Young and ready

Style: Indie-pop acoustic

Roster: Lead singer, guitarist and chief songwriter Sean Saugen, bassist Max “The Kid” Harnishfeger and keyboardist Justin “Gus” Sabestinas

Upcoming gigs: Tonight at 7 at CenterStage, 1017 W. First Ave., supporting Logan Heftel’s CD release party with Nate Schierman, Matt Ridenour and Allan Stone. Advance tickets are $7 through TicketsWest, $9 at the door. The Noted headlines a New Year’s Eve show Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Rock Coffee, 920 W. First Ave., with Logan Heftel, Caleb Roloff and Bridget Vogel. No cover.

Origin story: Sean Saugen played his first local live show in January for Rock Coffee’s grand opening and has become a regular feature at the coffee shop.

“That was my launching pad into the music scene in Spokane. Rock Coffee is a smaller venue, but it has a great sound system and it caters to all ages. And it’s next to (the) Big Easy so people that go dancing pop their head in and maybe grab a cup of joe and hang out,” Saugen said.

He recruited Harnishfeger in May to join him onstage and started playing under the name The Noted. They recently added Sabestinas to the mix.

“(Harnishfeger) is young, only 15 years old,” said 22-year-old Saugen. “But he’s been playing bass for five years, and he is very versatile. His background is in jazz; he’s a technical player that drives songs by playing simple, well-placed notes.”

Musical background: Saugen, who is mostly self-taught on guitar, said, “My dad played trombone for 40 years. I grew up listening to everything. He taught me not to be stuck in one mode of music. I used to sing a lot, and I joined school choir when I was 11. My first guitar was a Spanish guitar with steel strings. It sounded terrible, but I stuck with it.”

Best live show of 2005: “Death Cab for Cutie in Walla, Walla. I saw Coldplay and the intensity was just like the CD, but Death Cab sounded right on beat with their CD. (Death Cab’s frontman Ben Gibbard) jumps around the whole time, and they are all well-trained musicians who go back and forth on different instruments,” Saugen said.

In the lab: At Heftel’s home studio The Noted is recording an EP slated for a spring release.

Get out of town: The Noted has plans to go on a Northwest tour in 2006.

Contact: www.myspace.com/thenoted