Food & Drink
The 50 Bands Rocking Seattle Music Right Now
Are you up on Seattle's music scene? Test your knowledge with these local bands
By Brangien Davis & Jake Uitti September 8, 2014
This article originally appeared in the September 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
What’s your favorite current Seattle band? If you have trouble answering (or if you draw a blank after Macklemore), we’re not going to judge. But we are going to suggest it’s time to check in with the city’s thriving indie music scene. New local bands are exploring sounds, blurring genre boundaries (though we’ve wrestled them into categories here) and playing vibrant live shows all over town (see our Live Music Venue guide). Even with this sampler of 50 bands, we haven’t scratched the surface of Seattle music. Listen right here—where you can stream songs from all 50 bands—and also try tuning in to KEXP (the city’s unsurpassed discovery engine for local music) for a whole week. Soon enough, you’ll have an answer to the above question—and you might just go on and on.
Peruse our list of local bands below, divided up by genre. Plus the Best Live Music Venues in Seattle where you can rock out and throw your hands up in the air.
AMERICANA/ALT-COUNTRY
AKA indie folk, y’allternative, roots music, chamber folk, neo-folk, country rock, outlaw rock, alt-folk, twang, blues, haunted boogie, folk rock, blues rock, swing, honky-tonk, swamp stomp…
INDIE ROCK
AKA garage rock, roots rock, blues rock, alt-rock, alt-blues, hard rock, riot grrrl, post-punk, doom pop, fuzzy, shoegaze, pop rock, blues rock, ambient rock…
INDIE POP
AKA chamber pop, dream pop, power pop, pop punk, cosmic folk rock, eclectic, retro, lounge, girl group, avant-garde, electro-acoustic, orchestral pop, ambient rock…
SOUL
AKA R&B, gospel, Afro-soul, hip-hop, funk, electro-soul, neo-soul, raw soul, world fusion, post-jazz, soul hip-hop…
ELECTRONIC/DANCE
AKA electro-pop, synthpop, ambient, indie pop, DJ, electro-ambient, electronica, techno, dubstep, house, chillwave, synthwave, new wave, electro-house, folktronica…
HIP-HOP/RAP
AKA beats, R&B, pop, funk, trip hop, dub, bass, experimental hip-hop, hip-hop soul, Afrobeat, underground hip-hop, alt-rap, abstract hip-hop…
PSYCHEDELIC
AKA drone, trippy, trance, trip hop, chillout, ambient, doom, space rock, gothic, sci-fi, psych rock, dream rock, ’60s rock, experimental hip-hop, darkwave…
INSTRUMENTAL GROOVE
AKA funk, soul, Afrobeat, progressive, ambient, world, cinematic, funk orchestral, deep funk, rare groove, world fusion, free jazz, jam, improvisation, post-jazz…
Follow Us
Grand Illusion is Moving — But It’s Not Going Far
Help Seattle’s volunteer-run cinema find a new home
After more than 50 years of screenings in the U District, the Grand Illusion Cinema is losing its lease. The historic arthouse, which has been a staple of Seattle’s film scene since 1970, will have to move from its 1403 N.E. 50th St. location by February 2025 — but it’s not the end of the
Seattle & Iceland Enjoy Deep Roots
Hot springs are nice, but Iceland’s new creative class is among the top reasons to visit Reykjavík, Seattle’s longtime sister city
One unusually warm afternoon this past April, I found myself in a long line outside a building in downtown Reykjavík, Iceland. Ostensibly, I was waiting for pizza...
Cleopatra’s Story Told Through Traditional Indian Dance
The newest production from Mohini Dance School looks at the trials of the Egyptian queen
In 2013, several of Smitha Krishnan’s friends reached out, asking if she was available to teach Mohiniyattam — a form of classical Indian dance originating from the southern state of Kerala — to them and their children. A dancer since childhood, Krishnan, the artistic director of Mohini Dance School, started training in Indian classical dance