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!
J. Graves
Live at The Sou’wester
Presented by Sou’wester Arts
Tense relationship rock, sanguine lyricism, chord changes like a secret longing, a rhythm section that thuds, skitters, and melts over the determined voice of Jessa Graves. The heat of the cataclysm gives off a vapor known to galvanize meatspace
into writhing, dancing heaps, creating rabid, loyal fans. Joined by Kelly Clifton, perhaps one of the best bassists, and the
unassuming Aaron MacDonald, who would be a watchmaker were he not a drummer, J. Graves is back with a crushing new LP FORTRESS OF FUN, a first of it’s kind choose your own adventure record.
Noah Kite
Live at The Sou’wester
Presented by Sou’wester Arts
The son of an acting coach and a therapist, Kite seems to have it in his DNA to blend the dramatic and analytic. Each musical wave crest and fall mirrors a turn in the story. Instruments rest for minutes before suddenly emerging. Emotions and motifs sustain and then drop into oblivion. The tone switches suddenly from accusation to epiphany. It is the sound of someone going through it.
Alongside the musical tumult, the steady voice of Kite never loses his cool despite the searing intimacy of the song’s content. He thoughtfully guides us through the story of his relationship, in as well as struggles with friends, substances, sex and codependency. He has been clearly affected by the proceedings, but is determined to stare into them without blinking.
Maria DeHart
Live at The Sou’wester
Presented by Sou’wester Arts
Since her early days of musical performance, Maria DeHart has been on a continuous journey of building her sound. Starting in 2018, the Portland, Oregon-based artist has traveled through a few distinct phases, going from acoustic songwriter to loop-pedal expert to full band frontperson. Her newest release, an EP called “Win Some, Lose Everyone” on the east coast-based indie label Self Aware Records, is a brief yet strong run of filled-out songs that signals a development in DeHart’s self-actualization. While prepping for its release, DeHart came to the realization that this would be the perfect time to adopt an official name for her project, Myriads, which nowadays includes much collaboration and feels significantly bigger than just herself.
Recorded mostly in her bedroom and a backyard practice space belonging to her bandmate and partner Sean Cooper, the four tracks that make up the EP build off of her acoustic beginnings and introduce a heavier and fuller sound to DeHart’s musical repertoire. She enlisted emo legend Peter Helmis, a good friend and musical collaborator, to mix the tracks and Chris Baglivo, a Philly-based audio engineer, musician, and producer, to master them. Her production choices are no coincidence; DeHart’s music has a place in the universe of today’s emo and shoegaze revival. In the sharp, overdriven guitar riffs and verbed-out vocals, you can hear her influences– there are distinct nods to bands like Tigers Jaw, Pity Sex, and Turnover. Above all, in her authentically vulnerable lyrics and thoughtful storytelling, she pays homage to the work of today’s influential femme artists, including Snail Mail, Waxahatchee, Phoebe Bridgers, and Wednesday.
DeHart is proud to be a part of the world of non-male musicians writing thoughtful and heartfelt music that communicates strength and badassery. At the same time, she writes about the struggle of living with a marginalized identity; in the EP’s concluding track, “Whore,” she explores the reality of navigating relationships as a sex worker. Her lyrics hit like a truck; during the musical and emotional climax of the track, she laments, “Thought that nobody would want me / worn out body, I’m a whore.” DeHart’s intentional emotional transparency, sometimes painfully honest and always woven together with meticulously layered instrumentation, compels listeners to enter a dreamy, introspective space that encourages them to open up, explore, and just rock out.
Jan 6 – Feb 9
Basic Handbuilding Workshop Series: “In the Kitchen”
w/Shelly Hedges $250
Make your own dinnerware, serving platters, and storage containers in this beginning handbuilding class. Demonstrations will include slab-building, coil techniques, press molds, and glazing methods.
Includes:
- One 25lb bag of clay.
- Open studio access for the duration of class.
Saturdays, 10a – 1p
- Jan 6th – Place Settings
- Jan 13th – Serving Bowls & Platters
- Jan 20th – Lidded Jars and Utensil Crocks
- Jan 27th – Pitchers & creamers
- Feb 3rd – Glazing
- + Friday Feb 9th – Potluck Show & Tell! 6-8p
Location: Ilwaco Artworks
Tomo Nakayama Live at the Sou’wester
“When music journalists say things like ‘this artist is a fixture in Seattle music,’ there’s probably no one right now who fits that title better than Nakayama.” – KEXP
Born in Japan and raised in Seattle, Washington, Tomo Nakayama is an artist whose melodic, complex and emotionally compelling music has been praised by NPR, New York Times, and The Stranger. Beginning as frontman of the indie rock bands Asahi and Grand Hallway and a successful solo career spanning two decades as a singer, songwriter, composer, producer, actor, and curator, Nakayama has become one of the most active and recognizable figures in Seattle music.
After the critically acclaimed indie-folk albums “Fog on the Lens” and “Pieces of Sky” (named “Best Folk Act” by Seattle Weekly), Nakayama surprised his fans by releasing his latest album “Melonday” (on Porchlight Records), a collection of instantly memorable and undeniably danceable synthpop songs. Co-produced by Yuuki Matthews (The Shins, Sufjan Stevens) and mastered by Dave Cooley (M83, Paramore, Tame Impala), “Melonday” was named one of the Top Albums of the year by Seattle Times, KEXP, and Seattle Met Magazine, and debuted at #1 on KEXP’s NW Charts. The following year he composed the music for Megan Griffith’s feature film “I’ll Show You Mine” and the KUOW podcast “Ten Thousand Things” hosted by Shin Yu Pai, and collaborated on a song with Dave Matthews for SMASH (Seattle Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare).
Nakayama has toured across the US and Japan, sharing the stage with Built to Spill, Thao, Cornelius, Daði Freyr, Fleet Foxes, Michael Hurley, Sons of Kemet, Ben Gibbard, Fruit Bats, Damien Jurado, Buffalo Daughter, Wye Oak, and Shugo Tokumaru. He has performed and collaborated with Sera Cahoone, Jherek Bischoff, Jeremy Enigk (of Sunny Day Real Estate), and experimental dance company Malacarne. He also composed music and appeared as an actor in the Lynn Shelton film “Touchy Feely” with Elliot Page and Rosemarie DeWitt. A former Artist in Residence at Seattle’s Town Hall, his sound installations and compositions have also been featured at the Museum of Northwest Art and Wing Luke Museum.
Jan 6 – Feb 9
Basic Handbuilding Workshop Series: “In the Kitchen”
w/Shelly Hedges $250
Make your own dinnerware, serving platters, and storage containers in this beginning handbuilding class. Demonstrations will include slab-building, coil techniques, press molds, and glazing methods.
Includes:
- One 25lb bag of clay.
- Open studio access for the duration of class.
Saturdays, 10a – 1p
- Jan 6th – Place Settings
- Jan 13th – Serving Bowls & Platters
- Jan 20th – Lidded Jars and Utensil Crocks
- Jan 27th – Pitchers & creamers
- Feb 3rd – Glazing
- + Friday Feb 9th – Potluck Show & Tell! 6-8p
Location: Ilwaco Artworks
Nevada Sowle Live at the Sou’wester
You’d expect most musicians from Northern Idaho to be immovably rooted in folk, country, and Americana stylings, but Nevada Sowle doesn’t let that landlocked positioning define his sound. Constantly seeking to find new tones both acoustic & electronic, unique yet familiar, Sowle’s catalogue fits most snuggly into the category of Pop – but don’t let that word deter you if you’re a stickler for quality lyrical content and well-thought-out composition. Having spent the past few years recording and touring the west coast with acts like Bart Budwig, Desolation Horse, MAITA, Joseph Hein, and An American Forrest, Sowle has found time in between green rooms and sound booths to develop a style that will help define the sound and style of the Pacific Northwest.
Jan 6 – Feb 9
Basic Handbuilding Workshop Series: “In the Kitchen”
w/Shelly Hedges $250
Make your own dinnerware, serving platters, and storage containers in this beginning handbuilding class. Demonstrations will include slab-building, coil techniques, press molds, and glazing methods.
Includes:
- One 25lb bag of clay.
- Open studio access for the duration of class.
Saturdays, 10a – 1p
- Jan 6th – Place Settings
- Jan 13th – Serving Bowls & Platters
- Jan 20th – Lidded Jars and Utensil Crocks
- Jan 27th – Pitchers & creamers
- Feb 3rd – Glazing
- + Friday Feb 9th – Potluck Show & Tell! 6-8p
Location: Ilwaco Artworks
Jan 20 & 21
Sculpted Hats: Wet Felted Millinery Workshop (FULL)
w/Mikal Robinson $100
Working with Pacific Northwest grown wool roving and olive oil soap, each student will shape and create a custom felted hat. Learn how to make a hood pattern and felt in 3D using a wet resist. Blocking and shaping will be done with the assistance of a variety of unique hat molds to choose from. As well as your head. Make sure to bring dry extra clothes. This class will clean everything but potentially leave your sleeves and collar a little water logged. Olive oil soap makes this felting class a good choice for sensitive skin or allergies.
- Saturday 2-6p
- Sunday 12-4p
Location: Sou’wester Lodge Pavilion
Mikal Robinson is a queer alterly abled inspired felter, fiber artist, and educator. The lead instructor for Feral Felt and Wild Child Arts Education for over 17 years. Creating containers for shared learning and enthusiasm wherever they roam.
They have been sharing their love of hand crafts and honoring them as a fine art since childhood. Always encouraging people to remember the vital importance of supporting and maintaining our fibersheds.
Reminding us that clothing is the shelter we wear. A long known way to communicate visually and embody one’s culture and identity. Always an opportunity for adornment.
To learn more about their classes, workshops, camps, afterschool programs, hand hammered jewelry and fiber art check out www. feralfinearts.com
Girlgoyle: Live at the Sou’wester
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC