Young bands take over the Moore on Friday night

Tomorrow's stars are playing tonight.

From Jamaican reggae to R&B, Washington teens and their music are taking the stage at the Moore.

"These are people who are serious about what they want to do and where they want to go," said Joseph Perez, a 19-year-old rapper on the lineup known as "Critical." "Even working with them can go somewhere."

For the past eight years, the event — More Music @ The Moore — has been showcasing young talent from all over Washington. Past performers have gone onto TV shows such as "American Idol" and "America's Got Talent" and schools such as Berklee College of Music in Boston.

This year, artists range in age from 13-20. Along with Critical, there's ska-grunge band Kind of Blind, bluegrass band Northern Departure, Zimbabwean marimba group Shumba Marimba, reggae sister duo Leah Marie, R&B ensemble Moore Soul and pop duo Sky and David Sanoy.

"We want to make sure to give back to the community and invest in local talent coming up in the ranks," said Vicky Lee, Seattle Theatre Group's director of education and performance programs. STG is the nonprofit that runs the Moore.

Lee scours community events and auditions up-and-coming acts for the show each year, recognizing star potential when she "sees it."

Many of these artists write their own material.

"We get everyone's work polished and ready to go," said Lee, who founded the program nine years ago. "We also get them out of their box."

That was certainly the case for Brier bluegrass band Northern Departure.

In addition to leading groups through their one required solo piece, music director and STG artist-in-residence Daniel Bernard Roumain combines the groups, sometimes uncomfortably.

"We don't usually do theatrics, not in bluegrass," said Northern Departure guitarist and mandolin player Chris Luquette. "But he made us stand in a little box and had us start the song as quiet as possible. For four guys under 20, it was really hard. We usually put all our energy into the songs, but he has us put all our energy into being as quiet as possible."

Luquette is the newest addition to the band. The other members — Nick Dumas, Austin McGregor and Derek Gray — were a part of a former band that has played the Moore event before. Together they play a brand of bluegrass influenced by everything from Bulgarian music to Neil Young.

"If you don't play bluegrass with your heart, it comes across very fake," said Luquette, 19. "I love that raw emotion."

He's looking forward to working more with Roumain, a violinist who just came back from performing in Vancouver, B.C., during the Olympics and with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

"I'm hoping to make some new friendships, get some new gig opportunities ... and get into the higher echelon of music here in Seattle," said Luquette.

Marian Liu: 206-464-3825 or mliu@seattletimes.com