Three Imaginary Girls - Carrie Akre

Recommended Show: Carrie Akre (her last one in Seattle!) & Star Anna at The Croc {7/7}

Imaginary Amie — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:50:54 +0000

The Crocodile is poised to break your hearts this Thursday {7/7} with a double dose of powerhouse female vocalists: the throaty, drop-dead gorgeous voice of grunge-Queen Ms. Carrie Akre (if you don't know who she is, look up Hammerbox, Goodness, and The Rockfords) and the amazingly raw and pretty tones of Star Anna. AND IT IS ONLY $10!!! What.

Akre is leaving Seattle to head to the midwest, and this is billed as her FINAL Seattle show (we can only hope that isn't entirely true), so y'all better get out there to hear how incredible she is one last time before she's gone. If you've never experienced her live, you have to. She will shake you the core, trust me.

I couldn't be more pleased about this pairing, because it seems like these two ladies are meant to play together - which is another argument for getting your butt down to The Croc, as you might never have another chance at that.

The Crocodile Presents
Carrie Akre (FINAL Seattle show)
and Star Anna
Thursday, July 7
Door @8, 21+, $10 Adv/$12 day of

{Star Anna is also playing earlier in the eve on 7/7 at the Kenmore Summer Concert series, and plays 7/9 @Wine, Women and Song, 7/10 @the Ballard Seafood Fest, and has a record release party on 7/12 @Easy St in West Seattle. Whew - that woman is busy!}

Tonight's recommended show: John Roderick, Carrie Akre and surprise guests gather to help elect Dow

imaginary liz — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:05:14 +0000

Tonight's show at the Crocodile brings together things political action and eminent indie rock entertainers to raise awareness and, more tangibly, funds for the political campaign to elect Dow Constantine King County Executive.

The event is hosted with by a long list of local luminaries (including but not limited to Krist Novoselic, Gene Stout, and Kyla Fairchild) who have gathered a exceptionally fine line-up of guests to take the stage.

Photo Essay: "Awesome" with Memphis Radio Kings and 2 amazing Carries

Amelia Gydé — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:08:50 +0000

I'll take any chance I get to see "Awesome" in action and their recent show was a great example of why I love this band so much. They headlined a great night at Neumos with Carrie Akre, Carrie Clark and the Lonesome Lovers and The Memphis Radio Kings.

Imaginary Interview: Carrie Akre

imaginary dana — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:38:45 +0000

Back in 1996, before there was a Three Imaginary Girls, I had my first huge music crush in Seattle on the legendary band Goodness. The five-piece band rocked my early days in this town in no small part thanks to its incredible front-woman, Carrie Akre (who also fronted seminal grunge band Hammerbox, and boy oh boy do I wish I'd lived in Seattle to have seen them play in their heydey). Goodness disbanded before the turn of the new milleninium, and many band loves have come and gone, but I've always carried a torch for Goodness.

Imagine my excitement when I finally met Carrie Akre last Decemeber, only to discover that we were both extremely pregnant; my daughter was due in January, and her son in March. Not only that, but I also found Carrie was incredibly approachable and cool -- always a pleasant when meeting a favorite musician, isn't it? -- and we agreed we needed to hang out again once our babies were here.

My wee girl and I had the pleasure of hanging out with Carrie and her little guy Orion at West 5 a few weeks back, where we chatted a bit about rocking, rolling, parenting, and of course, the reunion of Goodness (!!!), who will rock us all this Saturday night August 9 at the Showbox.

{All photos by Kyle Johnson.}

igDana: Hey Carrie! This is pretty surreal...

Carrie Akre: Isn't it amazing? Last time we both saw each other we were both pregnant. It's a wild feeling.

igDana: Let's start out with a hard-hitting question: Do you have any of those Rock a Bye Baby CDs for Orion and if so, which?

Carrie Akre: I think I do! We have the U2 and the Rolling Stones ones. We also listen to this Andre 3000 Class of 3000 compilation and a few others, but I don't know about the negative messages in those songs! They all talk about the industry, and how hard it is to just be yourself. It gets me wanting to preserve innocence. I'm trying to recapture that sense now...

igDana: Having a baby is always tough, but even more so when you're used to going to lots of shows. Do you guys still get out much?

Carrie Akre: (Laughs). I looked at Marty at one point right after Orion was born and was like, "We're still gonna hang out, right? This isn't over, right?" Here and there we're starting to get out, but ya konw, how many bars can you see and how much hanging out can you do? We've had enough of it. Being a mom has made me appreciate being slow and having quiet time with him. He fascinates me.

Do you hope Orion will be a musician? If so, is there anything you're doing to encourage (or discourage) that?

Right now I like making noises at him, to imitate his noises. I love just babbling to him. I'm curious if he will be able to sing, or what he may choose to play. If that's what he wants to do, I'd say to go for it!

I'm interested to see what he does. What if he makes music I don't like? What if he's a singer-songwriter guy and he's not very good? When I was pregnant, I called a medical intuitive. She nailed some shit about me that made me like, woah. She said she thinks Orion is going to be a philosopher. It would be interesting if he became an academic.

Really? Is your family musical?

My Dad is, but my Mom's not at all. Isn't it weird to think that when they get old they're going to find out who you are. Like, "Oh, you played music?"

So what's next for you, musically? Do you plan to tour still, now that you're a mama?

I'm going to tour, but just me. That's what tough about being a solo artist; you have to pay each extra person. I mean, viva the dictatorship, but it's spendy, and everyone in the band works so scheduling is tough.

Since gas prices are so high, it would cost me more to drive than fly. So I'm just going to pick places and fly there. I wanna go to Austin. Harris (Thurmond, ex-Hammerbox) lives there and plays in a band. I want to open for him and play Austin, and we'll play some Hammerbox songs together.

I miss getting out of town and the adventure of it.

Do you have another record in the works?

Oh hell no! You know what? It's going to be awhile. When I do make it, I want it to be a little more rocking. I miss rockin' out. But I don't like being so busy that I'm not centered. It's easy to get overwhelmed, and I don't want his life to fly by, to miss out. I want to really focus on him. Sometimes I really want to just move to a small town. Sometimes I'm craving just being outdoors and being on the planet.

You performed this past New Year's Eve at the Showbox when you were seven months preggo. How was that? Did the crowd react?

I didn't have any trouble with breathing. Adrenaline kicked in and I've had years to build up my diaphragm, so singing was never that hard. I had a great time at the Showbox that night! That was a good show to play, and our band really started to hit our groove. Earlier in my pregnancy when we played at the Tractor, I announced, "A lot has happened, I've been married, and I'm expecting. I'm not just getting fat." (laughs)

What are you most excited about playing with your old band again?

I want to make sure I sweat. That's what I miss about playing in a bigger band, sweating. I feel like I haven't used my body in two years, like I now have this sausage suit on and my real body is underneath. Everyone has to keep reminding me: you just had a baby.

Hah, I know how you feel. And I can't wait for the big reunion show. Remind all those in imaginary land where and when they need to go to catch your shows.

August 9th is the big Goodness reunion at the Showbox. Then Goodness will be playing again at the Mural Amphitheatre at the Seattle Center on August 23rd. I'll be playing solo in September 18 at the High Dive with Shawn Smith and Voyager One.

I'd better call a babysitter.

Yea, me too.

CarrieOrion.jpg

Goodness plays a big reunion show this Saturday at the Showbox! Both Carrie and igDana have babysitters for the big night.

Northwest goodness at the Georgetown Music Festival

elle — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:18:45 +0000

There is plenty of Friday and Saturday afternoon to catch the route 60, 131, 134, or 170 to catch this little festival with a big Northwest line-up.

Goodness Reunion!!!

ChrisB — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:05:47 +0000

I just saw this bulletin posted by Carrie Akre on MySpace and I'm sure that it will excite quite a few people out in Imaginary Land.

New releases for the week, from Easy Street Records

Jflores — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:14:26 +0000

This week's new releases looks like some kinds of flashback or a Halloween trick, but alas it's true: Arrested Development, Backstreet Boys, Blues Traveler, and Britney are all back with new records.

...Last the Evening

ChrisB — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:20:21 +0000

http://www.lovelessrecords.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PLST&Store_Code=LR

web225.jpg

There really is no obvious reason Carrie Akre needs to put out another record at this stage in her long and impressive career. She’s been the lead singer of three rock bands (Hammerbox, Goodness, and the Rockfords), has released two previous solo albums, with the last one, Invitation -- released back in 2002 -- being funded by contributions from fans, which gave her freedom from record label demands.

With ...Last the Evening, she has not only found a home in local Seattle label Loveless, but he's also found her muse and put together a very strong album, one that's markedly different from Akre’s previous releases, as it's written on a piano.

The songs that work best on …Last the Evening are the ones that either use minimal production and Akre’s powerful voice or, in the case of “Breathe,” simply rock. The title track is a soulful piano ballad that progressively builds to an intense climax, with Akre’s piano driving the tempo and tension of the song. Read the lyrics from the opening verse/chorus/verse and you’ll see the thoughts of a musician wondering aloud if it's time to move on and find the next phase of her career.

"Lonely rooms, empty faces, I’ve seen them all in these saddened places and from the corner of the room I watch them all as they dance and move.

But I won’t last the evening here alone. My heart is telling me it’s time to come home.

So many nights I’ve been here singing my songs through tears and laughter and for awhile it was really good but that time has passed and I’ve understood."

“Stupid Is” (which, by the way, was recognized as “Supid Is” by CDDB when I imported the CD to my iTunes library) is a perfect example of a strong singer being able to rescue a song that tries to let the production get in the way. There’s a lot of mellotron used and on first listen it's a bit distracting, yet Akre’s voice pushes it out of the way and her harmonies and lyrics are all you really can focus on during the song.

“Breathe,” as I mentioned earlier, is the most rocking song on the album. Akre sings over electric guitars; her voice changes tempo and volume from verse to chorus seamlessly as she sings over the loud instrumentation. It’s a moment when you realize that she is, at heart, as much of a rock star as she is a singer/songwriter. The lyrics are not sentimental but understanding (“hey little girl, are you crying because you’ve been broken down? We’ll you’re not the one to blame for all the motherfuckers hanging about, but nothing’s going to change if you don’t go and figure it out”).

Not every song on this record works as well as the ones mentioned above. A couple of songs (“Trafalgar Square” and “Half Shelf Life”) use some artificial sound effects that feel misplaced and divert attention from Akre’s voice – still the most important “instrument” featured on …Last the Evening. Yet, that is largely irrelevant. Carrie Akre has been an important figure in Seattle music for at least the past 15 years and has a large group of adoring fans. This is her strongest and most consistent record. For an artist to put out a record at this stage in her career is certainly admirable; to make one as good overall as this one is nothing short of special.

This is her strongest and most consistent record. For an artist to put out a record at this stage in her career is certainly admirable; but to make one as good overall as this one is nothing short of special.

Out of the Rain Compilation: Seattle's Musicians for Seattle's Youth

Chris Estey — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 07:00:00 +0000

yes

http://www.youthcare.org/

outoftherain05jul.jpg

A local non-profit organization called YouthCare is releasing Out of the Rain, a compilation album by local musicians to help finance and raise awareness for their Barista Training Program. As a guy who needs a job, that sounds like a great idea to me!

But are you reading this web-page looking for worthy causes to support? You there — in the black — YOU are? Well, here's one then!

Harder question: Do you buy many compilation albums put out for worthy causes? I didn't think so. Because they usually really suck, don't they? Oh yeah! Activists seem to have a LOT of musician friends. Too many, and their hobby has to end up someplace sometime I guess. And that place would be for a quarter at Every Day Music.

So why am I giving this a 7.0 rating? That's pretty high, isn't it? I ain't that noble — I sure wish there was a Barista training program for someone MY age. *Cough cough.* But really, power to the people, fuck Bush, all that, I'm with ya kids.

The reason this eleven-song up-with-yooth sampler should not escape your attention has to do with the musical gems amongst the, um, usual unspiced chorizo.

The second song is "1,000 Fragments" by a group called Infomatik, and it's a mean little anthem about "killing your idols." Okay, that's a wee bit ye olde line ... but it has that splendid Cure bass riff played on guitar, a nice sulky vocal, and drives your wavo girlfriend home after a short stop to Jack in the Box. Good greasy techno-punk.

But then the third track comes up, and it's "Devil in the Details" by the Walkabouts, and yeah, that's why people say those things about them. And it's an exclusive! And the lyrics are brilliant fragments about ennui and every day evil and the mocking universe, like a really good Denis Johnson poem, and the musical tone is like a stark confession from a friend. "The future is a muscle you don't have." It's imagery, a story, and a song to never forget. It's worth the whole cost of the album alone. Well, if you have a lot of money. But really.

But right after it Reggie Watts comes in singing (I mean, really SINGING) a joyful little R&B ditty called "Part of the World," which reminds all the Jonahs out there that Nineveh is just down the road from Nineveh and you never get any farther. His Al Green-style chorus is classic, and while this stuff is hardly my forte, I mean, come on, it's like Al Green, man. "I can't believe this town / it kicks you when you're down / no matter who you are." Ouch! Fucking Seattle. We should just pitch and buy the kids bus tickets to somewhere else then. But really. Poignant, emotional, and melodic — nice stuff.

Then a good Supersuckers song about drinking and fucking up. "I drink too much / I'm broke so let's go dutch." Funny stuff. You can read your collection of HATE comics to it. Peter Bagge made heroin jokes that'd split yer gut before '93. I guess they decided not to offer up the one they wrote about the recent post-structuralist responses to Lacan. Or what it's like to be sodomized by major labels. I'd kinda like to hear a few of those, because their feelings might be strong enough to take what is an exercise in club-soundtrack to the level of verisimilitude, well worn territory regardless.

Critters Buggin advertises all the gear you can buy at Trading Musician (someone steal their gear!), Carrie Akre gives a big old wave out to Joss Stone (tell me what I'm doing here!), some friends squeeze their way in, and Kinski scrape up the barest scrap of minimalist-noodling to lovingly hand over for the cause, but the above fawned-over tracks make this worthy of your donation.

But are you reading this web-page looking for worthy causes to support? You there — in the black — YOU are? Well, here's one then!

Carrie Akre

imaginary dana — Wed, 14 Aug 2002 07:00:00 +0000

9 Aug 2002

carrieakre02.jpg

I am not a fan of EMP's Sky Church as a show venue. It's too perfect, too pristine, designed for comfort and convenience more than experience — it's name, ironically, notwithstanding. Sure I can appreciate the lack of smoke... the early (and on-time) show performances, and the immaculate (and not too loud) sound. But it's all so sterile, so polished, so lacking in fire and quirk that I frequently find myself distracted from the show by the lack of ambiance. It's a rock venue without fire.

But Carrie Akre held her CD release party there, so I wasn't going to let my dislike of the venue dissuade me from attending. Carrie Akre, former singer for Hammerbox and Goodness, two of the defining bands from my early years in Seattle... of course I would attend. Especially since rumor had it that Carrie would be joined by former Hammerbox bandmate Harris Thurmond to play some old Hammerbox classics.

I got there just before 10, sadly missing Orbiter (did I say I appreciated the early and on-time show starts at EMP? I rescind; strike that, reverse it.). Carrie came on as planned just after 10, taking the stage with her six member back-up band (including brother Eric Akre on drums, aww). The show began with a wacka-wacka funk instrumental funk beat that I swear was the theme song to "Shaft"... and then Carrie began to sing.

God, her voice. It resonated, it warbled, it reverberated and it boomed and it soared. No one else sounds like Carrie Akre. Have I compared others to her sound in past reviews? Ahh, they were pale comparisons, mere echos of her command.

But this music? It was so... sophisticated. It was clean and cheery. It was positively adult comtemporary. Dare I say it? (I do)... It was mountain fresh even, complete with an annoying backup singer and dancer, a horn player, and a coordinated light show.

"I wanna fly around the top of the world
And when I've got you in my arms I will never let you run.
I will never let you run."

Um... Carrie? It was disconcerting to hear Carrie's oh-so-distinct "hey heah heeey hey" vocal stylings over this mellow and polished music. It was odd to see men in short-sleeved tucked-in silk shirts and pleated Dockers set to that voice, that gorgeous voice, that carried me through endless Goodness shows all over the Pacific Northwest a few years back. But there it was. Carrie Akre, adult-compemporary goddess, not Goodness.

Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. I guess. The songs were strong (if you like that sort of thing), and she still has amazing charm and charisma and a phenomenonal stage presence. The crowd loved her. I can't possibly put-down Carrie Akre; I adore her too much, even if what I love is now filed away under "nostalgia."

Whether or not this was my thing, it was certainly hers. She was obviously in love with each song, embracing it, caressing each note with her voice as she issued it forth to the audience, each syllable a gift. After she received an enthusiastic burst of applause, she told us, "Thanks for the applause. You scared the hell outta me." And it's no wonder; she's so entranced while playing, she likely literally forgot we were there.

A few highlights: A beautiful song called "Hope" from her new CD Invitation, a more soulful, simpler, and more passionate song.

"Hope, won't you come out and play me, save me
Hope won't you rest my eyes
Today....
Hope, roll me on over with the back of your hand."

The stage was darker, the guitar more intense, and the hokey-sounding trumpet, not present. The metaphor was lovely, honest, bittersweet, pained... I far prefered her simpler songs like this one, that focused more on her voice. This feels like a better "adult" direction than the so-called adult pop contempory songs.

Then came the biggest highlight the moment we (speaking in the personal collective sense of we, at least) were waiting upon: Harris joined her onstage, and we got to hear a couple of Hammerbox songs, "Edge of the Moon" and "When Three is Two." Harris' guitar cut out a few times, and Carrie joked, "Just like old times."

Surely I don't need to sing the praises of Hammerbox, do I? And even if I did, what difference would it make? They're gone, they're done... and while it was nice to hear those couple of old favorites, it just made me feel a little old and a lot of longing for a time gone by.

It's obvious that musicians shouldn't aim to stagnate. But I wasn't prepared to feel like the Hammerbox/Goodness days were so long gone by... or perhaps, I just wasn't fond of the music that has come up in its stead.

Carrie started playing more songs off the new CD after Harris left the stage, but it just made rock and roll Carrie seem even further away.

So I left. I left the adult contemporary tunes, I left the sterile and non-smoked filled hallway of the Sky Church, and headed to Linda's Tavern, the Hammerbox nostaliga buzz still burning fresh in my head...

The show began with a wacka-wacka funk instrumental funk beat that I swear was the theme song to "Shaft"... and then Carrie began to sing.