Performing live on Hawaii's "Soul Sessions"

A few months ago I was asked by Soul Sessions, a new web channel specializing in stripped-down performances to play a few songs for them to put on their show.

It was filmed in a big warehouse, which was really fun sing in with the echo-y space and work dynamics in "One More Episode" in a new way. Sometimes your songs can completely change tempo and feel once you hear them in certain room, and the joy of making on the spot changes is one of things I enjoy more and more about playing solo...

Here's "One More Episode"

KS

Laymans Terms Catalog Now Available Digitally.

I'm not sure if hitting 20-years of playing and recording music makes most people this reflective, but it sure has been hitting me the past few months as I've reached that marker in time.

As Kirby Krackle goes into a big month of shows and recording our 4th album, I wanted to celebrate moving ahead while taking the time to be thankful for the good fortune I've had in writing and playing music for the past 20-years. A good half of that time was spent with my teen years-and-beyond band, Laymans Terms.  

From 1994-2003 we rocked the Northwest as best we could, going from basically learning our instruments to ending up recording 5-albums during a 10-year run. We disbanded right before iTunes and the digital music revolution really took off, and because of that only our final album has been available digitally.

That is until now...

Having sat on our back catalog for years, I'm very happy to announce that as of today all 5-albums from Laymans Terms are available here via my Bandcamp page for FREE download. This even includes the debut E.P. of which only 100 copies were printed, and now saves me the worry of losing my one copy left...

The debut E.P., "Reinvention", "The Red Album", "Hello, Hello" E.P., "Everything You Love And Hate"...all in their original form, teenage sloppy playing and all...

I've never kept a diary, but consider these albums my version of that; a musical documentation of growing up leading to what I enjoy writing and recording today.  

Feel free to turn it up! Some of it rocks.

Feel free to turn some of it down! Who's that singer occasionally off-key trying to sound twice his age with a pre-pubescent voice cracking?

If you're someone who became a fan of my music after Laymans Terms broke up, I hope you enjoy hearing what was truly my baby that I loved dearly.

If you grew up with the band, I hope it reminds you of good times. I know it does that for me when I listen to it...the sound of pure adrenaline not knowing what were were doing but loving trying to find our way the best we could.

Enjoy and thanks for listening,

KS

Laymans Terms catalog for download here.

Live At Village Wines in Woodinville

Normally I give a little more heads up for a show, but my buddy TJ asked me to fill in for him this Saturday, March 30th so here we are!

I'll be performing at VILLAGE WINES in Woodinville as part of their Spring concert series from 6:30 to 9:00 with a mix of solo tunes, Kirby Krackle cuts, and songs I wish a wrote...

VILLAGE WINES is 21+ and has a great mix of wines (no surprise), craft-beer, and some damn good pizza so come out and join us if you're out and about in the gorgeous weather we've been having in Seattle this past week.

I'll be the one working in the corner...

KS

Kirby Krackle segment on Evening Magazine

Despite the my fear I had mumbled through the entire thing, the recent interview/tv segment we did for Evening Magazine turned out pretty great. We met them at The Comic Stop in Lynnwood and after filming the interview segment, headed over to our rehearsal space (that I had spent the whole day making look cooler than it had in a long time...good excuse!) to film some live shots with the band. Thanks to Kim Holcomb for making us feel comfortable, and keeping to true to what we do without any "comic culture cliches". Fun!

Not more than the morning after the day the Evening Magazine spot aired, we hoofed over to KING 5 studios early morning for our filming of a live band cut of "I Wanna Live In A World Full Of Heroes" on NEW DAY with Margaret Lawson. She was a sweetheart during the interview, and now KK can finally check "talk show performance" off of our nerd-rock bucket list. I was anxious for the interview, but once that was done we let loose and let it rip as the first live band ever to perform on NEW DAY. Maybe the last? Hmmmm...

KS

KRACKLEFEST 3 At Emerald City Comic Con

Kirby Krackle and I had a fantastic time at this year's KRACKLFEST 3 as part of the after-hours Emerald City Comic Con festivites on March 1st. It was really hard to believe this years show marked the 5th year for the band as an entity...that time has gone by really fast!

As with previous years, KRACKLEFEST for us has turned into one of our most important shows of the year; our chance to have all our favorite fans and artist friends from around the county come together in one place and give us the opportinity to rock their faces off. By all accounts via fans, friends, and our own replay of the night, it was one of the best shows we've ever done. We try to make each KRACKLEFEST a little more special than the last and this year we tried to set the bar extra high with a note-for-note recreation of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". The guys and I argreed we'd never worked harder to learn a song in our entire lives, but the pay off was well worth it as you can see below when an almost sold out crowd of nerd-rock loving folks lost their collective minds...so so so fun. 

Besides the video below, here's the link for the entire set to KRACKLEFEST 3 if you'd like to hear the new songs we've been working on etc. Heading into the studio the beginning of May to work on the new album...it's coming sooner than you'll know!