Seattle, WA: Can*Can - Bushwick Book Club (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court)

I stand in delicious awe of the momentum these Bushwick Book Club shows are gaining, though I also get the feeling quite early that fewer members of the normally well-read audience are as familiar with this particular Mark Twain offering as they were with the likes of Slaughterhouse-Five and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (song/video coming soon, I hear!). With apologies to Craig Robinson (not the president's brother-in-law), I share my own scorecard from the baseball game I played in my head between Hank 'Boss' Morgan's Bessemers and Ulsters, with the Bessemers prevailing 5-2 and Arthur (CF, batting leadoff) going 2-for-5 with a pair of singles.

My song, of course, has nothing to do with this. "Dr. Eternal" explores the market for time travel medicine that would emerge were time travel itself ever available commercially; think of the shots you need just to visit the tropics, say...now imagine how you'd have to prep your system for the unfamiliar air/food/water/bugs you'd encounter on a swing through Camelot...

Props to the Can*Can for making such great use of the new/temporary space!

Photo: Justin Sorensen

Seattle, WA: Conor Byrne Pub (Full Band)

I love this group! I don't care that no iTunes 'genre' seems to fit whatever full-band songwriter-Americana-ish-ness we lay down: I want people to hear this outfit and see and share the utter joy on my face when Brian takes a lead and Alicia and Erin kick in with their harmonies. I am fortunate to have these players and friends answer my calls!

Thanks to the great crowd that turned out at Conor's, and to Paul Benoit and Ryan Purcell for sharing the bill--special thanks to Paul for adding some enthusiastic, impromptu tambourine to the always-fun cover of "Take On Me." And extra special thanks to Brian Hoskins, whose left hand was pressed into extra duty when we learned that Alicia would have to sit most of the night out with vocals-only availability. (I suppose Laurens Hammond deserves in-absentia kudos as well for creating the apparatus that made all this possible, as does Donald Leslie; Harold Rhodes, however, could stand to see what lighter-weight options might exist regarding his [wonderful-sounding] contribution...)

Next stop: homeregion concerts to the east!

Photos: John Wright (more here)

New Year, Full Steam

End-of-Year News Tidbits

A few scattered notes as 2010 winds to a close--thanks to everyone who had a hand in this year's successes!!

-By the Side of the Lake appears on KBCS DJ Larry Lewin's list of best recordings from 2010 and the Wildy's World music blog's Top 60 Albums of 2010 (#23: you may recall the glowing review from earlier in the year), capping a nice run of airwave and cyberspace successes for the new disc (many highlights in the Press-Kit section at www.wesweddell.com). 'Lake' also sneaked (snuck?) back onto the Washington State Roots Music Report charts this month.

-Seattle's flagship NPR station, KUOW, has been featuring "Not Enough" (audio/video), one of my Bushwick Book Club songs, in a recent segment.


-And, sadly, the scheduled January 8, 2011, performance at Isadora's in Snoqualmie, WA, is canceled on account of the venue closing its doors effective January 1.


Happy New Year!

Seattle, WA: Can*Can - Bushwick Book Club (The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe)

These are just too much fun. If you've forgotten the premise: The Bushwick Book Club songwriters read book, then give show of original songs inspired by book. This month's offering, back at the Groovy Can*Can: C.S. Lewis' second Chronicle of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. (If you missed October's Slaughterhouse-Five throwdown, recap here. And thanks to KUOW 94.9-FM NPR for the week-long plugs!) And my particular angle: Turkish Delight is, in my songwriter-humble opinion, gross. (Working title: "Edmund Gets Served.")

What makes these shows really tick, aside from the diverse talents and touches of each participant, is that they read as one big, fun show--not a jumbled, overcooked in-the-round, but one quirky, goofy-but-sincere celebration of literature, music, and art. Check your reputation at door, and jump in the middle. Can't wait for next month: Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Spokane, WA: Fall Folk Festival

This has got to be one of the more underappreciated regional festivals...though certainly not by its attendees. The Spokane Community College venue focuses the action in one nice spot, with all of the various stages close by and a big craft-and-jam fracas in the middle. Performances kick off with a live radio broadcast show featuring a cross section of festival performers (honored to make the cut!), co-hosted by Carlos Alden, an old friend from 'Project' days (nearly ten years ago [gulp]...stay tuned for anniversary plans!) and frequent muse-prodder. My full set is in an unpretentious conference room, with a Power Point projector inches above my head and a lovely white-board-scribbled mountain scene behind me. Folk, all right. And here comes the snow...

Some Gigs, Some News...