old school friend, which would last 20 years and more. After adding legendary songs like "Truckin'" and "Sugar Magnolia" (written with Robert Hunter) to the 1970 Grateful Dead masterpiece "American Beauty," in 1971 Weir proposed to do his first solo album, which would be called "Ace." For various reasons, his backup band turned out to be, for the most part, the Dead. The album was a classic, and it's no surprise that five songs from it made it on to the "Weir Here" list, including "Playing in the Band," "Cassidy," and "Mexicali Blues."

In 1974, the Dead took a nearly two-year vacation (their only lengthy break in 30 years), and during that period Weir took up with a band called Kingfish, really his first side effort from the Dead. Weir took from Kingfish - aside from a massive amount of fun - the songs "Lazy Lightnin'" and "Supplication," and a huge dose of encouragement for the idea that, in order to be a creative contributor to the Dead, he needed to do things for himself.

As a result, the year after the "Kingfish" album was released (1976), he began a solo project with producer Keith Olsen that would come to be called "Heaven Help the Fool." A brief tour to support that album brought him in contact with various session players, including, eventually, Brent Mydland (who would join the Dead in 1979), Bobby Cochran, Alphonso Johnson, and Billy Cobham. This was the genesis for Bobby and the Midnites, who would tour in the early 1980s and produce two albums, including the eponymous debut album, here represented by "(I Want to) Fly Away."

Later in the '80s, Weir hooked up with the talented multi-genre bassist Rob Wasserman at a benefit, forging a partnership that would last 15 years. They began as a duo. Working on Rob's album "Trios," they joined forces with Neil Young to produce "Easy Answers," and then in the period after Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, added drummer Jay Lane and ex-Kingfish harmonica/guitar player Matthew Kelly to become a blues band called the Ratdog Review.

Eventually, Rob moved on, and a settled lineup featuring Lane, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, lead guitarist Mark Karan, reeds man Kenny Brooks, and bassist Robin Sylvester was RatDog.

Tickets: $39.50, not including applicable fees. Tickets on available now at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount or Moore Theatres box offices, 24-hour kiosks located outside The Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at 877-STG-4TIX, or online at STGPresents.org.

Tickets.com Client Spotlight: Seattle Theatre Group

STG Presents THE SCRIPT With Special Guest Parachute 7/30 At The Crocodile

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) presents The Script with special guest, Parachute, on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 9:00pm at the Crocodile.

The Script, the biggest breaking new band of 2008 in UK and their native Ireland, are celebrating the success of their debut self-titled album by heading out on their first national U.S. tour this summer. Having just wrapped up a sold-out run as main support for Grammy Award winning artist Adele, The Script will officially return to the road as headliners on July 30th at the Crocodile in Seattle, WA. The tour will cover 14 major cities across America and conclude at the Rock N Roll Hotel in Washington D.C. on August 17th. Joining The Script on the road this summer is the soulful pop-rock group Parachute.

The Script are Dubliners Danny O'Donoghue (keys and vocals), Mark Sheehan (guitar) and Glen Power (drums). This extremely talented trio's debut has already spawned numerous hit singles abroad, including the band's first official U.S. single, "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" which reached #1 in 5 countries and is currently holding strong in the Top 20 at Adult Radio stateside. THE SCRIPT is currently 2x platinum in the UK, 5x platinum in Ireland, and is a story of both tragedy and triumph, struggle and survival - the epic journey of 3 Dublin boys from the wrong side of the tracks.

2008 proved to be an extremely successful year for The Script. With the release of their debut album in the UK landing them the #1 spot on the Billboard chart, receiving The Best Irish Band Award at the World Music Awards, performing at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, as well as selling out their first UK headlining tour in under 24 hours - The Script is ready to take America by storm. Since the U.S. release of THE SCRIPT, the band has performed on The Today Show and The CBS Saturday Early Show, been hand-picked as VH1's powerful "You Oughta Know" artist, and have seen their tracks featured in the CBS hit show The Ghost Whisperer as well as throughout the entire season of VH1's Sober House. Most recently the band appeared on MTV's The Hills which propelled their album up the iTunes chart to #15. Up next for The Script is the honor of supporting musical heroes U2 in their native Ireland in July.

For more information on The Script please visit: www.thescriptmusic.com

Tickets: $12.00 in advance & $15.00 day of show, not including applicable fees. Tickets are on sale Friday, May 29 at 10am online at Tickets.com or by visiting www.stgpresents.org.

Tickets.com Client Spotlight: Seattle Theatre Group

Seattle Theatre Group Presents KEANE At The Moore Theatre 9/10

Broadway World

Seattle Theatre Group (STG) & Mike Thrasher presents Keane on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 8:00pm at the Moore Theatre.

Keane are back. After over 8 million sales of Hopes And Fears (2004) and Under The Iron Sea (2006) combined, sold-out arena tours, awards spanning Ivor Novellos to BRITs, plus an undeniable collection of hits including Is It Any Wonder?, Everybody's Changing, Crystal Ball and Somewhere Only We Know, one of Britain's best-loved bands are about to surprise and thrill all over again.

Avowed believers in never retreading old ground, Tom Chaplin, Tim Rice-Oxley and Richard Hughes return with Perfect Symmetry, a Technicolor explosion of stellar pop songs and pure, unashamed energy; the joy in which is audible in every finger-click and life-affirming chorus. As different as piano-helmed classic debut Hopes And Fears was from its darker cousin Under The Iron Sea, Perfect Symmetry finds Keane at the height of their powers. Confirming Rice-Oxley's position as one of the finest British songwriters to emerge this decade, the 11-song set sees Keane throwing any last vestiges of caution to the wind and simply letting the music take them where it will. The result is a thrillingly bold album that's as pleasurable to listen to as it was to make.

While millions of paid-up Keane fans will immediately recognise Perfect Symmetry as a body of work that could have come from no other group, others are likely to be knocked sideways by their various leaps into uncharted territory. Indeed, after hearing download-record-breaking first taste Spiralling, it's possible you might not have even recognised it the work of "the Somewhere Only We Know band". Certainly, Perfect Symmetry is the first Keane album to feature musical saw, saxophone, vocals recorded through a drum; studio sessions in Berlin, Paris and London; their first self produced album, with input from esteemed producers Jon Brion (Rufus Wainwright; Kanye West) and Stuart Price (Madonna; Les Rhythmes Digitales) and the sound of three men yelping a delighted 'Oooh!' as virtually the first thing you hear.

"We've always said we want to challenge ourselves," says Hughes. "Most bands, when they release an album, always say they've pushed themselves. But we're all music lovers and we sit there and read these things and think 'Great, can't wait to hear it!' and then you put it on and you think 'Oh. Hang on a minute...'"

"There's nothing that our record company would have loved more than for us to have delivered Hopes And Fears three times," he continues. "But we've already done one, and one's enough."

"I think by a million miles it's the best thing we've put together," says Chaplin. "I can't wait for people to hear it."

Tickets: $35.00 not including applicable fees. Tickets are on sale Friday, May 29 at 10am PST at Tickets.com, in person at the Paramount Theatre box offices, 24-hour kiosks located outside The Paramount & Moore Theatres, charge by phone at 877-STG-4TIX, or online at STGPresents.org.

Seattle Theatre Group is the 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that operates the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to make diverse performing arts and education an integral part of our region's cultural identity while keeping these two landmark venues alive and vibrant. STG presents a range of performances from Broadway, off-Broadway, dance and jazz to comedy, concerts of all genres, speakers and family shows - at both historic theatres in Seattle and venues throughout the Puget Sound and Portland, Oregon.

Tickets.com to Provide Advanced Ticketing Solutions for Acclaimed Seattle Theatre Group

COSTA MESA, CA – January 12, 2009 – Tickets.com, a leading worldwide provider of integrated ticketing solutions, has signed the prestigious Seattle Theatre Group as a new client. Seattle Theatre Group is a non-profit performing arts organization that operates two historic venues, the Paramount Theatre and Moore Theatre. Under the freshly inked long term agreement, the Seattle-based group will utilize ProVenue®, the newest and most advanced ticketing system from Tickets.com, for its ticketing operations at both locations.

“Seattle Theatre Group is a respected organization that maintains its commitment to preserving both of its theatres with extraordinary programming as well as outstanding community and educational outreach,” said Larry Witherspoon, chief executive officer, Tickets.com. “We’re honored to have the opportunity to provide them with leading-edge ticketing solutions, so that patrons of these legendary venues can have the best possible experience, from point of purchase through curtain call.”

Built with funds from pioneering Hollywood film studio Paramount Pictures and opened as the Seattle Theatre in 1928, the 2,807-seat Paramount adopted its new name in 1930, operating as a golden-era movie palace and home to theatrical stage shows. The 1,419-seat Moore Theatre opened its doors in 1907 as a premier vaudeville showplace, and is the oldest operating theatre in Seattle. Today, both venues, which continue to rank in Pollstar’s Top 100 Worldwide Theatre Venues, present a mix of concerts, live entertainment, Broadway touring engagements, theater productions, speakers’ series, and more. With the new ticketing services contract, Tickets.com continues to expand its high profile performing arts client list.

In addition to the advanced ProVenue® ticketing solution that maximizes transaction speed, efficiency and flexibility, the Seattle Theatre Group will employ innovative Tickets.com technologies such as the latest in mobile ticket delivery functionality, Tickets@Phone™. Other software products and features include: Access Control, Tickets@Home®, and local area kiosks to provide patrons with on-demand ticket printing, delivery, and management. Tickets are also available at STGpresents.org or by calling 1-877-STG-4TIX.

“Given Tickets.com’s reputation for innovation in the marketplace, we are confident that we’ll be able to continuously offer the best and most advanced ticketing solutions available,” said Seattle Theatre Group executive director Josh LaBelle. “We were especially impressed with the company’s ongoing commitment to providing comprehensive client services and breakthrough technologies. We believe this will contribute to our ability to give patrons an exceptional event-going experience to remember.”

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