12/6/06
After a good-sized wait, Wes’ new Songs to Get You From Here to There album arrives, offering twelve original songs at home on the road.
11/7/06
The Concert Chorus at Nelsen Middle School in Renton, WA, premiers Wes’ own choral arrangement of “Carry On” to honor Veteran’s Day. Wes performs with the choir.
9/2/06
“Carry On” wins the Tumbleweed Music Festival Songwriting Contest in Richland, WA.
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|
| 1/15/06 | Moscow, ID | Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse |
| Feb. 10-14 | Austin, TX | Folk Alliance Seattle Sounds |
| 2/24/06 | Mercer Island, WA | Youth Theatre Northwest with Reilly & Maloney |
| 2/25/06 | Oak Harbor, WA | Whidbey Playhouse with Reilly & Maloney |
| 2/26/06 | Everett, WA | Puget’s Sound with Reilly & Maloney |
| 3/25/06 | Moscow, ID | Mikey’s |
| 5/26/06 | Bellevue, WA | KBCS 91.3-FM |
| 5/26/06 | Seattle, WA | Northwest Folklife Festival |
| 5/27/06 | Seattle, WA | Northwest Folklife Festival |
| 5/28/06 | Seattle, WA | Northwest Folklife Festival with David Maloney |
| 6/4/06 | Everett, WA | KSER Adventure on the Sound |
| 6/21/06 | Sacramento, CA | Luna’s Cafe |
| 6/25/06 | Roseville, CA | Placer County Fair |
| 6/27/06 | Everett, WA | KSER 90.7-FM |
| 7/1/06 | Seattle, WA | Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival |
| 7/9/06 | Bellevue, WA | SEAFAIR Marathon |
| 7/16/06 | Moscow, ID | Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse |
| 7/28/06 | Bothell, WA | Park at Bothell Landing with Reilly & Maloney |
| 8/2/06 | Duvall, WA | McCormick Park with Reilly & Maloney |
| Sept. 2-3 | Richland, WA | Tumbleweed Music Festival Songwriting Contest Winner |
| 10/14/06 | Seattle, WA | Haller Lake Arts / Puget’s Sound |
| 11/3/06 | Ellensburg, WA | Hal Holmes Center with Reilly & Maloney |
| 11/4/06 | Kennewick, WA | Three Rivers Folklife Society |
| 11/5/06 | Seattle, WA | Seattle Folklore Society with Reilly & Maloney |
| Nov. 7-8 | Renton, WA | Nelsen Middle School |
| 12/8/06 | Everett, WA | House Concert |
Sun., January 15, 2006
Moscow, ID: Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Gospel Sunday...reprise)
Another ‘regular gig’ in-the-making...especially if they let us do it twice a year! Dad and I are reprising last year’s service (with a new addition or two) for the Martin Luther King celebration. No summer potluck this time (just some good discussion), but rumor has it that Rosauers in Moscow may have Moon Pies...
February 10-14, 2006
Austin, TX: Folk Alliance
So much I could write about the 18th International Folk Alliance Conference—overstimulating as usual, but 180° different from the last one of these I did (which is good!). Suffice it to say for now, at least, (I’ll maybe add more stories later...), that to be in Austin when the story broke that our beloved Vice President had shot—in the face—a man from the Texas capital was worth the trip alone.
Sat., March 25, 2006
Moscow, ID: Mikey’s (Benefit for Palouse Peace Coalition)
PPC has been doing some good work in the home-region, and I’m happy to play this benefit at a favorite old haunt. Nice crowd.
Fri., May 26, 2006
Bellevue, WA: KBCS 91.3-FM
“Lunch With Folks” host John Sincock couldn’t get Folklife ‘headliners’ Jay Ungar & Molly Mason on the show, so the interview-call fell to me (plugging tonight’s set)—not bad company for finishing second...
Fri., May 26, 2006
Seattle, WA: Northwest Folklife Festival
“What kind of music does this stage usually feature?” asks Gerhardt, the amicable emcee for the McCaw Hall Cafe Impromptu stage this evening, who, it appears, can somehow sense that I’m the type who knows what’s coming in environs such as this. “Um, ‘white-people’ music,” is my cheeky-but-overly-honest reply. In stitches, Gerhardt decides against working that into his shtick. So begins another year of singer/songwriter stages at Fabulous Folklife...
Sat., May 27, 2006
Seattle, WA: Northwest Folklife Festival
There may be a certain irony to my hosting a “Live Music in the Community” panel discussion—for which a number of articulate and qualified members of the ‘community’ hold an open discussion about how to sustain our venues—in front of precious few souls. But it’s early!...and it appears it might rain... Deep thanks to John and Micki Perry (Three Rivers Folklife Society), Sandy MacDonald (Seattle Folklore Society/KBCS-FM), Reggie Garrett, and Joshua Powell (The Vera Project) for their participation.
Sun., June 4, 2006
Everett, WA (Posession Sound): KSER Adventure on the Sound
My good friends at KSER 90.7-FM have asked me to appear on this benefit cruise aboard the stunning schooner Adventuress. A short set singing is gravy to get to wander the deck (and below!) of this 74-foot beauty, built in 1913. The whole Sound Experience crew do a nice job with we community-radio-types, and I learn upon disembarking that one of the hands is an old colleague of my mother’s, well-disguised in the out-of-context encounter: big boat, small world...!
Wed., June 21, 2006
Sacramento, CA: Luna’s Cafe
TSA has had a thing for me lately. I don’t mind the searching of my beat-up blue duffel bag every trip, but slicing the cord on my cell-phone charger in two (quite cleanly...)??
Luna’s is a nice little spot in downtown Sacramento, though I realize we’re in trouble when the posse splitting the bill with me pulls up its second pickup with the full drum kit. Pleasant, supportive turnout, though, and Scott Rodell & co. prove a fun pairing...especially given the double-‘Dell’-bill angle.
Sun., June 25, 2006
Roseville, CA: Placer County Fair
105°-weather is a tough sell for most, but throwing a heavy canopy on top and asking a fellow to sing three sets on a dusty beer-garden stage with competing-activity loudspeakers on either side makes for quite the scene... But you gotta love a fair.
Tues., June 27, 2006
Everett, WA: KSER 90.7-FM
Phone’s ringin’, dude. “Are you back in Seattle,” asks KSER Music Director (and charming citizen) Ann McCoy; I answered that I was. “Wanna come on the radio with me tomorrow?” Can’t turn that down. Ann is always a hoot—anyone listening the time I was on with Jencks and she suggested that Joe called me ‘Wishbone Wes’ (his blues-sideman name for me...that he’d just thought up) because I had “that microphone jammed between [my] legs”?—but she’s also thoughtful and attentive in ways that frequently lead to great interviews. I enjoyed the chance to talk about my specific style of guitar playing and the ways in which I use it to fill space as a solo performer, something I don’t get to do much in the standard ‘where-you-playing-next?-okay-sing-us-a-song’ visits. Once again, thank goodness for KSER!
Sat., July 1, 2006
Seattle, WA: Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival
After last Sunday’s fair-sweltering, the low-80s-clear-with-light-lakefront-breeze setting for today’s set is confrontationally pleasant (Larry Murante, performing later in the day, will threaten to ‘never leave this stage!’ in the middle of his performance...which itself was awfully pleasant, too). And I’m getting some fun interactions with passerby-listeners: one fellow takes me aside (an awkward undertaking when I’m onstage performing) after“Happiness Fulfilled” (the ode to Virgin-Mary Gilled-Cheese) to share that he and a buddy had sold a Cheeto resembling baby-Jesus to GoldenPalace.com, buyer of the famed sandwich (the Cheeto, it appears, sold for more than 1,000-times less $$...). And another gal working with boats nearby really gives me looks during“Ballad of the Whitman Greeks” —a song that often gets quizzical attention in festival environments where folk-in-motion may not have heard the intro—turns out she’s a Whitman grad herself. An utterly comfortable day!
Sun., July 9, 2006
Bellevue, WA: SEAFAIR Marathon
I thought I was being so clever arranging “Running On Empty” and “Born to Run” for my appearance this (early!) morning at the SEAFAIR Marathon (“Born to Run” is tough for solo voice/guitar...!), but when the contract specifies your performance location as a four-block stretch of road (“Look for the orange traffic cone...”), one ought to keep expectations in check. To be sure, there were plenty of other distractions—including intermittent traffic going up the other side of the road (and let’s not forget the focus and stamina it takes to get 8+ miles into a marathon!)—but I think I coulda played anything for the hour and received the same response (which was exhaustedly-cheerful when it wasn’t sweatily-apathetic)...
Sun., July 16, 2006
Moscow, ID: Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (8th-annual Gospel Sunday!)
After eight years, how you improve a comforting summer ritual of singing and chicken-potluck? Why, with mini-Moon Pies and Pecan Tarts, of course! (Some great guest combos and inspired solo selections help, too...)
September 2-3, 2006
Richland, WA: Tumbleweed Music Festival Songwriting Contest Winner
In 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner published his famous essay entitled “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” in which he proclaimed that the American frontier was, for all intents and purposes, closed. “To the frontier,” he wrote, “the American intellect owes its striking characteristics.” But now, 113 years later, true closure has come to the subject with my discovery of the, um, closure of Richland’s marvelously tonk-ish Frontier Tavern. Progression, we remember, does not always bring progress.
The rest of the festival, of course, is its usual, delightful self. The folk at Three Rivers Folklife Society really know how to offer an event accessible to all: good food, company, and tunes abound as the mighty Columbia rolls along nearby. To have been selected to perform with such a particularly deep field in the Songwriting Contest is itself an honor, and to emerge as the winner, with “Carry On” judged the top song on the subject of community, makes for a truly great weekend.
October 14, 2006
Seattle, WA: Haller Lake Community Club (Haller Lake Arts / Puget’s Sound)
I’ve admired Larry Murante’s singing and writing for years, and it’s a treat to share an evening with such a talented and heralded performer. Also fun to collaborate: I think we may have respectively peaked with our guitar-and-djembe rendition of A-ha’s ‘classic’“Take On Me.”
November 4, 2006
Kennewick, WA: Three Rivers Folklife Society
Fun to return and play a quick opening set here after Tumbleweed in the cozy (and revamped) Highland Grange Hall, and back R&M intermittently the rest of the evening. Also great to catch a quick visit with John and Micki Perry, go-getters and lifeblood of the Tri-Cities’ Three Rivers Folklife Society.
November 7-8, 2006
Renton, WA: Nelsen Middle School
Earlier this year my good friend Brian Hoskins, choir director at Nelsen Middle School in Renton (and organ player on Songs To Get You From Here To There), asked me to arrange “Carry On” for his concert chorus, with the idea that we would perform as part of the school’s efforts to honor Veteran’s Day. And finally, after weeks of working with the kids (and arranging the song before that, fun and challenging exercise well outside my usual work-realm), the performance date has come. STGYFHTT cellist Amanda Larson and I will be the only accompanyment—unless you count the complimentary slide show put together by Nelsen’s multimedia classes, featuring this picture of Don Shawe, the song’s inspiration—and, I must admit, it’s a real kick to hear ~70 voices singing my song!
The response is overwhelmingly positive—also nice!—though I’m still unable to shake the subtle-but-persistent worry that the ‘wrong’ hands might someday find this song: the narrative of Don’s experiences as a B-17 bomber pilot in World War II is decidedly not a these-colors-don’t-run offering. Many gracious interactions follow, as do three more performances for the Nelsen Veteran’s Day Assemblies the next morning. Brian has done remarkable work with his program (I told the largely-parent crowd this, repeatedly), and it’s truly been an honor to do this!
December 8, 2006
Everett, WA: House Concert with Joe Jencks
Haven’t seen Joe since our Austin collaboration, and I’m glad that we can squeeze tonight’s event into his visit—my first with the NEW CD in hand! Ed Bremer, a great KSER personality and advocate, and his wife Lucia expertly host an awfully pleasant evening of song and visit.
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|
| 12/30/05 | Bellevue, WA | Crossroads with Joe Jencks |
| 12/29/05 | Seattle, WA | Haller Lake Community Club with Joe Jencks |
| 12/17/05 | Bellevue, WA | Crossroads with Reilly & Maloney |
| 12/16/05 | Seattle, WA | Puget’s Sound with Reilly & Maloney |
| 11/12/05 | Seattle, WA | Seattle Folklore Society with Reilly & Maloney |
| 11/10/05 | Mount Vernon, WA | Lincoln Theatre with Reilly & Maloney |
| 11/6/05 | Studio City, CA | Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City |
| 10/20/05 | Bellevue, WA | Crossroads |
| 9/9/05 | Bellevue, WA | Crossroads |
| 8/21/05 | Seattle, WA | Northgate August Festival |
| 7/31/05 | Moscow, ID | Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse |
| 6/19/05 | Seattle, WA | History House with Erin Clancy |
| 6/18/05 | Seattle, WA | El Diablo with Ron Dalton |
| 5/15/05 | Everett, WA | Flying Pig with Joe Jencks |
| 5/8/05 | Spokane, WA | Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane with Joe Jencks |
| 5/7/05 | Spokane, WA | The Shop with Joe Jencks |
| 5/6/05 | Moscow, ID | Palouse Folklore Society with Joe Jencks |
| 5/5/05 | Boise, ID | House Concert with Joe Jencks |
| 5/4/05 | La Grande, OR | Northeast Oregon Folklore Society with Joe Jencks |
| 5/3/05 | Hood River, OR | Mid-Columbia Folklore Society with Joe Jencks |
| 4/29/05 | Seattle, WA | Seattle Poetry Festival |
| 4/10/05 | Moscow, ID | Palouse Folklore Society with Reilly & Maloney |
| 4/9/05 | Spokane, WA | The Met with Reilly & Maloney |
| 4/8/05 | Kirkland, WA | Kirkland Congregational Church, UCC with Reilly & Maloney |
| 4/3/05 | Coeur d’Alene, ID | North Idaho Unitarian Universalists |
| 3/10/05 | Bellevue, WA | Crossroads Bellevue |
| 3/7/05 | Seattle, WA | Hop Vine Pub |
Fri., December 30, 2005
Bellevue, WA: Crossroads (with Joe Jencks)
Rehearsal time for my songs (as presented by a Wes/Joe duo) became a casualty of last night’s musi-fracas, so the set (and, at times, the chops) are a bit impromptu...but that seems to be just the kind of presentation that the nice-sized, holiday-weary crowd seeks as I close 2005 with my fifth visit to the Crossroads stage. A happy and safe new year to all—thanks for the support & company!
Thu., December 29, 2005
Seattle, WA: Joe Jencks “Rise As One” CD Release Concert at Haller Lake Community Club
Lotta particulars to this one—a special CD-release concert for Joe’s new live album, “Rise As One”—but a heckuvan event: fun to be a pure sideman, swapping mandolin, acoustic-, and electric guitars (and singin’ some) to compliment the arrangements, which are really enlivened by the presence of the fabulous Cary Black on upright bass. Linda Allen and the Seattle Labor Chorus guest, and everyone sings along (decently). A welcome celebration in these lean times for live-music (though I wish 100+ more people would find events like this!!).
Sat., December 17, 2005
Seattle, WA: Crossroads (with Reilly & Maloney)
Back again, slinging mando (never far from sight after last night...!) from the sidelines.
Sat., December 16, 2005
Seattle, WA: Puget’s Sound (Meadowbrook) (with Reilly & Maloney)
Looks like a Reilly & Maloney Holiday Concert is now an annual Puget’s Sound event, and we’ve turned out another animated and engaged crowd as I juggle my multiple role-hats. The standard ‘never-take-your-instrument-away-from-the-stage’ rule surfaces as I take my mandolin back to the ad-hoc green/dressing-room just a shade early in an attempt to make sure that David & Ginny find an unlocked door at intermission. Oops...
Sat., November 12, 2005
Seattle, WA: Seattle Folklore Society (with Reilly & Maloney)
Trying a new hall (Haller Lake Community Club) tonight with my now-annual (wearing my Seattle Folklore Society concert producer hat), fall presentation of R&M, and the early returns are great. Desiree and Larry Smith of the spirited, fledgling Haller Lake Arts Council had literally grabbed my arm at the Kirkland show earlier this year after hearing my Puget’s Sound spiel, sharing their desire to see this facility used. (We also collaborated some for the Northgate August Festival). Nice house (I was gonna be upset if I’d done all that chair-wrangling fer nuthin’!), sound, and, to my great relief, playing from me and the finger I smashed in a microphone stand at last night’s Puget’s Sound event. Busy weekend...and I look forward to more like it as HLAC’s Arts Live! at the Club gets set to take off this spring.
Thurs., November 10, 2005
Mount Vernon, WA: Lincoln Theatre (with Reilly & Maloney)
I’m purely along for the ride tonight (well, I’ll play some sparse mandolin...)—David wants an ally and thinks I might like to scope out the gorgeously warm Lincoln Theatre in downtown Mt. Vernon. The industrious Don Wick has arranged the event (the story he tells is that he was driving in his car when his phone rang: “This is David Maloney...I have your business card...who the hell are you?”), guaranteeing at least the attendance of his ‘For No Particular Reason’ dinner club. The crowd that turns up, though, is much more: numerous; rowdy; and great fun! (Someone gave me flowers...) Seems like I keep busy even when I’m not really working...
Sun., November 6, 2005
Bellevue, WA:
A favorite high school classmate of mine is marrying himself off outside of San Diego (home of my somewhat-grievous 2004 Folk Alliance experience—hence my lack of overt enthusiasm surrounding a few days in obscene November sun), and, as it turns out, another old friend has begun coordinating some activities for the Unitarian-Universalist congregation in Studio City, so I’m able—with a little more driving than I’d like—to add some work to the trip, immerse myself in plenty of good company, and share tunes with another UU community. The ocean (dolphins!) is a bit like a good Northwest lake plunge in May, and I wonder, as I romp around in sandals, if Southern Californians sing the same winter-holiday tunes as the rest of us... The Studio City crowd is pleasantly receptive (and, in one particular instance, charmingly- and disarmingly-decisive...), and Rev. Atkinson reveals some fire beneath his gentle, liberal-white-guy-with-beard deportment. Nice to share music, stories, small-world connections, and future planning with this neat group...and then feel underdressed (not hip enough...) at our Hollywood lunch spot.
Thurs., October 20, 2005
Bellevue, WA: Crossroads Hurricane Katrina Benefit
Crossroads is starting to feel a bit like my ‘regular’ gig: I’m back tonight for a Hurricane Katrina benefit organized by the generously-spirited Reggie Garrett, a great performer and citizen—all donations from the evening will go to Habitat for Humanity’s rebuilding efforts. My short set to kick off the evening becomes a double-set as Richard Middleton has phoned in ill, and it’s nice to see folk meandering over to Reggie’s table with open pocketbooks. Brad Warren, Reggie with the so-smooth Gary Westcott (who sound great!), Larry Murante, Grant Dermody, and Paul Benoit follow; Jim Page couldn’t make it, but a few patient folk who’d come looking for the Victory Music Open-Mic do a few songs each before the promised song-circle/performer-jam. (And Nes-Quik Guy is back for a brief cameo!!) It’s been great sitting around and catching up with these guys, and it’s even more fun all stumbling about in a self-indulgent, ad-hoc jam: Gary, Reggie, and Larry cover guitars; Grant (of course) on harmonica; Brad takes piano; and I commandeer Brad’s funky mandolin. Bellevue loves it! And nearly $600—and two guitars (eleven strings between ’em...) and a clarinet—are headed down to help.
Fri., September 9, 2005
Bellevue, WA: Crossroads Bite of Crossroads
Glad I chose to eat after my set... Just a quick hour on this great stage (with Bob Conger’s fabulous sound), rewarded with phad thai, gyro, popcorn chicken, spring rolls, peach cobbler, and bubble tea (my first time...) from the third-annual Bite of Crossroads celebration. The shakily-enthusiastic fellow who pleaded for me to really shred some tunes on my Martin departs early, perhaps to refill his large, yellow ‘Nes-Quik’ bottle with whatever he had in it (not, Bob and I agree, Nes-Quik...).
Sun., August 21, 2005
Seattle, WA: Northgate August Festival
Puget’s Sound is coordinating the live-music stage at the first-annual Northgate August Festival, so I’ve got a brilliant-yellow nametag and a radio to make me look far more official than necessary in my capacity as Stage Manager for the local lineup—some of which I’ve arranged—featuring High Class Brass Quintet, Johnny Moses, Nancy K. Dillon, John Nelson, Tim Noah, Brian Butler, Filé Gumbo...and me. The shadow of Interstate-5 is hardly a sonic paradise, but the trademark-Seattle slowdowns and convenient placing of giant, inflatable ‘bouncy-toys’ help limit encroaching traffic noise. I’m following Tim’s dynamic kids act on stage, and, one must admit, nothing from my near-hour set compares to my impromptu role as “Superkid” (we were, sadly, a bit thin on youth in the crowd) for the Emmy®-winning Mr. Noah, which saw me dress to just below my ribcage with a confrontationally-pink, converted-kayak-life-jacket-looking muscle-suit and cape, running (‘flying’) and flexing through the sparse crowd as Tim sang my super-praises.
Sun., July 31, 2005
Moscow, ID: Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Gospel Sunday!!)
My father—now a real, live, ordained e-mail-order minister through Universal Life Church—and I reprise our Gospel Music Sunday program from April at his home church (UUCP), with the usual (and growing!) cast of characters, including the also-Reverend Tami ‘Faye’ Moore and an ad-hoc choir to help us lead the songs of spirit/labor/justice that comprise the sermon: what undeniable fun!! After, our traditional fried-chicken / RC Cola potluck (Dad and I drove all over the Palouse looking for Moon Pies...no dice) prolongs the fun (and tastes delicious!!), a welcome distraction for me from the heavy (though healing) memorial of a lost high school classmate the day previous.
Sun., June 19, 2005
Seattle, WA: History House of Greater Seattle: Music in the Sculpture Garden (with Erin Clancy)
History House of Greater Seattle is a great non-profit community museum/resource that celebrates neighborhoods around Seattle (the building itself lies in Fremont), and this summer it’s been hosting an outdoor Music in the Sculpture Garden concert series Sundays May-September—I (lucky me!) am booked for Fremont Solstice Fair weekend. Once a year (or therabouts—I’d like to make it more frequent) I call my dear friend and fine singer Erin Clancy to join me for a gig, and this ’un seemed like a good ’un: I’ve recently finished a song (“White Hats & Wild Times”) begun live on-air on KPBX-Spokane’s Nacho Celtic Hour last year, and it’s turned into (my producer’s mind tells me) a duet with a unassumingly twangy female voice—perfect!! With a fragment of the Berlin Wall behind us and a spot of sizzling sun streaming through a strategic skylight in the awning directly onto me, Erin and I teeter through some our annual favorites for the transient festival crowd.
Sat., June 18, 2005
Seattle, WA: El Diablo (with Ron Dalton)
Ron Dalton, a skillful songwriter and altogether-pleasant fellow, has asked me to join him this evening at El Diablo, a funky little coffeehouse on Queen Anne Hill with great coffee, victuals, and décor: a low-maintenance evening swapping songs to the comings and goings of an awfully light Saturday crowd that chosen to step indoors on this near-longest day of the year.
Sun., May 15, 2005
Everett, WA: Flying Pig (with Joe Jencks)
Puget’s Sound and KSER recently completed a nice first-season run at the Flying Pig in Everett, a great all-ages brew-pub (though, I learn, it’s starting to outsource its beers...and has sold it brewery equipment to a joint in Israel called the Dancing Camel...) with music-supportive ownership and a loyal clientele, and I’m excited to play one more ‘non-sanctioned’ show (neither organization is officially involved, just owner Joel Starr’s benevolence) with Joe. Joe scored a nice write-up in the Everett Herald, and, through Chris Glanister’s infamously-crippling stagelights, I can sense a reasonable Sunday crowd enjoying the collaborations, which continue to evolve: a nice, pleasantly comfortable way to close the run—looking forward to the future possibility of more!
Sun., May 8, 2005
Spokane, WA: Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane (with Joe Jencks)
Joe has had striking successes lately sharing his music in spiritual communities, and I’ve lined up this morning’s guest-spot with the Spokane Unitarian-Universalists’ Mother’s Day service. Our first impression of The Rev. Dr. Richard Erhardt is that he’s not from Spokane...and we’re dead-on right (never lived a day outside New York-metro area prior to his move to the Inland Empire). And neither of us’d ever heard the word “Hussy” delivered in a sermon before, either...! But the morning proves to be really special—a gathering where people and energies and spirit all line up in a wonderfully human celebration of the moment (Boise was this as well). Of Joe’s songs we offer “For the Singing” (a nice way to start with folk singing together) and “Fox River Song” (written for his mother), and I’m excited to sing “Lakeside Summer Home”—a song based on maternal jounal-keeping—in its ‘home’ environment. Special thanks to Music Director Deborah Jacquemin for beyond-the-call support and kindness!
And thus end 1,500 quick miles of mayhem...
Sat., May 7, 2005
Spokane, WA: The Shop (with Joe Jencks)
After yesterday’s run, Pullman-to-Spokane is nothing, so it’s fun to linger around bed and then with the folks—Joe finds it particularly relaxing to have two sit-down meals in succession at the same table. I’m also looking forward to revisiting tonight’s venue (The Shop), which I last played during the Project Tour of 2001. A groovy little converted auto-body shop that’s coffeehouse by day, slick Pro-Tools-equipped concert hall by night, The Shop has run into trouble of late from predatory city officials demanding back taxes on tickets from five years of by-donation events, so the details of tonight’s show took some time to throw together. But, with that long squared-away, it’s time to enjoy the setting and the last evening-gig of our manic week of shows. I’m blown away by the attendance-response from the Camp Sweyolakan network, a former summer haunt of mine (as camper and, later, staff), and we play to a nice-sized (though oddly docile) crowd. And always nice to visit, however briefly, with good friends Phill and Amanda Kopczynski (and 4½-month-old Cole!), our hosts tonight in newly-liberated Spokane Valley.
Fri., May 6, 2005
Moscow, ID: Palouse Folklore Society (with Joe Jencks)
Conscientious singer/citizen-types like Joe and myself should know better than to stay up as late as we did last night, and, to complicate our still-hazy lives, Joe’s State of Ohio Driver’s License has vanished. A morning on the phone with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles yields a faxed copy of Mr. Jencks’ ‘Abstract of Driving Record’ from the previous three years (squeaky clean!), which, the state assures us, will keep us legal for the time being. So instead of taking the endless meanderwindings of ID-55 and US-95 at the suggested leisurely pace, we’ve got eyes on the clock (we get that hour back!) in our deteriorated state. And the green is still rather alarming!
Moscow is a hometown show for me (back at the familiar Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse!), and it’s always neat to see who turns out; in addition to the Palouse-area Wes-Faithful (thanks for the phone-banking, Mom & Dad...!), the crowd features many won-over from Joe’s previous visits and the cohorts of a young man who’ll receive a surprise birthday serenade prior to intermission (Joe is his favorite singer, his mother tells me, as if I don’t have feelings of my own...). It’s nice to build on the energy from last night (though we ourselves have decidedly less), and to show the two former music instructors of mine in the crowd that I’ve stuck with it!
Thurs., May 5, 2005 (05/05/05!!)
Boise, ID: House Concert (with Joe Jencks)
¡Cinco de Mayo!—and not only that, but today’s date is 05/05/05 as well...!! Before bouncing out of town we’re thankfully able to visit briefly with one of our hosts to apologize for our post-concert ruckus and fill our heads with train fantasy: David is a model railroad enthusiast (as is Joe...on the ~3 days a year he allows himself the opportunity) with a heckuva spread downstairs (where we slept), and he also, we learn, serves on the board for the new Eagle Cap Excursion Train, a startup tourist rail line through the gorgeous Wallowa Mountains that’ll also haul freight! We lose an hour on today’s show time, so we’re nonetheless out quickly and pushing further down I-84, whose hillsides continue to shine greener than we’ve ever seen.
Tonight’s venue is the stately house of Marvelous Mike Reuling (Jessica’s father; Jess has been traveling with us thus far) and his fiancée, Marianne McIntosh. Mike has been a great sport in slinging this together, willing to take my word that house concerts are in fact a common, accepted practice: I located a helpful New York Times article on the phenomenon, aimed at a readership like Mike’s, to build my case, and ended up including it in my Boise press releases (the Boise Weekly, incidentally, has starred this evening’s listing (great!)...but also listed it as a “House Party,” which, on Cinco de Mayo, may prove interesting...). The nice-sized audience isn’t yet sure what to make of the setting (I expected some of this): is this a party?; a concert?; are these real musicians...? But as folk’re warming up to the idea (and the vino), Joe begins with a superb rendering of “Red River Valley,” and I’m elated to see everyone jump right in!—with this gesture, Mr. Jencks has won over the masses and paved easy rest-of-the-way. And Joe and I are starting to really click playing together, too!
A particular highlight for us is an exchange that transpires following Joe’s performance of “Men Are Good,” his charmingly- and constructively-assertive response to 30+ years of Women’s Music...which, we discover, assumes one has said frame of reference! “Now you need to write ‘Women Are Best!’ ” a woman in front demands good-naturedly; not realizing the fire we’ve faced from the Holly Near-, Tret Fure-, and Cris Williamson-types (all wonderful songwriters and people!) in the folk music community, some in the room may have thought we were beginning negotiations with the independent contention that, Y’know, men are pretty fantastic...! What a great night!!
Wed., May 4, 2005
La Grande, OR: Northeast Oregon Folklore Society (with Joe Jencks)
After a pleasantly slow morning, we’re off to La Grande, OR, for a date with Northeast Oregon Folklore Society. Rolling into town (and navigating streets that, we agree, should be through in places they’re not) we find our venue at The Olde Meeting House, an Evangelical Quaker haunt (who knew?!) that proves wonderfully warm and welcoming in its role as a concert hall (I especially dig the eight-inch white picket fence at the foot of the stage, protecting us, I assume, from unruly La Groupies). As showtime nears and a modest crowd trickles forth, however, Joe and I elect to forgo the staging and invite all to circle chairs to share music—we’ve nothing really to prove (and mid-week in La Grande has its challenges). The gathering grows (touching to have folk go home and bring others back with a “You gotta hear these guys!” appeal) and the end result, despite an awkward admission-charge miscommunication (resolved with moving generosity), is a neat musical experience.
Tues., May 3, 2005
Hood River, OR: Mid-Columbia Folklore Society (with Joe Jencks)
“Let’s take my car,” Joe Jencks had asserted as we planned the transportation details for our week’s-worth of shows together; “I really trust it.” I’ve really been looking forward to this string of shows, a chance to share the road with a good friend and spend evenings singing with such a tremendous voice as Joe’s, and the first 90 miles are cake. After filling the gas tank in Centralia, WA, however, the car (“Bertie, ” a 2000 Saturn wagon with the same name as my mother...) offers nothing. No dash lights, engine turning...nothing; new battery, just drove ’er 90 miles... An hour-and-a-half of head-scratching and two agreeable and openhanded Good-Samaritan helpers help us determine that Bertie’s battery terminals have become so corroded as to prevent any current whatsoever from passing through, and another ten minutes of scrubbing have us back on I-5 headed south, rattled but moving.
The gig in Hood River, OR, is one I’ve played before (December, 2002): a pleasant house-concert setting at the home of Paul Blackburn, Kristen Dillon, and their two daughters Althea and Rosalie, hosted by the Mid-Columbia Folklore Society. On my previous visit Paul had taken me out to a sauna post-show where I met Don Shawe, whose chilling and touching World War II stories inspired the song “Carry On, ” which I’m thrilled to return to its home community. Joe and I trade songs through the evening, backing each other on many and making note of what’s working (and, of course, what isn’t...). No sauna this time, but Paul and Kristen have added a hot tub to the grounds...
Fri., April 29, 2005
Seattle, WA: Seattle Poetry Festival at Richard Hugo House
While thumbing through a recent issue of Poets & Writers magazine, I stumbled upon an ad calling for, literally, cheesy poetry: “Did you know that April is National Poetry Month AND National Grilled Cheese Month?” it inquired with visible enthusiasm (I didn’t...but Google tells me that plenty did/do!); “Celebrate by sending your best couplet using ‘cheese,’ ” it continued, “...[to] be featured at the National Grilled Cheese Poetry Booth during the upcoming 2005 Seattle Poetry Festival...” I wondered whether my recent musical ode to the infamous Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich (hear it *HERE*)—written on a challenge from good friend and quirky-music aficionado Carlos Alden—would qualify, so I sent the lyrics along. One week later I received a request to perform.
I arrive at the cozy Richard Hugo House not at all sure of what to expect—I know that I’ll perform “Happiness Fulfilled” (the cheese song) and perhaps a few others from the Northwest Home collection for a group of schoolkids from Lowell Elementary School, who have themselves constructed cheese-sonnets, but beyond that I have no idea what the organizers have in store for the remainder of the three-hour ‘shift’ to which I’ve agreed...though I have a sneaking suspicion (my favorite kind of suspicion) that they plan to put me to work. And I’m right. Before I can even uncase the guitar I’m hanging banners and moving chairs, and after my little presentation—much fun and nicely interactive (I debate playing “Ballad of the Whitman Greeks,” a song that I know will hold attention and inspire, but which also has overt ‘brothel’ references; as it turns out, the fifth-graders have recently completed a unit on old Seattle history and, the teachers tell me later, should be well aware of the phenomenon of brothels!...I play the song...)—my job for the next two hours is to hunch over the George Foreman Grill and act as grilled cheese line-cook for the lunch rush that never quite happens. (Note the lesson in real-life economics, I encourage the teachers to tell the kids: the professional musician is now making lunch for everyone, gone from taking #2 pencil autograph requests on notebook paper to placing toothpicks affixed with a G.K. Chesterton quote—“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese”—into sandwiches.) How the mighty have fallen...
Sun., April 10, 2005
Moscow, ID: Palouse Folklore Society (with Reilly & Maloney)
The weekend concludes with a visit home and a show with the good folk of Palouse Folklore Society in the majestic Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse, which my father attends. Taking most of the day easy (except for a chance brunch encounter with the entire spirit/cheer squad from Washington State University’s Mom’s Weekend festivities) after the scramble of yesterday and David’s rough night at the Spokane Valley Super 8, low-key is just what we need and the comfortable setting, responsive crowd, and great PFS volunteers make everything easier. I open again (“My name’s Wes Weddell, and I’m from here,” I drawl stupidly, preparing to follow with something clever but overtaken by boisterous applause) and add mando later, realizing that I’ll be back on this stage in less than a month (Friday, May 6, with Joe Jencks).
Sat., April 9, 2005
Spokane, WA: The Met (with Reilly & Maloney)
First trip east of the mountains for Reilly & Maloney in nearly twenty years, and I’m delighted to act as chauffer and ambassador to the home-country. Spokane has had more big-ish events than usual of late (Elvis Costello tonight...), and The Met has suffered some, I think, as a result. Elvis is, it turns out, playing next door (I thought he’d be in the Arena across the river), and I pull right behind his bus into the parking spots clearly reserved for us (“Reserved - Met - Reilly & Maloney” & “Reserved - Met - Wes”), noticing my name on the marquee (I wasn’t supposed to be on the bill-proper). Elvis’ posse, it seems, didn’t think it’d have to share the block, and several goateed fellows with sport jackets and ear-pieces hustle over to sort me out (“I’m ‘WES,’ ” I respond, gesturing to my sign). The bulk of the seats in the gorgeous Metropolitan Performing Arts Center lie in balcony, so the modest crowd isn’t too lost in the orchestra level (save the three folk who choose said balcony)—nice for the collective pride. I play a three-song opener, a late (and generous) decision encouraged by the glowing marquee outside, and join in for my planned mandolin accompaniment in the second set. Fun to see all the posters in the dressing rooms of acts who’ve passed through, and to work with the great staff.
Fri., April 8, 2005
Kirkland, WA: Kirkland Congregational Church, UCC (with Reilly & Maloney)
As my busi-musical relationship with the beloved folksinging duo Reilly & Maloney continues to grow, I find myself with increasing chances to put on shows under creative circumstances. Tonight is one such opportunity: though we’ve done a Puget’s Sound-sponsored night at Kirkland Congregational before (and had a very nice experience; great folk here!), we haven’t while the church has been hosting Tent City IV homeless encampment! As a former volunteer with Real Change Newspaper (& Homeless Empowerment Project), I’m especially excited to see how my scheme will materialize—I’ve arranged with Brown Paper Tickets (another neat organization that’s treated me well) for community members to sponsor Tent City IV residents to attend the evening (a rare non-‘benefit’ opportunity to reach out and raise awareness while doing okay for ourselves). The idea never reached front-page status, but it’s been neat to see a handful of sponsorship-sales trickle in and, now, a few residents enjoying the show (which has become an enthusiastically-cozy happening!). At some point, however, I have to yield enough organizational verve to try to be a musician and sit in with R&M, and as the manic pounding of kid-feet increases upstairs (what’s going on up there?!) I add some mandolinnings to tunes in the second set. Wonder what we’ll do here next...
Sun., April 3, 2005
Coeur d’Alene, ID: North Idaho Unitarian Universalists
My father, the sometimes-Right Reverend Jim-Bob (Unitarian Gospel Crusader—see 8/1/04 Notes), has invited me to join in his second visit to the North Idaho Unitarian Universalists in Coeur d’Alene, ID—a town that holds many fond memories for me (piqued by the presence of a Camp Fire USA branch office in the NIUU’s multi-use schoolhouse-ish home, a former employer of mine in these parts...). Dad has put together a truly great service featuring traditional songs that all have three versions from particular contexts: a gospel/spiritual version (usually the ‘original’); a Labor version; and a civil rights/social justice version. I (introduced twice as Jim Weddell’s brother, not son) am here to lead the singing. It’s wonderful to hear the evolution of a gospel song like “I Will Overcome” as it becomes “I’ll Be All Right” (from a 1945 Negro Food and Tobacco Union worker’s strike in Charleston, SC) and then the better-known “We Shall Overcome.” Other highlights include “You’ve Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley”/“You’ve Got to Go Down and Join the Union”/“Ballad for Bill Moore,” “Revive Us Again”/“Hallelujah I’m a Bum” (Love that one!)/“Hallelujah I’m a-Traveling Down Freedom’s Main Line,” and “Sweet Bye ’n’ Bye”/“Preacher and the Slave” (Joe Hill’s brilliant satire)/“Elected Officials All Say” (another clever parody). Great to hear folk singing and renewing commitments to social justice and community well-being! And a Paul Bunyan milkshake for the road never hurt, either...
Thurs., March 10, 2005
Bellevue, WA: Crossroads Bellevue
Puget’s Sound has agreed to co-sponsor the new alternating-Thursday Singer/Songwriter Showcase at Crossroads Bellevue, one of the last strong local-music stages in the area, and I’m excited to be kicking the venture off this evening...well, I had been even more excited before that bug I began to feel Monday at the Hop Vine turned into a full-fledged-flu... I’ve had little voice—or energy—all day, but I find that, with help and hot monitor levels from Bob Conger (Crossroads’ wonderful house sound-tech), I’ve got enough to make do. The lights, however, are toying with my body temperature something fierce, but the evening ends with another surprising number of attentive souls expressing satisfaction, so no harm done. Excited as I remain for the future of this series and the collaboration between Puget’s Sound and Crossroads, it’s time to head home and crawl into bed!
Mon., March 7, 2005
Seattle, WA: Hop Vine Pub
Barbara Buckland, an active and spirited promoter of local music, has commandeered hosting duties at the Hop Vine’s Monday Singer/Songwriter Showcases, and I have accepted her invitation to appear this evening along with Michael Fleckenstein and Heidi Newman. More than customary for the busy-pub environs heed my hour-long set to open the night, and it feels good to get back up in front of folk after a few months’-time off from performing—despite the bug I feel coming on...
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|
| 11/19/04 | Seattle, WA | Best of the Northwest Holiday Craft Fair |
| 10/24/04 | Seattle, WA | Bethany Presbyterian Church |
| 10/21/04 | Lacey, WA | Panorama City |
| 9/18/04 | Seattle, WA | Olympic Hills Elementary School |
| 9/4-5/04 | Richland, WA | Tumbleweed Music Festival |
| 8/20/04 | Seattle, WA | Puget’s Sound Meadowbrook Series |
| 8/1/04 | Moscow, ID | Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse |
| 7/22/04 | Seattle, WA | Conor Byrne’s Pub |
| 5/29/04 | Seattle, WA | Northwest Folklife Festival |
| 5/3/04 | Seattle, WA | Hop Vine Pub |
| 4/30/04 | Seattle, WA | Best of the Northwest Spring Craft Fair |
| 4/23/04 | Seattle, WA | Richard Hugo House |
| 4/18/04 | Spokane, WA | Nacho Celtic Hour |
| 4/13/04 | Vancouver, WA | Washington State University- Vancouver |
| 3/28/04 | West Seattle, WA | West Seattle Unitarian Universalist Fellowship |
| 2/26-8/04 | San Diego, CA | Folk Alliance Seattle Sounds Showcase |
| 2/6/04 | Leavenworth, WA | Leavenworth Community Coffeehouse |
| 1/23/04 | Seattle, WA | USA Songwriting Competition Showcase |
November 19, 2004
Seattle, WA: Best of the Northwest Holiday Craft Fair
After what must have been a flourishing set at the spring event in April, Adam Carlson has brought me back for the Best of the Northwest Holiday Craft Fair at the old Naval Station by Sand Point Magnuson Park (in the cavernous airplane hanger again!). Pleasant place to spend an hour on a brisk November Friday, playing a sort of ‘paid practice’ gig for luncheaters doing their respective parts to keep that economy humming this holiday season.
October 24, 2004
Seattle, WA: Bethany Presbyterian Church: Sunday Nights in the Parlor (SNiP)
Chris Glanister does a tremendous amount of sound/technical work to maintain both Puget’s Sound concert series, and tonight I’m excited to play for the series he co-produces, Sunday Nights in the Parlor (SNiP) at historic Bethany Presbyterian Church on Queen Anne Hill. The fourth-Sunday series features a musician and an artist each month, and tonight I share the room with the appealing, local-color photography of Eric Stern, an accomplished Seattle doctor and professor. The room is cozy, the cookies and coffee ample, and crowd favorable—and willing to sing!—as I strum along, enjoying the sight of Chris relaxing somewhere other than behind the mixing console. Chris adds pre-planned vocals and whistles to several tunes, and his wife, Jan, joins for the final two participatory numbers: “How Can I Keep From Singing?” and “Name of the Lord is Music.” Fun to find yet more instances of comfortable community music!
October 21, 2004
Lacey, WA: Panorama City Retirement Community
Panorama City Retirement Community is a spacious estate in Lacey with a tremendous amount of on-site resources for its residents—travel, financial, recreation, etc. The story, as I understand it, is that a resident caught the Seattle Post-Intelligencer story that ran this summer and walked into the office, paper-in-hand, to request that Panorama City hire me.  So here I am, the entertainment for the monthly birthday celebration!
Everyone’s good to me as I quickly set up and accept an invitation to join a table (near the back by the bar and TV so I can keep an eye on NLCS Game 7!) for the dinner. True to senior from, the meal—which’d begun at 5pm—winds down shortly past six and, just as I’m starting to set up a CD/info display, the emcee announces me! Guess I’m on... It’s fun to play some of my songs for this attentive and appreciative crowd and its generational perspective (ages range from late-50s to 103!), and I’m touched by many of the friendly and thorough responses afterward (we end early, too...in time for me to catch the last three outs). Many suggest I come back, and It’d be my pleasure!
September 18, 2004
Seattle, WA: Olympic Hills Elementary School
A li’l appearance at Visions Toward Tomorrow, a community event sponsored by the City of Seattle’s North District Council, North District Stewardship, & Department of Neighborhoods—a bunch o’ committed and well-meaning folk.
September 4-5, 2004
Richland, WA: Tumbleweed Music Festival
Richland’s Tumbleweed Music Festival, organized by the Tri-Cities’ Three Rivers Folklife Society (three cheers for John and Micki Perry!!), is one of my favorite annual folk-rituals. Whether relaxing in the generous performers’ hospitality area (which, as usual, includes free massages in the instrument-check room!) or scurrying to one’s next engagement, Tumbleweed maintains a feeling of openhanded comfort—a true performer’s festival (though audiences enjoying a sunny holiday weekend in a lovely riverfront park surrounded by good music and community seem content, too)!
Saturday begins (‘performance’-wise) with John Nelson and me helping Nancy K. Dillon with her harmony workshop. I take a considerable amount of grief throughout the day for being the “First Alternate” in the songwriting contest—a title the festival has published! (‘Eleventh-best song out of ten,’ I tell many...) Though Nancy, whose taken-squarely-from-behind picture will appear in tomorrow’s newspaper (we chide her about the photos the paper wouldn’t touch that you can find at Folkbutts.com), had sliced her finger earlier in the week, no one bails from the contest and I keep my ‘Alternate’ status. (I was unsuccessful in my attempt to hire someone to hide behind a dumpster with a tire iron and strike another contestant in the knee; and the intense psychological warfare that I employ during the contest—“You feeling okay?! You suuure?? ’Cause if you’re not, you know, I can step in...you should rest, it’s a long festival... ”—fails me as well.) Joe Jencks secures his Tumbleweed dynasty with a second consecutive win, barring him from future contests and promoting him to ‘Judge’ status.
I’m on as ‘Wes’ shortly after the famous Performer-Brunch on Sunday, and I’m pleased to see a nice noon-time crowd gather, many of them discovering Wes for the first time (and liking it!—as several share with me after the set). Joe joins me for the first three songs, before shuffling off (in true Tumbleweed spirit) to join another act for the last few songs of her concurrent set. A later workshop on “Inland Northwest Historical Songs” produces a wonderful in-the-round that could have lasted another hour-plus, and I’m glad to be a part of the regional celebration. My on-stage duties conclude with a guest-mandolin spot during John’s set, and another Tumbleweed Festival winds itself down in another tornado of contentedness.
August 20, 2004
Seattle, WA: Puget’s Sound: Meadowbrook Series
I’ve really enjoyed putting this show together with Joe Jencks, a Seattle expatriate now living in Cleveland (not to mention a tremendous singer and gifted songwriter); as much work as it’s been coordinating all of the various particulars, it’s been fun watching this come together. I’ve also really enjoyed the chance to learn some of Joe’s songs, teach him some of mine, and play together, and (as I told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) I can’t think of a better person to help me celebrate the start of the second Puget’s Sound season than Joe, who shares my vision of community through music in a comfortable, compatible way. In fact, we spend a considerable portion of time discussing this in a live, on-air interview with Puget’s Sound partner KSER-Everett in the morning—bless the heart and soul of community radio!! (KBCS also had us on yesterday.) [Note to those keeping score: Though Joe is not technically a ‘local act’ anymore, he qualifies for this appearance in a Puget’s Sound series because we had not originally planned for an August show and he is thus not taking another truly-local act’s slot...much as I would not have allowed myself this appearance under different circumstances.]
The show itself draws a nice-sized, animated crowd that enjoys Joe’s and my efforts to make the evening more than merely two white-guys-with-guitars separately playing their own music. The highlight for me comes in the middle of “Ballad of the Whitman Greeks” as a siren screams by outside just after I’ve delivered the line: “None of his laws would land coeds in jail.” Serendipity... Joe is truly a remarkable performer, and I’m pleased to have been part of such a pleasant evening...and one that will likely yield future co-performances. Stay tuned!
August 1, 2004
Moscow, ID: Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse (Gospel Sunday!!)
Now in its sixth year, Gospel Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse in Moscow, ID, and its prodigious hosts—‘Reverend’ Jim-Bob (my father, Jim Weddell) and his faithful sidekick Tami ‘Faye’ Moore—have become quite the annual spectacle one choice summer Sunday a year in my hometown Palouse hills. (They’re even playing out some!—the UU church in Coeur d’Alene, ID, had ’em up earlier this year...) The Gospel-uninitiated feel more comfortable each time (the first time Dad, a failed Southern Methodist, called for a spirited “Amen!” in this setting many years ago you could hear crickets...), everyone sings along, and more often than not the clapping falls on the two-and-four beats! I’ll lend my musical facilities to this wonderful, feel-good event any time!
July 22, 2004
Seattle, WA: Conor Byrne’s Pub
I’m delighted to see more folk pushing the cause of the local musician—as Eva Tree and Anna Coogan have begun by offering these monthly local-songwriter in-the-rounds at Conor Byrne’s Pub in mighty Ballard—and just as thrilled to accept an invitation to perform for such an event. With me this evening are Puget’s Sound veterans Eva and the peerlessly-passionate Bob Antone, along with Bill Lavoie and Val (why don’t she and her powerful voice ’n’ guitar play out more, darnit!) D’Alessio. We’re good for five times ’round the horseshoe, and the impromptu accompaniments begin almost immediately: Bob adds some of his spirited fiddle to my songs “Every Now and Then a Sunset,” “Left Me With No Choice,” and my new, Washington-focused re-write of “I’ve Been Everywhere,” which continually proves a nice addition as we work out in the sweltering July heat. (There’s a convenient fan right at the foot of the stage, which makes things bearable—but, unlike Eva, I don’t have hair enough to take advantage of its potential ‘singin’-in-the-wind’ visual effect...) Fun times chasing each others’ songs, jumping in, and kicking back with a nicely appreciative (and sweaty) house. Hope Eva and Anna keep these up!
May 29, 2004
Seattle, WA: Northwest Folklife Festival
Memorial Day means camping to some, barbeques to others, boating, sleeping in, working in the yard... In my circles, however, Memorial Day weekend brings the all-consuming, over-stimulating fracas that is the Northwest Folklife Festival. My main set comes on Saturday this year, kicking off the “Life Beyond the Cascades” stage...at 11:00 AM. Hosts Carlos Alden and Dan Maher—both playful musical nemeses from my eastern-Washington past—do their expected and collective worst to incite the emergent, not-yet-drizzled-upon crowd. All in all, this proves a very comfortable way to play Folklife, and I feel good enough to debut my new re-write of Geoff Mack’s great trucking song, “I’ve Been Everywhere,” which exclusively features Washington State place names: I’ve been to Pasco, Tenino, Potholes, Indianola.... It goes over very well, and I wonder if my half-hour on the Fisher Green stage might emerge as one of the more relaxed moments of the weekend...
May 3, 2004
Seattle, WA: Hop Vine Pub
For six years the convivial, kind, and eminently approachable Kurt Myhaver has run the Monday singer/songwriter showcases at the Hop Vine Pub; and now, with a move to Maine imminent, I’m honored that he’s asked me to play the penultimate show (with Steve Key—seen a lot of him lately...though he, too, will be skipping town in a week’s time—and Amy Roberts). Amy opens the show with a nice set of tunes, eventually yielding to Steve, who, as he’s done once before, has asked me to join him on mandolin (we’ve never sat down and really worked through any songs...). His set also finds a nice rhythm and all (including Steve—which is important!) seem to enjoy my on-the-fly accompaniment. My set’s last, and I break out a few that I haven’t tried in a while to close the nice evening of Monday music. Best to you, Kurt!
April 30, 2004
Seattle, WA: Best of the Northwest Spring Craft Fair
While the airplane-hanger site of the 2004 Best of the Northwest Spring Craft Fair at Seattle’s old Sand Point Naval Station is, one must admit, pretty cool, the air inside on this gorgeously hot-’n’-hazy Friday afternoon is not. I had accepted the two-hour slot (from my friend and former UW T.A. turned Contra-danceband-booking-magnate Adam Carlson) thinking that the second hour would be a great chance for my accustomed Friday-afternoon hobbyband (never named, though we briefly toyed with the idea of Hasselbeck) to make its public debut. (The now mostly-defunct ensemble included fellow Pullman-bred Travis Luther, lately of Ultra Find and other projects, and David Bush, another good friend and intermittent collaborator with his hand in at least a half-dozen other musical adventures around town.) With Travis off to Colorado, however, the two hours were mine alone (though the posted schedule wistfully announced the presence of “Wes Weddell & friends”—perhaps the transitory audience took ‘friends’ to mean ‘harmonicas’...).
The set sounds and feels good, many in the non-committal audience respond positively, and the ensuing ice cream bar from Scotty’s Northwest Cuisine is one of the best I’ve ever had. Just another grand spring day in the neighborhood...
April 23, 2004
Seattle, WA: Richard Hugo House (S5)
Having spent so much time of late pushing the cause of the local musician with the Puget’s Sound series and related endeavors, I’m excited to remember the performer and songwriter in me (my real calling, darnit!) with an appearance in mover-and-shaker Steve Key’s S5 series: the Secret Society of Seattle Singer/Songwriters (don’t tell). Steve has done a nice job pairing able local acts with traveling singer/songwriters, and I’m honored to split tonight’s bill with an award-winning Bay-Area gentleman named Christopher Smith.
Steve opens the show with his trademark affability and a few great tunes, soon handing the stage to Christopher for a set of well-crafted songs. I begin to see some why Steve might’ve billed us together—Christopher’s clever wordplay and clear, versatile expressiveness remind me of many of my aspirations when writing. The cafe/bar finally opens, and I go on after a short intermission, playing to a nice, familiar crowd of appreciative listeners and enthusiastic clappers. An emotional and fragile as-yet-untitled song (someone else’s personal story) that’s been over a year in the making makes its debut, allowing me to meet a goal I’d set of having this one done by this evening...which feels pretty good! In fact, the whole durn evening feels pretty good!!
April 18, 2004
Spokane, WA: Nacho Celtic Hour
Three years ago, while deeply immersed in The Project, I appeared on Carlos Alden’s Nacho Celtic Hour, a great weekly radio program on Spokane’s NPR affiliate, KPBX. Carlos interviewed me some, I played a couple of tunes, and then we opened the phones to listeners who might have ideas about local songwriting topics as I used their ideas to write on the fly—‘Folk Radio on the Edge,’ we called it. Knowing I would be in the area over the weekend, Carlos, himself a fine Celtic player (with the Celtic Nots) and songwriter, has invited me back and, after a brunchtime taste of Spokane’s inaugural Dim-Sum enterprise, we again challenge listeners to do their worst/best. The ensuing medley this time includes a probing, Western-identity-soul-searching treatise on folk who move to the Methow Valley (or like areas) looking for that elusive ‘something’ and a showtuney coda remembering grand Lake Missoula and her impact on our landscapes and lives today. Maybe you’ll see part of this again...
April 13, 2004
Vancouver, WA: Washington State University-Vancouver
WSU-Vancouver twice had me down last year—both great visits—to present songs and materials from The Project, and I’m happy to find myself guesting for Susan Tissot’s Senior Public History class once again. This time, however, I’m not battling food poisoning (as I was when I appeared before this class last April!), and the results with regard to my disposition are manifest. It’s rare anymore that I play the entire Northwest Home set, and I enjoy digging out some of the songs I don’t play very frequently (“Row, Row Your Boat, ” “We’ve Got Stories”...), but some of my rhetorical gimmicks suffer from having the lyrics simultaneously on display (like watching a sitcom in closed-captioning—the timing’s lost). I also salt the playlist with some relevant Woody Guthrie (who, Susan tells me, is largely an unknown among her current students; bummer...), James Stevens, etc.
The first musical voyage in the new-used car goes quite smoothly (though I should do something about the carnivorous tape deck; I did a lot of yodeling on the way down...); farewell Blue-Beauty-cum-Dented-Dinghy: you served me well! Also great to see good, old friends and catch up.
March 28, 2004
West Seattle, WA: West Seattle Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
This was supposed to be Steve Key’s gig, but he had to run to Portland on short notice and graciously referred me. After years of experiencing the (Right) Reverend Jim-Bob’s grand UU revivals—my father’s triumphant Unitarian guest-appearances across the Northwest, to the uninitiated—I’m well prepared to address this gathering of delightful, community-minded West Seattleites, and they seemed equally predisposed to welcome me and my two tunes: David Mallett’s masterful “Garden Song” (for the kids); and Josh Ritter’s “Snow is Gone”, a fitting and uplifting spring melody to preface Rev. Peg Boyle Morgan’s service entitled “The Abundance of Invitations.” Many smiling, enthusiastic faces, and a pleasant social hour afterward!
February 26-8, 2004
San Diego, CA: International Folk Alliance Conference - Seattle Sounds Showcase
How does one begin to describe to the uninitiated the over-stimulating fracas that is the annual International Folk Alliance Conference? Or, perhaps more challenging, driving rain in San Diego?? I pause during a quiet Wednesday dinner in San Diego’s Old Town with co-Seattle Sounds-mates John Nelson and Nancy K. Dillon to breathe the fragrant, floral air and enjoy the peace while I have it. By the time I’ve begun putting up posters the next morning, it’s gone and, as I write this, I’m still searching for some of it!
Jenn Adams remarks that the conference is like “kid-in-a-candy-store” time for her, and I wish that my deeply-committed organizing drive allowed for more of that feeling in myself. I come close sharing bawdy jokes (when I ought to be networking with folk-radio DJs!) with Tom Paxton, Steve Seskin, and dear friend David Maloney, but too soon I’m back to fretting over the upcoming Seattle Sounds showcase, which’ll feature thirty individual performance slots and four in-the-round sessions over the course of two late evenings; further, I board a plane for Portland at 6:45 Saturday morning—merely five hours after my last performance!—to drive out to Astoria and attend a relative’s wedding...and I’ll end up wasting my first-ever first-class upgrade (for weight-and-balance purposes, they tell me, though I’m not sure that I’m the best choice given my wiry body-type) fast asleep over the slowly waking western coast.
Despite a pretty major hotel screw-up (not the only one, I hear...and that’s not even counting the serious fire in one of the showcase rooms!) that booted us from our original, advertised room (sigh), the showcasing plods along at its spontaneous and serendipitous best, complete with requite drop-ins, drama, jams, stress, and occasional smiles all around. And good coffee—we take representing Seattle very seriously! More physically and emotionally taxing than last year for a variety of reasons, but I’ll catch back up. And, sometime MUCH later, I’ll also think about whether I want to take this damned thing to Montreal next year...!!
Fri., February 6, 2004
Leavenworth, WA: Leavenworth Community Coffeehouse
I’m starting to think that I could settle in Leavenworth, the little Bavarian hamlet in the Cascade foothills. Behind the faux-Alpine Dairy Queen and Rodeway Inn lies a wonderful, vibrant community of good folk surrounded by stunning mountain and river-valley vistas that are as awesome in today’s heavy snowfall as they are on a clear summer day. Jessica and I have come over the pass the previous night in order to make my early-morning radio spot more doable, and I’m out the door of our delightfully-energetic hosts’ house as the snow’s just starting to pick up. The KOHO studio is always cozy and welcoming (donuts!), and I’m happy to swing by even for the smallest of radio spots, which this morning yields.
With a full, free day looming before the gig, Jess and I set about snow-romping and visiting the wonderful little shops that dot downtown and beyond (the new guitar store, Hi Strung Music, proves to be a real treat!!). After a great home-cooked dinner back at Alex’ and Amanda’s (I love homestays!) I’m off to the Grange Hall for the gig, long a coveted performance by Northwest artists given the Coffeehouse’s loyal following and spirit (one of my inspirational templates for the Puget’s Sound series). Though I hear that audiences have been slower of late, I’m still happy to play to a modest gathering of enthusiastic concertgoers (next time, I’ll have to make sure not to schedule myself opposite a home basketball game at the high school—you’d think I’d’ve figured that out by now given the number of small towns I play... Pleasant weekend, as expected; gonna have to make it back.
Fri., January 23, 2004
Seattle, WA: USA Songwriting Competition Showcase
The true ‘thrust’ of this gig—booked/coordinated entirely via e-mail (not unusual)—has remained somewhat murky in the weeks leading up to it (I’m ‘required’ to provide a certain number of audience members at a showcase for a contest I never entered...), and things don’t exactly come right together as I enter the downtown Borders on this drizzly, traffic-heavy evening. Shea, a personable Borders employee, explains to me that the host for these monthly showcases never comes (?!), but that folk usually pay mild attention. As I begin to fill in the (considerable) blanks in the sound system with pieces I have brought, it appears that neither of the other two musicians scheduled—fellow Seattle Sounds showcaser Kathryn Mostow and Texas refugee Michael Hill—are coming in addition! (Maybe they know something I don’t...or at least learned first!) I really didn’t sign up to play two hours to apathetic book/record-browsers, and I’m ready to burrow full-bore into my grumpy-pants when Kathryn and Michael arrive five minutes past scheduled start time. Friends arrive, too, and we make a perfectly pleasant evening of sharing tunes—proof what groups of good folk can do with a little time, space, and good-will! Coulda been a whole lot worse, but not how I’d hope to kick-off the new performance year... And I don’t imagine I’ll enter the USA Songwriting Competition (a Florida company, I hear...) anytime soon!
