Carly Ann Calbero grew up on Brandi Carlile, Pike Place Market, and the deep musical culture of the Pacific Northwest — and it shows in every note she sings. Her voice has been called a freight train, and the comparison holds: powerful, propulsive, and hard to look away from. That presence has earned her a national ad campaign for M&M;'s, a final spot in Rolling Stone's Street-To-Stage competition, and the top prize in NWMF's Emerging Artist program. She doesn't build an audience so much as she pulls one in. On stage with her band of Seattle musicians, Calbero is a full-body experience. Her dynamic playing and powerhouse vocals fill whatever room she's in, anchored by an emotional directness that makes even a first-time listener feel like they already know every word. Her commitment to craft and connection to her audience embody everything the Gigs4U community values in a live performer.

Bloodbelly Blues is making the trip up from Denver with his hardcore blues and soul approach. Colt Lightnin' brings the rock and roll outlaw energy. It & I rounds out the bill with punky, dancy, cabaret-tinged originals and a setup that involves drums played with his feet and a hodgepodge of homemade gadgetry.

I'll be closing out the night with a set that leans into the saxophone-forward material, pulling from Burden of Excess and some newer tracks that haven't made it to a Portland stage yet.

If you're in the area and you're into acts that do a lot with very little, this is the night to show up for. Four different takes on the one-person setup, each doing their own thing.

Bloodbelly Blues // Colt Lightnin' // It & I // Polybanderous
The Spare Room
4830 NE 42nd Ave, Portland, OR 97218
Thursday, June 19th, 7pm

If you haven't caught us at The Sandbar before, it's a solid spot right on Marine View Drive with good sightlines and decent sound. The kind of room where the music can actually breathe.

We'll be pulling from our recent catalog, including cuts from Thanks For Playing and En Español, plus some deep catalog material that doesn't always make it into the shorter sets. Expect the full range: blues foundations with all the detours into soul, funk, and whatever else feels right in the moment.

This is one of those shows where we can stretch out a bit, so if you've been wanting to hear what we do when we're not racing against a curfew, this is your chance.

Show up early, grab a spot with a view of the water, and settle in.

Fast Nasties
The Sandbar & Grill
1941 Marine View Dr, Tacoma, WA
Friday, July 25th, 7pm

I'll be kicking things off with material from Burden of Excess and some newer tracks, leaning into the saxophone-forward stuff that works well in The Sandbar's room. It's a good space for letting things breathe, and the waterfront view doesn't hurt either.

Reji Marc brings the soul and groove, and if you've been to any of our recent shows, you've probably caught him opening or sharing a bill with us. Solid player, always delivers.

It & I is a one-man-band setup out of Portland that's hard to categorize. Punky, dancy, cabaret-pop originals with drums played by his feet, an acoustic guitar run through effects and live looping, and a collection of homemade gadgets that somehow all work together. It's the kind of act where you're trying to figure out how he's pulling it off while also just enjoying the ride.

If you're in Tacoma and looking for something to do on a Friday night, this is a solid way to spend it.

Polybanderous // Reji Marc // It & I
The Sandbar & Grill
1941 Marine View Dr, Tacoma, WA 98422
Friday, June 6th, 8pm

Event details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1723635375709521

Katrina Kope's voice is her instrument and her compass. Rooted in jazz and blues but entirely unwilling to stay in one place, she has spent over a decade moving between electronica, funk, reggae, trip-hop, R&B;, and vocal improvisation with eight albums to show for it. Along the way she has graced some of the largest stages in the Pacific Northwest and earned deep respect from peers across Seattle's music scene — including a five-word review from John Legend that says just about everything: "What a beautiful voice." Kope's live presence matches the range of her recorded work. Whether fronting a funk band, leading an EDM night, or stripped back to piano and voice, she commands the room without effort. Her ability to shift between genres while keeping her musicality front and center makes her a rare and genuinely exciting live act — exactly the kind of artist Gigs4U exists to spotlight.

Tyler Hamilton approaches songwriting from the ground up, quite literally — he builds much of his own gear, chasing vintage tones through hand-crafted amplifiers and guitars rooted in the rock 'n' roll he fell in love with as a kid. That obsession with sound and craft runs through everything he does, from the warm Americana textures of his debut album Movin' On to the soul, funk, and Motown-inflected grooves he's explored across Seattle's stages. His music is the work of someone who doesn't just play well — he understands what makes a sound feel right. As a performer, Hamilton brings a loose, intuitive ease that has made him a trusted presence in the Seattle music community, sitting in with a wide range of local artists over the years. His sets feel less like performances and more like conversations — comfortable, capable, and deeply connected to the music. That combination of technical depth and genuine warmth is exactly what Gigs4U is built around.

For Episode 12 of the Bushwick Book Club Seattle's 2025–2026 collaborative series, Polybanderous responded with something more experimental — music that tries to hold the weight of Prokowiew's words rather than resolve it. Watch the full video above: Jason reads first, then the song follows.

Some artists find their footing early and hold it. Sheryl Wiser's path has been more honest than that: shaped by injury, dormancy, community loss, and political reckoning, each chapter adding something to the music that can't be faked.

The Seattle-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist works in the space where Americana, roots, blues, folk, and jazz overlap. Her signature red Parker Fly guitar is part of the visual identity, but it's also a practical choice: a four-pound instrument she switched to after a serious repetitive strain injury in the mid-nineties forced her to rethink everything. The result, as the Seattle Weekly noted at the time, was a punchier sound paired with a new vocal confidence. The limitation became the sound.

Wiser came up through the folk coffeehouse scene in Boston and Denver before landing in Seattle, where her band Somebody's Daughter drew attention for their alt-folk/alt-country approach at a moment when the city was consumed by grunge. Musician Magazine named them a finalist in their "Best Unsigned Band" contest in 1994. Her solo career took her through Northwest stages, New York venues like The Bitter End and Sin-é, and opening slots for artists including Tori Amos, Crash Test Dummies, and Patty Larkin.

After a period of dormancy that stretched nearly a decade, it was the community around Seattle's Cafe Racer that brought her back. The 2012 shooting at that venue deepened her resolve rather than breaking it. She returned to performing, formed a blues duo, and kept building.

The 2016 election marked another shift. A single house concert performance of "This Land is Your Land" made the stakes of a live room viscerally clear, and Wiser launched the Pie + Persistence house concert series the following year. Since 2017, those living room performances have raised over $120,000 for more than 34 nonprofits.

In 2025 alone she played over 40 shows, including the Tractor Tavern, the Royal Room, the Rabbit Box Theatre, regional festivals, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's "Music at Sea" program via Gigs4U. That last detail says something: Wiser is equally at home in a barn, a living room, or an airport concourse. The intimacy travels with her.

Now nominated for a 2026 Sonic Guild Seattle Artists Grant and beginning work on her first album in 30 years with songwriter and composer Tomo Nakayama, Wiser is in one of the more productive stretches of a long career. The Seattle Times put it plainly: "She writes emotional, rhythmically stirring songs and delivers them with genuine passion."

That's the core of it. Craft, presence, and a reason to mean it.

Learn more at sherylwiser.com.

"Hope Is The Thing With Feathers" brings together three of Seattle's most compelling artists for a single night of original music: Kathy Moore, Patrick Porter, and Sheryl Wiser. Doors open at 6pm, music starts at 7pm, and tickets are $15 advance or $20 at the door.

Kathy Moore has built a reputation as one of the finest guitarists in the Pacific Northwest, and for good reason. Her playing runs the full spectrum: scorching leads, layered loops, quiet fingerpicking, and everything in between. Moore is equally at home behind a piano delivering a tender ballad as she is constructing a wall of sound from a pedalboard. Her "Prog-Punk" sensibility keeps things unpredictable, and that's the point.

Patrick Porter is the definition of a working musician. Performer, accompanist, music director, collaborator on countless local projects: he wears a lot of hats, and wears them well. His solo work, however, is its own world entirely. Two EPs of original material released in the last two years show a songwriter with serious range, and in a solo setting, that intimacy comes through fully. Just a voice, a guitar or piano, and room for the melody to breathe.

Sheryl Wiser rounds out the trio with a sound that refuses to stay in one lane. Folk, soul, blues, jazz, and rock all factor into her music, anchored by a voice that commands attention. Her signature red Parker Fly guitar is part of the visual signature, but it's the storytelling that sticks. Wiser writes about struggle, loss, and resilience with a directness that feels earned. Outside of music, she's a community activist, writer, and advocate for sustainable agriculture; her stage presence carries all of it.

Three artists with distinct approaches, sharing one night at one of Seattle's most intimate rooms. This is the kind of show The Rabbit Box was built for.

Grab your tickets here before they're gone. $15 advance, $20 at the door. 94 Pike Street, Seattle.

Shaun Crawford approaches songwriting from the guitar outward, letting feel and phrasing lead the way. His work is rooted in expressive playing and attentive dynamics — music that values touch, tone, and patience over flash. Each piece carries a sense of intention, shaped as much by what’s left unsaid as by what’s played.

As a performer, Crawford brings a grounded, focused presence that suits intimate rooms and attentive audiences. His music unfolds naturally, guided by nuance rather than urgency, making space for listeners to settle in and engage. That emphasis on craft, connection, and live experience places him squarely within the spirit of Gigs4U.

Based out of San Carlos, CA and active since 2015, Thrown-Out Bones is a collective of self-described lifelong music nerds with a sound that refuses to sit still. Their bio calls it "swanky rock," and that label holds up: equal parts swagger-dripping rock, tense blues, funky Latin grooves, and soaring harmonies. It's the kind of mix that shouldn't work on paper but absolutely does on stage.

At the center of it all is a genuinely unique frontperson setup: Liliana on drums and lead vocals, and her bestie Nick on guitar. The chemistry between them is what gives the band its signature spontaneity. One night they might improvise a song about someone in the front row; the next, that same person ends up onstage singing lead. Thrown-Out Bones doesn't just play to a crowd; they hand the crowd a stake in the show.

That improvisational energy, combined with serious road-tested polish, has taken them through over 40 states and onto bills alongside names like Cory Wong, The Wood Brothers, and The Fearless Flyers. That's not a resume you build by accident; it's the product of full-time independent touring grit and a live show that earns its word-of-mouth reputation every single night.

Their original songs bring a "supernova of existentialism and snark" (their words, and they're earned). There's a darkness in the writing that the grooves keep from getting too heavy, and a humor in the delivery that keeps the whole thing from ever feeling self-serious.

If you haven't caught them yet, now is the time. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook, stream their catalog on Spotify or Bandcamp, and keep an eye on their show schedule for dates near you.

Some things genuinely have to be felt live. Thrown-Out Bones is one of them.

Drea Marilyn writes with a quiet confidence that never overstates its case. Her songs are intimate and emotionally direct, rooted in folk tradition but shaped by a modern sense of space and restraint. There’s a clarity to her voice and songwriting that feels intentional — nothing wasted, nothing hidden behind excess.

Her work thrives on subtlety. Lyrics arrive plainly but linger long after, carried by arrangements that leave room for vulnerability and breath. It’s music that feels most at home in attentive rooms and reflective moments, where connection matters more than volume. That balance of honesty and control makes Drea Marilyn a natural fit within the Gigs4U ecosystem.

Bandcamp:
https://drea-marilyn.bandcamp.com

Tickets are available through the link below. Doors open at 9pm, 21+.