thao with the get down stay down at bumbershoot.

The year is drawing to a close, but before wintry weather makes touring too difficult the local show calendars are closing 2008 with a bang. As usual, listener-powered radio heartthrob KEXP is celebrating the season with a pair of delightfully indie showcases. This year, they’re putting on a double-header Yule Benefit on Friday and Saturday (the 12th and 13th) at Neumo’s.

Sandwiched in the middle of both evenings is Shearwater, a mellow Okkervil River spinoff from Austin , Texas. On Friday, they’ll be joined by local luminaries Grand Archives (who we still can’t say enough good things about, though we have certainly tried) and the Dutchess & the Duke (recently “reformed” punks from the Intelligence, the Fallouts, and the Fe Fi Fo Fums who are plying folksier wares on Hardly Art) . Saturday finds adorable indie pop charmers Thao with the Get Down Stay Down on headlining duties with Seattle-based hip hop stars Cancer Rising in the opening slot.

Tickets for each show are $15 each (or $25 for both) with the proceeds benefitting KEXP (whose memberships, by the way, might make a nice, compact, environmentally-friendly gift [kexp]). However, we’re giving away pair of tickets for each night. Send a note to seattle.metblogs @ gmail.com with your full name and a preference for which show you’d like to attend. I’ll pick a winner on Saturday afternoon. While not required, fun facts about the yule log, the winter solstice, or hilarious holiday traditions might improve your chances of success.

// Grand Archives, Shearwater, The Dutchess and The Duke. Friday 12 December, $15 adv, 8p [neumos];
// Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Shearwater, Cancer Rising. Saturday 13 December, $15 adv, 8p [neumos]