The Witzard

"Hi there, my name is Steven Curtis . I'm a musician based in Seattle, Washington with a decent local following going. I recently released a video that reached over 200,000 views on Facebook . I performed with a loop pedal at Robert Lang Studios , which have worked with Nirvana , Foo Fighters, Macklemore , Train, Linkin Park , Kenny G, and more," read a recent email from self-described Seattle "singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, looper, performer," and Alex Hager affiliate Steven Curtis . "With just a microphone, loop pedal, and a guitar, Steven takes the stage and blows the crowd away... in the summer of 2015, Steven did over 100 shows. 2-3 shows a night just to get his name around Washington ; now, he's starting to trend everywhere, [recently] reaching over 1,200,000 views on Facebook doing a cover of "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent . Steven 's hard work and dedication has given him a steady following and supportive fan base,"...

"Don't sleep on Butch Bastard ," read a statement credited to Josh Tillman of Father John Misty and Fleet Foxes fame attached to a cold submitted message sent days after I posted my email address on Twitter , along with an open call for new music "not featured on Pitchfork ;" after reaching out to Poor Moon bassist and newly-christened Butch Bastard frontman Ian Murray himself, the Father John Misty -affiliated artist would go on to specify, "[ Josh is] my friend and I appreciate his endorsement, but I don't wish to be viewed as an appendage to his career." It would likely appear as though Butch Bastard was born when the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, performer, producer, and director uprooted his life from Seattle to Los Angeles in 2014 and started recording tracks from the comfort of his bedroom. Murray's wonderfully titled forthcoming album, I Am Not a Man , which currently lacks a proper label or release date, showca...

While it's been in-the-works for nearly 4 years and was largely recorded before Soundgarden 's recent reunion, it's kinda hard not to compare Ben Shepherd's solo side-project "HBS" to his pioneering Grunge band's 1980-90's work. The Seattle by way of Japan bassist managed to recruit a brigade of like-minded Seattle players including: Matt Cameron , Joseph Brailey, Klaus Lustica , Greg Gilmore, Matt Chamberlain , and Steve Kim . "Baron Robber" kinda sounds like the perfect soundtrack for a late night, moon-lit drive down some intertwining back roads in a bitchin' 90's Trans AM or I-ROC ; fuzzed out, bass-driven Alternative Rock at it's finest, which started out as an acoustic record! Hunter Benedict "Ben" Shepherd recorded the bulk of his debut solo project, In Deep Owl at a very interesting Georgetown location, buddy Gerry Amandes' studio that's right "behind a sex club... where [they] cou...

Guess what? Eddie Vender 's got a "NEW" solo album out! No, not really; Just a cassette tape that's [been] unearthed from someone's Seattle basement of the Pearl Jam frontman doing originals and covers sometime in the late 80's, pre- Pearl Jam existence. Believed to have been recorded for a co-worker, this-13 track tape includes covers of the Kenny Rogers ballad, "Something Inside So Strong" and "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke . It's not the first time early recordings from Vedder have surfaced that included some of these tracks (I've personally heard around 50 versions of "Betterman" prior to this collection), but the sound quality for this tape beats out most on the market. How is it? Well, let's take into account the fact that at the time, Eddie Vedder and his previous band, Bad Radio , were doing live covers of the Red Hot Chili Peppers . Yes, Eddie Vedder covering the Chili Peppers , I'm talking a...

Eddie Vedder has always been a pretty rebellious, Punk Rock kinda dude, if you really think about it: sticking it to the laundry-mat by repeatedly wearing the same flannel, wedging out a genre of his own in this crazy, Post-Hair Metal world, fighting for what he believes in, making a ukelele-based album, and searching for long-lost love/freedoms! I can remember listening to Pearl Jam back when I was like 10-15 on Philly 's own Y-100 [100.3 FM], when shit like that was still being labelled "Alternative Rock" ha. The band initially formed on the out-skirts of Seattle between 1984-90 and have been compiling everything form greatest hits to #RARE live takes ever since; Lost Dogs ("Leavin' Here") and Madison Square Garden, July 9th 2003 are 2 STELLAR releases that stick out in my mind... pulled from 100-200 official bootlegs the band's managed to re-release since 2000. It was announced on Election Day , in the wake of Sen. Jon Tester's win...