Almost every night of the week, Seattle’s stages offer a roster of regional indie-folk artists, do-it-yourself punk bands and homegrown comedians, as well as nationally touring pop stars. To that end, choosing something for your night out can be a daunting task. This weekly guide can help by filtering for recommended shows, select dates and your favorite genres.
This week’s highlights
“Cry & Roar IX,” 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 18, through Sunday, Jan. 20, at Cafe Racer. “Cry & Roar IX” is a festival celebrating nine years of Racer Sessions, the weekly free music jam at Cafe Racer. This local music community institution has supported and inspired some of the area’s most interesting musical collaborations and projects, many of which will appear during the three-day festival. On Friday, catch Wayne Horvitz, a longtime Bill Frisell collaborator and Royal Room proprietor, as well as Bad Luck’s Chris Icasiano, and budding cellist, songwriter and activist Ebony Miranda. Saturday includes innovative singer-songwriter Mega Bog and the saxophone-fronted SmackTalk , inspired heavily by jazz and neo-soul. Performances from the Miller-Adams Duo, a percussion-saxophone pairing, and tender rock group Señor Fin close out the festival Sunday.
Fruit Bats, LAKE, 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, at Tractor Tavern. Led by songwriter Eric D. Johnson, Fruit Bats’ music is the soundtrack to a dreamy stroll in the woods, teeming with rawness, quirk and whimsy. Fruit Bats started in Chicago and has been active since 1997, but the band has long since had ties to the music and arts scene in the Pacific Northwest as a Sub Pop artist. On Friday, Fruit Bats performs with LAKE, an Olympia-based indie pop band known best for composing “The Island Song,” the end song for the popular Cartoon Network show “Adventure Time.”