The Sound of Seattle

101 Songs that Shaped a City

Non-Fiction - Music/Entertainment
288 Pages
Reviewed on 10/07/2024
Buy on Amazon

Author Biography

Jake Uitti’s work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Interview, The Nation, The Athletic, and more. When not immersed mid-interview, Jake can be found in search of the city’s best-fried chicken or cheese pizza slice. He is the co-author of memoirs with NBA stars Muggsy Bogues and Earl Cureton and co-author of The Sound of Seattle with his radio DJ wife. The son of Ivy League professors, Jake grew up amidst tomes of French literature, but soulful meals, thoughtful music, thrilling sports , and compelling conversations are his true loves.

Eva Walker is a radio DJ and host of the Early Show on the Seattle radio station, KEXP. A co-founder of the rock band, The Black Tones, with her twin brother, the group has garnered major accolades, including being named one of the 15 groups redefining the city’s sound by NPR. The Black Tones have opened Weezer, Death Cab for Cutie, Mavis Staples, and more. She has collaborated with members of Pearl Jam and partnered with the Seattle Sounders FC, launching the club’s Jimi Hendrix-inspired jersey kit. More recently, the Black Tones released music on Sub Pop Records as part of the label’s Singles Club. Walker was featured in music videos for local Grammy-nominated artists, ODESZA and Macklemore, and she helped produce the BBC’s the Arts Hour on Tour event in Seattle. She is a sought-after creative visionary and a new mom on top of it all.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro for Readers' Favorite

Seattle is known for its persistent rainfall and its outstanding coffee. By the late 1980s to early 1990s, Seattle emerged as ground zero for a new music genre: grunge. Yet, despite the explosion of the alternative rock scene and its artists, Seattle had been home at one time or another to many accomplished musicians from Ray Charles to Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain. With the evolution of radio as a medium and the presence of adventurous DJs, the music from Seattle would spread far and wide. While the 1940s would offer a holiday standard such as Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, Ray Charles’ Confession Blues ushered in a sound with an indelible soulfulness. The Sound of Seattle: 101 Songs that Shaped a City authors by Eva Walker and Jacob Uitti shows how as the decades progressed, pop culture tastes would shift from pop to jazz to R&B to rock and roll, but the Seattle impact would pervade.

The Sound of Seattle exceeds expectations as authors Eva Walker and Jacob Uitti present an eclectic playlist from a wide range of artists spanning over 80 years. The love for the “Emerald City” and its surrounding suburbs is evident with each song listed, artist interviewed, and locale profiled. One of the book’s endearing aspects is how each song named also comes equipped with an informative paragraph about the artist and why the song was chosen. The authors don’t limit themselves in their song profiles, they go deep and find influential diamonds in the rough (i.e. Tina Bell of Bam Bam). This book informs, entertains, and will have music lovers searching through record bins and/or their music streaming services to locate more than a few of these choice selections.