Philosophical Question: What is “northwest”?

There are several oulets that cover the local and northwest music scene (blogs, publications, radio). But what music should or should not be covered by these outlets? What makes a band a “northwest band”?

For me, it’s still strange to see a list of top selling local albums that includes the Shins. When Oh, Inverted World came out, the band was based in Albuquerque, NM. But when they relocated to Portland, OR, they were immediately accepted as local. In the February 22-28 issue of The Stranger, Wincing the Night Away is listed as the number one selling northwest album and Oh, Inverted World is number 4. When Kristin Hersh’s Sunny Border Blue was released, she was living near North Bend and that album received airplay on KEXP’s local music show, Audioasis. When her next album, The Grotto, came out she was living in Palm Springs, CA and it was not considered a local release. Now she is living in Portland, OR and her latest album, Learn to Sing Like a Star is once again accepted as northwest (but it doesn’t seem to be as accepted as Sunny Border Blue). And if Kristin Hersh is considered local, where does that put her bands 50 Foot Wave and Throwing Muses? I personally don’t want to hear the Dave Matthews Band on Audioasis or the Young and the Restless, but since Mr. Matthews lives in Wallingford (at least he did, does he still?) should he be considered local?

And what about local bands that move away to other parts of the country? Should Band of Horses, who moved to South Carolina, and Big Business, who relocated to L.A., still be counted as local? Both bands started here, and both have deep local ties (Band of Horses - Carissa’s Wierd, New Mexicans/Crutches. Big Business - Murder City Devils, Karp, Tight Bros From Way Back When). Once a local band, always a local band?

Is Built to Spill the only band in Idaho? And with bands from both sides of the US-Canadian border having difficulty getting across to play shows, is Vancouver, BC really apart of the northwest scene anymore?

I think it usually comes down to how the person doing the coverage feels about a band. If a band is felt to be good, the definition of northwest may be stretched to include it. In the end the only one that really cares is the kid in the crappy band from Everett who feels his band isn’t getting coverage because bands that are less northwest than his are getting all the attention.

Anyone else have thoughts on the matter?

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