Musician Michael Dayvid moved to Bellingham from Northern California last March, bringing with him a massive repertoire of covers of all genres as well as original songs. Since then, he’s lined up steady gigs at venues all over Whatcom and Skagit counties, and amassed an ever-growing crew of fans who enjoy his unique approach.
Using a loop station, Dayvid creates percussion, bass and backing vocal loops he can then play off of with live guitar and vocals. This elevates the performance way beyond what you would expect from just a solo guitarist/singer, and since nothing is pre-recorded, it introduces an element of surprise to each performance.
When I asked Dayvid about some of his favorite places to play, he mentioned the energetic crowds at The Beach at Birch Bay, and playing for the social dancers of the Flow Fusion community.
Though he’s probably best known for his covers, this week he’ll be at The Blue Room on Saturday night for a performance entirely of originals. He describes their style as “adventure folk and cinematic rock.”
At the Feb. 4 event, he’ll be joined by Raquel Norland and PS Webster, who will each be playing sets of their own material while the audience enjoys a catered candlelight dinner. He will also be creating at least one brand-new song live onstage based on audience suggestions. This is a rare chance to see that facet of his style, so if you’ve enjoyed hearing Dayvid perform covers, come down and check this one out.
In other news, some local groups are going to have the chance to strut their stuff onstage at the Mount Baker Theatre. Petty or Not will be on the main stage with their Petty/Fleetwood Mac tribute tunes on Saturday, Feb. 11, and J.P. Falcon Grady will be playing the smaller Walton Theatre in April with a full show of his original songs.
I was sorry to hear The Hookups have broken up, but their singer, Jules, is already hard at work on a new project under the name Pantsuitguy, which should be out soon, as well as playing bass with Girls Know.
Cold Sludge have been entirely a solo recording project so far, but they have a new album coming out and are trying to figure out a lineup for live shows. Their 2019 album, “Motor Oil for Yr Mind,” is one of my local favorites of the past few years, packed with creative homemade pop. Richard from Cold Sludge also has a folky new duo project with Zach from Blood Capsules called Low Ghost.
Finally, on the hip-hop side, Estimate and OG Neeks have a new full-length out. At press time only the first single, “Distracted,” was out, but I’m looking forward to hearing the rest!
Live music listings
Tuesday, Jan. 31
Aslan: 8 p.m., Jazz Night
Boundary: 6 p.m., Paul Klein on piano
Culture Cafe: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., Tenderpile’s Smile Aisle (jazz)
Horseshoe Cafe: 9 p.m., Michael Dayvid (acoustic covers)
Menace: 7 p.m., Invitational Blues Jam
Mount Baker Theatre: 7 p.m., Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, Sarah Jarosz (singer-songwriters)
Wednesday, Feb. 1
Boundary: 6 p.m., Aaron Guest on piano
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Open Mic
Rockfish: 6 p.m., Joan Penney (jazz)
Stones Throw: 6 p.m., Alex Golombek Trio (jazz)
Thursday, Feb. 2
Blue Room: 6 p.m., Open Mic; 8 p.m., Jam:30 (open jam)
Brown Lantern: 8:30 p.m., Open Mic
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Jazz Jam
Thirsty Badger: 7 p.m., Open Mic
That’s What I Like: 6 p.m, J.P. Falcon and Friends (folk/rock)
Wild Buffalo: 8 p.m., The Elovaters (reggae)
WWU Viking Union: 7 p.m., King Youngblood, Enumclaw, Careen (rock)
Zeeks: 7 p.m., Whitewing Duo (blues/soul/R&B)
Friday, Feb. 3
Aslan: 8 p.m., BJ Block Trio (jazz/funk)
Beach at Birch Bay: 6 p.m., Jimmy Wright Band (classic rock)
Big Stick: 5:30 p.m., Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers (blues/R&B)
Birdsview: 6 p.m., Nicola Linde
Blue Room: 8 p.m., Perfect by Tomorrow, Sour Fuzz, Gonzo’s Attics (rock)
Eagle Haven: 7 p.m., Michael Dayvid
Fireside: 7 p.m., The D’vas
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., The Moving Hats (Celtic)
McIntyre Hall: 7:30 p.m., Tony Furtado Trio (folk)
Shakedown: 8:30 p.m., Monstress, Ent, Skinned Alive to Death (metal)
Skylark’s: 8 p.m., Bellflower (alternative folk)
Stones Throw: 6 p.m., High Mountain String Band (bluegrass)
Vault: 6 p.m., J.P. Falcon Grady (acoustic covers)
WinkWink: 7 p.m., Iggy Poop (rock), Kitty Obsidian (neo-soul/R&B)
Saturday, Feb. 4
Anchor Inn: 9 p.m., Fanny Alger, Pretty Much Nothing (rock)
Beach at Birch Bay: 4 p.m., Chris Eger Band (blues/rock)
Birdsview: 6 p.m., Jack Parker
Blue Room: 8 p.m., Raquel Norland, Michael Dayvid, PS Webster (singer-songwriters)
Conway Muse: 8 p.m., Mojo Cannon & The 13th Street Horns (blues/R&B)
Fireside: 4 p.m., Singers’ Saturday
Gateway1890: 7 p.m., Ron Hardt
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., Deep River Blues
Guemes Island General Store: 6 p.m., Milo Matthews
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Ashley Benem book launch featuring members of The Devillies (Celtic)
Karate Church:7:30 p.m., Spider Cult, Girls Know, Dead End Rhythm Section
Lincoln Theatre: 7:30 p.m., International Guitar Night
Main Street: 8 p.m., The Neon Shadows (’80s rock covers)
Mount Baker Theatre: 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., Colin James (roots rock)
Rockfish: 7:30 p.m., The Fat Fridays (rock/blues)
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Boxcutter PNW, The Scoffs, Land of Wolves (punk)
Skylark’s: 8 p.m., Anissa Quintet (jazz)
Sunday, Feb. 5
Kulshan: 5 p.m., The Devillies (folk/Irish)
Lincoln Theatre: 7:30 p.m., Laura Veirs (singer-songwriter)
Main Street: 6 p.m., Open Mic
Old Edison: 5:30 p.m., Ron Bailey and The Tangents (classic rock)
Paws for A Beer: 2 p.m., Michael Dayvid
Monday, Feb. 6
Blue Room: 7 p.m., Greg Williamson Quartet (jazz)
Kulshan: 6 p.m., Whiskey River Mudflats (folk)
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Aslan: 8 p.m., Jazz Night
Boundary: 6 p.m., Paul Klein on piano
Culture Cafe: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Greene’s: 6 p.m., Open Mic
Menace: 7 p.m., Invitational Blues Jam
Zeeks: 6 p.m, Open Mic
Wednesday, Feb. 8
FireHouse: 6:30 p.m., Benjamin Hunter Quartet (jazz/ blues)
Before heading out to listen to live music, check with individual venues to make sure the event is still taking place as scheduled.
Jesse Stanton’s music column, The Beat Goes On, runs Wednesdays. Email: jsbhammusic@gmail.com or Twitter: @JSBhamMusic.
