West Seattle, Washington
28 Sunday
Got room on the family schedule for summer camp? Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and Mode Music and Performing Arts have news for you!
Mode Music Studios and Mode Music and Performing Arts are inviting West Seattle families to enroll in our summer music programs, with a commitment that finances shouldn’t stand in the way of art education.
Through our Pay What You Can program and grant-funded scholarships, eligible students can attend half-day and full-day camps at a reduced cost or completely free. We have scholarship funding available all summer and are hoping to connect with more families who could benefit from these opportunities.
Mode Music Studios also offers weekly Summer Rock Band camps for elementary, middle, and high school students. Each week, young musicians form a band, rehearse together with professional coaches, and wrap up the week with a live performance on the Tim’s Tavern stage in White Center.
Our Rock Band camp beginning July 6 will culminate with a special performance on the West Seattle Summer Fest Main Stage on Saturday, July 11.
Families can also visit our booth at West Seattle Summer Fest to learn more about lessons, camps, scholarships, and our nonprofit programs.
We’d love to help more West Seattle kids discover the confidence, friendships, and joy that come from making music and creating art.
–Sign up for rock bands at modemusicstudios.com/camps for ages 6-13 and 13+
–Sign up for half- and full-day pay-what-you-can music and theatre camps at modemusicandperformingarts.org/camps for reduced and free tuition
-Sign up for private music lessons at modemusicstudios.com/sign-up
(WSB photo, 2025 concert crowd at Hamilton Viewpoint Park)
On this first weekday of summer, we’re checking in on some of the big West Seattle events ahead. That includes updates on the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s concert series, Admiral Music in the Parks. We brought you the lineup announcement last month. But you’ll find more than music, as ANA’s Meagan Loftin explains in this update:
Less than a month until AMP: Admiral Music in the Parks returns for our first concert of the season!
In addition to a rockin’ music lineup, we’re happy to announce some returning and new offerings to amp up our concert series. Seattle Yarn is back this year hosting their weekly knitting circle at each concert and PCC Community Markets is also returning this year with snacks and information about the co-op. New this year, we’ll also have a board game library and a music-craft activity for kids next to the Admiral Neighborhood Association booth.
And if you’re planning to bike or stroll to the concerts, Alki Bike & Board is sponsoring a new valet-style attended bike and stroller corral at each park to make sustainable transportation an easier option for everyone. We’re excited for another great summer of concerts in the parks and we hope to see you there!
July 16th @ Belvedere Park: Steve Aliment and Annie O’Neill
July 23rd @ California Place Park: Michael Pearsall and Friends
July 30th @ Hamilton Viewpoint Park: Driftwood Drive
AMP wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and our “Producer” sponsors Far Away Entertainment, the Historic Admiral Theater, WEND Jewelry, and West Seattle Grounds.
If you’re interested in learning more about AMP and our commitment to supporting local musicians or you’d like to learn how you can invest in our mission to provide free and accessible public arts programming to everyone in our neighborhood visit our website, www.connecttoadmiral.org/amp.
You can also purchase tickets on our website to our July 2nd fundraiser; a special screening of the award-winning documentary Earl Robinson: Ballad of an American followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker B.J. Bullert.
One of this weekend’s major events is happening Saturday inside historic Kenyon Hall – a benefit concert and auction for West Seattle Indivisible, partnering with Southend Indivisible, in support of “defending democracy and building community.” Doors open at 6:30 pm Saturday and music starts at 7 with a lineup of local musicians and singers including Moon Girl:
See the lineup here, where you’ll also find a preview of another highlight of the night: Curated live and silent art auctions, including an original work by a Ukrainian artist living near the front line – here’s that backstory, from WSI:
Yury Vasilyev – WSI member, Russian immigrant, and co-lead of the concert planning team – will perform as HALANSKi at the event. His story was recently published as a Spotlight essay on our website. Yury has a connection with an artist from Ukraine, Itaveli, who created an original painting for the auction. She is from Dnipro, 60 miles away from the frontline. Last time HALANSKi talked to her, she said she stopped going to the shelter during air raids because sleep is more important to continue living than going into the shelter. The painting, “The Voice of Reason” is her favorite painting and it was hard for her to part with it. She will be happy to know it will end up in good hands. WSI plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the piece to the local Ukraine Defense Support organization.
Gift cards donated by local businesses will be auctioned too. Tickets to the Saturday night event are $25 general admission, $125 VIP, available online until noon Saturday; after that, tickets will be available at the door as long as capacity remains at Kenyon Hall (7904 35th SW). Beverages, including a mock/cocktail “Summer Solstice,” and light snacks will be available for purchase.
That’s the first song the local band Chewing Gum performed at their Easy Street Records show tonight, celebrating the release of their EP “Possum.” Since we had talked about the show with Magen Holgate, who runs their label The Big Dark Records, we wanted to hear their sound, and it was just as billed – classic grungy Seattle, loud, unapologetic. You can catch them at two summer shows – 7 pm Friday, July 10, at The Big Dark Corner stage (California/Alaska) at West Seattle Summer Fest, and 4 pm Friday, July 17, at the Alki Art Fair.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Magen Holgate wants you to listen.
To local music, specifically.
“People don’t realize they could be listening to great West Seattle music,” she laments, as we chat in a local coffee shop.
One great place to start: Tomorrow night’s free in-store show at Easy Street Records (7 pm June 18) by the local band Chewing Gum. It’s a CD release show, and the CD is on the label that Magen leads, The Big Dark Records.
Chewing Gum – four girls, three of whom are high-school students – is the second band on Big Dark Records; the first one, also an all-girl band, is Sad Dad Autumn, who you might have seen at some gigs around town, including last year’s Admiral Block Party.
The three members of Sad Dad Autumn happen to be Magen’s daughters with husband Kellen Holgate, and they’re an integral part of The Big Dark Records’ story. “My husband and I were in California bands … we’re now a family full of musicians … life is music at our house, instruments everywhere … Last year we realized we had all the skills to start a label.” So they did, and started by recording their daughters’ band (here’s the album, “The Great Dying”). “It’s important to us to produce music; Seattle is such a music city.”
For some people, that perception is stuck in the ’90s, and if you ask about Seattle music, they’ll recite a list of grunge bands from back then. But that’s because “sometimes nobody is listening,” so Magen is determined to show them why they should be listening to the new young artists.
Not just the ones she’s recording; she says that since they only have so much recording capacity, so far, she’s intent on mentoring, too, and connecting other local bands to opportunities. She’s also been teaching local musicians about music publishing: “We create a playlist of all-local music … I update it every month” on Spotify. (It’s called SoundCheck – Seattle – here’s the link.)
(Chewing Gum – photo courtesy The Big Dark)
Tomorrow’s Chewing Gum CD-release show “will be our first physical release,” and they’re serious about getting the music out first in that format: “It’s not going to be streamed” for several weeks – “we hope people will support it.” (You can check out their single online in advance – go here.) Believe it or not, Magen says, in the same way that vinyl records have seen a resurgence among adults, “kids are buying and trading CDs.”
She decribes Chewing Gum’s sound as classically Seattle – in the same way that her label’s name is – “It symbolizes our big dark season … the creative season.” (The logo is a crow stealing the sun.) You can spend the fall and winter creating music, and then in the (short) warm season, you can enjoy it.
Toward that end, Magen says, The Big Dark Records will play a role in West Seattle Summer Fest music this year (July 10-12 in The Junction) – the festival usually has a small second stage, and she says they’re programming that one – with local musicians, of course, including soloists on Sunday.
But first, the Thursday show by Chewing Gum (whose CD, by the way, is produced by the Holgates’ oldest daughter). Magen will of course be there to meet and greet the public. They’ll have a merch table, too, and you can talk with her about local music. She’s sure that once you hear more of it, you’ll be hooked. “Our goal is for people to listen to local music again … I want to create excitement about West Seattle music.”
Next stops on that road: Easy Street at 7 pm Thursday, followed by West Seattle Summerfest next month.
By Macey Wurm
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
For a second year, performers spanning generations will take the stage together in BAYFEST’s Intergenerational Theater Project show this Friday and Saturday in West Seattle. We attended one of the final rehearsals to get to know the cast and learn about the age-defying connections that have blossomed since the group began rehearsing in February.
Unique to this program is the intentional age differences between cast members – six high-school students and six older adults. The spring show, titled “Verses, Voices, and Visions,” works to explore collective experience across generational lines through poetry and personal testimony.
“I’ve always been interested in this intergenerational connection, and noticing more and more that young people are disconnected from older people and vice versa,” said Robert Shampain, the founder and executive director of BAYFEST Youth Theater program. Shampain has been directing this specific project since he introduced it in West Seattle last year.
The poetry selections featured in the show were hand-selected by cast members, who work to deliver vivid, engaging recitations.
“We are doing acting, but at the same time analyzing poems,” explained Lucy Hostetter, a member of the teen cohort. “It also kind of feels like an English class.”
Shampain began Saturday’s rehearsal with a group working on a performance of “Filling My Purse with Commas” by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. He directed the mixed-age group with a certain passion and sincerity – tweaking details as the rehearsal ran, to align the cadence of the spoken word with the actors’ movements.
“Robert is very intuitive, and he’s very good at what he does. It is amazing to see what he sees, what he decides works, what doesn’t, and how beautifully he expresses it,” said Virginia Pellegrino, a member of the senior cohort.
When rehearsing “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein, Robert urged the cast to take the poem line by line. They considered which words Silverstein intended to lay emphasis on, and how this could be conveyed through performance. He read a line aloud, “What does this suggest to you?” he asked the actors.
“I’m giving them feedback like I would when I direct a professional production, and they respond. You don’t need to be a professional actor to really respond to the idea of what it means to perform honestly,” Shampain said.
A real sense of connection develops through the later half of the show, titled “The Personal Writings.” Cast members were each asked to describe an experience that any part of the poem selection invoked. The accounts will be read in the first-person by a member of the opposite cohort, oftentimes with teens reading of circumstances that they wouldn’t otherwise relate to.
“There’s a real magic in saying somebody else’s words as if they are yours in the first person. It sort of automatically makes you honor them,” Shampain explained.
While this sense of connection will unfold for audiences watching the performances next weekend, what they won’t see is the behind the scenes camaraderie that develops as a cast works towards their common goal.
“We are all working on the same thing and are being asked to be vulnerable in the same way,” Pellegrino reasoned. “My preconceived notion was that they (teens) wouldn’t really show up and want to engage, and that was not the case. I found it really joyful.”
“We don’t have the ‘teenage audacity’,” Lucy explained. “We’re not always on our phones,” her friend Sloane Pothier added. “I kind of expected there to be a cutoff dynamic between the older generation and the younger generation. We have definitely become more of a community than I thought we would,” Sloane continued.
“Half of them ride motorcycles!” Lucy exclaimed jokingly.
The two students were joined by fellow cohort member Eve LeBlanc, who explained that she was participating alongside her grandparents. Not only will she be bridging a generational gap, but doing so with members of her own family.
Shampain emphasized his intention at keeping the program small as it develops. Specifically, keeping it local to West Seattle. “It’s not something that we want to expand too much. Keeping this community based in West Seattle really, it feels right.”
“Verses, Voices, and Visions” will be performed, free admission, this Friday and Saturday (June 12-13) at three different locations. Friday’s show will be at 4 pm at the Center for Active Living (4217 SW Oregon). Saturday’s shows will be at 2 pm in the Fellowship Hall at Fauntleroy Church, and 7 pm at the West Seattle Golf Course Clubhouse Banquet Room (4470 35th SW).
Got a musical instrument you don’t need any more? A local student is organizing a donation drive, and asked us to share the request with you:
My name is Julian, a 7th grader who lives in West Seattle, and I have a Bar Mitzvah coming up on June 20th. As part of that, I am doing a Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) Project. It is a project where you give back to the community in a way that is meaningful to you.
I am helping organize an Instrument drive to Ted Brown Music Outreach, because they give a lot of instruments to people who can’t afford them, and I want everyone to have the opportunity to play music…. I think it would really help if the West Seattle community got involved.
If anyone has instruments to donate, they can drop them off at the School of Rock West Seattle (4701 41st Ave SW) or any Ted Brown Music location. Those without instruments can also donate money toward instrument repair and distribution.
Here are details of what can and can’t be donated:
What can you donate?
-Funds to support the program and repair instruments
-Working/salvagable band and orchestra instruments
-Playable/needing minor adjustments guitars
-Functional amps, pedals and other electronic equipment
-Professional keyboards and synthesizers
-Weighted-key fully functional digital pianos
-Complete name brand drum sets in good conditionPlease do not donate:
-Student instruments needing major repairs
-Acoustic pianos or organs
-Pianos built into furniture
-Keyboards with visible damage
-Sheet music or method books
-Non-functional electronic gear
-Empty cases
-Benches and stools
-Music StandsYou can donate funds at this link. Have questions or need us to pick up an instrument? Email my dad at chad.young@gmail.com
(WSB photos by Torin Record-Sand)
Frank Gross says the century-old Ashcroft Building in Admiral is the forever home for his Thunder Road Guitars (WSB sponsor) shop, where the neon sign is now up and where the official opening follows a 9:45 am ribboncutting Saturday (June 6). We stopped by this morning for a peek inside.
“I’m not moving again,” he laughed – after three moves in 11 years – as we looked around the new space for his shop and co-housed The Bass Shop (also a WSB sponsor). Frank said he’d underestimated how much had to be moved – he got the “biggest possible U-Haul,” feared it might be overkill, but then wound up making multiple trips. But moving the merchandise was just the final touch on the painstaking process of converting a former pet-supply shop (now in a new home nearby) into a big new music shop. Lots of details:
That’s an existing support beam covered in reclaimed Douglas-fir lumber obtained from EarthWise. And then there’s the brick veneer added to the rear walls of the two rooms that are centerpieces of the shop:
The one above is dedicated to acoustic guitars, including the enabling of sound quality that allows a customer to try one and really hear what it sounds like. Next to it, a room for “premium and vintage” guitars:
And then of course there are the guitars and basses hanging on the walls lining the rest of the space.
Design Well Spent designed the space, and both Frank and Bass Shop proprietor Chad Beeler are thrilled with how it turned out.
The branding and other art inside and outside is the work of Thunder Road’s longtime collaborator Aaron Johnson of Pixel & Quill. But the new shop isn’t just about the looks, it’s also about the location – the proximity of schools including West Seattle High School and Lafayette Elementary. And they hope to be an inspiration to younger musicians.
Speaking of the next generation – joining them and the shop team (above, and if you haven’t met Frank and Chad, they’re third from left and left, respectively) for the 9:45 am Saturday ribboncutting will be Frank’s kids, ages 10 and 8. He’s hoping that’ll be an enduring memory for them. And that the new shop space will endure, too.
GOING TO THE GRAND OPENING: Hours both days this weekend will be 10 am-6 pm; highlights are in this preview from earlier this week.
Story and photos by Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
“In a budget crisis and a country which centers capitalism above all else; arts tends to not be the focus, and is the first thing to get cut. But here, we still believe in its continued importance and ability to bring community together.” These were the words of South Seattle College‘s Dean of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Dr. Eileen Jimenez. She spoke today to a crowd which, despite unsettled weather, showed up for the college’s unveiling of its new mural.
The presentation of the mural, designed by Seattle artist Tori Shao, marked the culmination of this quarter’s ART204 (Mural Painting) class at South. Students in the class worked on the project throughout the entirety of the spring quarter.
(Tori Shao and Scott Méxcal)
“We are always looking at underutilized spaces here at the college, and bringing them to life.” said Scott Méxcal, the professor who taught ART204 this quarter. Two of his students from the class, Millie and Dream, spoke about the mural and how it brought them and their classmates closer together through the intensive process of collaboration.
Many of the speakers also talked about the larger themes of the mural, and the way they relate to indigeneity and the Northwest environment. The mural depicts a nurse log; a decayed log from a fallen tree which provides a fertile place for new seeds in the forest to grow, representing the cycle of death and rebirth.
The ceremony opened with drumming by Willard Bill Jr., Tribal Government Liaison to Seattle Colleges, and member of the Muckleshoot Tribe. After the drumming, he spoke about how he was inspired by the portrayal of ferns on the mural, and how he was looking at restarting practices of bringing indigenous food sources such as ferns back into his diet after years of colonization. Professor Méxcal spoke about the way in which nature seemed to echo the themes of the mural itself during the painting process, telling how the trees shone their shadows on it during long spring afternoons, and one day in which two eagles circled overhead while the class was painting outside.
And artist Shao told her story of the mural:
These themes are carried over in the college’s ongoing commitment to offer more murals. The college told us that this is their second of seven planned murals, with a new one planned to be unveiled around this time each year. The number, they said, represents the ‘seventh generation’ principle in many lines of indigenous American thinking – that one must consider the impact of their current actions on the seventh generation after them.
(WSB photo)
It’s moving week for Thunder Road Guitars (WSB sponsor), heading from Morgan Junction to Admiral Junction, where West Seattle’s one-of-a-kind guitar shop will celebrate its grand opening at 2611 California SW starting Saturday morning and lasting all weekend. Thunder Road proprietor Frank Gross promised more details when he first announced the grand-opening date, and here they are:
Join us this weekend June 6th and June 7th for the Thunder Road Guitars Grand Opening at 2611 California Ave SW. We are hosting a ribbon-cutting with the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce at 9:45 am on Saturday and the doors will officially open at 10 am.
– We will have a 10% discount on in-store and online purchases all weekend long (some exclusions apply). Use discount code 2611california.
– We are giving away grab bags to the first 30 people in line that will have an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff 2 as well some some Thunder Road swag and swag from some of our favorite vendors
– We are doing two GIANT giveaways, one Saturday and one Sunday.
Saturday Giveaway:
– Fender American Vintage Stratocaster
– Two-Rock Amplifier
– Pedals from some of our favorite brands
– Swag from Ernie Ball + Gibson + MoreSunday Giveaway:
– Gretsch Brian Setzer Signature signed by Brian
– Magnatone Baby M80 signed by the one and only Billy Gibbons
– Pedals from some of our favorite brands
– Swag from Ernie Ball + Gibson + MoreHow do you enter the giveaway?
Show up on the day you want to win to enter:
-Saturday = Saturday entry
-Sunday = Sunday entry
Winners will be announced at the end of business each day.We’ll have Fundamental Coffee and Top Pot Doughnuts on hand Saturday morning for everyone waiting in line and our early customers. Then, from 1–3 PM, Todd from Elliott Bay Brewery will be in the house pouring beer from our favorite neighborhood pub.
There is a suggested donation for the beer, with all proceeds benefiting the West Seattle Junction Association and the Admiral Neighborhood Association. Thunder Road will match all donation dollars generated through beer sales.
We’ve put an immense amount of thought and effort into the design and feel of the new location. We absolutely love it, and we think you will too.
Stop by and see us this weekend!
(Also published on partner site White Center Now)
(WSB/WCN photos)
The White Center HUB (8th SW and SW 108th) is a hub of activity this afternoon and evening during the Community Market and Fundraiser, presented indoors and outdoors by the White Center Community Development Association. A team from WCCDA is there to talk with marketgoers:
Local creators and other small businesses have booths and tables both indoors and outdoors including La Tipica Oaxaqueña, The Art Lady, Lost Luggage Vintage, Peanutt’s Art and things, Sabrina’s Beauty Shop, Zars Nails, Mashel Trade, Chels Art, Xiao Quilt, Beautious Bakin’ & Kakin’, MX Handmade Collective, face-painting presented by the WCCDA, and more.
wp-image-22119″ />
Artist Alison is one of the people you can meet:
Or D of D’s Craft Room Creations:
Kids get the chance to create art, too:
And you can see the queen bee (the one with the white spot) brought by Goebel Goods, which is selling honey too:
This all is scheduled to continues until 7 pm.
(WSB photos by Torin Record-Sand)
Longtime West Seattle entrepreneur Lora Radford is trying to shine a light on your creativity via her co-op pottery studio Potterings, celebrating its first anniversary this afternoon. So she’s made special anniversary-edition mini-luminaries, little candleholders with designs on the sides to let the candlelight shine through. Potterings also offered free mini-workshops this afternoon for visitors to make their own:
The mini-workshops are all booked up but you’re still invited to visit Potterings (east side of ground floor at ActivSpace, 3400 Harbor SW) before 4 pm to see the studio in advance of future classes and events, which you can learn about here (where you’ll also find info on the Game of Shrooms scavenger hunt starting June 13).
We first told you back in mid-April about Shannon and Jon Felix‘s plan to retire from the glass-art business after 23 years of running Avalon Glassworks in West Seattle’s Luna Park business district. At the time they didn’t have a closing date set yet. Now they do: June 30. Starting that date, the retail and glass-blowing space will close, but they’ll continue selling inventory online after that until it’s gone. Also for sale: The studio equipment.
When we talked with the Felixes in April, they were offering the business for sale as-is, but so far no takers, so they’re focusing on selling the equipment “either in-place or you-haul.” Here’s a list of what they have:
You can reach them at glasssales@avalonglassworks.com to find out more. And again, Avalon Glassworks is still open for a month at 2914 SW Avalon Way; retail hours are noon-4 pm Thursdays through Sundays.
(WSB photo, May 2025)
One year ago this month, longtime local entrepreneur/community advocate Lora Radford opened Potterings in a warmly lit spot at ActivSpace, and has introduced countless people to the joys of ceramics creation ever since. This Sunday, Potterings invites you to a first-anniversary party, noon to 4 pm (corrected) Sunday (May 31) on the east side of 3400 Harbor Avenue SW. She says you’re welcome to stop by and check out the “community clay space designed with beginners in mind … welcoming, hands-on, and built to help you feel comfortable from the start.” The free mini-classes offered as part of this are already booked up, but “folks can stil stop by for a free limited-edition luminary, enter drawings to win a free 3-hour workshop, and just check out the studio. Whether you are brand new to clay or just curious, this is a great way to step into the studio, meet the community, and experience a little pottery magic.” And, of course, it’s a chance to congratulate the proprietor on reaching the one-year milestone.
One more note: Potterings is again presenting the Game of Shrooms scavenger hunt, with 25 ceramic mushrooms – created by Potterings co-op members – hidden around West Seattle starting June 13. Clues will be posted on the Potterings website’s Game of Shrooms page.
No need to wait until summer to see outdoor Shakespeare. West Seattle High School students are about to take over the courtyard with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” starting Wednesday night. Here’s the announcement sent to us with the rehearsal photos you see above and below:
Journey with us to the forests of Athens for a timeless tale as it was originally told: outside, under the rising moon! Senior Nadya Pederson directs WSHS’s adaptation of the whimsical fantasy full of love, adventure, and the foolishness that often accompanies them both. This production will take place in the WSHS courtyard as the sun sets over the school building. Come enjoy the sites of the blooming trees, the flowering bushes, and the glimmer of shimmer of the setting sun off the historic brick facade as you are transported to the forest. You never know what you may find amongst the trees…
Be advised that it can get chilly once the sun goes down; please layer accordingly. Additionally, the seating area will be mostly shaded, but it could be wise to bring a hat or sunglasses just in case.
This is a family friendly show for all ages, and we encourage you to bring your young ones! (Run time ~1 hour) The production will take place May 27, 28, and 29th at 7:30 PM, in the WSHS Courtyard.Reservations can be made at westsidedramatickets.ludus.com/index.php; tickets are “pay what you will.”
The courtyard is on the southwest side of the school, at 3000 California SW.
(PHOTOS BY DAVE GERSHGORN FOR WEST SEATTLE BLOG)
Along the north and west sides of the CVS site at 5217 California SW, the retaining walls are again alive with art.
We reported earlier this spring about the previous art getting painted over.
It followed a city enforcement action after someone complained and CVS ordered the paintout with no knowledge of the previous permission given by ex-tenant Rite Aid.
Local muralist Desmond Hansen jumped in to get things straightened out.
And now he and others are returning art to the walls.
Photojournalist Dave Gershgorn counted more than half a dozen artists there today.
Thanks to Gretchen for the tip!
The West Seattle Junction Association has just announced the music lineup for this year’s festival, which starts Friday, July 10:
FRIDAY, JULY 10
4:00 Ghost Fetish
5:00 Chico Detour
6:00 Thee Deception
7:00 Zookraught
8:00 Blackie
9:00 Caitlin & Brent w/ the Passenger String Quartet
10:00 Alien Crime SyndicateSATURDAY, JULY 11
12:00 Mode Music
12:45 School of Rock
2:00 Beautiful Freaks
3:00 Black Whales
4:00 Massy Ferguson
5:00 Butch Bastard
6:00 ToXic MaX-Q-Linity
7:00 Bog Ore
8:00 Bexley
9:00 Dark Chisme
10:00 True Loves
Again this year, there won’t be mainstage music on Sunday, as that’s the day the Farmers’ Market will be set up on California SW north of SW Oregon. You can preview any or all of the bands’ music via links on this page of the Summer Fest website.
By Macey Wurm
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Looking to expand your creative hobbies without the barrier of purchasing all new materials? CraftLab Seattle, opening this fall in West Seattle, will provide a space for prospective creatives to get a taste, and potentially pick up a new craft.
CraftLab has existed since 2022 as a mobile crafting service, founded in a West Seattle home, collaborating with local elementary schools, corporations, or hired for birthday and company parties. CraftLab founders Laura Duris and Kathleen Sande started the company in 2022, when Duris transitioned from the architecture field after 25 years.
“I decided that I really loved art and crafts and doing things with my hands. I noticed that a lot of other people were really enjoying doing that too during the COVID lockdown,” she said.
Currently, CraftLab is in around 12-15 afterschool programs all over Seattle – but they cater crafts to different audiences and age groups. Duris recalled throwing events ranging from creating a homemade Pokémon catapult and magic mirror, to introducing adults to the worlds of weaving, macrame, painting, and beading. Duris collaborates with her clients – getting a sense of their overall theme before suggesting a few craft ideas.
The new space at 4411 California SW brings to fruition Duris’s longtime desire to create a community hub for crafting. Now not only will she be continuing with mobile services, but offering in-house classes for adults, children, and families. Duris plans to have a year-round schedule, with 2-3 workshops offered per week. Initially, she wants to teach the majority of these, but plans to bring in guests and local artists depending on the activity.
“One of the things I really love to do is teach… and see people’s faces light up when they realize they can do something that they didn’t know they could do.”
Duris hopes CraftLab will be open to the public around September 15. As for any initial events planned, she mentioned wanting to teach a weaving class – where attendees make their own loom and weave – and is especially drawn toward jelly printing and linoleum printing. Recently, she attended Seattle’s Zero Landfill event, where she picked up plenty of leather scraps with which she is planning a leather wallet-making class.
CraftLab mainly sources materials secondhand – accepting donations, upcycling, and thrifting “as much as possible” depending on the craft. Duris plans to host community garage sales out of the new space– selling some donations to keep raising money for after school programs.
Until CraftLab moves into its new home in West Seattle, the company will be hosting its youth summer camp out of their current location in the International District. Crafters are invited to explore their creativity there in anticipation of the West Seattle based crafting hub opening in the fall.
Parade season is under way! West Seattle High School music director Ethan Thomas sent the photo and report:
The West Seattle High School Marching Band participated in the 88th annual Spokane Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade last Saturday. The weather was cold and wet, but we had a great time performing for a large and enthusiastic audience. The West Seattle High School Marching Band was recognized as one of the Lilac Parade’s Gold Standard bands. The Lilac Festival has been a tradition in Spokane since 1938. The parade featured over 150 entries from across Washington State.
You will likely see some of these student musicians in the West Seattle Grand Parade on July 18 as part of the Seattle Schools All-City Marching Band. The WSHS Band’s schedule each year includes leading the Costume Parade during the West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival.
(2024 WSB photo)
Lots of outdoor music this summer! Another announcement today – The Seattle Chamber Music Society Concert Truck is hitting the road again with live free chamber music. Its schedule in June and July includes two West Seattle stops – here’s the announcements:
The Concert Truck returns to Seattle in Summer 2026! This concert hall on wheels brings live chamber music directly to neighborhoods, parks, and markets across the region—free and open to the public. Seattle Chamber Music Society musicians join The Concert Truck founder Susan Zhang, to perform engaging, hour-long programs that transform everyday spaces into vibrant concert experiences. Perfect for families, first-time listeners, and music lovers alike, The Concert Truck makes world-class music fun, accessible, and unforgettable.
The Concert Truck returns to Seattle on June 18!
Summer Festival 2026 Residency: June 18 – July 6
(editor’s note – many dates around the region, we’re just listing West Seattle)
Sat. June 27 | 7 pm | Alki Beach Bathhouse
Wed. July 1 | 6 pm | Seattle Chinese Garden
Plenty happening tomorrow in West Seattle – including unique one-time events like this one tomorrow night:
“The Year to Save the Earth” music & multimedia experience by Jim Scott @ Our Lady of Guadalupe
May 16 @ 7:00 pmThe Care for Creation Ministry of the West Seattle Catholic Community Presents:
“The Year to Save the Earth” – A Musical and Multimedia Experience by Jim Scott@ Walmesley Center, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 3410 SW Myrtle St
Doors: 6:30 pm / Show: 7:00 pm
$10 donation requested
Mixing powerful songs and beautiful projected images, “The Year to Save the Earth” takes us from grieving to celebration and from protest to positive vision for the planet.
Formerly a member of the Paul Winter Consort, Jim Scott was co-composer of their celebrated Missa Gaia/Earth Mass and sang their anthem song Common Ground. He has toured the world, recorded nine CDs of original music and published a long line of choral works. One of the originators of the Unitarian Universalist “Green Sanctuary” program, Jim also compiled the Earth and Spirit Songbook, an anthology of 110 songs of Earth by many contemporary composers.
(WSB photo from July 2025 AMP concert at California Place Park)
Just announced by the Admiral Neighborhood Association – this year’s lineup, both bands and locations, for the three Admiral Music in the Parks concerts! Sent by ANA’s Meagan Loftin:
The Admiral Neighborhood Association, with the generous support of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and in partnership with our “Producer” sponsors Far Away Entertainment and the Historic Admiral Theater, is excited to announce the lineup for our summer concert series AMP: Admiral Music in the Parks!
Join us for three weeks of free, family-friendly concerts in our beautiful neighborhood parks this July. We’re leaning into community and joy this summer with spontaneous dance parties in the park, picnics with our neighbors, and most importantly great music! Mark your calendar now to get in on the fun:
6:30 PM on July 16th @ Belvedere Park: Get ready for smokin’ guitars, rock- solid rhythms and dynamic vocal harmony as we welcome Steve Aliment and Annie O’Neill to the stage!
6:30 PM on July 23rd @ California Place Park: Get there early because it’s always a packed show when West Seattle’s fan-favorite Michael Pearsall and Friends return to this pocket park!
6:30 PM on July 30th @ Hamilton Viewpoint Park: We’re closing out AMP 2026 with a bang as we throw an epic dance party to hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s with Driftwood Drive!
AMPlify your summer with the Admiral Neighborhood Association!
If you’re interested in learning more about AMP and our commitment to supporting local musicians, or if you’d like to learn how you can invest in our mission to provide free and accessible public arts programming to everyone in our neighborhood, visit our website, connecttoadmiral.org/amp.
One other unique performance tomorrow afternoon – it’s your last chance to see “Little Shop of Horrors“ presented by and at Chief Sealth International High School (2600 SW Thistle), 2 pm Sunday. Nathan from Denny-Sealth Performing Arts, who sent us the pics, says, “Super entertaining, a show not to be missed.”
You can get tickets here!
| 0 COMMENTS