Category: Seattle, Washington Local News

Dear Hendrix,

I was one of the lucky ones. Growing up, my grandparents were in my life in a major way, and I don’t know where I would be today without them. It’s a funny thing—so often we’re taught that success means to move away from your family and start your own life, your own family. But for me, success means being able to talk, learn, and live with my mother’s parents, Gramsy and Poppie. And though they’re no longer here with us, I think about them often. I miss them dearly. So, I wanted to take a moment here to tell you a bit about them. And their dentures.

Back in the 1900s, when I was a teenager, Gramsy, Poppie, and I were sitting at the dining room table in our family home, the home my mother (your grandma) still lives in today. They were done with their dinner, but I was just about to dig into mine. What was on the menu? Gramsey’s gumbo! Both Gramsy and Poppie are from New Orleans, so while we lived 2,600 miles from the Crescent City, its cuisine was still a daily staple. 

As I licked my chops and picked up my spoon, Poppie started to talk to me about teeth. Specifically, his dentures. 

In old-school fashion, Poppie and Gramsy always cleaned their dentures after a meal—that wasn’t a rare sight. But that evening, they decided it was time I get a lesson in denture homecare. I sat there, spoon in hand, warm steam from the bowl of gumbo wafting up to my face, when Poppie took out his teeth and started to explain how he went about cleaning his removable pearly whites. An engineer by trade, Poppie, who moved up to Seattle in 1968 when there were no professional opportunities for him in the South, got a job at Boeing. It’s because of that job that you’re in Seattle today. And, seeing as how he’s an engineer,you can imagine how meticulous he was about his denture cleaning. 

This was not something at all I wanted to watch while I was eating—especially when sitting down to a messy dish like gumbo. But somehow I couldn’t look away, I listened intently and stared. I was fascinated by just about everything my grandparents told me. I wanted to soak up all their knowledge every chance I got and I guess that included their denture routine, strange as that might sound. After all, I might have dentures of my own someday!

I knew, even from a young age, both of them were smart. Both were good people. Both were the embodiment of love. Poppie’s real name—David Davidson—is actually on a plaque on the literal moon for his work at Boeing and a partnership with NASA that helped put the first man on the moon. And Gramsy could outcook even the best New Orleans chef. Her food remains legendary in our family, even today. 

Well, after Poppie finished his important denture points, Gramsy joined the conversation. She took her teeth out, too, and began offering her own top cleaning techniques. It’s like we were all of a sudden at a denture convention and they were the top panelists. I just wanted to eat my gumbo! Gramsy explained how the dentures fit snugly into her mouth, how they sat nicely on her gums and were secure there. Both continued to proudly display their well-cared-for false teeth at the dinner table, their stomachs full and appetites long appeased. My appetite? By then, my appetite was out the window. But it was a small price to pay for this memorable tableside show.

Gramsy and Poppie, Poppie and Gramsy. Yes, they (along with my mother) were my heroes growing up. I’m not close with my father’s parents (heck, I’m not all that close with my dad either). But Gramsy and Poppie were like a second pair of parents to me and my siblings. 

My mother was a single parent. My father was a bank robber. When he went to jail, our family needed help. Enter: Gramsy and Poppie, who selflessly put their ideas of retirement away to help raise four kids (including a fabulous granddaughter who would one day become a DJ for one of the most popular independent radio stations in the country and a columnist for The Stranger). They cared for us and, as a result, I never felt like anything was missing in my life.

Gramsy’s real name was Eva—I was named after her. The story goes: pregnant with me (and your Uncle Cedric), my mom had made up her mind that my first name was going to be something completely different. But when I popped out of the womb, as my mom stared at me, she exclaimed, “Oh goodness, forget that other name! This is Eva! She looks just like my mom!” As they say in the Black community, I was a bright-skinned child or a “high yellow” baby. And I apparently also looked like a 65-year-old Creole woman with fake teeth. I’ll take it! 

Gransy and Poppie met in New Orleans. He used to walk by her house on the way to his job and every day he saw her, he fell more and more in love. One day, he asked if they could go out. That led to a relationship, which led to a marriage, which led to the family moving up to the Pacific Northwest. It’s the Poppie and Gramsy butterfly effect!

Henny, I so wish you could have met them. Growing up was special. We ate so well every single day, I didn’t  realize that red beans and rice, gumbo, yams, rice and gravy with shrimp Creole, greens, and cornbread weren’t what everyone else ate every week in the Northwest, too. Not until my grandma passed did I realize, “Oh shit! No one cooks like that up here!” And it wasn’t until your dad took me to New Orleans (where he also proposed), and we ate at a restaurant called Mother’s, that I was able to get a taste of the familiar flavors that brought back memories of sitting at the table in Gramsy’s kitchen. 

I remember watching cartoons on a black-and-white TV, eating southern cuisine like a queen. Teleport me there now! Just for an hour!

While I was born in Seattle, and raised in the cloudy and grungy ’90s, inside our home it always felt like 1970s New Orleans. Wood paneling (still up by the way), plastic-covered furniture, doilies everywhere, Gramsy in her rocking chair listening to big band music on her AM radio that doubled as  an 8-track player. Drapes, craftsman’s wood, and the biggest floor model television sets you’ve ever seen, with matching gigantic remote controls that looked as if they powered Apollo 11. At night, your Uncle Cedric and I would routinely go into their bedroom to hang out while Gramsy while Poppie sat downstairs enjoying a glass of whiskey and his politically incorrect Westerns. Gramsy taught us how to play Go Fish, Uno, Pokeno and dominoes on her bed. Then we would watch the draw of her Keno lottery numbers, horse races, followed up with Nick at Night shows. Where is that teleportation device I ordered on Etsy!

But that brings me to you, dear Henny. Even though you never got a chance to meet Poppie and Gramsy, who died in the early 2000s, you do have the opportunity to meet your incredible grandmothers. Both my mom and your dad’s mom are remarkable women. Teachers; they raised six kids in total. They love to learn, read, laugh, and watch bad TV. They go to church, and they care about other people—even today, when that seems hardest. 

The best thing is they love you to the ends of the Earth! My life is better knowing that they are in your life today. Believe me, your father and I will always be there for you, but there is nothing like the love you get from a grandparent, from someone who’s been around long enough to need dentures. It’s the coolest fucking shit there is. 

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Eva Walker is a writer, a KEXP DJ, one-half of the rock duo the Black Tones, and mom to her baby girl, Hendrix. She also cowrote the book The Sound of Seattle: 101 Songs That Shaped a City, which was released in 2024. Every month for The Stranger, she writes a letter to Hendrix to share wisdom learned from her experiences—and her mistakes. Read all installments here.

Students from Denny Middle School and Chief Sealth High School took part in a peaceful protest on January 30, against the tactics employed by Immigration authorities. 

Photo by Patrick Robinson

Thousands of individuals across the country participated in a massive “no work, no school, no shopping” boycott on January 30 to protest federal immigration enforcement and recent fatal shootings,. The movement, which included more than 300 protest sites across nearly every U.S. state, was organized to pressure national leaders to “stop funding ICE” and remove federal agents from local communities.

 

 

 

In a local display of this movement, students from Chief Sealth High School and Denny Middle School marched with banners to the parking lot at the Nino Cantu Athletic Complex. During this gathering, student speakers voiced their opposition to the tactics employed by ICE and the recent events in Minnesota that served as a catalyst for the national demonstrations.

A National Movement Triggered by Tragedy

The nationwide demonstrations were primarily triggered by the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis. In that city alone, reporting indicates that thousands of people took to the streets. The actions were not limited to physical rallies; because the “national shutdown” included boycotts and walkouts, participation was also measured by significant absences from workplaces and schools.

Seattle Educators and Students Take a Stand

In the Seattle area, the demonstrations were heavily centered in the education sector. While the national action took place on January 30, local protests were set to continue into January 31, featuring a major rally at Seattle Central College,.

This “ICE Out of Seattle” rally was supported by a broad coalition of labor and educator groups, including:

• Seattle Education Association

• MLK Labor

• Washington Education Association

• AFT Local 1789 (Seattle Colleges faculty union)

Concerns Over “Protected Areas”

A primary focus for Seattle educators was the protection of immigrant students and their families. According to the sources, educators expressed fear that students and parents could be targeted following federal policy changes that removed “Protected Areas” restrictions. This shift prompted a strong call for the removal of ICE presence from schools to ensure a safe learning environment,.

While official attendance numbers for the school-based walkouts were not formally released by Seattle Public Schools, the involvement of major labor unions suggests a substantial turnout and a notable impact on the local education system during the two-day protest.

Don Lemon Arrested: Federal agents arrested journalist Don Lemon in Los Angeles on Thursday where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Lemon’s crime? The feds believe Lemon was “connected” to the anti-immigration protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service because a pastor at the church has a little sidegig—leading the local ICE field office . The protest happened almost two weeks ago. A magistrate judge previously rejected the case brought against Lemon by the Department of Justice due to insufficient evidence. Lemon says he was simply doing journalism. The DOJ claims Lemon was trespassing and his presence at the church interruption “may have impeded… churchgoers’ constitutional rights to express their religion.” Constitutional rights for me but not for thee, hm? Independent journalist Georgia Fort, who filmed the church demonstration, was also arrested. Aside from journalists, feds arrested two other people involved in the church demonstration. Cool First Amendment we’ve got here. Strong. Sound. Unbiased.

The Feds Showed Up at Fort’s Door: 

Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minnesota NABJ chapter, was also arrested by federal agents this morning

I was sent this video of agents at her door:

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— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) January 30, 2026 at 6:58 AM

$30 Million for CHOP Death: The City of Seattle must pay $30.5 million in damages to the father of Antonio Mays Jr., the teenager shot and killed inside 2020’s autonomous Capitol Hill Organized Protest. A King County judge found the city was negligent in its response to Mays’ shooting and that negligence caused his death. 

Wilson Preps for ICE: Mayor Katie Wilson laid out several actions to get Seattle and its residents ready in the event of an ICE surge. Her orders include barring federal “civil immigration enforcement activities” on Seattle property, directing the Seattle Police Department to investigate and verify reports of ICE activity, doling out $4 million to immigrants support organizations, and creating a community hotline. She hasn’t said anything about those pesky police CCTV cameras, though.  

The Weather: It’s going to rain.

Measles, Shmeasles: That’s the attitude some of you have about vaccinating your little gremlins. Snohomish County just reported three more measles cases, bringing the county’s total cases this month to six. The most recent case involves an unvaccinated twerp who went to a church service while infected.

Congrats: Washington state now has a population of 8 million people. Between 2024 and 2025, the Evergreen State added more than 73,000 people—ranking our state sixth for population growth—and pushed us over that sweet, sweet, 8 million line.

Today’s the Day We’ve All Been Waiting for: The Melania documentary is coming out! Amazon spent $40 million for the rights and then spent $35 million marketing the movie about Melania Trump in the days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration. The director is Brett Ratner. This is his first film since he disappeared after six women accused him of sexual assault back in 2017. Disaster has already struck. The first screening of Melania in the United Kingdom was cancelled because  distributors allegedly forgot to send the film. That’s okay, people can just read the erotic parody Melania Devourer of Men which is currently topping Amazon charts. 

Not Melania Fans? That aforementioned $35 million Amazon-funded ad campaign paid for a bunch of Melania posters at Los Angeles bus stops. The bus-going public in Tinseltown did not appreciate this. They scribbled Hitler mustaches on the Melania on the Melania poster, writing “Eva Braun” around her head, the name of Hitler’s wife. Others gave their local Melania posters devil horns or left a note that the film’s subject was in the Epstein files. Fearing more unsanctioned art by this city of artists, LA Metro, which has buses plastered in Melania ads as well, opted to relocate the buses to different routes away from hot graffiti zones. 

Eva ‘Melania’ Braun

…being in a position to know and nevertheless shunning knowledge creates direct responsibility for the consequences…

– Albert Speer, Inside the Third Reich –

Inglourious Basterds – The Verdikt
(Dopo La Condanna) Ennio Morricone 🎼

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— Nicky Schwenzer (@nickyschwenzer.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 2:07 AM

Boston, You Could Earn $50: Someone is supposedly paying people to see Melania in Boston. It’s on Craigslist, so it’s probably real. 

Federal Reserve Gets New Dad: Donald Trump nominated former Federal Reserve governor and outspoken critic Kevin Warsh to run the whole thing. Warsh will replace Jerome Powell as the chair of the Fed. This could be good for Trump who was beefing with Powell who wouldn’t cut rates. In the past, Warsh has echoed Trump’s frustrations about  the Fed’s resistance to cutting interest rates. The financial tea leaves (the strength of the dollar) seemed to approve of Warsh. 

No Death Penalty for Luigi: A federal judge ruled that prosecutors won’t be able to seek the death penalty in their case against 27-year-old Luigi Mangione who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The judge dismissed two counts against Magnione, “including murder through use of a firearm… and a weapons charge,” according to The Guardian. Mangione still faces two federal stalking charges and the possibility of life in prison without parole. 

Can You Be Addicted to Hair Transplant Consultations? My child, you can be addicted to anything. 

A Long Read: Remember when that army helicopter crashed into a passenger plane in D.C.? Here’s what went down in that cockpit. 

Waymo Hits Kid: A Waymo robotaxi struck a child near a Santa Monica, California elementary school. The kid is okay and only suffered minor injuries. Waymo has started a probe into the incident to see what went wrong. I have an idea: No one was driving the car.

Downhill Doozy: Olympics-bound skier Lindsay Vonn, 41, crashed in the final World Cup downhill in Crans-Montana, Switzerland due to bad conditions (snow everywhere). The decorated Olympian came out of the crash clutching her knee. She was airlifted from the slopes via helicopter. She is due to compete in the Milano Cortina Olympics that start next week. Crans-Montana has seen far worse this month. 

A Song for Your Friday: You’ve probably heard this by now. The tradition of protest music lives on. Bruce Springsteen has carried that torch for decades. He cannot snuff it out yet.  

Last week, Seattle Children’s Theatre announced their decision to pull their two-week run of the play Young Dragon: A Bruce Lee Story from the Kennedy Center due to the impact of the Trump administration—namely, Trump installing himself as chairman, dismissing and replacing staff, and installing his name above Kennedy’s. Many other artists, including Issa Rae, Phillip Glass, and the cast of Hamilton, have also canceled their upcoming performances at the theater for political reasons.

The play would have been staged at the Center in April, after its still-planned run at the Children’s Theatre from February 19 to March 15. “The landscape in which the production was originally created has changed to an extent that after careful consideration, we have come to the decision that this is not the right time to transfer a SCT production to the Kennedy Center,” said SCT managing director Kevin Malgesini in a statement. “Our priority is to honor Bruce Lee’s story with integrity and to uphold the trust our community places in us.”

Keiko Green, the playwright, has been a celebrated contributor to Seattle’s wider theatre landscape. She was commissioned to write the script for Young Dragon by SCT and the Kennedy Center two years ago.  And in the meantime, Seattle hosted productions of two of her plays: Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play, a wacky time-traveling comedy set in 1999, and Hells Canyon, a chilling horror thriller. Green has also written for TV shows like Hulu’s Interior Chinatown and the upcoming series Margo’s Got Money Troubles, which stars Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman and premieres on Apple TV on April 15.

The Stranger caught up with her after the announcement to pull the Young Dragon from the Kennedy Center.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

This decision means that the play isn’t associated with the Trump administration, but it also limits its chance to reach a wider audience. How do you feel about that?

It’s really complicated, to be totally honest with you. I really feel a lot of relief about this decision, personally. I can’t really speak for the theater. I mean, there’s obviously a lot of stress and complexity along with it too. I know that we had school shows that were going to be pretty heavily attended. When it comes to the public shows, the audience space has declined to around 20 percent of what it used to be, so I know that there’s already been such a lack of support from their previous audiences.

I’m very sad about the school shows that will be canceled. In a way, the fact that the ticket sales for the Kennedy Center at large are down [makes me think] okay, at least we’re not robbing a huge plethora of people. And the people who are upset about us not going probably weren’t ever going to come to the show anyway. They’re not really people who are supporting a story about a cool Asian American, and they’re not necessarily supporting children’s theater, either.

I also think that this was really an opportunity for us to tell the country and the world morally where we stand with this play. As much as it’s sad to not be able to reach this audience immediately, I actually think we can use this as a launching point to try to reach out to new partners and find a future. My hope is that it’ll end up in DC at some point, whether it’s with the Kennedy Center in the future or a different location. It’s just not going to be at this very moment, at that very place.

Are you and Seattle Children’s Theatre looking into any alternative venues?

I have personally been in touch with a few other theaters that have just reached out to read the script in completely different locations outside of DC—I’ve [been in contact with] a theater in Southern California and a theater in Kansas City. I’ve heard that [Seattle Children’s Theatre] plans to hopefully bring people from other regions in to see the production itself.

I am so proud of this team. What’s really great about the play right now is that we have all this attention for pulling out, and with that comes a bit of pressure to make sure the show is good. I think the show is really, really cool, so the moment that we get people to come in and see what we’re offering, I feel really confident that the show is going to have a future.

How were you involved in the decision making process, and how long were you and Seattle Children’s Theatre thinking about this?

We’ve been having these conversations for a long time. About a year ago, we had this workshop in New York, and at that time, there were a lot of conversations that were happening separately.

Before the [Kennedy Center’s] name changed, when the board was first fired and replaced, there was a conversation with myself and the director, Jess McLeod, about what that meant. For me, growing up in the South and seeing so little representation, for a long time I was like, those kids need it maybe more than ever. It was always a decision where we were going to have to see how things were evolving and moving.

For me, a big clincher is that no one who I was ever in communication with [at the Kennedy Center], who were giving notes through the process and were originally part of the commissioning team, works there anymore. We don’t even know what to call this institution anymore, legally. There are still great people working there, and my heart goes out to them, but they’re not the people who I originally was in contact with. So in addition to the big blowup and snowballing of everything that’s been happening, there’s just been a very real sense that I don’t know what we’re walking into.

I really applaud Seattle Children’s Theatre for this. There are very real consequences that are not just affecting them—there are actors who are losing two weeks of work and two weeks of health insurance. There are crew members in DC who were going to be rebuilding the set and bringing it in and working the show, who are now going to be out of a job. [SCT] was really trying to talk to as many people who would be affected as possible, and in between that, Jess McLeod and I were chatting with the leaders at SCT, probably every other day, to help them as they were making a decision. But ultimately, we were saying, it’s their name on the line, it’s their contracts, and so I’m here to support them. I’m not going to sabotage anybody, I’m not going to leave if the choice is to go, I’m not going to leave actors hanging. But we were pretty vocal that our hope was that we would be able to pull out of the contract.

I know this play is at the Seattle Children’s Theatre, but would you encourage adults without children to attend too?

We were originally hoping to write something that was mostly for teens, and we started opening up that age [group] a little bit. That means we’re not dumbing it down or talking down to kids at all on this play, which serves the play and who Bruce was. It just means that instead of a lot of dialogue-heavy scenes, we might be leaning more into letting physicality and visual storytelling do some work. The play itself is really cool, even for diehard Bruce Lee fans—it’s about a lesser-known part of his life, which is when he was in Seattle. Before, he had been basically banished from Hong Kong for getting into too much trouble and was feeling a lot of shame about where he was in his life and what that meant for his future. It was a huge, sobering wake-up call.

Suddenly he’s a dishwasher at a restaurant, and slowly, he’s enrolling in college at University of Washington and becoming an instructor and getting the first little seeds of creating this new style of martial arts, Jeet Kune Do. What’s really cool about the play is that even the parents or adults on their own who want to come see the show [will have] a really fun time. It’ll be visually entertaining, but it’s also a lot about his philosophies.

The play is full of a lot of moments in Bruce Lee’s life that are going to be a little less familiar, even to a lot of adults. I’m really excited. I think it’s the most fully intergenerational thing I’ve ever written. My hope is always that number one, I don’t want to talk down to kids because they’re smarter than we think, and two, I just want to make sure that those parents who may already have a relationship to Bruce Lee can gain something from the story.

What do you hope Seattle audiences take away from Young Dragon?

The trickiest part of this play has been making a play that’s about Bruce Lee, before he’s the legend. I had a meeting with Shannon Lee, Bruce’s daughter, and I asked her, “What do you hope that young people take away from the show?” She said, “I really want people to know how curious he was, how he was trying everything. How he was a real renaissance man.” He loved the arts, and he was also writing poetry and drawing and dancing—he was a cha cha champion!— in addition to being this movie star and the creator of Jeet Kune Do.

Also, because the show so heavily features his philosophies, specifically the “be like water” philosophy, the play itself is about how Bruce Lee—who, as a kid, is this hothead, who we associate with in our play with fire—every single obstacle he’s encountering, he’s hitting back as hard as he can, and there’s this rageful fire. That’s how he’s approaching all of the obstacles in his life. Through the story, and in his time in Seattle, he’s discovering truly what it means to be like water: When these obstacles present themselves, how do we find the cracks and the paths around to ultimately peacefully and more efficiently reach our goal? I think that the decision feels true to that message. We were hit with this big obstacle of having [to adapt from] the idea that we’re going to be presenting the show at the Kennedy Center, and now we have this opportunity to find a new way around and hopefully find an even more exciting path forward for the play.

Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS Is the Most Beautiful Film of our Times

Welcome back to Pop Loser! Despite everything feeling unbearably horrific in the world this week (FUCK ICE), there have been a few tiny glimmers of joy: the Vera Project has announced a new venue, Victoria Beckham’s single “I’m Not Such an Innocent Girl” is trending, and Connie Converse’s How Sad, How Lovely is finally getting reissued. And, in another edition of First Times, Maria Maita-Keppeler of Portland-based indie rock project MAITA shares her early musical influences from Elliott Smith to Vitamin C.

This Week in Music

Let’s start with some rare good news: The Vera Project is opening a new all-ages venue in Georgetown next year. Dave Segal spoke with Vera’s executive director, Ricky Graboski, about their plans for expansion in 2027. While they consider Vera to be their “home base,” and Black Lodge their “underground venue,” they are hoping that the new Georgetown venue will be a space for mutual aid. “We want it to be run by and for community, so every show’s going to have a mutual aid group, a nonprofit, someone there who is supporting something in local community,” Graboski told Segal, specifying that 40 to 60 tickets at every show will be pay-what-you-can. Vera’s goal is to raise $2.5 million by early 2027, when the yet-to-be-named Georgetown space is set to open. Seattle-born rock band Band of Horses is already on board to contribute by donating $1 from every ticket they sell on their upcoming tour to help fund Vera’s new venue.

The lineup for Portland’s Pickathon festival has dropped, and it’ll be worth the three-hour drive south this summer. Highlights include Brazilian music icon Marcos Valle, alt-country king Steve Earl, and Idaho’s finest Built to Spill, along with lesser-known gems like experimental guitarist Mary Halvorson, Aussie outfit Folk Bitch Trio, and indie rock duo Widowspeak.

Meanwhile, the Watershed Festival will run dry in 2026. The Gorge’s annual contemporary country music festival announced its hiatus this year, providing no further details or reasons why. Oh well, Willie Nelson’s Outlaw festival is the only country music fest I was interested in anyway.

This week in pathetic Drake news (seriously, this could become a regular segment), the rapper has appealed the lawsuit ruling on “Not Like Us.” In October, a federal judge dismissed the rapper’s defamation lawsuit against UMG, which sought damages from the label for promoting Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning diss track. UMG claims that Drake “lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated,” to which the judge agreed. But the self-proclaimed “Certified Lover Boy” still won’t give it up.

Reggae icon Sly Dunbar (of Sly and Robbie) has died at the age of 73. The Grammy-winning drummer, who has played on iconic tracks by Lee Perry, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Grace Jones, was found unresponsive in his home on Monday morning. No cause of death has been made public thus far.

The best news of the week: Monster-in-law Victoria Beckham has scored the biggest-selling single of the week, with a nearly 2,000 percent surge on her 2001 single “I’m Not Such An Innocent Girl.” If you’ve been living under a rock, Posh Spice’s son, Brooklyn, recently popped off on Instagram, revealing that his parents have been sabotaging his relationship with wife Nicola Peltz, citing his mother’s “inappropriate” dancing at their wedding. Release the tapes!

Prepare to be gagged: If you’re not familiar with King Crimson guitarist/Brian Eno collaborator Robert Fripp and New Wave diva Toyah Wilcox’s YouTube channel, let me introduce you. The married couple posts weekly covers while decked out in unbelievable costumes (for example, they recently used their giant pet rabbits as puppets while singing “Auld Lang Syne”). This week, the duo shared their cover of X-Ray Spex’s “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” in full bondage gear, ball gag and all.

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First Times with MAITA

MAITA, the indie rock project by Portland-based singer-songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler, has moved many people with her angelic vocals and cathartic lyricism. One such person was Kill Rock Stars’ founder Slim Moon, who came out of a twelve-year-long retirement and revived the label to sign her. Four years after her debut album, Best Wishes, MAITA signed to Portland’s Fluff & Gravy Records, releasing her 2024 label debut, want—a must for fans of emotional indie rock à la Big Thief, Mitski, and Lucy Dacus. I caught up with the singer-songwriter ahead of her show at Baba Yaga on Sunday (with Seattle indie folk band St. Yuma) to discuss her early musical influences from No Doubt and Elliott Smith to Vitamin C.

What was the first album you bought?

It’s so difficult to remember this because, admittedly, my middle school years were soundtracked almost exclusively by burned CDs. I do know that at one point I owned a No Doubt greatest hits CD, which I remember as one of the first albums I really fell for, even though technically it’s not a real album and just a collection of their singles. Still, unbeknownst to me, No Doubt taught me a lot about song structure (they always had a bridge), as well as the concept that there could be women and electric guitars in a band. (What a novel concept for a pre-teen!)

What was the first song you sang in front of people?

I sang a lot as a young kid, but forced myself into hibernation for about a decade after hearing that I didn’t have a good singing voice. Then, when I was 16, I decided to perform “Between the Bars” by Elliott Smith at a high school open mic night. I was shaking like a leaf! I did a private run-through in front of my best friend before the show, and even then, it took me about 10 minutes to start singing. I still love that song.

What was the first instrument you played, and what was the first song you learned?

I taught myself to play piano as a kid, mostly all by ear, so I never really got a firm grasp on music theory. (This is true even today, unfortunately.) I loved that song “Graduation” by Vitamin C when I was in elementary school, and learning that it was basically Pachelbel’s Canon was a revelation for me. You bet I learned to play Pachelbel’s Canon, and you bet I paired it with Vitamin C’s “Graduation” and played it for my fifth-grade class when we, well, graduated.

What was the first song that made you cry?

I wasn’t a big crier as a kid. This feels really random and almost embarrassing, but for whatever reason, I remember the Columbia space shuttle disaster of 2003 hit me really hard, and my mom was listening to some Jim Brickman piano song, and the combination of those sunk me into a deep, sulking state. I wallowed all afternoon. Now I mostly just cry at shows, when the energy is potent and all-encompassing. I cried when Feist revealed her full band mid-set at a show last winter. I bawled all the way through a Haley Heynderickx set last summer.

Who was the first musician you idolized?

Probably Conor Oberst. I went hard for Bright Eyes when I found them in middle school. I was obsessed, I listened to their albums on repeat. There’s nothing like discovering Fevers and Mirrors as a young teen.

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Events Worth Your Hard-Earned Money This Week

Tyler Ramsey & Carl Broemel: Celestun Tour Jan 29, the Crocodile, 8 pm, 21+

WAR Jan 29-Feb 1, Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, all ages

Den Tapes Winter Jam IV: Great Ooze, Tourist Activities, 222, & Young-Chhaylee Jan 30, Tractor Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

Drink The Sea Jan 30, Town Hall Seattle, 8 pm, all ages

Glaive: Y’all Tour Jan 30, the Showbox, 8 pm, all ages

Glitterfox Jan 30, Barboza, 6:30 pm, 21+

MAITA with St. Yuma Feb 1, Baba Yaga, 8 pm, 21+

Speak-Easier: Bridging the Abortion Divide, Presented by The Pro-Voice Project Feb 1, Hidden Hall, 4:30 pm, 21+

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The Songs That Keep Me Up at Night

“House” by Connie Converse

I have many special holy-grail records that I’ve collected through the years: an early pressing of Velvet Underground and Nico with a perfectly intact banana, an original copy of Big Star’s #1 Record, etc. Yet, Discogs tells me that my most valuable record is the 2015 compilation of Connie Converse’s 1950s recordings, which continues to baffle me. If I’ve learned anything from being a record-buying freak, it’s to never pay a premium for contemporary out-of-print records. They will be reissued, I promise! Exhibit A: Third Man Records has announced that they are reissuing Converse’s How Sad, How Lovely, which will likely make the value of my copy decrease from $300 to $20. Aside from making her music more widely accessible, the best part about the reissue is that it features this previously unreleased track. The song showcases everything I love about Converse’s songwriting: whimsy, complaining about rent prices, and puzzling song structure, which was far ahead of its time.

“Way Out” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Have you listened to the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s 2006 album Show Your Bones in a while? If not, throw it on now. The world is enveloped in darkness right now, and we can all use a boost of comforting nostalgia that isn’t the 2016 Instagram trend (I’d much prefer to return to 2006, thank you very much). This song in particular brings me back to the fourth grade, making pillow forts in my bedroom.

Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old taken by ICE in Minneapolis, is sick behind bars, according to his school’s superintendent. Liam reportedly is vomiting, feverish, experiencing stomach pain, and doesn’t want to eat, his mother told the superintendent. All this is due to the abysmal conditions and bug-infested food at the South Texas Family Residential Center, where Liam is being held with his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. The father and son entered the country legally. 

Mask Off: Law enforcement officers in Washington state may soon have to show their faces while performing public duties. Yesterday, a bill banning face coverings for on-duty officers advanced out of the state Senate. The Democrat-backed substitute Senate Bill 5855 is meant to unmask masked federal agents in Washington state. Federal authority takes precedence over states. Enforcing the law could be difficult, possibly rendering it useless, reports the Seattle Times. 

Want to Support Minneapolis Protests? These 30+ Seattle businesses are donating their proceeds to support restaurants in Minneapolis participating in a nationwide economic blackout tomorrow to protest ICE.

Trump Insults Denmark, Part Infinity: On Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Denmark removed the 44 Danish flags placed in planters outside the building meant to honor 44 Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan (about 9,500 Danish troops were sent to Afghanistan). Danish veterans placed them there after President Trump, fixated on taking control of the semiautonomous Danish territory of Greenland, said in a recent interview that the US “never needed” the country’s help. A State Department spokesperson claims there was no ill intent—just regular, post-demonstration maintenance. 

Weather: It’s kinda rainy, pretty gray, about 50 degrees…what more is there to know?

Buzzed: The state might lower its legal blood alcohol concentration limit for Washington drivers from 0.08% to 0.05%. Yesterday, the state Senate passed SB5067—the result of a years-long effort by Democratic Senator John Lovick, a former state trooper and county sheriff. If the House passes the bill, Washington would lower the threshold on July 1. The only other state with such a low legal limit is Utah, but from a global perspective, 0.05% isn’t low at all. Last year, The Stranger conducted a semi-scientific experiment using alcohol and Mario Kart 64 to test the difference between the current limit and Lovick’s limit.

 

A vacant lot in West Seattle could become a “religious-controlled emergency transitional housing site.” A proposal submitted to the city on January 16 includes space for 20 tiny homes and parking for up to 72 recreational vehicles. The Low Income Housing Institute would operate the site. District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka says it’ll be a “common-sense solution to help bring people indoors.” A formal permit application needs to be filed before any actual change happens.

12saquah: That’s what Issaquah Mayor Mark Mullet has officially renamed the city 12saquah—a nod to “the 12s” nickname for Seahawks fans—to honor the Seahawks return to the Superbowl. Issaquah changed its name to 12saquah in 2015, the last time the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl. 

The Broadview Six: The six protesters who blocked an ICE vehicle outside an immigration processing facility last fall were charged with federal conspiracy during Operation Midway Blitz, the massive ICE operation in Chicago. Yesterday, their attorneys argued to keep evidence in their case public, against prosecutors’ proposed protective order that would limit access to discovery materials. The defense argued that growing national scrutiny of ICE warrants the materials to be public, and that secrecy makes little sense in a case centered on protest, policing and free speech. The judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to preserve five days of surveillance footage from the Broadview ICE facility surrounding the protest. The case is headed to trial this spring.

Tech So Bad Even Techies Are Worried: Amazon has been dumping billions of dollars into its artificial intelligence infrastructure. Worker advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice issued an open letter to the company, saying employees are worried that the company’s push for energy-guzzling AI push is detrimental to its goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. “The AI race is widening this gap,” read the letter.

This song has been stuck in my girlfriend’s head, which means it’s been stuck in my head, which means I must pass it on to you. Sorry or you’re welcome.

The site at 7201 2nd Ave SW is the early planning stages for transitional housing. 

Image from Apple Maps

An empty industrial lot located at 7201 Second Avenue Southwest in West Seattle could soon be transformed into a transitional housing hub for people living in recreational vehicles and tiny homes. According to city records first reported by King5, early filings submitted on January 16 outline plans for a religious-controlled emergency housing site that would include space for 20 tiny homes and parking for up to 72 RVs.

The scale of the proposal reflects a significant need in West Seattle’s District 1, which currently faces the highest concentration of RV encampments in the city. Councilmember Rob Saka noted that his district has roughly three times the number of RV encampments compared to the next closest council district. Saka has expressed strong support for the project as a way to address the growing crisis.

“This new site strikes me as being a common-sense solution to help bring people indoors,” Saka said regarding the proposal. He added that he hopes many of the unhoused neighbors currently living in RVs across the district would be able to utilize this new space.

While the plans are moving forward, city officials emphasize that the project is still in its preliminary stages. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections confirmed that the current filings are part of a pre-application process, and a formal permit has not yet been submitted or approved. If the project proceeds, the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) is identified as the organization that would manage and operate the site.

The property has a long history of being considered for municipal use; it was previously a candidate for a city jail in 2008 and was proposed as a safe lot for vehicles by former Mayor Ed Murray in 2016. Saka indicated that he has been directly engaged at a high level with the Mayor’s administration and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) to coordinate these efforts.

Before any changes can occur at the site, a formal permit application must be filed, which will trigger a public review process and community outreach.

For more details on this developing story, visit King5: https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/empty-lot-west-seattle-hub-tiny-homes-rvs/281-014e8588-499a-4aa2-a34e-953c95bd382d

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Passport is our extended library of captivating dramas, inspiring arts performances, thoughtful documentaries, trusted news and more. Donate to support public media in your local community and enjoy the member benefit of Passport.

Watch with

Passport is our extended library of captivating dramas, inspiring arts performances, thoughtful documentaries, trusted news and more. Donate to support public media in your local community and enjoy the member benefit of Passport.