Seattle has brought us a lot of bands who rock. And judging by their self-titled debut, The Blakes (a group named after the famed poet and artist, William) are no exception. Their music is the kind of catchy, danceable stuff that you crank up as you're getting ready to go out on the town—which is why you can't miss them when they hit Bottom of the Hill this Friday night.

"When I was growing up in Maine I wanted to be Hank Williams," says their bassist, Snow Keim. "We were dirt poor, had no money. Music was one thing our family did to make ourselves happy." When he moved to Seattle with his brother Garnet (the band's guitarist) to pursue a career in music, the first person they met was a writer named Bob, who later became their drummer. "I thought they said that they wanted to do bad things to me behind the coffee shop—but we became friends," Bob explains.

And so the trio moved to L.A. where they holed up at a Days Inn, cooked Ramen noodles with an iron and wrote a bunch of songs. "We pulled a van out of a junkyard, bolted some seats down, put in some carpet, threw our cheap gear in, and booked ourselves a tour," remembers Snow. "No booking agent, no label, no manager, no one's doing press—everyone thought we were insane, but our mom never gave up on us." Catch their live show (or at least the new video for their single "Don't Bother Me") and we're pretty sure you'll see why Mama Keim kept the faith.

Bottom of the Hill is located at 1233 17th Street, (415) 621-4455.

- Caroline Stanley

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