When Your Former Rockstar Crush Is a #MenToo Type
And his response to allegations is to tour and blame his victims.
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“You sing pretty good, boy,” a grizzled regular drawled as Ken finished his song and stepped down from the elevated corner stage with a flourish.
We all giggled. The old man had just seen a 30-something dude in a hoodie karaoke his best “Band on the Run.” We knew more: the singer was Ken Stringfellow, co-front man for beloved Seattle 90s power-pop band the Posies, a legit local rockstar and my crush of the moment. After a brief flirtation over email — it was 2002, after all — I’d asked him out to karaoke, and to my delight, he said yes. We agreed to meet at the Baranof, the diviest dive bar that ever dove, on a Monday night, and that we’d each bring a friend.
I brought three.
Liz and Kori were eager to witness the wonder of a favorite musician in civilian mode at karaoke. Just a few months later we’d go on to launch our local indie music website, Three Imaginary Girls, though none of us knew it yet that night. Melissa came too. She wasn’t a fan of Ken’s but was a good friend of mine, and was always down to witness whatever dating misadventures I managed to find.
