Playing Talarico’s tonight, a West Seattle musician who’s battled his way back from a serious injury.

By Jonathan Stumpf
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Trevor Ras knows a little something about perseverance.

Three years ago, this West Seattle resident and musician went out surfing in Huntington Beach, Calif., and twenty-four hours later landed in the hospital with a fractured vertebrae. “When I got out of the hospital five days later,” Ras said, “everything had changed for me at that point. I was in pain everywhere. The next six months, that was the real test.”

His life up until that fateful day?

Ras had just left a job with a high-profile Beverly Hills public-relations firm; he had just released his first solo record after years playing in various bands; and he was now ready to embark on a full West Coast tour, with dates lined up from Alaska to San Diego.

But after fracturing his C5 vertebrae in that surfing accident north of the Huntington Beach pier, Ras was forced to re-evaluate his priorities and question his life motives up to that point. “‘What do I really want from life?’ Ras asked himself. “I realized that I wanted to find a home, be close to my family and be happy.”

And he was unsure if he would ever regain the skills and muscle memory to play music. “There was a moment when I was in Huntington Beach…I was four or five months into it and I didn’t think I could play music again. I basically got really depressed there for a little while.”

So he packed up and left his Southern California existence for West Seattle. “I made a choice to walk away from that life,” Ras said. “I was kind of forced to make that choice, but in the end it turned out to be the best thing I could have done for myself.”

He returned to the Fauntleroy neighborhood he grew up in and quickly got a job with a public-relations firm near downtown Seattle, immediately hitting it off with the hiring manager, who also was a fellow musician. But Ras had not yet been able to play his saxophone or guitar.

Although he was still doing physical rehabilitation in 2007, Ras slowly began to get back into playing music. “It was an up and down roller coaster as far as my body was concerned,” Ras said, “but I slowly began rebuilding it all.”

He played a few solo gigs, met guitarist Ian McKamey, and the two began doing some smaller shows around Seattle. Then after hooking up with drummer Ben Johnston and keyboardist Paul Davis, they officially formed Boomerang Summer, a four-piece that musically sways between jazz, funk and soul with a unique singer/songwriter twist. “Our crowd is a real mixed bag,” Ras said.

For now, they are content playing in the smaller venues around Seattle, with hopefully more regular gigs at Talarico’s, Skylark Café (WSB sponsor) and elsewhere. “We’re doing this for fun and to enjoy ourselves,” Ras said, emphasizing he has learned a thing or two from his experience. “I’ve spent so much time pushing and pushing, trying to get things dialed in. Now, I’m just gonna let things come to me. If it does, it does.”

Boomerang Summer plays Talarico’s tonight at 9 pm. They will be selling advance copies — before the July 24 release—of their upcoming album Breathe. For more information, visit www.boomerangsummer.com.