As part of our PlayLive concert series, we bring exceptional, diverse, artistic talent to the PlayNetwork offices, exposing our Music Supervisors to new and up-and-coming artists from around the globe. Many of these artists are already playing in-store at your favorite retailers, while others are on the horizon of breaking. Much of what we do hinges on music discovery for our brands, turning them into tastemakers for their consumers.

Juno award-winning Canadian artist LIGHTS recently performed cuts from her latest release, “Little Machines”, at our Redmond headquarters. Lights blew onto the electropop scene in 2008 with her hit “Drive My Soul”, and her brand of gleaming, heartfelt pop music has continued to captivate fans around the globe.

“Running With The Boys” opened the set, with the kind of powerful chorus you’d expect to hear chanted in arenas. “Up We Go” showcases Light’s gorgeously fun vocals, only surpassed by her on-stage energy. Much has been said about Light’s road to rediscovery during the writing of “Little Machines” (she shared that the verse for “Muscle […]

What better way to start the Labor Day Weekend than with some music? We’re much obliged to take that advice and are happy to welcome Gypsy Soul to the PlayLive  stage, tomorrow, Friday August 31st at 2:00pm.

Gypsy Soul is a California based Celtic soul band led by Cilette Swan and Roman Morykit that sings catchy folk based pop/rock songs.

Their music has aired all over the world and been featured in numerous television shows including Felicity, Roswell, and Providence.

The pair met in Scotland and formed a creative partnership that’s resulted in over ten CDs-including the latest, Grace and Tranquility.

They have been featured as critics Choice and Top Picks in numerous publications including the Seattle Post Intelligencer, LA Times, SF Examiner, Palo Alto Daily News, Bass Player, and Performing Songwriter.

In honor of their 11th CD they are offering a free download of their new song, “Where Did We Go Wrong” available here: http://www.gypsysoul.com/

Click below to view one of their live performances […]

Tacoma, WA native Vicci Martinez was a singer and musician long before her successful run on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2011. Identifying primarily as a singer/songwriter creating and performing original material, she was admittedly a bit hesitant to jump into the reality TV arena at first. Not wanting to compromise her artistic integrity, Vicci reportedly passed up an early opportunity with American Idol before coming to terms with the realization that the exposure to a massive TV audience is actually a perfectly viable way to launch a career in today’s music industry.

Working closely with Cee Lo Green, Vicci was able to take full advantage of the television platform by ending the show in 3rd place overall. She recently cut her first single “Come Along” with her famous mentor featured on the track. Picking up tons of new fans, industry connections, and adding the weight of a Grammy-winning artist to her debut release on the Universal label (sorry Cee Lo, no pun intended), Vicci Martinez is living her dream. […]

Last Friday we hosted an energetic set on the PlayLive stage by the fantastic indie pop duo, Mates of State. Not only have the Mates of State released seven excellent full-length albums over the course of their fourteen year career, a large majority of their creative output was done as a husband/wife team.

The couple, Kori and Jason met in Lawrence, Kansas where they both grew up. Originally playing together in a four-piece rock band, they soon left and headed for California, where they devoted their time to making music as a duo, and creating what would become the Mates of State. Eventually in 2001 the couple got married and had two daughters, Magnolia and June. Since having children, the Mates of States tours have become family affairs, and you can follow their life as family on the road, in Kori’s very entertaining blog titled “Band on the ‘Diaper’ Run”

In addition to being on the road with artists such as Death Cab For Cutie, Spoon, […]

Katie Herzig’s recent performance at PlayNetwork lit up the PlayLive stage,  and many faces in the crowd, with her all-girl ensemble and catchy pop songs. No, she’s not taking a page from Jack White’s playbook; she reconvened with her full band later that night, adding the guys into the mix for their show at the legendary Crocodile in Seattle. We lucky PlayNetworkers were treated to a stripped down, intimate performance of songs from her 2011 full-length album The Waking Sleep and other past projects. Katie and crew played with precision and control, the two guitars and cello combining to create an even and balanced sound that complimented her hushed vocals very well.

Her onstage banter between songs was a highlight of the set. Katie recalled accepting the challenge when called upon to relieve Fergie on a project for a movie soundtrack. The song born of that endeavor is the playful and irreverent “Hey Na Na” and due to complications onstage resulting from a tube amp and […]

Horse Feathers is an indie/folk band born in Portland Oregon with a smooth and elegant sound.  Their albums could be strictly instrumental, stripped of vocals, and still be just as enjoyable. With spring upon us, their 2010 release Thistled Spring comes to mind. If I had to choose a soundtrack for the season this would be an excellent choice. The pianos and strings paired with Justin Ringle’s haunting voice in the title track remind me of the changing seasons. And that’s what Horse Feathers does for me, their music paints a picture and instills me with emotion. Their newest release “Cynic’s New Year” is a bit more upbeat than some of their previous work, but is just as melodic and layered. The track “Fit Against the Country” (listen here) is perhaps my favorite, with lyrics like “Nearly every day, we earn a lower wage/ To tell you what we’re made of, or a wage is what we’re paid/ It’s a hard country we’ve made.”, Ringle sings words of […]

Eric Hutchinson, acclaimed Singer/Songwriter will be gracing the PlayLive stage tomorrow (2/7)! Eric’s folk and jazz-inflected Pop-Rock is said to be somewhere between “Jeff Buckley and John Mayer”, and he’s been called, “one of the most talented singer-songwriters that Boston has to offer”, drawing comparisons to Jason Mraz, Stevie Wonder, Ben Folds, Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, and Billy Joel; many of which Eric cites as influences.

In 2004, Eric’s debut album That Could’ve Gone Better caught the attention of Maverick Records which had previously broken artists such as Alanis Morissette and Michelle Branch, but just as Eric’s major label debut was set to release, the label was shut down. Eric spent the better part of 2 years extracting himself from the contract before returning to his own label and releasing a tongue-in-cheek titled live EP Before I Sold Out, followed by his second studio album 2007’s Sounds Like This, which caught the attention of celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. After a single blog post by Hilton back in 2007, Sounds Like […]