Saturday night, ‘The West’ rides into the West Seattle sunrise

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

When last we checked in with “The West,” it was a concept galloping around a mixer upstairs at Mission three months ago.

Tomorrow night, The West rides out of the stable and into the spotlight. Or might we say, instead of the classic “riding into the sunset” Western metaphor, rides into the sunrise.

If you hang out on Facebook or Twitter, you might have seen the mysterious hints…

What’s been said publicly so far is that tomorrow night’s invitation-only event is at the West Seattle Eagles Aerie in The Junction, and will feature live music. But what’s The West about? We managed to cajole an advance interview out of two people from the core group – Lora Swift from Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) and Swift Media Solutions, and Oliver Little from The Workshop. Lora’s had a high profile not just for her businesses but for organizing popular events such as West Seattle Outdoor Movies and leading the West Seattle Art Walk behind-the-scenes group for quite some time (recently handed over to Twilight Artist Collective). As for Oliver – some of West Seattle’s biggest events wouldn’t have happened without him behind the scenes. Summer Fest, for example.

So if these are representatives of The West, you start to get the idea the group is ready to make things happen. Indeed, that’s where this is going.

Oliver begins: “We started out wanting to promote the arts and create bigger experiences for people … Through a lot of conversations with a lot of different small business owners, we thought we should just do it ourselves,” instead of waiting for a larger, established organization such as the West Seattle Junction Association to sponsor everything. “We’ve talked about it for years … it’s the kickoff to see can we do this, will people in West Seattle want to do this?”

The West will not just be about staging events, however. The intent is to create a place where artists and musicians can promote what they are doing, too. And that goes for new artists and new bands – The West, says Oliver, will “be an advocate” for them. “Everybody in the group has a special talent, and if we put it all together, we can do things that (otherwise) would need a lot of funding … We’re not selling sponsorships or memberships, we’re just coming together to make things happen.” (They will likely accept donations, though!)

Those “special talents” are what brought the group together, Lora adds, and they turned out to have synergy: “We found that as individuals, we were all promoting events to the same type of people … but we’re finding that as a group we can put together all our talents and put something together that drives a much bigger community than we can ever accomplish as individuals.”

OK, we get it. The West wants to make cool things happen. But, they have to be West Seattle-esque cool things, we are assured. Oliver explains “My background is in festival work and construction, and (I’ve seen neighborhoods) gentrify and collapse in on themselves … West Seattle is still a place with a lot of community support, where people play (music, etc.) without expecting to become the next (big thing). We have kept that attitude, not tried to sell (Summer Fest) to the rest of the city, and now we have (others) looking to see what West Seattle is doing, it’s a great thing to market and promote.” That could lend itself to a tagline such as “West Seattle is what used to be cool about Seattle’,” he suggests. “There’s still some unique Northwest feel. … There’s not really another neighborhood around like that.”

“We have our own flavor, our own feeling,” adds Lora. “We’re trying to work with that. As individuals, (The West’s core members) all understand the true heartbeat of West Seattle.”

While November was the kickoff event, and this is the introductory event – no tickets left, by the way, sorry! – and they are “already planning our next couple events,” Lora reveals. (They’re hoping to have events each quarter, we learn later.)

And if it sounds a little casual – not so, they explain. It’s set up as a charitable organization now, and will eventually move into 401(c)(3) nonprofit territory. But they are trying hard to keep the “core group” small – eight to 10 people, right now – to avoid bureaucracy. And despite the “charitable” designation, they’re aiming for self-sufficiency: “We all don’t really want to ask for favors; we don’t have to do everything free or cheap. Be good community members – create something! If you want people to come to your business, throw a party, show people that you are open, throw open your doors.”

And tomorrow night, the doors will swing open for partygoers – you have to have your invitation; they won’t have any room for crashers – at 8 pm, with music starting around 9:30, after legendary DJ Cherry Canoe gets it all going. The bands remain a secret. No, not something mainstream big like oh say Pearl Jam, say Lora and Oliver, but “three pretty stellar acts that are new, relevant, hot stuff right now.”

There’ll be a little speechifying along the way, emcees explaining why The West’s mission matters, what they hope to see happen – events that not only celebrate that West Seattle flavor mentioned earlier, but also the seasons, even local history. It won’t always be a rock ‘n’ roll party like tomorrow night’s bash, but, as Oliver puts it, “We know what fun is and what it looks like. Instead of getting the cart before the house, we’re going to let it evolve naturally.”

“We all just dig West Seattle,” declares Lora. “We ‘get’ West Seattle.”

And since our notes fail to reflect which one of our interviewees said this last line, we’ll just attribute it to The West in general: “We’re the crazy ones with the crazy ideas that just might make it work.”

Stay tuned. (We’ll be reporting on The West, of course, but you can also get it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, on Facebook – no website yet – at facebook.com/TheWestWS, or on Twitter at twitter.com/TheWestWS.)

9 Replies to "Saturday night, 'The West' rides into the West Seattle sunrise"

  • Diane February 17, 2012 (11:19 pm)

    I don’t get it; how is this good for West Seattle if it’s all invite only?

  • JanS February 18, 2012 (12:03 am)

    maybe they think that whatever they might plan in the future would be good for West Seattle? Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

  • Aman February 18, 2012 (12:49 am)

    If cryptic = cool then they have “nailed it.” Good luck!

  • Karen Lyons February 18, 2012 (8:22 am)

    Oh, please don’t let this be another group about who is cool and who is not. Too much of this is starting to show up in West Seattle.

  • Walli Kay February 18, 2012 (9:03 am)

    I got “fan of the week” on thier Facebook page! Not sure what that means, but I’m happy just to win!

  • Kate K February 18, 2012 (9:51 am)

    I can’t wait to hear what The West is up to because you know it’s gonna be interesting!

  • kate February 18, 2012 (9:51 am)

    I don’t get it either. Why is it being promoted if it’s invite only? There’s enough fun stuff to do around town without having to hunt around for clues. Kinda reminds me of high school.

  • Lisa February 18, 2012 (10:18 am)

    I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t grasp the concept of what this article and The West is all about. I was feeling very unhip. Plus the exclusiveness of the event yet promoting it ruffled my feathers a bit.

    • WSB February 18, 2012 (10:38 am)

      The main intent here, if clumsily written, is: A new group is forming and they are hoping to do cool stuff in the community.
      .
      We thought it would be interesting to do a story ahead of the event, regardless of whether it was “come one come all” (they have had ticket giveaways on FB fwiw) so we all but badgered them into it – definitely wasn’t a case of anyone seeking advance publicity (believe me, we deal with plenty of that). We’ll also have a report afterward (written by someone more creative than me!) – TR

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