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Lady Wray.
Expect vocal prowess and tender R&B songwriting alongside warm soul music when Lady Wray makes her way to Bellingham for a Thursday, March 31 show at The Shakedown. Wray was the first female artist signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. (Photo by Sesse Lind)
By Jesse Stanton CDN Contributor

Are you as excited as I am to see shows starting up again at Boundary Bay Brewery? They’re even hosting some neat touring acts this week, highlighted by two shows with the groovy indie electro-pop of The Sometimes Island.

News

If you’re looking for another chance to get onstage, there’s a new open mic starting at The Beach at Birch Bay on Tuesdays. With a host band each week, it sounds as if there will be plenty of opportunities for spontaneous collaborations.

Plus, a new episode
of Make.Shift TV
is out. This one has live performances and interviews with Mount Saturn and Cat Valley, and a video by Ben Wildenhaus.

Picks of the Week

Wednesday, March 30 will feature the crunchy roots rock of Los Angeles-based Balto at the Shakedown and some gorgeous acoustic folk-rock from Babehoven over at The Blue Room.

Thursday, March 31 presents a tough choice for fans of old-school R&B and soul: Lady Wray is at The Shakedown, and Con Brio is at the Wild Buffalo. They’re both great.

If you like it loud you should definitely head to Helms Alee on Friday, April 1 at The Shakedown — and you might want to get tickets in advance. Meanwhile, blues fans will want to head to the Conway Muse on Saturday, April 2 for the Stacy Jones Band.

Also on Saturday night, Heroes make their return with a show at The Blue Room. They’ve been rocking parties and festivals around town ever since they were young teens, with a blend of classic covers and originals that sound like they could become classics. After a couple more years of practice, I suspect they’re going to be amazing.

Another group returning to action is the adventurous jazz/improvised music blend of MANtrio, coming back with shows at Honey Moon on Saturday, April 2 and Aslan on Tuesday, April 5.

One final highlight is the acoustic soul of one-time finalist on “The Voice,” Thunderstorm Artis, making his way to the Wild Buffalo on Tuesday.


Live music listings

Wednesday, March 30

Blue Room: 7 p.m., Babehoven, Bread Pilot, Idell Drive
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., J.P. Falcon Grady and Jan Peters
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Open Mic
Rockfish Grill: 6 p.m., Pension King and the Dependents (classic rock)
Shakedown: 8 p.m., Balto, Aardvarticus Zeus, State Parks (rock)

Thursday, March 31

Blue Room: 6 p.m., Open Mic
Boundary: 9 p.m., New Candys, Mint Field, Laamb (psychedelic rock)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Home Visitor, Karen Kunkel
Menace: 6:30 p.m., Alger Rhythms (rock covers)
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Lady Wray, Brainstory, guests (R&B)
Thirsty Badger: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Twin Sisters: 6 p.m., Michael Dayvid (acoustic covers)
Wild Buffalo: 8:30 p.m., Con Brio, Foxy Apollo (rock/soul)

Friday, April 1

Aslan: 8 p.m., BJ Block Trio (funky jazz)
Beach at Birch Bay: 6 p.m., Chill DeVille (classic rock)
Big Rock Woolley Market: 7 p.m., Whitewing Trio (blues)
Blue Room: 8 p.m., Old Town Scouts, SMAC, Asterhouse (rock)
Boundary: 8 p.m., The Sometimes Island, Glitchlette (pop, electronic)
Fireside: 7 p.m., The D’vas (classic pop)
Goods: 6 p.m., Odd Mood Jam Band
Lighthouse: 7:30 p.m., TBA (jazz/ lounge)
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Helms Alee, Dryland, Ceras (metal)
Skylark’s: 7 p.m., Virginia Rail Duo (bluegrass)
That’s What I Like: 7 p.m., Michael Dayvid (acoustic covers)
Vault Wine Bar: 7 p.m., J.P. Falcon Grady (folk/rock)
Wink Wink: 6 p.m., Free Harmony (classic folk/rock)

Saturday, April 2

Beach at Birch Bay: 4 p.m., Lost at Last
Big Rock Woolley Market: 7 p.m., Leo Bootes (blues)
Blue Room: 8 p.m., Heroes, Hockey Teeth, Kazmyn (rock)
Boundary: 1 p.m., The Sometimes Island
Brown Lantern: 9 p.m., The Field Boats
Conway Muse: 8 p.m., Stacy Jones Band (blues/rock)
Farmstrong: 1 p.m., CraigO’s Planet Groove (psychedelic rock)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., MANtrio (jazz)
Lighthouse: 7:30 p.m., TBA (jazz/lounge)
Mount Baker Theatre: 7:30 p.m., Melissa Etheridge (rock)
Rockfish Grill: 7:30 p.m., Amanda Richards and the Good Long Whiles (alternative country)
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Cat Positive, Echo Sector, The Final Remark (indie rock)
Skylark’s: 7 p.m., East Coast Dave and the Midwest Swingers (acoustic Americana)

Sunday, April 3

Culture Cafe: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Shakedown: 8 p.m., Captured! By Robots (grindcore/comedy/sci-fi)
Wild Buffalo: 8 p.m., Austra, guests (electronic/pop)
WWU PAC: 7:30 p.m., ONIX Ensemble (modern chamber music)

Monday, April 4

Boundary: 6 p.m., Miles Harris and Ebony Justine (acoustic rock/soul)
Firehouse: 3:30 p.m., Tim Volpicella and Phil Sottile (jazz)
WWU PAC: 7 p.m., Scott Robinson Quartet (jazz)

Tuesday, April 5

Aslan: 7 p.m., Jazz Night featuring MANtrio
Beach at Birch Bay: 6:30 p.m., Open Mic
Wild Buffalo: 8 p.m., Thunderstorm Artis
(R&B/folk/soul)
Zeeks Pizza: 6 p.m., Open Mic featuring Brittany Collins 

A  previous version of this story stated that MANtrio was playing Friday, April 1 at Honey Moon. The jazz band is actually playing Saturday, April 2 at Honey Moon. The story was updated to reflect this change at 10:13 a.m. Friday, April 1, 2022. Cascadia Daily News regrets the error. 

Jesse Stanton’s music column, The Beat Goes On, runs Wednesdays. Email: jsbhammusic@gmail.com or Twitter: @JSBhamMusic 

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