White Center Now: The blog about White Center

No need to leave the area this weekend, with events like this: Three venues, one night, 10 bands, so far. Here’s the plan, according to the Rat City Recon Facebook event page:

It’s that time, everybody! Rat City Recon is happening on August 23rd! Our music festival will feature 10 bands at 3 venues in downtown White Center. Here is our lineup:

Mac’s Triangle Pub:

Blanco Bronco
7-Year Old Blind Girl
Mico de Noche

Full Tilt:

Gems
Joseph Giant
Darci Carlson

Company Bar:

Burien
Drunk Dad
Don Peyote
Erasehorse

Rat City Recon is a free event. Pre-order for our exclusive t-shirt is available at each of the venues. $20 will guarantee you a shirt in your size and a wristband good for happy hour drinks at each venue all night. Stay tuned for set times. See you in Rat City!

Maybe you’ve been in Full Tilt Ice Cream‘s White Center shop with a wall-to-wall crowd on a sizzling summer day? Multiply that size of crowd times five or so – and that’s what filled the shop Wednesday night, with plenty of crowd spillover out front, for Mudhoney, whose members arrived via … crosswalk:

Full Tilt proprietor Justin Cline told us the shop filled to capacity way before showtime:

Back inside, this had all started as an ice-cream launch party, for new Full Tilt flavor Mudhoney, and yes, there was scooping going on:

But the spectre of grunge-rock legends at centerstage next to the counter, less than a week after sharing the KeyArena bill with Pearl Jam, was the main course. Now that the band’s played on, go check out the ice cream.

Happening tonight at Greenbridge Plaza! Here’s the announcement:

This Friday, July 26th, Cultivate will be hosting our 3rd annual Outdoor White Center Open Mic.

The open mic will be a joint effort by Cultivate, The White Center CDA, The YES Foundation and Dub Sea Coffee and other community members. It’s an open mic but more of a concert feel with established local artist showcasing their talents for the White Center Community.

It’s a fun free event for families to enjoy in our wonderful community of White Center. It’s also a great opportunity to showcase local talent and celebrate the community of White Center.

The event will be on July 26th at 7 pm, Greenbridge Plaza – 9010 8th Ave SW.

For more info, here’s the Facebook event page.

In the heart of downtown White Center, Joe is playing guitar – in honor of a brand-new music store, run by his son:

Inside, behind the counter, here’s Joe’s son Brian, who just opened Rat City Records and Relics today at 9632 16th SW and is having a grand-opening celebration till 9 tonight. As noted in our original report two weeks ago, the relics include music memorabilia and old guitars:

You can find RCRR on Facebook, here.

‘7 killer bands, 3 great venues’ is how the announcement late Thursday night on Facebook describes the upcoming Rat City Recon music festival. Those venues are Company Bar (9608 16th SW), Full Tilt Ice Cream (9629 16th SW), and Mac’s Triangle Pub (9454 Delridge Way SW). The music will run approximately 6 pm-1 am, and the announcement includes this lineup:

6:00 No World (Triangle Pub)
7:00 Vanguard (Full Tilt Ice Cream)
8:00 Skerik Trio (Triangle Pub)
9:00 Screens (Company Bar)
10:00 Tacos! (Full Tilt Ice Cream)
11:00 Perfect Bombs (Company Bar)
12:00 Diminished Men (Company Bar)

It’s free – but: “A suggested donation of $5 will get you a wrist band that is good for happy hour drink prices at each venue all night. Exclusive, limited edition t-shirt and wrist band bundles are available for pre-purchase at: brownpapertickets.com/event/264989“

From Dubsea Coffee proprietor Sibelle – here’s who’s playing at her shop, 1-3 pm today:

AMORISTS AT LARGE

Starting in September of 2007, Amorists At Large is an acoustic act from Apple Valley, California, consisting of Gabriel Lopez on guitar and vocals, and Kyle Berryman on percussion and vocals. The amorists are fueled by nothing more than passion, and their love for music. They have a background of hardcore, and experimental sounds from an acoustic guitar, fused with a pair of voices that harmonize powerful words telling stories from the forgotten corners of the heart, explaining all parts of love. The parts we wish to forget and the others we never will.

That’s the “kindie-rock” band The Not-Its playing Cupcake Royale in West Seattle back in May – they’ve played Full Tilt Ice Cream in White Center before, and that’s where they’re going to be performing this Saturday, noon-2 pm, as part of a benefit for Northwest Folklife – Full Tilt is releasing a special flavor for the occasion, Clusters of Folk. Don’t miss it – the ice cream OR the music; here’s the Facebook invite.

Mark your calendar! From the e-mailbox:

They honk, they squawk and they are back in their hometown in time to give Father’s Day a new sound. Fresh off the heels of a national tour, internationally acclaimed alt-jazz sextet, Reptet, will be performing six new compositions, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on June 20, at Big Al’s Brewery Tasting Room at 9832 14th Ave SW, White Center. The show is outdoors, appropriate for all ages, free, and open to the public. Funding for composing the six songs and the performance was provided in part by a grant from 4Culture, King County’s cultural services agency. The compositions will be released on the group’s third CD in the fall.

Seattle-based Reptet is an atypical modern jazz sextet consisting of bass, drums and horns. These six dynamic multi-instrumentalists are Samantha Boshnack (trumpet, slide trumpet, piccolo trumpet, flugelhorn), Nelson Bell (trombone, euphonium, tuba), Izaak Mills (tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute), Chris Credit (baritone sax, alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet), Tim Carey (electric & upright bass), John Ewing (drums & percussion). They play all original, kid-friendly music that challenges the discerning fan, while entertaining the casual listener. Reptet gained international recognition with their 2006 release, Do This! (Monktail Records), which was a 2006 Independent Music Awards finalist for Best Jazz Record of the Year, was chosen top jazz CD of 2006 by Jazziz Magazine’s Alex Gelfand, and made the top ten lists of many other writers and critics across the globe. They gained further recognition by winning two Earshot Jazz 2007 Golden Ear Awards – Best Outside Jazz Group and Best Live Performance (as part of the Monktail Raymond Scott Project). In 2008 they released their second full length CD, Chicken or Beef?, which further solidified their presence on the American music scene. Their most recent release is a red vinyl 45 RPM single/digital download entitled Agendacide.

In organizing the show, West Seattle resident and Reptet drummer, John Ewing, was looking for a way to give back to the community he calls home. Knowing that 4Culture is always on the look out to enable special events in underserved neighborhoods, he applied for a grant with White Center in mind. The idea for a Father’s Day performance was a natural because his 5-year-old son attends preschool in White Center. This has made the neighborhood a backdrop for both the development of his son and their relationship.

Big Al’s Tasting Room offers an outdoor, all-ages venue that encourages patrons to bring whatever prepared food they like, or take advantage of the two public grills on site – you can even bring along the family pooch. It has worked with other local businesses and agencies, to help transform a once neglected and economically challenged area of the county into a burgeoning artist’s community that takes pride in having one of the area’s greatest concentrations of cultural diversity and community pride.

Full Tilt Ice Cream proprietor Justin just sent this out via Twitter – next Saturday’s live music slate at the White Center flagship of his growing chain (location #3 in the University District just opened last week).

Two weeks ago, we brought you Eliza Junkerman‘s request for musical instruments to be donated to White Center Heights Elementary. Tonight, a followup – she says the donation drive was a success!

We have had an amazing turnout and some extremely generous people from West Seattle, White Center and beyond.

I just wanted to give you a quick recap of what we have collected so far (or have set a time to pick up):

26 recorders
1 flute
1 piccolo
2 oboes
1 Cello
4 guitars
1 set of Congo drums
1 Clarinet
1 Alto Saxophone
1 Violin
1 Trombone

This is really way more than we could have ever expected! Thank you to everyone who helped – spreading the word, donating, and just supporting!!

White Center Heights will be holding an Assembly to honor the donors and talk about what encompasses a community, on October 30th from 1:20-1:55. All donors are invited to attend!!

Thank you so much for your help!

Chris Stevens Surf Monkeys

Rock Cafe Rozella

Saturday October 10th

7pm-10pm

Admission is FREE

Eliza e-mailed to say she’s organizing a music-instrument-donation drive for White Center Heights Elementary – her mom works there and, as Eliza puts it, the school “just got a really amazing music teacher” but has more students interested in taking the music class than they have instruments. Eliza explains, “The school doesn’t have the budget to buy new instruments and the parents can’t afford to rent them or buy them for the kids.” So, she says, “If you have any old/used/formerly loved instruments you could donate that would be so much appreciated!! I will pick them up, I will come to you, I would just like to get these kids a chance to learn a skill they might otherwise miss out on. Please feel free to email me at egjunkerman@yahoo.com or give me a call, 206.818.7376.”

Head on over to Cafe Rozella for some beautiful music.  Correo Aereo rarely plays and this is an opportunity to hear some excellent Latin American music. 

Café Rozella

“Alma Villegas”

“We always enjoy playing at

this lovely cozy Café Rozella

in the heart of White Center. “

August 28th

7pm-10pm

Cafe Rozella
9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, WA  98106
(206) 763-5805

Correo Aereo, (Air Mail), are Austin Music Award winners now based in the NW. The Latin American/World music trio performs traditional and original music from Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico and beyond, combining a stunning array of string and percussive instruments with silken vocal harmonies described as “…locked in carnal embrace.” by the Austin Chronicle. Hailed for exciting musical virtuosity and profoundly moving performances through unknown landscapes of Latin America, their music is both viscerally ancient and vibrantly contemporary. Abel Rocha plays Venezuelan and Mexican harp, guitar, cuatro, quinta huapanguera and vocals. Madeleine Sosin offers violins, maracas, bombo, jarana, quijada and vocals. They are joined by ‘young lion’ Evan Flory Barnes, on hot stand-up bass.

Their music is richly polyrhythmic and soulfully melodic – soaring, fiery, haunting and joyful…this is the universal language; world music at it’s finest. Perfect for all audiences and ages!

———–

Not exactly White Center, but folks might be interested in attending this wonderful event.

At Cafe Rozella we have the opportunity to book some great acts.  Correo Aereo is, without hesitation, one of our favorite musical groups.  They will be peforming at Cafe Rozella this Friday, July 24th at 7 p.m. Admission is always free but we encourage you to bring a donation for the White Center Food Bank.

Correo Aereo Peforming

Correo Aereo, (Air Mail), are Austin Music Award winners now based in the NW. The Latin American/World music trio performs traditional and original music from Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico and beyond, combining a stunning array of string and percussive instruments with silken vocal harmonies described as “…locked in carnal embrace.” by the Austin Chronicle. Hailed for exciting musical virtuosity and profoundly moving performances through unknown landscapes of Latin America, their music is both viscerally ancient and vibrantly contemporary. Abel Rocha plays Venezuelan and Mexican harp, guitar, cuatro, quinta huapanguera and vocals. Madeleine Sosin offers violins, maracas, bombo, jarana, quijada and vocals. They are joined by ‘young lion’ Evan Flory Barnes, on hot stand-up bass.

Their music is richly polyrhythmic and soulfully melodic – soaring, fiery, haunting and joyful…this is the universal language; world music at it’s finest. Perfect for all audiences and ages!

For those who want to learn more about the band: http://www.correoaereo.com/lofi/reviews.html

3 pm today, The Not-Its play Full Tilt Ice Cream on 16th SW. Here’s the – pardon the pun – scoop. (But first, of course, it’s parade time, 1 pm!)

Children of the Revolution Trio

Expect a full house and lots of energy when the group Children of the Revolution perform at Cafe Rozella.

Performance starts at 7 p.m., Friday June 26th at Cafe Rozella

“When you go to a Children of the Revolution show, you might as well leave your preconceptions about world music at the door” wrote Tina Potterf of the Seattle Times. Fans will usually say something like, “That was the best live show Ive ever been to; I don’t quite know how to describe it.” From Bozeman Montana to the caves of Granada, Spain, from Istanbul to Taiwan, COTR make life-long fans wherever they go.

They can loosely be compared to such breakaway and high-energy world music artists such as Ozomatli, Gipsy Kings, Santana, Manu Chau and the Afro Celt Sound System, but all similarities stop there. Made up of virtuoso musicians, singers and dancers from around the world, COTR blend their Flamenco, Greek, and Rock roots creating, a lush and melodic sound driven by infectious Latin and Middle-Eastern grooves.

The group is fronted by lead singer Vassili, who grew up on the Greek Islands, and former metal head turned flamenco guitarist Eric Jaeger. Sharing the spotlight is Barcelona-born flamenco dancer Encarnación. Their electrifying and sexy concerts showcase outstanding musicianship and songwriting with world-class dance performances. Both world music aficionados and those new to the genre agree – COTR puts on one of the most unifying and entertaining shows in the world.

Cafe Rozella
9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, WA  98106
(206) 763-5805
guarnero@caferozella.com

http://twitter.com/caferozella

www.caferozella.com