For every Seattle band that hits the big time, an incalculable number continue to labor on the scene below the radar. One such artist is Earl Brooks, a middle-aged singer-songwriter who’s rounded the open mike circuit since the early ‘80s and has lately held down a weekly residency at Cafe Racer. Combining the calculated, slow drawl of Cass McCombs with the world-weary melancholy of Townes Van Zandt, Brooks is proof positive that if you love what you do but can’t get a break, you just have to find a place to hunker down and hammer it out any way you can. GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT

Thu., Nov. 17, 9 p.m., 2011