It’s Star Anna. She’s a local with a world weary voice and a couple of batches of great songs. Her sound is rootsy…a little like some of our other favorite local ladies Neko Case and Brandi Carlile. You can check out a couple of her tunes below and then you must go see Star for FREE at Pacific Place this Thursday from 5 to 7. It’s our new Downtown Escapes concert series, and it’s the Thursday eve before a long holiday weekend. Get it started right. With some great free local music (and cocktails if you’re so inclinded!). And while you’re there, pick up a copy of our FREE New Music Sampler. See you there?
Xavier Rudd stopped by the station just a few minutes ago for a trip to the Mountain Music Lounge… he is so courteous!
He’s playing at the Showbox tonight, in case you’re in need of plans for this evening. Listen in at 3:15 for that exclusive Music Lounge performance from Xavier Rudd.
Because I do Pilates, that’s why. I love it. It’s great for strength, flexibility, balance, and it helps me with everything else I do, from cycling to surfing to standing for two hours at a packed concert.
So now we’ve got a chance for you to try Pilates, and save yourself some money. Right now we’re offering you a sweet deal on private Pilates classes at Studio Evolve in Fremont. It’s the Mountain Insider Advantage — click here to check it out.
Here’s what I like about this place:
1. They’re really nice people, and they know their stuff.
2. Sting did Pilates there when he was in Seattle on the Police reunion tour, and
3. A little dog named Pandora hangs out at the studio.
Take a look at my recent visit to Studio Evolve, and witness the many ways you can get a workout on the main Pilates apparatus, the Reformer (I know, it sounds scary, but it’s really not!):
I did it. You probably did, too…danced alone in my room to Michael Jackson. Had J5 posters on the wall. Watched the cartoon. Tried to learn the Thriller dance.
I also fell in love with my uber hipster boyfriend on the night we “stayed in” and listened to Off the Wall on vinyl and declared it the greatest album of all time.
Hey, they didn’t call this guy The King Of Pop because he was a Prince, and for a girl from Minneapolis to say that is really hard. He was a genius, a true star.
When we got word that Michael had passed, we worked really hard to find a photo of Michael that would reflect the way we remember him. This is the one that did it for me. John did an amazing job presenting the news on the air. If you missed it, you can listen to it right here:
Check this out, it’s K’Naan, from last night’s show at the Moore Theatre.
Oh, you can’t see him that well? Ok, how’s this shot?
Or this?
A little better, if I do say so myself.
K’Naan visited the studio yesterday for a special Mountain Music Lounge! He and Matisyahu played us a great set of songs that really pumped up the positive energy in the room. Talk about an incredible story, K’Naan came here all the way from Somalia and learned the English language through film, TV, and hip hop – all of which he described as “art.” Truly inspiring!
And might I add that he is quite a stylish gentleman… emphasis on gentleman. A warm personality to compliment that positive music! Listen in, folks, he’s going to be HUGE.
Here is the gentleman (K’Naan) with the scholar (Matisyahu) singing “Jerusalem If I Forget You” from yesterday’s lounge:
(The next capital purchase for 103.7 The Mountain… a tripod!)
As they are now less than a week away from the release of “Wilco (the album),” Jeff Tweedy and Co. are getting techy. Well, maybe everyone except Tweedy.
They just put out an iPhone app (you can download it here: http://bit.ly/nc9qN), and they’re webcasting this Saturday night’s show live from the sold-out Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA. It’ll be available in Quicktime on http://wilcoworld.net and via the iPhone app.
If you need your Wilco fix, you should set your DVR to NBC tonight… they’re making an appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.
But hey, I’ll do you one better! Yesterday, I got the chance to sit down with Jeff Tweedy and ask the really important questions, like…
Our true Mountain expert, Ed Viesturs, recently came back from Everest with his tales of summitting the peak for the seventh time, and stopped by the studio with an update about his travels and the iPod.
For those who are just now joining our tale, our protagonist (Ed) enlisted the help of his trusty on-air sidekick (Me) to program his solar-powered iPod for the trek.
His favorite track? “Beautiful Day” by U2… can you imagine why?
Ed took that iPod with him all the way to the summit, and then back to our station for a great cause. We will be auctioning it off to support our Mountain charity efforts in the near future.
Ed was so kind, he even brought me a souvenir. It’s a rock from the summit. How cool is that! We may be auctioning off the iPod, but the rock is mine. So stay tuned for more news from the Mountain/Viesturs base camp soon.
Our New Music Sampler artists (and Mountain favorites) Carbon Leaf and Trevor Hall visited town this weekend for a great show at the Showbox. Check out this hilarious plan Barry (of CL) and I crafted for our blockbuster movie smash.
ME: These photos are great! You look like Daniel Day-Lewis. He would play you in the movie. Who plays me?
BARRY: No I play myself. I used to be an actor u know
BARRY: For u – Gwen P
ME: I remember, yes. How about DDL plays you in the movie and you play you in his flashbacks to your youth.
BARRY: Ah brilliant you’re my agent.
ME: We need a writer and a happy ending. I’m thinking Diablo Cody and you get me pregnant. Juno for cougars. There’s our pitch!!!
BARRY: BOTH of us? That seems like a complicated task
ME: Yeah, you me and DDL make a miracle baby. Twins from the present and past. This is really turning into something. Get Marty Scorsese on the horn.
BARRY: I totally brought my Final Draft software with me. Let’s do this!
Get Gwyneth on the phone! But who else would be a part of this film…?
The day finally came: The Mountains to Sound Relay. A hundred miles total . . . My team was The Fleet Foxes, because we’re, uh, fleet, and some of my teammates are . . . foxy. (Jodi Brothers will tell you the name of her team in the video below. Hey Jodi — why you gotta hate?)
Anyhoo, here’s the way it worked: 20 miles on a mountain bike, starting at Snoqualmie Pass — a breeze for my teammate Alex Schirer. Then I did 50 miles on my road bike. Then Shawn Stewart paddled for 12 miles with her mysterious friend Kevin, both apparently hampered by an extraordinarily massive loaner canoe that slowed things down for our team. Then Mountain account executives Bill Thompson (half marathon) and Kristina McAuliffe (6 mile sprint) proved that they can’t be confined by mere cubicles; they ran brilliantly, made up a lot of lost time, and took us all the way home to the finish at Golden Gardens. We were competing against a team captained by Jodi Brothers from the Marty Riemer Show and, sadly, we lost. But not by much. (The winners still get pizza, on me. That was the deal.)
Here’s a quick look at my part of the relay, starting with the pre-ride hang with Della Pizzati, my counterpart on Jodi’s team, then some action footage on the roads somewhere between here and Carnation, and then a wrap-up of my ride with Marty and Jodi. I wanted to shoot some inspiring footage of my hand off to Shawn Stewart — the high-five at the end of my ride before she jumped in her canoe. But she was so revved up to go that she slapped my hand and ran to the edge of the water before I even stopped my bike. There was no time to grab my video camera. So check out her blog for action footage from her leg of the race, and the Marty Riemer Show page for their behind-the-scenes video. Many thanks to our sponsor, Brooks Running (even though I wasn’t running.) It was a great event, and a big cycling accomplishment for me. But trust me when I tell you that you should never believe someone when they describe a road bike course as “easy, because it’s all downhill!” It’s not.
