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!
Rebecca Sanborn began writing songs at age six, starting an early pattern of straying creatively from sheet music. Her piano instructor taught her to write the music down, which seemed like a magical power. She also fell in love with theatre and writing, pursuing all of these arts with equal passion. Rebecca got her first agent at age ten and landed starring roles in commercials. One director hired her on the spot because she had a voice “like Lauren Bacall”. In High School she would wake at 5 am to jump rope in the driveway and then pound out short works of fiction on the typewriter in the garage so as not to wake anyone. The love affair with stories and music continued and at eighteen, she left her native Portland, Oregon to study at The College of Santa Fe, in New Mexico—majoring in Theatre and immersing herself in the free, unpredictable world of the Contemporary Music Program. Every Thursday night a Forum was held where new music was emphatically encouraged. Rebecca had found her home. She studied under the experimental composers Joseph Weber and Peter Gordon and was moulded by Martha Graham’s personal demonstrator, Juanita Barry, in rigorous modern dance classes for four years.
Upon returning to the Northwest after college, Rebecca met her husband and musical partner, drummer Ji Tanzer. They are both members of the adventurous jazz quintet, Blue Cranes, the art pop trio, Swansea, and Portland’s veteran indie group, Loch Lomond. Rebecca and Ji also starred in the film “Light of Mine”, which garnered a coveted spot at the A.F.I. Fest in 2011. “Light of Mine” was the only independent film from The States to be included in the festival. Rebecca plays in the all-female, cape-wearing, fog-machine-loving synth trio, Eccoh Eccoh Eccoh with Kyleen King (Brandi Carlile) and Jenny Conlee-Drizos (The Decemberists).
In 2021, Rebecca was invited to write an original set of music for the Montavilla Jazz Fest—composing and arranging eight songs in two months. She performed these tunes with her long-time mentor and hero, pianist Randy Porter, bassist Jon Shaw, and of course, Ji Tanzer. The work now stands as a collective entitled “Shadow Work”. Several pieces have since been arranged by Douglas Detrick, and were performed at the 2022 Montavilla Jazz Fest with the 12-piece Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble as a part of “The Heroine’s Journey” – an evening with Marilyn Keller, Darrell Grant, and Rebecca Sanborn. In 2023, Rebecca was awarded a RACC grant to record “Shadow Work”.
Throughout all of the years of hard touring and performing, Rebecca never lost touch with the written word. She earned a spot in the highly competitive Tin House Winter Workshop in 2016, mentoring under Mitchell S. Jackson. She has completed five novels and continues to work on her literary, musical, or theatrical craft on a daily basis. When Rebecca isn’t engaged in art or teaching, she can be found chasing after her costume-obsessed five-year-old daughter or trying to get some sleep.
Community Clay Play
Work with pottery clay and tools to create a finished piece of your own!
REGISTER TO ATTEND
$20/person, includes firing & glazing one item. Additional $10+ per piece 6 inches+. Must prepay to attend Clay Play.
All ages are welcome. Come bond with family or friends!
Location:
109 1st Ave N Ilwaco, WA
(across from City Hall & next to Roots)
QUADRAPHONIC + ACUPUNCTURE + SOUND BATH
AUGUST 31 • 7PM
Featuring Sonic Ceremonies with Dr. Kade Rose (they/them) of Celestial Window Restorative Arts.
Harmonize your body with the healing waves of a sound bath combined with the flow of intuitive acupuncture.
- $88 WITH ACUPUNCTURE
- $44 SOUND BATH ONLY
Join us along with certified acupuncturist, Kade Rose, here at the Sou’wester Thursday August 31st for a unique wellness experience. This event will be held in our spacious Pavilion on the grounds of the beautiful Sou’wester and will be open to 15 participants. 8 reservations will be for a sound bath and acupuncture combination where Kade will be performing intuitive acupuncture while the sounds of her polyphonic analogue synthesizer offer deep relaxation and realignment. The remaining 7 reservations are for sound bath only where you can lay in a state of deep relaxation while the sound waves wash over you.The event will be an hour and a half long and we request you bring your yoga mats, blankets, pillows or anything that will make you more comfortable laying on the floor for an extended period of time. We are very excited to welcome you all to join us in wellness.
Olivia Awbrey Live
Presented by Sou’wester Arts
Olivia Awbrey is a weathered songwriter based out of Oregon. Her debut full-length album, Dishonorable Harvest, gained international recognition amongst independent music enthusiasts and earned her a spot at festivals across the Northwest and in Canada. Flood Magazine notes that, “each of Awbrey‘s songs is an intricate story in itself.” An old-soul folk musician with a modern indie lens, Awbrey reflects on nuanced perspectives within conflict, drawing from the buttressing of urban and rural settings, searching for an honest moment that cuts through the noise of assumptions. She recently began pressing vinyl by hand. Her next album is forthcoming.
Live at The Sou’wester
All About Sauerkraut Workshop:
How to make it, eat it, and why it rules
w/ Sash Sunday $68
Sash will briefly explain what sauerkraut is and the science of lacto-fermentation. You’ll get to help make a batch of sauerkraut and get some to take home to ferment. Then she’ll demonstrate a few recipes that incorporate raw ferments that will help you get more probiotics into your diet and more razzle-dazzle into your cooking.
LIVE AT THE SOU’WESTER
Lindsay Clark
Presented by Sou’wester Arts
Lindsay Clark finds balance between traditional folk, English folk, country and her own version of experimental folk that seems to come from within. With influences ranging from the Beach Boys, Elizabeth Cotton, Joni Mitchell, Appalachian folk, her classical upbringing and her father’s record collection, she blends many worlds into a uniquely warm sound. She has carved out a unique and vibrant place as an artist with her penchant for poetry, rich harmony and a style of self-taught fingerpicking influenced by Nick Drake, John Fahey, and others.
Originally from the small gold rush town of Nevada City, CA, she now resides in Portland, OR. She has shared the stage with musicians such as Alela Diane, Adam Torres, Nat Baldwin (Dirty Projectors), Ryan Francesconi (Joanna Newsom), Jolie Holland, and Michael Hurley. Her sound has been described as “folk with angelic vocals washing over smooth edges” (1859 Magazine), with her recent album Carpe Noctem called “stunning” by NPR Music. The album features William Tyler, Alela Diane, Sage Fisher (Dolphin Midwives), & Andy Rayborn (Paper Gates) and was engineered, co-produced, co-arranged with Jeremy Harris (Fruit Bats / Hand Habits). She has also recently contributed to Michael Hurley’s latest release, Time of the Foxgloves.
Spektrum Tea Service with Nick Jaina
MUSIC, STORIES, TEA & COLOR IMMERSION
Nick Jaina hosts a special hour of conversation, tea, color immersion, music, and reading from his new book SPEKTRUM. Every session is different because the guests bring their own excitement and hesitation, and the color for each hour is determined by a randomly selected card. If you are interested in giving a scrub to every cell of your body, rearranging your mindset, and connecting to humanity, this is the place you need to be.
The Sou’Wester sessions will take place in a vintage trailer and will be limited to 7 guests per session.
Advance tickets only. $25/person. Available sessions are:
Tea services start promptly on time, so please arrive ten minutes early.
Spektrum Tea Service with Nick Jaina
MUSIC, STORIES, TEA & COLOR IMMERSION
Nick Jaina hosts a special hour of conversation, tea, color immersion, music, and reading from his new book SPEKTRUM. Every session is different because the guests bring their own excitement and hesitation, and the color for each hour is determined by a randomly selected card. If you are interested in giving a scrub to every cell of your body, rearranging your mindset, and connecting to humanity, this is the place you need to be.
The Sou’Wester sessions will take place in a vintage trailer and will be limited to 7 guests per session.
Advance tickets only. $25/person. Available sessions are:
Tea services start promptly on time, so please arrive ten minutes early.