This weekend, some of Seattle's best music websites (and even better friends) are celebrating their birthdays and they've got your weekend booked with fantastic shows that showcase the talent and diversity of the Northwest. Back Beat Seattle is turning one on Friday and Ear Candy is celebrating it's birthday with what its founder, editor, chief, etc... Travis Hay calls "Ear Candy's Weekend of Awesome" and has shows Saturday and Sunday night at different clubs. Also quite thrilling: Dagmar and Amelia from Back Beat and Travis from Ear Candy have all written for TIG before starting their own flourishing websites.

Back Beat's show is Friday at the Blue Moon and it features Blood Red Dancers, THEESatisfaction and What What Now. It all goes down starting at 10pm and you'll need $5 and ID proving you're at or over 21 to get in the door.

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{See Lisa Dank with the White Widow Dancers, Sap'N, Dev from Above and DJ Swervewon at Nectar on Thursday, December 17, $5, 21+, 9pm.}

As the final days of 2009 are approaching, music writers are regularly asked for their predictions of the upcoming year. Right now, the artist in Seattle who excites me the most and I believe has the most potential for an explosive 2010 is Lisa Dank. She is the closest thing to a legitimate pop star from the Northwest, but still maintains something of a DIY aesthetic. That she is able to combine the two seemingly mutually exclusive ideas and has a knack for putting together catchy pop songs is part of what makes her so interesting and exciting to me.

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