Seattle Music History
“Music is therapy. Music moves people. It connects people in ways that no other medium can. It pulls heart strings. It acts as medicine.” --Macklemore. In this Exploration Guide for students in high school, learn how the local Seattle music scene has evolved over the years, and how it continues to change.
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Crash Course: A Century of Seattle Music | Seattle Met
See the highlights of Seattle’s diverse music scene from 1918 to 2018. Don’t miss the playlist at the end which provides a sampler of music by many important Seattle musicians. Which genres of music are your favorites, and why?
View Crash Course: A Century of Seattle Music | Seattle Met -
Northwest Music Archives Discography and Labelography
The Northwest Music Archives website documents the history of audio recordings from this region, with tabs for searching by artist and recording label. If you have a favorite local artist, see what you can find out about their label. Has that label signed other artists you like? Make sure to also click on the Northwest History tab to find a bunch of short essays with photos on a wide range of Northwest music history topics. Find some cool facts to quiz your family and friends!
View Northwest Music Archives Discography and Labelography -
Canoe Journey 2017: Catching Songs from Suquamish | Project 562
Listen as a young woman from the Suquamish tribe (across the Sound from Seattle) shares her mother's views on where songs come from, and how the lives of songs are intertwined with those of the people. How do you feel about these beliefs, and why? She is participating in the Canoe Journey, a tribal event that began in 1989 with the Paddle to Seattle as part of Washington State's centennial celebration. This event was a major catalyst for Coast Salish people from the Northwest U.S. and Canada to revive their canoe building and paddling ("pulling") heritage. The Canoe Journey has grown from 15 to over 100 canoes participating and is now an annual tradition hosted by a different U.S. or Canadian Coast Salish tribe each year. Each tribe begins the journey on its own reservation. They then make daily stops at other reservations along the way to the main event. When a canoe arrives at each place, singers and leaders from the hosting tribe come to the beach to welcome the new arrivals with song. The paddlers typically sing a song, too, then ask permission from the hosting tribe to come ashore, get rest, share a meal, and share their music.
View Canoe Journey 2017: Catching Songs from Suquamish | Project 562 -
Women's Warrior Song | Ta'kaiya Blaney
Ta'kaiya Blaney is a youth activist and musician, and member of Tla’amin First Nation in British Columbia. Tla'amin Nation is also part of the Coast Salish indigenous peoples who have inhabited the Pacific Northwest Coast since time immemorial. Ta'kaiya weaves together her activism, musical artistry, and indigenous traditions in order to advocate for the environment and human rights, such as in this powerful performance. Listen to her sing the Women's Warrior Song to bring awareness to the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. How can music bring about change for the future, while also honoring the past?
View Women's Warrior Song | Ta'kaiya Blaney -
Writer Paul de Barros on How Seattle's Jazz Scene was a New Musical Frontier | Sound and Vision, KEXP
Author Paul de Barros wrote a book about Seattle’s early jazz scene. Read or listen to his comments about the scene and some of the famous people who got their start in it. How and why did Seattle’s scene differ from that in major cities elsewhere in the country?
View Writer Paul de Barros on How Seattle's Jazz Scene was a New Musical Frontier | Sound and Vision, KEXP -
Preserving Central District Music History with Virtual Reality | KING5
Can you envision exploring the Central District’s music history using virtual reality? One resident of the area, working toward her PhD at the UW, sees this technology as a way to preserve the rich musical history that is disappearing through gentrification in the CD (and elsewhere). Do you agree with her? Would you want to learn history using virtual reality? Why or why not?
View Preserving Central District Music History with Virtual Reality | KING5 -
Same Love: A Brief History of Queer Musicians in the Northwest | HistoryLink
LGBTQ+ musicians have been an integral part of Seattle’s music scene since at least the 1940s, when being out meant a scandal and ruined career. That has gradually changed over the years. Why is it important to have music from and for people of many identities?
View Same Love: A Brief History of Queer Musicians in the Northwest | HistoryLink -
Community Stories: Seattle All-City Band | Seattle Channel
See how the Seattle All-City Band (founded in 1951) prepares 8th-12th graders from around the Seattle area to perform in Seafair and other summer parades. Have you seen them in a local parade? What keeps many of the students and staff coming back year after year?
View Community Stories: Seattle All-City Band | Seattle Channel -
Folklife Is... | Northwest Folklife
Many music festivals are held in Seattle every year! Learn about one of the largest and longest-running ones, the Northwest Folklife Festival. This festival celebrates the music, dance, and food of the region’s many cultures. If you were to attend the Folklife Festival, where would you spend your time?
View Folklife Is... | Northwest Folklife -
All your lies: myths of the northwest music scene | Northwest Passage
Check your knowledge of the Seattle music scene in the ’80s and ’90s, when the city became famous for grunge music like Pearl Jam and Nirvana). How did the reality of the music scene compare to how the rest of the country viewed it?
View All your lies: myths of the northwest music scene | Northwest Passage