Karl Blau's 2022 release Love & Harm is the perfect record for these not-quite-summer days. It's warm, nostalgic, and beaming with Jon Hyde's pedal steel, which sounds simultaneously bittersweet and hopeful, like a setting sun. Songs are layered with bells, horns, harmonica, a harpsichord—it's all so lush and orchestral, like summer itself, but Blau's candid vocal delivery still feels intimate, like he's telling you and only you a secret he's been keeping for years. Opening the early all-ages show is the Transmissionary Six, aka Terri Moeller and Paul Austin of the Walkabouts. Like Blau, Transmissionary Six were a mainstay in Seattle's '00s indie rock scene. But this isn't just a one-off performance with an old friend—last month they released Often Sometimes Rarely Never, their first album in nearly 10 years. It's a sparkling and star-studded return, featuring contributions from former Walkabouts bandmates Michael Wells and Chris Eckman, as well as Deni Bonet (who's performed with R.E.M. and Robyn Hitchcock) and Chris Cacavas (the Dream Syndicate).
by Megan Seling