Hello, and welcome to the first proper outing for The Beat Goes On. There’s some neat stuff happening this week, so let’s get right into it.
Picks of the Week
On Thursday, Feb. 3 at the Mount Baker Theatre, a unique ensemble called Small Island Big Song will perform. It’s a collaboration between traditional musicians from different islands all over the Pacific and Indian oceans. In addition to featuring cross-cultural musical collaborations, the experience also includes video and spoken word pieces. It sounds like a fascinating concept.
On Friday, Feb. 4 at Kulshan Brewing Company’s Sunnyland locale, check out the instrumental melange of the Tea Seas Trio, ranging from jazz to funk to surf to boogaloo.
On Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Honey Moon there will be a showcase featuring some of our finest local singer-songwriters. Cumulus, Jubal Jake and Philip Hoffman all offer very different approaches to the “singer with guitar” format, and it should be interesting to see how they play off of each other.
That same night over at The Shakedown there’s an intriguing multi-genre bill as a fundraiser for KMRE. You can see the sweet folk music of Nathaniel Talbot, the jazzy, sophisticated pop of the Unknowns, and the darker indie rock of Fossil Fire, all in one evening, while supporting one of our local radio stations.
The big touring act visiting us this week is Dinosaur Jr., playing at the Wild Buffalo on Tuesday, Feb. 8. As veterans of the ’80s underground rock scene, they are known for the ear-splittingly loud but still melodic guitar work of their leader, J. Mascis. After breaking up for a decade or so the original lineup got back together in 2005 and instead of just coasting on their laurels, they’ve made remarkably good music since then.
To wrap up the week, on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at the Sylvia Center for the Arts you can check out the Tal Cohen Quartet, playing adventurous jazz which blends modern and traditional styles, with an interesting hint of traditional Jewish melodies.
Music Scene News
Make.Shift Art Space is going to be producing half-hour videos featuring local bands performing and being interviewed. When you think about what a great resource KEXP’s live videos have been for the musicians of this region, it’s exciting to think of Bellingham having a local version.
Twin Sisters is adding a regular live music series, at 6 p.m. every Thursday night, kicking off this week with Tea Seas Trio (mentioned above in Picks of the Week).
The Whatcom Museum has an exhibit planned to open in April focusing on the history of Bellingham’s music scene. I’m very excited to see that!
The big Petty or Not/Baby Cakes show scheduled for Friday at the Wild Buffalo has had to be rescheduled again. I’ll keep you posted when there’s a new date for that.
Finally, one of the most exciting bits of music scene news we’ve had in a while is that there’s a new all-ages venue on the horizon for downtown Bellingham. Ben Hodson and Martijn Wall started a production company last year called HodWall Productions and have been hosting events in different venues around town. Now they’re taking the next step and opening a space they are calling The Blue Room. It’s going to be in the space on the corner of Railroad Avenue and Holly Street above KPop Chicken and Beer, and they are planning on opening March 4 with a show by Foxy Apollo.
I asked them about their plans for the space and what a typical week might look like. “The shows that we run Friday and Saturday concerts will be the big shows of the week,” Wall said. “Monday will be smaller and may feature alternative performing arts other than music like comedy and film. Thursday night will be a weekly open mic, we’re also having a mini-market with about a dozen vendors every Thursday.”
Whenever they aren’t using it for their own shows the space will be available for event rentals — anything from classes to craft fairs to possibly even weddings at some point. It’s an ambitious plan and it won’t be easy, but if they can bring a sustainable venue to that spot they’ll be making a great contribution to the music community. As Wall put it, “We definitely have longevity in mind.”
Thanks for reading, and be sure to send in your music news!
