Best-known for their timeless hits “Black Gold,” “Misery,” “Somebody to Shove,” “Just Like Anyone,” and the Grammy-winning classic, “Runaway Train,” Soul Asylum has sold more than five million records during their lengthy career. Their groundbreaking music video for “Runaway Train” featured pictures of missing children and a phone number to call and report missing or exploited children.

Originally from Minnesota, Soul Asylum has toured the world several times, and is coming off a recently completed U.S. summer tour. Soul Asylum’s noteworthy moments are difficult to condense, however they include performing at President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, musical contributions to several films, including “Clerks,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” and “Chasing Amy,” and appearances on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “MTV Unplugged,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and “Saturday Night Live.” Soul Asylum also has performed on bills with a who’s-who of rock and roll bands, including Guns N’ Roses, Spin Doctors, INXS, Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Matchbox 20, and many, many more.  

Over the years, Soul Asylum’s popularity also has carried its members into the tabloid spotlight, as well. Most notable was the longtime romance between Soul Asylum singer/guitarist Dave Pirner and actress Wynona Ryder. Pirner’s many acting roles included one in the Ben Stiller-directed romantic comedy, “Reality Bites,” in which he performed with Ryder and actor Ethan Hawke. Current band members include Pirner and founder and original guitarist/vocalist Dan Murphy, bassist Tommy Stinson (Guns N’ Roses, The Replacements) and drummer Michael Bland, who formerly drummed for years in superstar Prince’s band.  

Also performing at the show will be legendary Seattle rock band Sweet Water. The band will be taking a break from the studio and the recording of their latest album just long enough to come to Aberdeen and perform along with Soul Asylum.

Rising from the ashes of 1980s Seattle punk bands SGM, Skank Puppies, and The Experience, Sweet Water (Adam, Cole, Paul, and Credo) shot to near stardom in the Seattle music explosion of the early 1990s alongside Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. Propelled by keen pop-punk sensibilities, spacey glam songwriting, and fueled by a roaring wall of guitar, Sweet Water delivered on the promises of rock and roll.

Sweet Water’s live performances back then were hot, sweaty, screaming, smoky, passionate, substance-fueled affairs that permanently burned memories into their fans’ brains. Sweet Water’s raw rock and roll power was tempered by an earnest effort to write well-crafted and meaningful songs. At times elegant, sometimes full of anger, angst and pain, and often before their time – Sweet Water’s songs are a rosetta stone for rock and roll in the modern era.

Sweet Water’s four albums outline the trajectory of a band searching to define itself. Their 1990 debut, “Ter,” (New Rage, re-released on Golden City) has all the youthful energy and enthusiasm of a young band riding a wave of popularity and loving it.

Sweet Water’s second album, the self-titled major label debut on Atlantic caught the band at a crossroads, at times staying true to their glam punk roots - at other times veering into arena rock territory – but it all works, as evidenced by the hit “Everything Will be Just Fine.” The self-titled album showcased the strength of Adam Czeisler’s vocals and gave the boys their first chance at the big time.

Then there was 1995’s “Superfriends” (East/West - Elektra), a classic of the alternative era. Produced by rock legend Dave Jerden, “Superfriends” is a collection of driving guitar gems like “Cake and Strychnine,” radio ready pop-punk anthems such as “Superstar” and “Feed Yourself,” and more introspective pieces like “Self Hater.” The album is Sweet Water at their young, wild and free best.

Recorded in 1997 as a follow-up to “Superfriends” and released in 1999, “Suicide” (Good-Ink) was fueled by cynicism for the recording industry, and driven by a love for all things rock, “Suicide” was the band’s attempt to kill itself in a blaze of rock and roll glory.

Sweet Water’s latest album, “Clear the Tarmac,” was released in 2009. It was the band’s first record in nine years, and fifth full-length overall. Over the years, the band has toured internationally. Most recently, those dates have included tours with the likes of Stone Temple Pilots and Iggy Pop and a performance at 2009’s SXSW Music Festival and the 2010 Bumbershoot Festival. About the Kurt Cobain Memorial Foundation The Kurt Cobain Memorial Foundation (formerly Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee) is a perpetual, nonprofit organization based in the city of Aberdeen, Wash.

Incorporated in May 2004, the Kurt Cobain Memorial Foundation’s objective is to build, operate and maintain an artistic youth center in the name of the late Kurt Cobain, singer/guitarist for the rock band Nirvana, within the city limits of his hometown of Aberdeen, Wash.

On April 5, 2005, the 11th anniversary of Cobain’s death, the Foundation erected a large sign at the east entrance to the city of Aberdeen. The sign reads, “Welcome to Aberdeen: Come As You Are,” and is a reference to one of Nirvana’s most-popular songs. On Sept. 15, 2007, the Foundation held its first-ever tribute concert, Lounge Acts. The 2009 show was held Oct. 17, and featured the multi-platinum group Candlebox and also included former Nirvana drummer Chad Channing’s current band, Before Cars. The show sold out and drew Cobain fans from across the region.

The Foundation has been featured on MTV, VH1, CNN and many local TV stations. Additional media coverage has come from Rolling Stone; The Los Angeles Times; and regional and international newspapers, radio stations, websites, magazines and more. Sponsors for the 2009 Lounge Acts show included Comcast and Sub Pop Records.