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Band of the Week: Star Anna
With so much happening in Seattle’s bustling music scene these days, how do you even know where to start? Allow the highly trained culture curators of Seattlemag.com to help with Band of the Week. This week, we catch up with sultry singer/songwriter Star Anna, whose haunting, noir country-tinged vocals have been called “the real deal” by none other than Duff McKagan. Star Anna plays Charles Smith’s 1st Annual Georgetown Holiday Bash at Jet City this Friday, with bands from her Mike McCready-owned and operated label, HockeyTalkter Records.
In three sentences, tell us the story of your band: I was a drummer in a punk band in high school. Heard Elliott Smith for the first time when I was 16 and picked up the guitar. This next phase involves much less guitar and much more singing.
What have you been working on these days? My main focuses right now are recording a new album and preparing for a tribute show for one of my favorite artists, David Bowie. I’ll be performing the entire Bowie album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust with a band and orchestra at the Neptune Theater, January 8th. I’m recording the majority of the new album in L.A. with my keyboard player, Ty Bailie. There will be a lot of keyboard sounds, some marching band drums and zero acoustic guitar. Release date undecided, we’re just taking our time with it and enjoying the process.
What does being an artist/musician/band in Seattle mean to you? There is a huge sense of community among Seattle artists that I cherish. I grew up in Ellensburg, and moved to Seattle in my early 20s for music, so being welcomed and embraced by that community has really meant a lot to me.
What BIG question should we ask, and what’s the answer? Q. Who’s your celebrity crush? A. William Petersen (Manhunter, CSI, To Live and Die in L.A.)
What’s next? Next up is the first-annual Georgetown Holiday Bash on December 16 at Charles Smith Wines Jet City followed by my Bowie show, new album, music videos, songs for films, mentoring young girls interested in music and maybe this year I finally form my trash rock band, The Soft Offs.
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The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.
For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…
The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever
PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.
Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair. I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…
Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026
Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.
Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…