SOU’WESTER EVENTS!
Discover what’s happening during your next stay or plan a visit around our free live music, workshops, wellness offerings and more!
Participants will learn the basics of block printing on fabric including designing, carving, and printing. You will troubleshoot common problems in relief printmaking, learn about brands and tools, and leave with finished prints on fabric. Please bring your own fabric item which can include yardage, tshirts, scarves, or anything else that is relatively smooth. Avoid fabrics such as burlap.
Ashley Quick is a visual artist based in the mountain west. Her graphic and often illustrative work represents personal experience and place-based reflections on nature in mediums such as printmaking, illustration, and more recently mural. She shows regularly in Wyoming and Colorado, and has been featured in shows across the country.
Palm Sunday is a genre bending Portland based band spearheaded by songwriter Merle Law. They started this project in Atlanta GA in 2018 where they recorded the lofi debut EP “Wishful Thinking” later released in New Orleans LA. They are currently cooking up their first full length album recorded entirely to tape in Portland, OR. The counter jazz rhythms overlap with timeless ethereal songwriting. The effect of being elevated by something familiar. The melancholy, unconventional rhythm and tropical elements carry one another.
Jonny G and the Music Factory is a Hard Rock and Roll (some times soft) music group from
the PNW.
she began writing her first songs, influenced by indie & soul scene, mostly outside of Israel.
She listened to bands such as Radiohead and Modest Mouse amongst others, slowly developing her musical taste and honing her own style.
Since the release of her EP Keren’s songs were played in the famous radio show in London ‘Get In Her Ears’ and a lot of writers all over wrote about her music.
Starting as a solo musician from late 2017 to 2021, Darla Rae (front person of Craetorus) has been making moves to push for inclusivity and diversity in the music scene since. Their lyrics are described as contemplative, with tinges of catchiness, but enough to leave you with catharsis and a yearning for self reflection. Musically sounding in the likes of jazz, r&b, psychedelia, prog rock and avant garde indie, they’ve somehow made a conglomeration of it all to make Craetorus’ sound distinct of others. Releasing their first single, “Ivy” in April of 2019, they’ve been on the path to musical discovery since with the recent support in May of 2022 from Jon Garber, Lychen Gipaya, Ryan Anthony Brooks, Nico Mitchell and Danilo Martinez. Catch them soon with an EP release in 2023 titled, “Odes”.
Eelgrass is a marine flowering plant that helps store carbon, reduce erosion and provide shelter and spawning areas for a host of marine wildlife in bays and estuaries across the globe, including right here in Willapa Bay. Eelgrass is also the name of a longtime musical collaboration between Lara Pacheco, Dan Swenson, Bobby Hayden and Todd Summers. They play folky-tonk-pop with psychedelic vibes and call Portland, Oregon home.
Kendall Lujan: Presented by Sou’wester
The striking talents of rising Portland talent Kendall Lujan will be impossible to miss in the coming year. Her indie-operatic voice stratifies songs through octave runs, making moody, melodic folk rock. Early 2023 we’ll have her first EP. To rise out of Portland’s flush music scene is no easy feat, Lujan has been making herself heard by singing harmonies in AC Sapphire’s backing band The Shoulderpads and now with a new duo with AC called “Caliko”.
In her latest project Lujan steps out in front of the band. Many folks introduction to Lujan will be “Another”, a song of lingering desire that floats Lujan’s vocal range over a small symphony of archtop guitar and strings. Her strengthy voice –which ranges from mountain holler to bird-like warble, seems to hang in the air. She sings a song about retracing steps to the point where love was lost, and resolves to regain that trail in another life.
Lujan opens the moody “Dot My I’s” solo, fingerpicking guitar, giving us a chance to hear her commanding voice. Layered vocals and gentle driven drums join Lujan in a pocket groove. Enjoy her lyricism as she asks “how can these memories be so sweet, and other times only sting?”Lujan comes to Portland from the upper-left-most corner of rural Washington. She’s had bands before but the time of the pandemic created an opportunity for Lujan to do things differently. She moved to Portland, and saw the isolation of relocation and lockdown as a chance to really dig into her own songs. The trained piano player picked up a guitar.
Lujan’s song’s concentrate on growing up, and figuring it out, and she turns experience into a story to make the point. The natural singer and songwriter put together a band with Micah Hummel (drums) Sam Arnold (bass) and recorded at the Map Room in Portland with Dominik Schmidt producing.
Lujan is peaking on “Forget Me Knots” , a crossover capable song incorporating elements of country, indie, folk, and pop. Crooning clearly over vibrato, reverb, pedal steel asking, romantically, “how long will it take for you to be sitting next to me?” with a release date of February 10th.
Lujan’s first self titled, EP Kendall Lujan is out march 2023.
~ Sean Jewell
American Standard Time Records
Matt Mitchell Music Company is an original Americana/Folk/Rock project hailing from the Pacific Northwest. Matt‘s songs are deeply heartfelt, original and engaging. The lyrics are the heart and soul of the tunes; informing the arrangements to create compelling and relatable narratives. Stylistically the songs are reminiscent of “The Band”, leaning heavily on harmony, soulful grooves and psychedelic lead guitar. MMMC performs in a variety of formats; solo acoustic, acoustic duo or trio and a rockin’ full band.
This class is currently full.
Learn the basics of handbuilding with clay and experiment using “nerikomi” techniques – the process of pressing or folding multiple colors of clay to achieve unique surface designs. This class is beginner friendly and includes all the tools you need, clay, glaze, and firing of one or two finished pieces.
Ally Bruser is a former elementary school art teacher, artist, and mother living in southwest Washington, on the unceded territory of the Chinook Nation. Most of her ceramics are handbuilt using nerikomi techniques — the process of pressing and folding multiple colors of clay together then rolling them into slabs. When not making pottery, Ally is working towards making the arts and arts learning experiences more accessible as the Program Manager for Sou’wester Arts. Visit albepottery.squarespace.com or follow @albepottery on instagram to learn more about Ally and her pottery process.
$70
Forest Veil is the solo work of Portland, Oregon multi-instrumentalist/producer Monica Metzler. Following the echoes of her elusive muse, Forest Veil makes mystical psych-folk that maps the emotional terrain of humanity and its place in the cosmos. Melding a voice that sounds like smokey quartz with psychedelic guitar riffs and enigmatic lyricism, Forest Veil’s sound evokes a haunting nostalgia for other worlds. Though she primarily writes on her own, Forest Veil records and performs with others. An avid guitarist for over 20 years, Forest Veil’s music showcases virtuosic guitar shredding and dynamic musicality. Forest Veil’s music has been placed in Coach ads, movies, and TV shows such as Blacklist.
We Hold the Light: Cyanotype Quilts with Cordy Joan
In this workshop we will use two practices that ask us to interact with natural light to create miniature “secret” quilts. First, participants will be guided in making cyanotypes out of gathered natural materials from the land. (That is, cyanotyping as a method of sun-printing that requires us to relate to the light). These will serve as their mini-quilt tops. Second, participants will be guided through a series of writing prompts to find words that they will cut into quilt batting to create the middle of the quilt. This interacts with light in that when your finished quilt is held up to a light source, your batting-cut words will be revealed like secret messages. Quilt backs will be provided and we will complete our pieces using a simple hand-tie method.
Cordy (they/them) is a white artist and educator living on Ohlone land (Oakland, CA). They wish to find where poems and quilts hold hands and they are interested in what we will leave behind. They think that making communal objects together can be an act of relearning how to be together. For more info visit corduroyjoan.com or @coanofsilence on instagram
$65