About The Artists

Adra Boo

Seattle soul singer, emcee, curator, coach, City of Seattle Music Commissioner and Black Auntie, Adra Boo, navigates many spaces, wearing many hats! Musically, she’s been a singer/songwriter for indie-soul duo Fly Moon Royalty and new-wave-noir band Hotels, and as a solo entertainer, recording with a variety of Seattle staples. As an emcee, Adra has captivated small and large audiences alike for a number of events and organizations including The GSBA, YWCA, Rain City Rock Camp, Artist Home, City of Seattle, City of Redmond, multiple Pride orgs, and more. Boo has also performed as a member of both Simone Pin Productions and Dark Diamonds Burlesque, and she’s shared stages with local and internationally known music and burlesque performers. She is also the creator of #BlackHotSunday, events and showcases focused on Black music, Black vendors, and Blackness to the front! A veteran performer on a myriad of stages, Boo has been compared to timeless musicians like Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner, unafraid to ruffle feathers or rouse would-be audiences. And while all of these efforts cause her to stand out in the city, it’s her work as an artistic liaison that has made her a local legend.

Betsy Olson Band     

Betsy Olson Band is a Seattle-based bluesy rock band. A native Montanan, Betsy Olson has been playing blues guitar and singing in Seattle for over 20 years. She is joined on stage by Sera Cahoone (drums), Rebecca Young (bass), and Moe Provencher (guitar, harmonica, vox). Their influences range from Led Zeppelin to Bonnie Raitt and present a gritty rocking sound on stage.

Down North           

“Dude sings like James Brown… bass is less slap and more groove.” – The Stranger 

“A sound that’s downright impossible to resist.” – Seattle Weekly 

‘No Retreat, No Return, No Surrender.’ – The Down North Motto 

There are some performers who come to music later in life. Then, there are folks who you can just tell were voracious students and consumers of music since before they could talk. Seattle / Los Angeles / North Carolina based quartet Down North fall squarely into the latter group. Trying to pin genre tags onto their unique brand of psych-infused punk soul is an exercise in futility. These creatives pick and choose just-right bits and flavors drawn from the whole of modern western music like painters with unlimited palates. 

Front man Anthony Briscoe, bassist Brandon Storms, guitarist Nick Quiller, and drummer Conrad Real (who also plays with Ayron Jones and icons Digable Planets) were on a roll following the release of the No Retreat Volume 1 EP (2018). The record had been well received by the press, and extensive touring plans were in place. Then, the global pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt. 

When other artists might have succumbed to despair, Down North strives to live their motto: No Retreat, No Return, No Surrender. “We tried to see it as an opportunity” explains Briscoe. “We’ve been known as a great live band. This time we really wanted to show that we could capture that magic in our recorded music.”

Thematically, the record deals with the timeless subject of love. Though, in this case, the focus tends toward how often it just doesn’t go that well. For anybody. Ever. “My sister was a great songwriter and helped a lot” says Briscoe. “That was before she passed, a victim of domestic violence. She wrote the song “If I”, which is actually about domestic violence, but told from the man’s perspective.” The track hits as hard emotionally as it does sonically. 

Working with rising producer Noah Althoff, the band tracked the record at Kaleidoscope Recording Studio in Lancaster, PA. “No offense to any of the Seattle studios, but we didn’t want to have the same sound as everybody else here” explains Briscoe. “A lot of the rooms in Seattle sound very similar, especially when it comes to drums.” In addition to the core band, the record feature performances by mountain soul keyboardist Tuck Ryan. “This record is something I’m proud of” says Quiller. “That’s never happened before. Boosh.” 

The music that Down North has laid to tape on No Restraint Volume 2 is driving, crisply executed, and tight as all get out. It is funky - but it would be wrong to call it funk. Strong pop melodicism anchors searing punk energy. Brash technical virtuosity nods to Alternative rock. Funky gospel metal, maybe? Regardless of what you call it, this record exudes its creators fierce focus and determination. It is powerful, defiantly celebratory, and downright captivating. No Retreat, No Return, No Surrender indeed. 

F2D (a.k.a. Funky 2 Death) 

What once started as the house band at the Seamonster Lounge in Seattle has evolved into a force to be reckoned with. With a mixture of hard-hitting instrumentals and great vocal songs alike, F2D gets the crowd moving no matter where they are. F2D has played throughout the Pacific Northwest, at numerous festivals, for the Seattle Seahawks, and was a featured artist on Victory Studio’s TV show, “Band in Seattle”.

The body of the band is solidified by the formidable drummer and MC, Derneill “Woogie D” Washington, and pocket-perfect bassist, Mark Mattrey. Mind-melting keyboardist and rapper Roc Phizzle breathes life into the group, as electrifying vocalist and keyboardist Melissa Montalto belts lightning bolts. Guitarist Jason Cameron rounds out the core, bringing his signature combination of bolstering funk and rock. With a rotating cast of horn players, the band is a champion of sound.

Their latest single “Root Down” is all about staying grounded in this crazy world we live in. The single will be released May 14th, 2021 and will be available on all purchasing and streaming platforms.

Foleada     

Foleada is a group of seasoned musicians based in Seattle that plays dance music from the Northeast of Brazil in the style of Forró. Forró draws on many musical styles, primarily Afro-Brazilian rhythms like samba and baião and traditional dance forms from Europe like schottisches and polkas. Forró dance also borrows from Cuban salsa and Samba de Gafieira to create a simple partner dance.

Recipient of the 2023 Jack Straw Artist Support Program, Foleada features Jamie Maschler and Gabe Hall-Rodrigues on accordion, Jeff Busch and Sam Esecson on percussion, Michael Catts on bass, and Brazilian vocalist Adriana Giordano.  

Freudian Slurp

“Freudian Slurp is a group of specialists in what you would refer to as “the groove,” which you can hear all over their latest single The Getaway Car.” -V13

“The hybrid of jazz, funk, and jam band aesthetic on The Getaway Car makes for a fun and often surprising listening experience. “ -Surviving The Golden Age

“Fans of sacred improvisational jazz, Chick Corea and Frank Zappa should by all means invest!” -Last Day Deaf

Freudian Slurp is an alternative jazz ensemble.  Their music is groove-driven, adventurous, and focuses equally on elaborate compositions, group improv and features virtuosic soloists.  Although fully instrumental music, the band uses the music to tell stories, evoke scenery or describe characters.  

Although bandleader and Guitarist, Ian Hughes, has run the band for almost a decade, the group has gone through significant lineup changes over the course of the band’s three albums. The band has featured Ian’s brother and first-call Seattle bass player Dylan Hughes for a number of those years. The group also features drummer Tyler Musgrave, Keyboardist, Art Borders, Trumpeter Adam Robb and Saxophonist Jackson Cotugno, Earshot Jazz’s 2022 Golden Ear award winner for “Up and Coming” Jazz musician.

In January 2020 Freudian Slurp recorded a hybrid live/in studio album and video series at The Chapel Performance Space, this was released in 2022, with some critical acclaim and radio play. The band was nominated for an Earshot Golden Ear award for 2022 “Alternative Jazz Group” of the year.

Hard Maybe

Hard Maybe is a 7-piece soul infusion hailing from Seattle. Formed in 2017, their sound has been described as “a fusion style completely their own.” With three-part harmony punctuated by horns, they seamlessly blend ingredients from back-beat driven funk, soul, and more to create an effortlessly cohesive and rich sound.

Johnny Bregar             

Johnny Bregar is a seasoned family music performer.  He is known for his engaging live concerts that delight kids and parents alike. His original songs and arrangements of familiar children's songs have a rootsy, jazzy, bluesy, poppy sound. He has produced, engineered, mixed and released six full length kids/family albums and appears on four Putumayo compilations.  Says Warren Truitt, Senior Children's Librarian at The New York Public Library's Early Childhood Resource and Information Center. “Bregar's been doin' his homework...originals like "Blue Dog," "Blackberry Pie," and "Owl" are wonderfully authentic, to the point where you would think they're Americana relics. Bregar has a knack, as well, for super catchy country pop: listen to the shimmery "Airplane" and the awesome choruses of "Best Friend" and "Summertime.””

Johnny’s songs are about everyday life as a child.  He reaches across cultural and geographic boundaries with tunes that spark children’s imaginations and are comfortable and familiar.  Johnny strives to make his music educational as well as fun.  Very few of his songs are written simply to be silly –- he aims to strike a chord with kids by providing vignettes that echo the way they think about the world around them, while at the same time remaining fun and accessible.  His music has been reviewed positively by NPR’s All Things Considered as well as ParentMap, Zooglobble.com, Parenting Magazine, and many, many others. 

Mambo Cadillac

Tor Dietrichson with Mambo Cadillac, or Mambo Cadillac, has been a mainstay in the Pacific Northwest Latin music scene for almost twenty years. Started by conga player/vocalist Tor Dietrichson, awe inspiring vocalist Carlos Cascante and virtuoso pianist Julio Jauregui on April 15th, 2005, the band quickly became hugely popular performing regularly at The Triple Door Musicquarium and very rapidly started playing more shows than any other Latin band in the Northwest for many years. The band has performed at many, many different clubs, music festivals, concert series and private events for many years, logging in many hundreds of performances. The band always has the absolute best players in the Pacific Northwest and indeed the lead singer, Carlos Cascante, has since gone on to garner three Grammy awards as a vocalist with the world renowned Spanish Harlem Orchestra, The band has between five and up to nine members but usually has five. Currently we usually have usually Tor Dietrichson on congas and vocals, Julio Jauregui on keyboards and vocals, Carlos Cascante on lead vocals and percussion, Dean Schmidt on bass and Jeff Busch on drums and percussion. The band plays a variety of Latin music styles with an emphasis on improvisation in the solos in the styles of Mambo, Son Montuno, Guaracha, Rumba Guaguanco, Cha Cha Cha, Bolero, Cuban Timba and other styles, always in their unique, high octane, turbo charged style!! 

RUB      

Seattle band featuring former and current members of Trick Candles, Salt Lick, Acid Tongue, NighTraiN, Killer Workout, Cute Lepers, Panama Gold, and La Fonda.

This Seattle "supergroup" has a variety of influences that coalesce into a synth-pop, neo-soul sound. Influences range from classics like The Cars, New Order, Duran Duran to newer artists such as Janelle Monae, Santigold, and Sault.

They've released a single and currently in the studio working on a LP.

The New Triumph

The New Triumph is a multigenerational, multiracial ensemble comprised of some of the best musicians in Seattle's thriving music scene. They draw from these varied perspectives to provide a unique, energetic and danceable mix of Afro- Latin, Funk and Jazz. If forced to pick a few bands that we are inspired by we would list Snarky Puppy, Herbie Hancock Headhunters and Irakere.