CCMA Playlist

Garlic and Roses in-house record freak Tyler here!  Prepping to head way out West to Tacoma, WA and I’ve handpicked a slim 30 minute playlist of what I’m sure is merely a tiny sampling of local talent. 

Neko Case has lived many places in her life, and she’s rocked them all. But she considers Tacoma to be her hometown. In fact, this cut from her debut solo album is a paean, an ode, a tribute to her beloved Tacoma. I wish someone could write a song this good about my hometown. Maybe folks from right outside of Washington DC  have adopted Stevie Nicks’ iconic “Silver Springs” as their town anthem? Since we can’t all be as lucky as Tacoma , we could do a lot worse than skipping the specifics and settle for Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown.”  I assume “Thrice All American”  is played on every local radio station at the beginning and end of each day. 

This is a hard “Space” needle to thread with how large Seattle looms over the Pacific Northwest music scene (I’m trying to learn from some local Tacoma folks how to think about it in a different way). Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Aberdeen, even at the top of Mt Rainier, there’s not a single booty can refuse to move during My Hooptie. To misquote the great George Clinton “ warning: the contents of this song may permanently affect the way you move that thang.” 

Local all-time legends The Ventures must be the record holder for most albums recorded and released in one decade, let alone the sixty plus years they have been active, with over 60 Studio albums and 30 live albums (including one from 2023!) in their catalog. This cut is from the album “The ventures in space” is one of their most raw and least polished instrumental rockers. 

All time Top 3 (er, maybe Top 5? A true record freak, remember!!) greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands, The Sonics. Blasting out of the Pacific Northwest with so much raw power on immortal tunes like “Psycho”, “The Witch”, and my personal favorite, the inimitable “Strychnine.” With punks like these who needs punk? 

Impossible to talk about music from Sea-Tac metro area without mentioning grunge and Alice In Chains specifically. Tacoma son Jerry Cantrell left a lasting impression on many of us who grew up in the 90s, watching MTV. His unmistakable growl and swagger drip all over this take from MTV’s Unplugged show. Do they still make Unplugged? Or behind the music? God, I miss the 90s.

Back, baby, back in time… to the late 1960s and the fertile local soul and funk scene on labels like Topaz, and Sepia, who were turning out dozens of killer tunes. These songs were regionally popular, but never made much noise outside of Washington state. This is the opening cut from a great compilation from the Seattle reissue label Light in the Attic, called Wheedle’s Groove. (Google Wheedle, it’s worth it!) Comps like this prove this scene could have and should have hit the air waves all over the country. 

Our last tune is another (mostly) instrumental from not 1, not 2, but 3 future members of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury psychedelic cowboys Moby Grape. Tacoma native Jerry Miller's early group The Frantics gifted the world this amazing Halloween tune: A side “Werewolf”, B-Side “No Werewolf.” You might wanna leave a light on before dropping the needle on this spooky riff.