Since 2008, Make.Shift Art Space has been the hub of our local arts and music DIY scene, operating a venue, a gallery, a radio station and offering art studios and rehearsal space in a funky basement on Flora Street. It’s been holding back on doing shows inside the venue on a regular basis, focusing instead on outdoor shows and its video series featuring local musicians.
Now, however, new venue director Kelly Sorbel is getting ready to launch a series of live shows, and making plans to restore the space to its former prominence in the live music scene. Sorbel has put together fun combinations of bands on each bill, with a mixture of local and regional acts, so keep an eye out for that.
Make.Shift will also be reopening soon for practice space rentals, giving bands a place to go where they won’t anger their neighbors. On Saturday, Sept. 3, it will be hosting a show as a fundraiser to buy sound gear and supplies for the practice space. That gig will also be the last one planned to happen outside, and will feature Book of Shred, Laguna Largo and Where’s the Exit?
If you’ve been enjoying MAKESHIFTV from the comfort of home, don’t despair — there are already two more episodes in the pipeline and a second season being planned. If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s a blend of live videos, music videos, interviews and other high-quality, local music-related content.
Finally, the organization has plenty of internship and volunteer opportunities available, so if you are interested in being part of the music scene on that level, please do reach out to them. The fact this resource exists in our community and has been able to sustain itself all this time is frankly remarkable and never could have happened without tons of volunteer energy. Hopefully, as new generations of music fans come along, they continue to keep that energy alive.
In other news, and speaking of live videos, make sure to check out Freshwater Sessions on YouTube. They are doing some nice work documenting local musicians with high-quality live videos. So far they’ve also managed to achieve a nice balance of genres, featuring rock band Myonia, singer-songwriter India Glover and now their most recent video with rapper CHVRNS.
They’ve all been covered elsewhere in the paper so I’m not listing them here, but this week is also the Stringband Stringband Jamboree, as well as the beginning of the major acts at the Northwest Washington Fair in Lynden.
Live music listings
Wednesday, Aug. 10
Bar Cicotti: 6 p.m., Kevin Woods & Roger Yamashita (jazz)
Blue Room: 9 p.m., Big League, State Parks, Magpie (rock)
Big Stick BBQ: 5 p.m., Michael Dayvid (acoustic covers)
Boundary: 6 p.m., Gallowglass (Celtic)
FireHouse: 5 p.m., Mark Kelly & Mark Ashworth (jazz/Latin)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Open Mic
Juxt: 8:30 p.m., Invitational Open Mic
Rockfish: 6 p.m., Deep River Blues
Shakedown: 8 p.m., Petite Amie, Book of Shred, Checker Bloom (rock)
Thursday, Aug. 11
Barkley Market: noon, The Sweet Goodbyes (folk)
Blue Room: 9 p.m., LipStitch, Top Down, Glass Boys (rock)
Boundary: 5 p.m., Corwin Bolt & Ruxton Schuh; 8 p.m., TBA
Elizabeth Park: 6 p.m., Heroes (rock and roll covers and original songs)
FireHouse: 4 p.m., Kid’Sax Ensemble
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Eli Waltz, Hannah Wyatt (singer-songwriters)
Hotel Bellwether: 6 p.m., Janie Cribbs and the T Rust Band
Kulshan Trackside: Evan Flory-Barnes, Ini
Mount Vernon Riverwalk: 6 p.m., Cascadia Groove (jazz/funk/R&B)
Shakedown: 8 p.m., Telekinetic Yeti, White Hills (metal)
Thirsty Badger: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Twin Sisters: 6 p.m., Matt Mitchell
That’s What I Like: 6 p.m., J.P. Falcon and Friends (folk/rock)
Wild Buffalo: 8 p.m., The Hobby, Bennycamps & The Bastards, King Youngblood (rock)
Friday, Aug. 12
Aslan: 8 p.m., TBA
Beach at Birch Bay: 6 p.m., Daddy’s Gotta Girlfriend
Bellewood Acres: 6 p.m., The Unknowns
Birdsview: 6 p.m., Conrad Gruener
Blue Room: 9 p.m., Island Gigantism, The Earth Tones, Coastal Cleanup (rock)
Boundary: 6 p.m., Legendary Chucklenuts (classic rock)
Burlington Summer Nights: 6 p.m., Margaret Wilder Band
Farmstrong: 5:30 p.m., Brittany Collins Band, Lazy Acres
FireHouse: 7 p.m., Dry Martini (jazz)
Fireside: 7 p.m., Young Kidz
Greene’s Corner: 6:30 p.m., Simon Evans (folk)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Robert Lashley, Sarah Goodin (poetry and music)
Jack’s BBQ: 8 p.m., Bob Paltrow on piano
Lighthouse: 7:30 p.m., TBA (jazz/lounge)
Seafarers’ Memorial Park (Anacortes): 6 p.m., Stacy Jones Band (blues)
Semiahmoo: 6 p.m., Shananagins (classic rock)
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Marissa Nadler, Eight Bells, Jesse Sykes & Phil Wandscher
Skylark’s: 5 p.m., East Coast Dave and the Midwest Swingers (acoustic Americana)
That’s What I Like: 7 p.m., Michael Dayvid (acoustic covers)
Vault: 7 p.m., J.P. Falcon Grady (folk/rock/blues)
Wild Buffalo: 9 p.m., Bombino, Yogoman Burning Band
Saturday, Aug. 13
Barkley Village Green: 4 p.m., The Walrus, The Naughtly Blokes (classic rock)
Beach at Birch Bay: 4 p.m., Arcade Cowboys (classic rock)
Blue Room: 9 p.m., Laamb, Eclectrick, Counterproductive
Birdsview: 6 p.m., For What It’s Worth (classic rock)
Boundary: 1 p.m., TBA
Eagle Haven Winery: 7 p.m., Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith tribute)
Edgewater Park (Mount Vernon): 3 p.m., Brewfest ft. Baby Cakes, Fanny Alger, Lazy Acres
Fireside: 3:30 p.m., Singers’ Saturday
Gateway1890: 7:30 p.m., Mark Williams & Tom Sandblom
Greene’s Corner: 6:30 p.m., Michael Dayvid (acoustic covers)
Guemes Island General Store: 6:30 p.m., Andy Coe Band (jam rock)
Heart of Anacortes: 5 p.m., Randy Weeks (country/rock)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Simon Llewelyn Evans (folk)
Kulshan Trackside: 6 p.m., Blindfate (classic rock)
Lighthouse: 7:30 p.m., TBA (jazz/lounge)
Mount Baker Theatre, 7 p.m., Haley Heynderickx
Rockfish, 7:30 p.m., Ebb, Slack & Flood (reggae/rock/funk)
Samson Estates: 2 p.m., Joe Harkness (classic country)
Schweinhaus: 8 p.m., Fossil Fire, Asterhouse, Bird Senses Danger (rock)
Semiahmoo: 6 p.m., Kevin Fazio
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Myonia, Hillside ’77, Terminally Dumb (rock)
Skylark’s: 5 p.m., J.P. Falcon Grady (folk/blues/rock)
Station 49: 3 p.m., Enchantrix
Wild Buffalo: 9 p.m., Um.., OOC, Bluntfaded, Hermit (electronic)
Sunday, Aug. 14
Beach at Birch Bay: 1 p.m., Chris Eger Band (blues/rock)
Culture Cafe: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Gilkey Square (La Conner): 1 p.m., Lazy Acres (rock)
Heart of Anacortes: 2 p.m., Holly Pyle
Old Edison: 5:30 p.m., The Bow Diddlers (classic rock)
Riverfront Park (Sedro-Woolley): 6 p.m., Miller Campbell
Semiahmoo: 4 p.m., J.P. Falcon Grady
Shakedown: 8 p.m., Agent Orange, Decent Criminal, Proud Failures (punk)
Skylark’s: 1 p.m., Anissa Quintet (jazz)
Station 49: 2 p.m., bandZandt (classic rock)
Monday, Aug. 15
Boundary: 6 p.m., Simon Llewelyn Evans (folk)
Tuesday, Aug. 16
Beach at Birch Bay: 6:30 p.m., Open Mic
Boundary: 6 p.m., Paul Klein on piano
Farmstrong: 6:30 p.m., Chris Eger Band
A previous version of these music listings included incorrect acts for Thursday, Aug. 11 at both Hotel Bellwether and Elizabeth Park. The listings have been updated with the correct bands. The story was updated to reflect these changes on Aug. 10 at 10:56am. Cascadia Daily News regrets the error.
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.
