West Seattle, Washington
11 Tuesday
One hour of excellent free live music still left on the east lawn at Hiawatha – with Jessica Lynne belting out contemporary-country tunes onstage.
Tonight is the fifth show in the concert series presented each summer by the Admiral Neighborhood Association (with sponsors including WSB); next week’s the finale with Funky 2 Death, 6:30-8 pm.
We’re welcoming Mode Music Studios as a new WSB sponsor. You can welcome them to the neighborhood at their Grand Opening on Saturday! Here’s their story:
We offer music lessons at an affordable cost with a unique, intuitive approach. Every Mode Music Studios teacher is prepared to mold a lesson to each student’s needs and wants. We’re all multi-instrumentalists, so some students will go back and forth between several instruments or reference another instrument to put music in perspective. We’re all hard-working musicians who play locally and tour, so we have to be able to step in for each other and help out. It makes for a tight family of staff and a more enjoyable environment for our clients.
I think the families that come to Mode Music Studios understand that our methods are unconventional. They come to us when the basic approach to music isn’t working for themselves or their child. We come from all sides in order to keep the student engaged while getting a well-rounded education through classical, jazz, pop, country – whatever music interests the client. We’ve built the studio off recommendations from our existing families and have been lucky enough to keep a steady flow of new students through the expansion. It’s a true testament to the dedication our teachers have to music instruction.
Our recitals at The Sanctuary at Admiral, summer programs, and rock bands at The Skylark Cafe also keep the students growing and interested. Playing music with others and performing on stage has motivated some of our students to continue onto other instruments, start their own bands and compose their own songs. We just attended Delridge Day for the first time with our friends and neighbors from The Skylark and had a blast. We’re so excited to form relationships in our new neighborhood and get more involved in the community.
This Saturday (August 23rd), 3-6 pm, Mode Music Studios celebrates its Grand Opening, including a party next door at Skylark (free admission) with student rock band performances, teacher performances, and a raffle for lessons and prizes. The studio itself will be open for punch and cake, so you can take a full walkthrough of the new facilities. Find Mode Music Studios at 3805 Delridge Way SW, online at modemusicstudios.com, and by phone: 206-659-4018.
We thank Mode Music Studios for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
Several days/nights a week, C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) features live music, free admission. Today we have word of a show that C & P proudly announces as “kind of a big deal,” and seating is limited, with an admission charge, so here’s early word: Jon Auer, co-founder of The Posies, is playing at C & P 7-9 pm Thursday, August 28th, admission $21 – RSVP ASAP to nancystandifer1@msn.com.
7:03 PM: Radio Raheem is raising the roof in the Hiawatha Community Center gym right now, during an indoor edition of the Admiral Neighborhood Association-presented Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series – moved inside because of the possibility of showers. They’re doing original songs and ’80s covers; band members include singer Josie Howell, known for her work with the Total Experience Gospel Choir, and West Seattle-based sax+ player Trevor Rasmussen:
The show started with guest emcee Brent Amaker – himself a musician as well as Admiral District business owner (in photo below with Katy Walum, ANA’s concert-series organizer) …
… and a demonstration by kids from The Little Gym of West Seattle, which has mats here in the back of the gym for any young audience members who want to play.
Also here, Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor), with free mini-cones of strawberry frozen custard. The show’s on until about 8.
8:28 PM: Show’s over – excellent mix of ’80s covers and original tunes. Next Thursday (August 21st), get your country on with Jessica Lynne, 6:30 pm as always.
The youth artists who have just finished the mural along Delridge outside Youngstown Cultural Arts Center had a big community turnout for this afternoon’s celebration of their creation – including local leaders:
With Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen, who is featured on the mural, in the photo above, is Louis Chinn, one of the artists who mentored the youth. The mural was created as part of the Work Readiness Arts Program, under the city Office of Arts and Culture, whose leader Randy Engstrom is a former Youngstown director – he’s at left below with the center’s current leader David Bestock:
The mural’s story was told by two of the young artists:
Admiring the mural’s celebration of history – including a totem pole! – was Southwest Seattle Historical Society executive director Clay Eals:
The RecTech youth who have been documenting the project via photo and video were of course there too – we’re told their work will premiere later this month:
Just in case you can’t get to 4408 Delridge Way SW for a first-person look at the mural any time soon, we walked its 200-plus-foot length in this next clip:
Just sixteen days ago, that entire wall was blank, as shown in our July 29th story.
Tomorrow, the new youth-painted mural along the 4400 block of Delridge Way in front of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center will be officially “unveiled.” Tonight, it’s still getting some last-minute touches. What you see in our quick pic is only about a third of the mural – the rest of it looks pretty cool too – so come to the ribbon-cutting at 2 pm tomorrow (Thursday, August 14th) if you can, and meet the artists! If you’ve missed the backstory in our previous coverage (here, here, and here) – check out the Youngstown website.
That’s Radio Raheem, the self-described “hip hop/new wave/soul/disco superbot Seattle band” headed your way for Thursday night’s episode of Summer Concerts at Hiawatha (as in, Community Center, outdoors, east lawn, 2700 block Walnut), presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, with co-sponsors including WSB. Show’s free, 6:30 pm start, bring your own chair/blanket, rain or shine – too soon to tell what Thursday night’s going to be like, but this series has the Hiawatha gym as an indoor backup venue if necessary, steps away.
(Photo taken at Alki Beach: ©2014 Eric Shalit)
A special stop for bicycle commuters is among the highlights for tonight, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
DIY BIKES – UNDER THE BRIDGE: Per the following announcement:
Bicycle commuters coming home from work tonight may find a surprise under the West Seattle Bridge. The West Seattle Tool Library’s Fixers Collective and DIY Bikes will be doing their monthly workshop under the West Seattle Bridge” “It’s been a long summer so far and many of our daily bicycle commuters have not found the time to work on their bicycles or take them into a local shop. We are coming to the riders to make ourselves more available.” The West Seattle Tool Library and DIY Bikes are projects of Sustainable West Seattle.
HEALTH AND HARVEST: 5-7 pm tonight and every Thursday, you’re welcome at the Community Orchard of West Seattle for a lesson in urban gardening, teamed with a mini-work party. Northeast side of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus. (6000 16th SW)
BENEFIT FOR EASTERN WASHINGTON FIRE VICTIMS: Proceeds tonight at Matador-West Seattle (and five other restaurants elsewhere in the city) go to a fire benefit organized by Band of Brothers Northwest – details in our preview. (4546 California SW)
WATCH THE GAME AT THE CASK: Tonight’s pre-season Seahawks game is onscreen at The Cask (WSB sponsor) in The Admiral District, 6 pm. (2350 California SW)
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: Tonight, it’s The Guessing Game, 6:30 pm on the east lawn at Hiawatha (along Walnut), free – BYO chair/blanket, picnic, etc. Presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association – here’s our preview with a peek at the band. (2700 California SW)
MORE MUSIC … see individual West Seattle venues’ listings for tonight on our calendar!
That’s The Guessing Game, third up in this year’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series, presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, with co-sponsors including WSB. You’ll see and hear The Guessing Game live at 6:30 pm tomorrow (Thursday, August 7th). Find out a bit more about the band – which released its first album “Holy Crow” in May – via this online interview with leader Jeff Rouse. Then pack up your chairs/blanket/picnic dinner/etc. and make plans to be on the east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center for a free night of music.
Just stopped by the mural project outside Youngstown Cultural Arts Center for a quick update. We reported last week on the start of work on what was a blank 200-foot wall along Delridge Way SW beneath the center’s parking lot, with participants in a summer arts-jobs program, same one that led to the signal-box mini-murals last year. This mural is still scheduled for completion and “unveiling” one week from tomorrow; its features so far include not just Northwest beauty like water and mountains but also a hint of the nearby maritime industry (the iconic red cranes).
Just announced by ArtsWest: A new artistic director, Mathew Wright (AW-provided photo at right). According to the news release – which you can read in full here – “Mathew is familiar to ArtsWest’s audiences as both the Director of ‘Little Women’ and the Music Director of ‘HAIR,’ two of the most loved and successful shows of the 2013-2014 season. … Mathew will begin his tenure at ArtsWest on September 1, following the departure of Annie Lareau, ArtsWest’s Interim Artistic Director. ” Wright has been working full time as education-programs coordinator at The 5th Avenue Theatre downtown. He’s joining ArtsWest one year after the departure of Christopher Zinovitch, whose thirteen years with the organization concluded with two as its artistic director.
7:21 PM: If you’re not already among the hundreds of people on the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center – there’s still time to get there for the Caspar Babypants concert that’s happening tonight in the second Summer Concerts at Hiawatha show, until about 8 pm. Thanks to Jason Grotelueschen for the photo – we’ll have more photos/video to add later.
8:37 PM: As promised, video! More photos ahead.
Stopped by Youngstown Cultural Arts Center at midday to check on the progress of this year’s mural project – and we discovered the young artists are officially starting work on the mural today! They actually have been working on the 210-foot retaining wall along Delridge for a while now, but first job was to get it primed, and now that that’s done, it’s mural-painting time. That’ll take about two weeks – the grand unveiling is planned for August 14th. As noted here last month, this is part of the same city-funded summertime program that resulted in more than a dozen mini-murals on signal boxes along Delridge last year. The youth are working with professional artists, and according to this online update, they welcome community volunteers, too.
(WSB photo from 2011 Hiawatha show)
The most popular performer ever at Summer Concerts at Hiawatha returns to the Admiral Neighborhood Association-sponsored series this week – Caspar Babypants, the West Seattle-based kiddie-rock star, takes the stage at 6:30 pm Thursday (July 31st). Via his website, he’s promising “a 90-minute show full of every hit you can sing!” as well as a chance to buy advance copies of the new CB album “Rise and Shine!” The concert itself is free – come early, bring your own chair/blanket, picnic dinner if you feel like it, and get ready to have a great time.
We’ve showcased some of West Seattle’s wonderful, and sometimes whimsical, Little Free Libraries in recent years, and we know many more are out there. If you’ve built one or are getting ready to build one, you might be interested in a competition that the local chapter of Architects Without Borders is having – with the entry deadline less than a week away! Find out about “Libraries on the Loose” here. (Yes, you CAN enter an already-built library – we asked John Putre, who pinged us about the contest, and he said, “Submissions can be both existing and new Little Free Libraries, as long as they meet the requirements, which are pretty lenient – located in Seattle, hold at least 20 books, protected from weather.”) Entry fees benefit AWB’s work.
(UPDATED overnight with more photos, video added inline)
6:52 PM: We’re at Southwest Athletic Complex in Westwood, where the Junior All-City Marching Band – seen in our quick video clip above – has just opened this year’s Band Jam, an event that’s continued to grow in the past few years as a tune-up event (and showcase) for some of the marching bands participating in the Seafair Torchlight Parade, which is happening tomorrow night.
Following the Junior All-City Band, the Pacific Northwest Drumline (above & below) has just taken the field.
This is going on for at least another hour and a half, and it’s free (with concessions available, to support music programs) – we’ll have more sounds and sights later, but for now, c’mon down.
7:14 PM: The Sumner High School Marching Band – explained by their announcer as including middle-school musicians too – is on the field now:
These musicians came almost all the way from Mount Rainier, which you can see in a peek view here in the SWAC stands.
P.S. Non-conventional “marching” bands play Band Jam too; the Ten-Man Brass Band followed Sumner (bound for the Capitol Hill Block Party later tonight):
And Chaotic Noise Marching Corps – a punk-ish hit last year – is still to come, as is the host All-City Band, directed by Marcus Pimpleton, who launched Band Jam here five years ago:
(added post-show) Chaotic Noise was wild as ever:
(See video on Facebook.) We noticed some membership overlap between CNMB and Sounders FC’s Sound Wave, which rocked the stadium too:
8:41 PM: And last up, ACB:
(added) Followed by the night-ending jam, with just about everyone joining ACB on the field:
Meantime, it’s less than 24 hours until the Torchlight Parade downtown tomorrow night – we’ll have info in our Saturday morning preview (including the Torchlight Fan Fest starting at noon, where you can go check out floats long before the parade begins).
The clouds have lifted and Eclectic Approach is playing outdoors as scheduled on the east lawn at Hiawatha in this year’s first concert of the Admiral Neighborhood Association-sponsored series, reports ANA president David Whiting. Metropolitan Market (a series sponsor, as are we, and a WSB sponsor) is there with brownies, he adds. Official start at 6:30, music at least until 8, have fun!
Some of Seattle’s hardest-working young musicians were at Seacrest tonight, as previewed here this morning: It was the annual photo shoot and mini-performance by the All-City Band, marching-band musicians from high schools around the city, directed by Marcus Pimpleton, who leads music programs at Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School here in West Seattle.
After all the picture-taking, some music-making along Harbor Avenue:
The clear weather was perfect for the occasion.
As also mentioned here this morning, before their next round of parades – particularly Saturday night’s Seafair Torchlight Parade downtown – you can see them during Band Jam at Southwest Athletic Complex, 6:30 pm Friday night, also featuring other musicians (and flag-twirlers) getting ready for Saturday night.
Don’t miss Friday night – it’s free and fun.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 9:58 AM: If you love marching bands, two things you’ll want to know: First, the All-City Band – which won the grand prize in the West Seattle Grand Parade on Saturday – will be in the Seacrest vicinity this evening for its annual photo shoot, 5:30 pm per its boosters’ Facebook page. The photo above (shared by Toni) is from last year’s session. It’s not an official concert, but if you’re in the area, maybe returning from a Water Taxi commute, you’ll hear music post-photos, since one tipster tells us they’ll be “marching around” as part of it.
Second, this Friday (July 25th) at Southwest Athletic Complex, on the eve of the Seafair Torchlight Parade, ACB and director Marcus Pimpleton again host Band Jam, a chance for some of the parade bands to practice and perform. The formal announcement hasn’t arrived yet but it’s on the ACB calendar and in a comment discussion, we were told it’s set to start around 6:30 pm. Open to the public and free! (The stadium/field is at 2801 SW Thistle, east of Southwest Pool and across the street from Chief Sealth International High School.)
11:37 AM UPDATE: More info just in re: Band Jam – 6:30 pm is the confirmed time, and here are the bands expected:
(Chaotic Noise Marching Corps – WSB photo from 2013 Band Jam coverage)
*The Junior All-City Marching Band
*The Pacific Northwest Drumline
*The Ten Man Brass Band
*The Sumner High School Marching Band
*The Chaotic Noise Marching Corps
*The Seattle Sounders F.C. Soundwave
*The Seattle Schools All-City Marching Band
(Sumner was also honored for its performance in Saturday’s WS parade.)
The “Share the Shore” T-shirt is on sale in the Seal Sitters‘ booth at the Alki Art Fair, lining the promenade on the west end of Alki Beach Park until this evening. Today artists and musicians are sharing the shore as the festival continues – the Tri-Cities Steel Band Association played during our visit:
The music lineup is on a whiteboard at the site – click here for a photo. Artists include locals such as North Delridge photographer Holli Margell:
While you’re there – at the east end of the promenade, admire the piano that just arrived as part of Pianos in the Parks (reported here Thursday):
Transportation to the fair includes a shuttle bus from West Seattle High School (3000 California SW) again this year.
You can see a lot in just a little time at the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival, where dance performances continue until 7 tonight – two stages – schedule here! During a brief visit this afternoon, we saw 3 groups/performers – including Saqra’s Shamal Dance Co. (above) and Christine (below):
And back outdoors, Rachel George was onstage:
All free! And it’s not just dancing – outside (plus a few tables inside), dancing apparel, accessories, and another adornments are available – as is food! Tomorrow’s hours for the festival at Hiawatha Community Center are 11 am-5 pm.
(The Alki piano – photo courtesy Pianos in the Parks)
If you weren’t already planning to spend part of your summer at city/county parks – a public/private-partnership plan announced today is meant to give you a reason to visit. It’s called Pianos in the Parks, and it’s placed 20 donated and decorated pianos in 20 Seattle and King County parks, for one month, starting today. The parks, listed here, include Alki Beach Park in West Seattle and Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center. Since those are both fairly sizable parks, we asked a Pianos in the Parks spokesperson where to find the pianos. Reply: “The Alki piano is located just across from Spud Fish & Chips at the edge of the grassy area and the Steve Cox piano is roughly in the middle of the park by the picnic huts and the playground.” (Above, that’s the Alki piano, decorated by artist Kerstin M. Graudins, before it was to be placed at the beach, where we’re hoping to get a photo of it this evening.) And yes, the pianos are playable – that’s even at the heart of a contest. What happens to them after August 17th? They’re being auctioned off; you can bid on any or all of them online by clicking any individual park photo here to see its piano.
Ever dream of ditching the day job – assuming it’s NOT your dream job – and making a living doing something you love?
West Seattle musician Richie Jenkin worked as a social worker downtown, coordinating a program for homeless men. He says it was good work he enjoyed, but the time came for it to end.
All his life, Richie had been a musician, sometimes in clubs, sometimes in bands, sometimes teaching guitar, sometimes playing at home alone, or with friends. So as his social-work job started to wind down, he wondered what was ahead. First, he says, “I began teaching guitar again, and when I had built up a big-enough student load, I resigned from my day job. Thoughts ran through my head about doing some recording of songs, but I took no action. Six months went by. One morning while sitting quietly in my music room, and without prior thought, I got up and walked over to my recording equipment that had been lying dormant for many years, and began work on a version of an old favorite folk song: ‘500 Miles.’ “
In the three years since then, Richie says, he has been consumed with writing, playing, singing and recording songs, both originals and covers. He continues teaching. And now he has released a CD, “Richie Jenkin: New Songs,” a product of his new life. Here’s a sample track:
You can hear more of his album at his website, richiejenkin.com. It is also available for download from iTunes and from Amazon.
| Comments Off on Happening now: Jessica Lynne @ Summer Concerts at Hiawatha