I couldn’t be more thrilled about this Saturday’s events. Opening up City Hall to the public will give Seattleites the opportunity to meet their new mayor and learn more about the way their local government works. And what goes better with open government than great music?

The free evening concert at Showbox SODO (doors open at 7:30) will bring together some of the incredible diversity of talent that calls Seattle home. The Maldives are well-liked for their big country-rock sound, and Hey Marseilles is a dynamic and versatile group of pop instrumentalists. Gabriel Teodros is a pillar of the Seattle hip hop community.  But we’re also going to see another group on Saturday: one that doesn’t play much around town these days.

Wheedle’s Groove is a group of musicians who were part of something that not everyone in Seattle is aware of. In the late 60s and early 70s, the Central District was home to a thriving funk and soul scene. Like so many things that are made in Seattle, the music coming out of that scene was creative and different—these guys did their own thing.

Thirty years or so after the advent of disco shut down many of the venues that supported these musicians, Light in the Attic Records released a compilation of old records that had been found around the Sound at garage sales, thrift stores, and record shops. A few years later, many of the members of the bands featured on that album got together as Wheedle’s Groove–named after the old SuperSonics mascot, by way of a funky TV theme song written for the team–for a handful of shows. More than just a band, they are a big-time old-fashioned soul revue. They haven’t played together in almost four years, and we’ve heard they’ve been practicing hard.

Anyone who has listened to Kearney Barton, the record they released last year, can attest that these guys still have it. We are honored to present their music and celebrate their history. Seattle is truly a City of Music.

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Posted by: Julie McCoy