OurStage

Musicians and fans of all ages flocked to the Music Aid Northwest (MAN) concert at the Old Fire House Teen Center May 22. Former Arkansas governor/presidential wanna-be Mike Huckabee, Yes drummer Alan White and MAN board members sought signatures and funds for a “Music Plates” license plate campaign to augment music education in Washington state schools. ... Musically speaking, the night’s standouts were local high school/college rockers Shotty with sizzling-hot renditions of “Radar Love” and “Soul Sacrifice” and the worldly women of Shelly and the Curves, who channeled Tina Turner and the Ikettes on “Proud Mary.” ...

The heat is on. Four surviving bands in the second annual Classic Rock-a-Thon will vie for adoration and prizes at 8 p.m. Friday, May 9 at the Old Fire House Teen Center, (OFH) 16510 NE 79th St. All ages are welcome. Admission is $6. ... • SHOTTY features guitarist/vocalist Guy Keltner (20, UW sophomore in business/marketing) Garrett Radke (18, a senior at Juanita High School) on keyboards, saxophone and vocals, drummer/percussionist Miles Frank (17, a senior at Juanita) and guitarist/lead vocalist Pat Birney (21, “who writes music, records all of our stuff and spends the majority of his day doing band-related activities”). Shotty won the first annual Classic Rock-a-Thon in 2007 but almost didn’t bother to enter. Keltner explained, “I applied on a whim and when we got in, we had double-booked Shotty and also had a show at Western Washington University in Bellingham on the same night as the semi-finals. So I played both shows. The rest of Shotty went to Bellingham to set up and Garrett and I — Garrett was not in the band at the time — rounded up a few close musician friends a week prior to the show and we put together an awesome set. After we won the finals, we were pretty surprised, but the show was kind of the birth of Shotty as we know it today.” Of songs performed at this year’s Rock-a-Thon, “Soul Sacrifice” by Santana “brought down the house and it doesn’t even have lyrics,” said Keltner. “It’s just an awesome instrumental piece. Miles, our drummer, made the suggestion to play it and we gave it a shot. Once Pat got the conga part down, it became this infectious tune that we’ve played at every show since. People can’t get enough of it and I have no idea why. Maybe it’s exotic to people living in Seattle where they don’t see a lot of salsa or Latin-influenced music.” They’re keeping their set list for the finals under wraps. “Let’s just say that Shotty is seriously planning on topping our performance ... and we’ll have plenty more tricks coming from left field,” Keltner concluded.

Two weeks of semifinals down and two bands out of eight have advanced in EMP's annual Sound Off! competition: New Faces and last weekend's winners, the Nextdoor Neighbors. This weekend's third round will send one last band to the finals on March 1, where they'll compete with New Faces and the Nextdoor Neighbors for a grand prize that includes a performance at Bumbershoot along with some gear and studio time. This week's lineup: Deer City, Kusikia, Shotty, and Man Down Medic. ... If you're a fan of more traditional alternative rock, then Kirkland's Shotty's the band you'll be rooting for. Their influences include Loudermilk, the Smashing Pumpkins, and "loose women and broken hearts." They're perhaps the most straightforward rock band in this year's Sound Off!—though sometimes they throw in a little pop ("Blue Bom") or some dirty guitars ("Deep Fried") to keep ya guessing. ...

Local teen band Shotty is one of 12 underage bands out of 84 entries selected by a professional panel of judges to compete in this year’s Sound Off competition at Experience Music Project (EMP) in the Seattle Center. Four bands compete in three rounds and the winners from those rounds play in the final round with an appearance at Bumbershoot and other prizes at stake. Shotty will play their round on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the EMP box office at (206) 770-7702. Students are $7 and adults are $10. Shotty won 2007’s Classic Rock-a-Thon at the Old Fire House Teen Center in Redmond. The band’s current lineup includes four musicians from Kirkland — Garrett Radke on keyboards, saxophone and vocals; Miles Frank on drums; Pat Birney on guitar and lead vocals; and Guy Keltner on guitar and vocals.