A recent songwriters circle featured Drew Fichette (Rooftops), Alexandra Song (Mary Mary), Bradley Lockhart (Baltic Cousins), Biagio Biondolillo, Cora Glass, and organizer Kat Bula. To participate, e-mail Bula at kat@platespinnerpromo.com. Photos by Paul Turpin

The Honey Moon has been offering more than just their usual belly-warming mead. The tasting room has been spotlighting local songwriters the second Saturday of every month and housing a “songwriter circle,” featuring a changing rotation of performers that represent a variety of backgrounds and musical styles.

Over the course of the past two years the cozy space has evolved into a full-fledged music venue. They now offer live music on a regular basis, greatly contributing to Honey Moon’s success and making it a local staple.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize what an amazing venue the Honey Moon is,” organizer Kat Bula explained. “It’s intimate; classy but unpretentious, and they have live music five nights a week. I wish more venues in town looked to them for a model of how to take care of musicians. And since it’s a tasting room, not a bar, it’s all-ages.”

The idea for the once-monthly gathering came about on the eve of a canceled gig about two years back. One of the bands Kat Bula played in bailed last minute, but she felt compelled to go on. “I hate being onstage by myself,” admitted Bula, “So I got friends to come take turns playing songs with me.”

Among the original participators were Wesley Davis, Kayla Jeffress, and Go Slowpoke’s Anna Arvan. “I generally try to book a variety of songwriters from different parts of the scene and even a few out-of-towners,” Kat explained. “That way the audience who comes for one particular person is exposed to others they might not normally go out of their way to see.”

The Jan. 8 show featured Drew Fichette (Rooftops), Alexandra Song (Mary Mary), Bradley Lockhart (Baltic Cousins), Biagio Biondolillo, Cora Glass, and Kat Bula. To hear the wide range of perspectives between each performer allowed me to hear them each in a unique way. For some of the performers, it was enlightening to see them outside of their normal band format and perform a broken-down version of their songwriting process. Typically Drew Fitchette can be seen pummeling his guitar and executing complicated math-rock melodies at a Rooftops show, but watching him play an acoustic set acquainted me with a different side of him musically.

“As a listener I think the change of context helps you listen to the songs differently, especially if the person usually plays with a loud band,” said Bula. “As a musician, it can be a creative challenge to figure out how to put your songs across when you’re used to having others helping you.”

The atmosphere of the performance in its entirety was calm and refreshingly intimate compared to a typical amped-up show at a noisy bar. However, shortly after the show had started, Honey Moon booker and bartender Linda Melim had to hush some patrons because they were speaking over the performers. It instantly shut up the entire room. Thankfully they became sincerely engaged with each songwriter and actually paid attention to the voices and melodies amplified by nearby microphones. Previously distracted audience members were absorbed into the songs and and nestled into a deeper understanding and appreciation for the row of musicians before them, so much so that you could instantly tell that it made an impression.

Kat maintains that in order for the circle to work it’s important to keep things low-key and open. Essentially, it’s a house jam show in a live venue format. It makes the musicians more comfortable and spontaneous while helping to mix up the sound and keep people engaged.

Kat Bula, excited about the rising popularity of songwriting circles in other cities and within Bellingham, said, “I think that is just smashing. Songwriter rounds are a good thing.”

For those who’d love to hear covers of their favorite locals bands this might be of interest to you; every six months, musicians gather at Honey Moon for a local covers circle. “It’s so fun to hear local musicians cover each other’s songs and to see which ones they choose,” stated Bula. “I also love to hear people play songs by artists who moved away or don’t really play anymore. It can be easy to forget that local music has a past as well as a present.”

Kat Bula is looking for a broader range of talented performers, especially those over 40 and under 21. If you’re interested in joining up for another songwriting session e-mail Kat a link to your music at kat@platespinnerpromo.com.

Since I live out in the County I don’t normally come into Bellingham for a musical event on a Sunday evening. I had been invited to attend a gig at the Temple Bar on this particular night by a friend who was playing there. Since I was in town already giving a trivia game at the Village Pub & Eatery and it got over early I decided to take a chance to go see at least part of the gig. Luckily I did because it was such a great musical treat.

I got there in time for the opening act who was halfway through their act and I was immediately captivated by what I was hearing. Besides the excellent quality of their musicianship the lyrics were very captivating. I didn’t know if they were originals or not but I did know that I was really taken by the images they created for me. There was a small break and then there was another mix of musicians who repeated the same quality performance. Once again it was the lyrics that really got to me.

There was a great crowd there, especially for a Sunday evening in B’town, and the ambiance of the Temple Bar, the great drinks and the music truly were making this evening very magical. After another break the third set started which consisted of the person who told me about the gig, Rabia Magnusson, and Biaggio Biondolillo. This indeed was a very tasty performance.

As I was enjoying the music I looked around at the audience and noticed that there were a lot of other Bellingham musicians in attendance so I figured I got lucky to get invited to this gig. I left midway through the last set as I was very tired but it was a great way to journey home to bedtime with their music echoing in my head. I will never again be so quick to turn down an invite to a Sunday night gig in Bellingham.

What's Up! Magazine Cover - April 2010 by Jessika Gilbert

As always, we like to talk about a little What’s Up! news before we move onto the big and bad local music scene. This month… we don’t have much to talk about, it’s pretty cool! The big news item is that the shirts are on the way we’ve got ‘em being made by Seatthole and INNATE, with a version of What’s Up! is for Lovers as well as the Play Anything shirt with John Cusack. We also have What’s Up! is for Lovers stickers if you want to grab one they’re sexy.

In “sort of” What’s Up! news, Becca and I are starting up another publication in May! Grow Northwest (which will be our third pub after What’s Up! and the Foothills Gazette) will be a bi-monthly magazine all about local food and farms, as well as DIY projects, cooking, gardening, locavore adventures, crafts, sustainable living, interviews, a photo section and much more. Initially, the general focus will be on Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan counties, but eventually cover Snohomish, Island and King Counties and lower B.C. (we’re working with the loose idea of a 100-mile range being our coverage area). If it’s grown or made in the Northwest, we’ll be covering it!

Our Grow Northwest launch party will be at Boundary Bay on Saturday, May 29, after the Farmer’s Market and before the Kinski show (also Ski to Sea Weekend). Also, please stop by and check out our Grow Northwest table at the Earth Day Fair at Boundary Bay on Thursday, April 22. In the meantime, you can check out our press release in the Bellingham Business Journal and Bellingham Herald. Those of you wanting to follow us on Facebook, check out our Grow Northwest Magazine fan page. We’re also looking for magazine contributors, so if this is up your alley, please e-mail us at info@grownorthwest.com.

I’d like to welcome and thank a few new advertisers this month Snug Harbor, who recently sold out the Wild Buffalo, have come on board along with the Conway Muse, Cabin Tavern, El Capitan, Vaughn Kreestoe and After Midnight Photography. I’d like to personally thank you all for your support of the paper and it’s our pleasure to tell folks about how awesome you are. The magazine doesn’t run on well wishes, it takes money to keep it going and these folks are all supporting the magazine while also receiving the benefits of advertising. If you’d like to get the benefits and support the mag, please give us a ring at 599-3320 or shoot me an e-mail at brent@whatsup-magazine.com.

And lastly, before, we get into the music end of things, want to congratulate some friends on receiving local awards. I love a lot of folks (ya know me, all love… heh), but wanted to make a quick mention of my love for James Hardesty and the Green Frog Acoustic Tavern. James is especially amazing and so is his bar. Hardesty, along with Jinx owners Michelle Schutte and Django Bohren (also of Merch Bot – aka Merch HOT and Seatthole) are respective recipients of the Mayor’s Arts Awards this year for music and art. In addition, Bob Ridgley (and Terri Krantz) won in the film category! Congrats to ya’ll!

BOOKED & HOOKED

DJ Holland (big sexy Josh Holland) is making his triumphant return to the DJ scene every Tuesday in April at the Plan B. All 90′s, every Tuesday.

Vaughn Kreestoe are celebrating their two year anniversary with a show on April *** at the Wild Buffalo. The boys have also finished two songs on their demo and are close to releasing a live DVD. Busy, busy boys!

There’s a new-ish venue in Conway called the Conway Muse that is amazingly cool. Housed in a barn, the venue is all ages, but beer and wine are available and it seats 150 with perfect sight lines. It’s a very organic feeling place and with that, the bands are like those that you’d find at the Acoustic Tavern very cool. They’ll also be hosting all age shows geared towards a younger crowd in the near future. Check it out!

Kristi Nelson and Biagio Biondolillo have secured a steady gig at Archer’s Alehouse, where they’ll be playing every 2nd, 4th and occasional 5th Wednesdays. Kristi, Biagio, Shawnee Kilgore and a few others have been taking over the local singer/songwriter scene with regular shows at Bloom, Archer’s and Honeymoon. I dig it, ‘cuz they’re pretty damn good songwriters!

Adam Bates, Rob Stauffer, Russell Jander and Bobby Morgan have teamed up for a new band, tentatively called Rob Stauffer and his Fine Friends. They’ll be playing on April 21 at the Green Frog Acoustic Tavern. That, my friends, is a supa-group.

The Urban Music Festival is on again this year, June 4-5 at the Wild Buffalo. There will be two stages, with free all-ages music in the alley in coordination with Downtown Sounds both days, then two stages rolling for 21+ from 9 p.m. on. The details are still being worked out, but I’m sure Acorn Project will be the featured act of the night.

Couple cool shows happening this month that should be checked out… well, there’s a whole ton of great shows, but these are a few we wanted to make sure you knew about… Little Dragon, VV Brown and Cara Alboucq are playing at the Wild Buffalo on April 11. We all known Cara is awesome (read about her on page 6), but VV Brown and Little Dragon are coming a long way to play in town. VV Brown is a soul singer like no other and Little Dragon are just straight fantastic and interesting electronic soul. This is going to be one of the best shows this town has ever, ever seen.

Another show to check out is the Atomic Burlesque, which is happening at the Mount Baker Theater on April 10. Burlesque with a kitschy space 50′s theme it doesn’t get any better than that!

Finally, the Wailin Jennys, who are an amazing trio of singer/songwriters will be playing a show down at the Lincoln Theater in Mount Vernon, also on April 10. The band is ridiculously good and so is the venue.

ON THE ROAD

Yogoman Burning Band is heading out on tour AGAIN seems like a recurring theme. I should probably stop writing about it and just talk about the band when they aren’t on the road. The tour kicks off with a funky show at Bloom on April 3 which features not only sets by the band, Half Bees and the Endorphins, but speaking engagement by Joshua Ploeg who was the former frontman of Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live (Yogoman/Jordan Rain was the drummer). Ploeg is a vegan chef and he’ll be discussing his first cookbook, “Microcosm’s: Post-Punk Extravaganza West Coast Tour.” Yogoman Family Fun Band plays from 3-5 p.m., then Ploeg speaks from 5:30-8 p.m. and Yogoman Burning Band, The Endorphins and Half Bees close out the night (18+). The cost is $3 per child, $10 general, and $20 per family.

Four Players and Go Slowpoke are heading out on tour in June. It’s still early in the works, but should be cool for the bands to get out and go on a little working vacation.

Femme Uke just returned from a nice little jaunt down the West Coast with the Hot Mess Shit Show, read about it in Tales from the Road. Ya know how much I love this band, so I’m excited to see they hit the road.

For next month’s Tales, one of the two bands will be the Heligoats (which we’ll also have a CD review of). Great, great local band that just got back from a tour that had them playing 34 shows in 38 days while driving over 10,000 miles. THAT, my friends, is a tour!

RECORDS & RELEASES

Sons of the Widow James spent some quality time at Binary this month, finally putting the goods to tape (or computer). No word yet on the release, but I figure any time these guys aren’t on the streets, Jay Irwin isn’t terrorizing the fine, fine community of Bellingham. Aaaah, Jay Irwin, damn I love that dude one of my very, very favorite musicians and people in Bellingham. I love to joke about Jay, but he’s truly a great person and someone I’m glad I’ve known all these years.

Acorn Project is releasing a live CD on May 1 from their set at the Flowmotion Meltdown last year. After that, they’ll head out on tour, hitting the West Coast as well as Colorado and Montana (and I’m guessing spots in between as the tour schedule gets filled out).

Hailing from Camano Island, Cat From Hue has been making some waves from Island County (actually, one of the members lives in town, and the band plans on moving up soon). The local paper has been great to ‘em, deservedly so as they just put out a great EP and the band is picking up cool shows all over the Northwest. Hopefully, they’ll be playing more in Bellingham in the upcoming months.

Ex-local and current Seattlite, Chris Orlowski is having a release party for his latest CD on April 10 at Plan B. The first single “Your Move,” is actually about Bellingham and features Chris’s sister who still lives in town. Cool!

Polecat have been playing regularly on Monday at Boundary Bay playing their Appalachian stomp to bigger and bigger crowds. Featuring Aaron Guest (Vantage), Jeremy Elliot (Vaughn Kreestoe), Cayley Schmid (Giant’s Causeway), Carl Olson (Umami), and Richard Reeves. The quartet will be releasing an EP “soon” and heading out on a short tour this June.

Tyler Clarke, formerly of the Heodonists, is releasing his debut solo album in June, titled Tyler Clarke and the Tea Seas Big Band. Kat Bula, Joel Ricci, Keith Judelman, Mars, Wes Davis, Evan Bridges, Thomas Deakin, David Ney, John Meloy, Dave Payne, and Jake Evans have all pitched in on the recording, which was done at Sleng Teng Studios by Pat Gaye and mastered at Bayside by Paul Turpin. Tyler (who went to the same high school as myself, Jordan Rain and Sam Top) was cool enough to send me a few tracks and it’s very, very good. Good, “rollin’ country,” stuff to put on when you hit the road… or something to go see in a bar. Love the country scene making a comeback in Bellingham.

Kosh, one of Bellingham’s newer hip hop acts, is working on his debut release, which would be out in either May or June. In the mean time, you can check out his video, which was filmed in the mighty streets of Bellingham. Check it out, on YouTube, just type in Kosh and Bellingham.

Cumulus is FINALLY releasing their (her) debut CD. Me being a huge fan of Alex’s, this makes me happy. When you pick it up, you will be too.

The Keaton Collective have been working on their latest release, which features a move away from the rock-oriented songs and more towards the acoustic side of things. Cara Alboucq spent some time with the boys during the recording process, which just raises the level of awesome.

No-Fi Soul Rebellion had a piece of their song “Brother Lupine,” played on “The Real World” last month. Though it wasn’t nearly loud enough, the song was played while one guy was hitting on another’s mom. About as cool as it gets, really.

Idiot Pilot has a new song out, which you can find on their website. “The Tail of a Jet Black Swan” is what you’d expect from the boys really, really effin’ good. Check it out! They just got back from a little tour down to Austin and back, which you can read about in this month’s Tales From the Road.

REGRETTABLY

Last month we made a few errors and we’d like to apologize to Bandito’s Burritos owner Kristi Christianson for not including her name under the photo and Juice it for not including their ad. Plus Brian Fannin is not the frontman of Monkeywrench, Bryan Steiner is. Brian is the bass player.

In sad business news, Bijoux is closing on May 31. I love these folks and wish they were sticking around but it’s time to move on. Please go visit the shop, buy some goods and say goodbye to Shelly. Thanks for all the support with the mag and good luck with your next adventure!

With le Beat coming to a close, I wanted to mention a passing that I just found out about this month. Erik from Rumors passed way last winter after battling serious health problems for several months. Erik was a supporter of the magazine early on and just an all around amazing Bellingham nightlife kingpin. I didn’t get to see Erik as often as I used to when I was always out, but every time I got to talk to him, it was a treat. He was a good, good man and will be missed. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the family at Rumors, and Erik’s friends and family.

I hate ending on a sad note, so I’ll just tell you the exciting news on the Cole family homefront… we’re buying our son, Harrison, a drum kit this month! He got to play a real drum kit (not a baby one!) at a friend’s BBQ last month and went nuts for it. Incidentally, Harrison’s new favorite band is Sugar Sugar Sugar he just loves the song “Something Like U.” We’re hoping Lupe will teach him how to rock the way she does!

Go have some fun, kiddos! Lots of good stuff this month. Viva la Bellingham!

–Brent Cole

editor@whatsup-magazine.com

THE WINNERS:

Best Silver Platter: Rooftops A Forest of Polarity
Best Up Close and Personal: Dirty Bird Cabaret
Best Heavier Than Heaven: Dog Shredder
Best Booty Shakin’ Music: Yogoman Burning Band
Best Twilight Zone Soundtrack: Pan Pan
Best Highway Americana: The Librarians
Best Moniker: The Ghost and the Grace
Best Axes of Folk: Biagio Biondolillo
Best Spinner: Yogoman
Best Rhyme and Beats: The Productionists
Best Newby: Pan Pan
Best Rock ‘N’ Roll Explosion: Sugar Sugar Sugar
Best Pop Will Rock Itself: The Love Lights
Best Skin in What’s Up!: Femme Uke
What’s Up! Appreciation Award: Bucketz
What’s Up! Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert Sarazin Blake
What’s Up! Lifetime Achievement Award: Gunther Frank (RIP)

Poops was the host and he started the night off proper by singing a country song about drinking at the 3B, and accompanied by Sarah on the guitar. After a few awards were presented, we were introduced to the Dirty Bird Cabaret, who danced in between bands.

The first musical act of the night was Femme Uke. Promoting their new EP In the Key of G-spot, Laine and Ashley took the stage armed with two ukuleles and a ton of hilarious songs, these ladies were a pleasure to watch. In my opinion they saved the best song for last, “Big Fatty.” This was the only song they harmonized on and a clever bridge showed that this was the best structured song of their short performance.

Next up was Pan Pan. A large buzz has been circulating about this group, and I was excited to hear them. Layers of sound with fabulous structure and dynamics showed me that Sarah Jerns is much more than an artist; she’s a genius composer. Even though Sarah writes all the parts, don’t discount her band, they’re incredibly tight and professional.

To this point there had not been a rock band. The crowd was ready for something heavy. Dog Shredder had just won the “Heavier than Heaven” award and got on stage to prove it. Guitar player Josh Holland’s stage presence was like if Iggy Pop strapped on a guitar. The overall sound is mind numbing and hypnotic. They can go from beautiful stripped down melodies to brutal unabashed metal in the drop of a dime. The rest of the band is very talented as well drummer Noah Burns lost a stick in the middle of a song and never missed a beat.

We’ve had funny music, intelligent music, face melting rock, and with Acorn Project, the fourth group to play, we finally had some dance music. These guys have been around the scene for a long time and had a great 2009 promoting their new album We’ll be Fine. The first song they played was an epic new wave song. Showing their versatility they dropped into a straight ahead funk set. These guys are one of Bellingham’s best jam bands a strong tenor on vocals and great guitar tones might even turn out the most devout metal-heads.

With all the awards given out there was only one thing left to do, party hard to the sounds of The All Nighters. Introduced by Brent Cole as “One of Bellingham’s best bands,” they played and we loved it. Halfway through their set Andy Piper joined them onstage and sang a Charlie Feathers cover. Andy killed it and the crowd went nuts. The Wild Buffalo was a time bomb, Poops lit the fuse, excitement grew, and ‘The All Nighters’ provided the explosion.

Dirty Bird Cabaret and the All Nighters - Photo by Django

Here are the winners of the 2010 What’s Up! Awards.

What’s Up! Appreciation Award: Bucketz

What’s Up! Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert Sarazin Blake

What’s Up! Lifetime Achievement Award: Gunther Frank (RIP)

Best Silver Platter: Rooftops – A Forest of Polarity

Best Up Close and Personal: Dirty Bird Cabaret

Best Heavier Than Heaven: Dog Shredder

Best Booty Shakin’ Music: Yogoman Burning Band

Best Twilight Zone Soundtrack: Pan Pan

Best Highway Americana: The Librarians

Best Moniker: The Ghost and the Grace

Best Axes of Folk: Biagio Biondolillo

Best Spinner: Yogoman

Best Rhyme and Beats: The Productionists

Best Newby: Pan Pan

Best Rock ‘N’ Roll Explosion: Sugar Sugar Sugar

Best Pop Will Rock Itself: The Love Lights

Best Skin in What’s Up!: Femme Uke

December 2009 Cover by “Mighty” Mitch Vega

Download the What’s Up! December Compilation here

The Ghost and the Grace – The Mall

Rooftops – Raft Easily

Biagio Biondolillo – Dirty Blue

Librarians – Sunday

So Adult – Scarstruck

Candysound – Million

Connecticut Four – Once Electric

Eruptagain – Ins and Outs

Nick Duncan – Hollow Town

Samuel Warner Cornish – Lucky Man

Six Feet Deep – Can You See Me Now

Clear and concise.

No, Biagio Biondolillo hasn’t just turned in a term paper, but his new CD, Alone On This Here and Now, offers a refreshingly simple take on the singer/songwriter routine.

Featuring 10 short tracks that boast no frills, Biondolillo traverses a number of themes and topics ranging from love to reflection to self improvement.

However, he addresses the potentially dicey topics with grace, cleverness and ease as he never bogs down the content by getting unnecessarily deep.

The music itself has its fair share of hooks, but calling any given number catchy would be a stretch.

And that’s not a knock on the superior acoustic guitar work and musicianship, either. It’s just that Biondolillo has done a darn fine job of having his music mirror his lyrics, and vice versa. It’s not too happy, not too sad.

“Deeper I Go,” the second track, is a bittersweet ode to how good things once were with a lost love. Bitter, because of the sadness of the subject. Sweet, however, because of the melody itself and the bright key it’s played in. On “Man I Want to Be,” however, it’s the exact opposite. The tune is a bit haunting, but the lyrics are downright inspiring.In addition to the guitar, there are many instruments here and there to embellish the sound and mood of certain tunes.

“Battleship,” the last tune, features a string and horn section that fades at the end after a dramatic crescendo. All in all, a fitting end for the album, given the vibe displayed throughout. Pound for pound and tune for tune, this album is like the perfect pair of jeans; it goes with anything.

This time of year? Throw on some hot tea, light some incense and you’re good to go. Then come summertime, nothing would go better with a sunset by the bay.

Corridor Records
beepcycle@live.com

Biagio Biondolillo

Oct. 3rd, we hit the road with high spirits in a 92′ Pontiac transporter, whom affectionately is called our Space Momma. As we headed on to I-5, the engine sound especially loud; to my alarm I realized we were in the wrong drive gear. After pulling over and correcting this, we made it to Portland without the transmission exploding. All of the bridges in Portland were made of steel and I didn’t like to drive on them; this really helped me appreciate roads that are made of stone.

The best show in Portland was in a loft studio, called the EFF Space. We opened for the travelling theatre troupe call Missoula Oblongata; let’s just say that a raccoon, a balloon and a magician make for one hell of a night. We were fortunate enough to play every night in the land of port; we were well received by the natives and their many bicycles.

We bid our farewell to Portland and headed south to the golden state of California. On the way to California we stopped at a road side attraction called the trees of mystery. They were these two colossal statues of Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox. Anna and Kat took a picture of me touching the Ox’s balls. Giant stone testicles. Apparently this is a very popular pastime for the visiting tourists. After playing to a somewhat empty room at a coffee shop in a burned-out hippie town called Arcata, we went out to the beach, Clam Beach, and drank whiskey and sang songs to the moon. That was the only night on tour we had to sleep in Space Momma.

We headed down to Sacramento to play at the Java lounge, only to find it was also not well attended. However, we did meet two exceptional gentlemen who opened for us that night. They asked us to join them in a pre-show drink at a bar two blocks away called The Flame Box; they seemed confused that we opted to walk instead of driving. Everyone drives everywhere in California. After the show, we headed to my home town of Santa Rosa to stay the night with an old friend and take a break from the road.

On Oct. 9th, we had a show in San Francisco at place called the Brainwash Caf which is a caf , bar, laundry mat, and a venue. We finally got a good crowd, and the food was delicious. We headed back to SR, our home base, for the night.

We hit the road again the next morning beginning an all-day trek to Lompoch, California, a town where none of us has ever played. We stop along the way at Pismo Beach, and Anna Arvan saw dolphins while playing in the waves. People drove their cars on the beach. It was weird. Dolphins and cars on the beach… weird. The show that night was at South Side Coffee; we played to a small but attentive audience. One of the baristas let us stay the night at his ranch house in the hills. You could see the whole town from the living room window.

After saying our goodbyes the next morning, we went back to San Francisco to play at the Purple Door, a very new house show/space. This was one of our favorite shows on tour. We got to play with three other great singer-songwriters from the bay area, one in particular, Adam balboa. A jamboree started after the show and we partied and talked and shared cover songs. We left the next morning to go back the SR. We played another house show that evening in Santa Rosa, to an audience of many of my old hometown crew.

We parted with our dear SR friends that morning and started the trek up through Oregon; that was when trouble struck. We were about 90 miles from a gig at Lucky’s bar in Eugene, when the brakes seemed to go out on our van. With Anna Arvan at the wheel, we opted to take the soonest exit so we wouldn’t crash to our deaths. We just happened to take the right exit that night; it led us to a Motel 6 and a 24-hour Shari’s restaurant. As we rolled into the Shari’s parking lot I could see a large pool of brake fluid pooling under our van. The flexible brake line at the front right hand wheel of our van had ruptured, rendering the van too dangerous to drive. We had to stay in the motel six for two nights and cancel two Oregon gigs.

Being a mechanic, I had packed all my tools with me, but we had to wait two days to get the part, from a nearby Napa store. After finally getting the part and fixing the brakes with the help and moral support of my bandmates, we made it back on the road to play our second to last gig in Olympia. I was surprised at how well our Olympia show went. We played at this bar called Le Voyeur with two other great acts and there was a good crowd throughout the whole show.

We left that evening to come home to Bellingham. We played our homecoming show at the Temple Bar to a packed room of all our friends and loved ones. The strength and support of Bellingham music scene always reminds me of how thankful I am to live here. I’m also very thankful to Anna Arvan and Kat Bula who helped get us a lot of extra shows on this tour. I couldn’t have done it without them.