Staff Picks
After nearly 12 years, Sub Pop’s retail shop at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport may have gone off to the great tarmac in the sky, closing at the end of 2025. But that certainly hasn’t grounded the flagship Seattle label’s artists in the new year. Three Sub Pop standouts and a battalion of contenders at next month’s 68th annual Grammy Awards are among the highlights of a juicy Seattle concert calendar to start 2026.
Ya Tseen
The musical vehicle of acclaimed, multidisciplinary Alaska artist Nicholas Galanin docks in Seattle to fete the release of its second album, released through Sub Pop this month. The kaleidoscopic “Stand on My Shoulders” finds Ya Tseen, which means “to be alive” in Lingít, exploring and celebrating Galanin’s Indigenous heritage, passed through generations, and connection to land using experimental pop.
8:30 p.m. Jan. 16; Clock-Out Lounge, 4864 Beacon Ave. S., Seattle; $25-$30; 21-and-older; clockoutlounge.com
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
It’ll be interesting to see how much Jason Isbell pulls from his terrific new album, last year’s “Foxes in the Snow,” when the Americana rocker returns to Seattle with his 400 Unit band. Following Isbell’s split with singer-songwriter and violinist Amanda Shires, the exposed-nerve divorce album is an acoustic, heavy-hearted effort nominated for best folk album at the Grammys next month.
8 p.m. Jan. 23-24; Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle; $67-$115; stgpresents.org
JID
Seattle fans will forgive this Atlanta rap heavyweight for scrapping a planned November show to help induct his hometown heroes Outkast into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame instead. This fly-in makeup date comes a few days before the Dreamville Records rapper will learn if he can add “Grammy winner” to his LinkedIn profile, with his latest album, “God Does Like Ugly,” yielding two nods, including best rap album.
8 p.m. Jan. 27; Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle; tickets start at $49; stgpresents.org
Drink the Sea
This new Northwest-ish supergroup is the combined forces of worldly drummer Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees), R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, British singer/multi-instrumentalist Duke Garwood and Chilean artist Alain Johannes — practically an honorary Seattleite after years of close collaboration with grunge-era greats. Together as Drink the Sea, last fall the adventurous quartet released twin self-titled albums of moody, mystical progressive rock laced with global influences and Garwood’s husky baritone.
8 p.m. Jan. 30; Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle; $45-$50; townhallseattle.org
Naima Bock
English singer-songwriter Naima Bock first earned acclaim as the bassist of Goat Girl, before parting with the London post-punks and signing with Sub Pop ahead of her solo debut, 2022’s “Giant Palm.” Bock struck even more creatively fertile new ground on her sophomore effort, “Below a Massive Dark Land,” marked by subtly rich instrumentation and soul-piercing songwriting. Oakland band Mildred opens this partially seated show.
8 p.m. Feb. 5; Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle; $25; 21-and-older; tractortavern.com
The Head and the Heart with Seattle Symphony
The Seattle folk rockers have kept their foot on the gas in 2026, rejoining their stadium-filling pals The Lumineers for an Australian run before a one-off homecoming date with Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall. Afterward, THATH links up with fellow PNW royalty Brandi Carlile — a pairing that ought to make the mossiest of hearts sing — for 11 Seattle-proud arena dates across North America.
8 p.m. Feb. 6; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St. Seattle; limited remaining tickets start at $138; seattlesymphony.org
Khu.éex’
Washington staples Khu.éex’ (pronounced koo-EEX, meaning “potlatch” in the Tlingit language) returned last September with “Red Cedar in the Hour of Chaos,” their latest album combining funk-filled jazz fusion with Native American storytelling. The crew, led by bassist and accomplished glass artist Preston Singletary, holds a belated album release show doubling as a fundraiser for an in-the-works documentary about the band, co-founded by the late Bernie Worrell of Parliament-Funkadelic.
5:30 p.m. Feb. 7; Nectar Lounge, 412 N. 36th St., Seattle; $23; 21-and-older; nectarlounge.com
Paul Cauthen
Amid a chemo-spurning cancer fight and news of a baby on the way, alt-country star Paul Cauthen slides into Seattle for a serious underplay, holding court at Sunset Tavern for three solo shows. The first two nights are sold out and, while as of this writing, tickets for Night 3 were yet to go on sale to the general public, it’s a safe bet they won’t last long.
9 p.m. Feb. 12-14; Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle; $68.50; 21-and-older; sunsettavern.com
Sprints
The Irish post-punks came out roaring on their sophomore album, “All That Is Over,” jointly released through Sub Pop and Berlin label City Slang last year. It’s combustibility in a bottle, smashed to pieces over hardened, hold-on-for-dear-life grooves.
6-9 p.m. Feb. 14; Crocodile, 2505 First Ave., Seattle; $39; thecrocodile.com
Charley Crockett
One of the first major concerts since Seattle Theatre Group formed a “strategic alliance” with The 5th Avenue Theatre brings prolific outlaw country singer Charley Crockett in for a February doubleheader. Laced with a desperado’s baritone croon, Crockett’s latest album, “Dollar a Day” (his second of 2025), is up for best traditional country album at the Grammys.
8 p.m. Feb. 19-20; The 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Avenue, Seattle; tickets start at $85; stgpresents.org
Cardi B
For seven long years, fans had been tapping their watches waiting for a follow-up to Cardi B’s critics-silencing debut album, “Invasion of Privacy” — one of the 2010s’ defining hip-hop records. Not that the former reality TV star-turned-leading figure in a renaissance of women in rap was completely MIA during that time, delivering a mixed bag of singles, features, film cameos and celebrity-maintaining tabloid fodder. But 2025 brought the overdue release of Cardi B’s sophomore album, “Am I the Drama?” — a defiant (if a little bloated) comeback shot with bouncy lead single “Outside” up for a best rap performance Grammy. In 2026, Cardi B commences her first arena-headlining trek with the Little Miss Drama Tour, which hits Seattle seven dates in.
7:30 p.m. Feb. 22; Climate Pledge Arena, 334 First Ave. N., Seattle; tickets start at $74; climatepledgearena.com
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