Follow me into the desert , as thirsty as you are...

 For the past 28 years, I have had a crush on Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

KEXP the indie radio station in Seattle celebrates 50 years of music programming and plays music from a year on Wednesdays. Today it was 1991. Dang! 

1991 was a good year for music and the same year I moved out on my own. I did not leave my great state of California, but I did travel north. Don't get me wrong I consider the Bay Area my home, but I have thought often about going farther north. Before I got my forever job, I applied every couple of months to jobs in the Seattle area. Every time I am there I play a soundtrack in my head- Sunny Day Real Estate, Taco Cat,  Soundgarden, Modest Mouse, Band of Horses, Gruntruck, Harvey Danger, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Mudhoney, Death Cab/Postal Service, and of course Nirvana and P. Jam. If we are driving then I will start my extended soundtrack in the Portland area with Heatmiser/Elliot Smith, Hazel, Dead Moon, Decemberists, and as we continue up I-5 Sleater-Kinney, Excuse 17, Bikini Kill, Godsheadsilo, Bratmobile, Quasi, and I could go on, but you get the idea.

None of these bands live in my favorite band category, but they do get honorable mentions because of their location. 

I am also way more aware of past, present, and future releases of labels from the PNW. SubPop, Barsuk, K, KRS, Hush Hush, Youth Riot, and so on. Years ago I made a conscious decision to invest in record labels. Explore their catalogs. Yep Roc, not out of the Seattle area, consistently puts out great records. FYI. Annnnnywho...

I spent a fair amount of time in the Seattle area in the 90s, some in the 00s, and multiple trips a year for the past 8 years.  So I know that I am not enamored of a town that no longer exists. Yes, there are places that are gone: Velvet Elvis, OK Hotel, the woman-owned burrito place by the Six Arms (which is still there, I think- LOVED that bar), Bop Records, and the really cool punk rock record store somewhere near the troll. With that being said I can still go to Vivace, Archie McPhees, and Cafe Flora. Plus there is always something new. I have also got to experience and enjoy other parts of the Seattle area (Ballard, West Seattle, Burien, White Center). A few years ago we spent a few days on Fox Island, which is in the southern part of the sound. So beautiful. We saw so many bald eagles. Fantastic. 

Maybe someday I will move up to the PNW. Perhaps that is where me and the husbando will retire to. Until then I will look forward to my visits.