Welcome to The Inlander's second annual Local Music issue. Last year was kind of an experiment, and it went off great, so we decided to give it another go. A lot has stayed the same, but there are some notable changes. Our five buzzworthy bands are, once again, the result of a poll The Inlander took of local music industry veterans. We sent out the poll, we counted it, but the choice was ultimately theirs. We loved the response we got last year from industry people on the bands they're watching, so we again included their viewpoints. We also took the middle section — which last year helped bands get gigs in Spokane — and expanded it greatly, this year attempting to help Spokane bands book a full Northwest tour (just in time for summer). We've again reviewed local CDs and, for the first time ever, we've critiqued several area MySpace.com pages, to help bands get their music out effectively.

We hope this issue will be two things: a guide to local bands and a guide for local bands. Especially, it's to help local bands make that elusive transition from local act to national name...and to let the rest of us in on them before they get huge.

For the complete package check out our Music Section.

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Luke Baumgarten

Luke Baumgarten is commentary contributor and former culture editor of the Inlander. He is a creative strategist at Seven2 and co-founder of Terrain.