Meet a rising STAR!

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?

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Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs – Sleep My Darlin’

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Star Anna – Through The Winter

- Shawn

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.

- Shawn

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!):

(Thanks to videographer Chris Boutee)

Hey all, Kat here.

I thought I would give you a heads-up on one of the happiest Happy Hours that Thursdays have to offer!

It’s the Mountain’s Downtown Escape at Pacific Place.

Let me break this down…

• Live music (this week, we’re featuring Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs)
• Food/Drink/Shopping specials all over the mall
• New Music Samplers to give out
• A kickin’ raffle with tons of cool stuff (like a Wii!)
• Yours truly as hostess for the evening

And did I mention live music? We featured Sweetlou last night, and Star Anna is coming up next week.

Check out Star Anna here:

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It’s all happening on Thursdays between 6/25 and 7/30, 5-7 PM at Pacific Place.

I’ll see you at the show!

- Kat

I thought it was a pretty interesting cooincidence that the day before Michael Jackson died, I hosted a session in the Carter Subaru Mountain Music Lounge with the Hassidic hip-hop reggae artist Matisyahu. (You can hear the whole thing here.)

I asked Matisyahu about something I’d read somewhere — that as a kid he dressed up like Michael Jackson and sang his songs. He said Michael was definitely an early influence, and a big karaoke favorite. When I asked him whether he gravitated toward the young, wide-eyed Jackson 5-era Michael, or the older Thriller-era MJ, Matisyahu threw done a few seconds of “Billy Jean,” beatbox style: (listen)

Kind of amazing to imagine how far and wide the King of Pop’s influence extends. If you can forget all the freaky stuff — the plastic surgery, the dangling baby, Bubbles the chimp, setting his hair on fire, the nasty sexual abuse allegations and sleeping with young boys at Neverland Ranch — Miichael Jackson did create some of the most compelling and brilliant pop music ever. That’s the part I’m going to think about.

(You can read Shawn Stewart’s thoughts about Michael Jackson, and leave your own comments, on her blog here.)

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:

Michael Jackson

And please, we’d love for you to post your thoughts too.

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!)

- Shawn

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…

What kind of cake does Wilco like?

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What’s the must-hear track from Wilco (the album)?

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What’s not in Tweedy’s repetoire?

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A recap of Jeff’s adventures with glowworms …

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And of course, that ever-pressing question. When is Wilco coming back to Seattle?

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I’m holding Tweedy to his word. Wilco, back in Seattle soon!

- Shawn

A few years ago, she lost an entire fully completed album due to record label restructuring. Last summer she was the victim of a brutal gang attack in LA. And this summer (July 21) she releases a great new album, A Little Happiness, which she recorded in Indiana while taking a break from California. And, most importantly, her song On Vacation is on our New Music Sampler.

Aimee Allen dropped by the Carter Subaru Mountain Music Lounge to introduce herself and play a couple of songs. Listen to the entire session here and you’ll hear her talk about whistling, how she got nominated for a Grammy for a song she sang in the musical Hairspray, her attack, and why her songs are sunny-on-the-outside, dark-on-the-inside.

And here’s a shot of me with Aimee and her bandmates Scott (left) and Andrew (right):

Oh yeah, and I’d also like to point out that she signed a poster for me and said I was her “treasure.” I can live with that:

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.

You can find out more about Ed’s seventh trip to Everest here.

- Shawn