Hello readers and fellow lovers of music, my name is Colin. Levi has generously invited me to join in this here conversation. I am a songwriter living and playing in Seattle. The wish of this Blog of Wax to find and feature fine musicians in danger of passing under the radar matches perfectly with my wish to fight the (often weather-induced) urge to cozy up at home, and instead get out and discover fine musicians in danger of passing under my radar. So, here we go.
Just as I am new to blogging, sometimes musicians are new to cities, including Seattle. So it seems entirely appropriate I should begin with a New Series: Welcome to Town.
Today I’d like to point out a band I just discovered a month or two ago, after which I quickly became addicted to their music. Deep Sea Diver is the project of Jessica Dobson. File that under the Shivers-type situation Jon explained recently. She is the songwriter, guitarist, singer (there might be more to this list, sadly iTunes music files do not come with liner notes), and when not playing solo, she is joined by various permutations of a band, with drums and bass being the most common compliments.
I don’t know much first-hand info on these folks. But I really dig the music. Dobson’s writing comes off as effortless, but is rich with off-the-beaten-track chord progressions and melodies, and swiftly-changing rhythms and textures. The lyrics, though mostly in the first person, stay well away from banal life-blogging (that’s what the kids are calling it these days, right?). Like the music, her lyrics navigate images, places, feelings, statements that feel like questions (and vice versa) with nimble grace. A favorite of mine, “Tsunamo is Snowed In,” is written from the perspective of a young child living in an igloo with her family. The chorus goes “We all get along/ In our igloo home/ so bury us inside/ no we wouldn’t mind it.” Awesome. Go to their myspace page and listen to it.
Youtube has a decent supply of video, mostly of live band-type stuff (though if you just search for the band name you will get a bunch of stuff about deep-sea diving too, who whoulda guessed it). This one is a nice contrast, just playing acoustic in a room.
Deep Sea Diver hails from Long Beach, California. But I’m pretty sure they have quite recently moved to Seattle. This Thursday 3/10 they are playing at The Mix in Georgetown.* I’m really looking forward to seeing them play in person!
*Full disclosure, I am also playing at this show. Conflict of interest what?
Reminds me a bit of Ball of Wax contributor Steven Kattenbraker.
Yes, this video clip is very like a lady Kattenbraker, both guitarally and melodically. Cool!