Growing up splitting time between south suburban Chicago and a lake in Southwest Michigan, Brian Bovenizer has always felt the push and pull of the city and the country. This dynamic is apparent in the lyrics and in the airy western groove of the band. While packing the traditional instruments you might find from many country bands, (pedal steel, twangy lead guitar, upright bass and drums) the Koala Cowboys take a loose, off-center approach to the genre.

Residing in Astoria, OR since 2009, Bovenizer has found a peace of mind and home near the ocean. Studying the songwriting style and wit derived from artists such as John Prine and Dr. Hook (Shel Silverstein), Brian has teamed up with a heavy-handed, light-hearted band that carries a vibe the like of masters, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen.

Together, with James Greenan (Cedar Shakes), Jeff Munger (Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside), Luke Ydstie (BP, Hook & Anchor, and also Luke Ydstie) and Olaf Ydstie, the band looks to put out their first recordings early this Summer.

Barna Howard was born and raised in a quintessential Midwest town. His youth in Eureka, Missouri was pure Americana – the sort of childhood that inspired E.T.-era Spielberg – baseball cards in his bicycle spokes, flying freely down Main Street and through neighbors’ backyards.

photo by Vincent Joseph

The songs on Barna Howard’s second album, Quite A Feelin’, ruminate on his relationship with home. Now entrenched in Portland, Oregon, many of the album’s tracks immortalize and reflect on the Eureka he once knew, while others focus on the relationships that define his new home out west. Small town life has long been celebrated in country and folk music, but Barna’s knack for capturing his own deeply personal nostalgia resonates in a rarely universal way.

“A delightfully intimate affair, Barna’s 2012 self-titled debut showcased an array of delicately finger picked odes to love and loss. Steeped in traditionalist folk of yesteryear, Howard’s voice and delivery echoing a young Dylan circa 1964 just before he made the leap from protest to (accidental) punk.” Rich Thane / 13 MAY 2015 – thelineofbestfit.com

Audios Amigos is an instrumental muscle car filled with guitars and hot sauce…

Audios Amigos are an instrumental, guitar fueled musical entity, who drive between the lanes of surf, country, latin, soundtrack, garage…etc etc. They consistently bring a high energy live show that will induce voluntary and involuntary movements of the arms, legs, and any other bodily attachments. They often wear mariachi or classic western inspired suits, however authentic suits are impossible to find in Portland Oregon (especially on a musician’s budget), so the band has made their own homespun versions. The Amigos love surf music, however they are not primarily a surf band, they traverse all styles of instrumental music with experience and reverence…they have shared the gigs with Red Fang, Sir Richard Bishop, Bob Log III, The Pork Torta, Pierced Arrows, Southern Culture on the Skids, The Reigning Sound, The Chop Tops…you get the picture, a wide berth of musical styles!

Bike Decorating Party

Bring your bicycle or decorate one of ours. We’ll have decor items but all are welcome to bring your own potential bike-bling if you have it too.

Baby Strollers, Skateboards, Unicycles, and Wagons can be decorated too!

Then join us on July 4th to, roll, walk, stride or stroll, in the July 4th Seaview Neighborhood Parade at 10am. For the July 4th parade: meet at the Sou’wester at 9:45am or at the start of the parade in Seaview on 34th and K. FUN! Free and Open to the public. Activity for Adults and Parent Guided-Kids.

Welcome Lonesome Leash opening for Nick Jaina.

Nick Jaina is a musician and writer from Portland, Oregon. His most recent album, Primary Perception, was released in April 2013 on Fluff and Gravy Records. As the Portland Mercury said, “I’d feel embarrassed describing Nick Jaina as a genius outright, and I’m sure he’d hate that too, but it’s so tempting– because he is so clearly the real deal.” He is a co-founder and musical director of the Satellite Ballet and Collective in New York City. He has composed the music for three ballets and three contemporary dances with that group, featuring dancers from the New York City Ballet, Ten Hairy Legs, and Juilliard, performing at the Baryshnikov Center and the Joyce Theater. Their most recent performance was two sold-out shows at Brooklyn Academy of Music in May 2014. Of that show, the New York Times wrote, “[The] pure, pungent, earthy music for strings, piano, and percussion… was the most physically bracing part of the night.” He released his first book, Get It While You Can, a work of non-fiction, through Perfect Day Publishing in January 2015. It is a finalist for the 2016 Oregon Book Awards.

Lonesome Leash is the solo moniker of Los Angeles-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Walt McClements. Known for previous involvement in Dark Dark Dark, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship?, McClements, as Lonesome Leash, channels all of his musical experiences into a lean and gorgeously messy solo affair.

Acclaimed songwriter Catherine Feeny met jazz drummer Chris Johnedis after recording her rebellious fourth solo album. She had just come back from the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York, and he was returning from 2 years of working and studying in Thailand. The two hit it off, and Johnedis helped translate the varied rhythms of “America” — which ran the gamut between vintage drum machine sounds and captured field recordings — into a live show setting.
Two years later, working with producers Sebastian Rogers (Floetry) and Sheldon Gomberg (Ben Harper, Ricki Lee Jones), in a live four-day session in Silverlake, CA the two create a universe of sound that is sparse and propulsive, yet playful, for their eponymous debut as a duo.
Catherine’s career as a solo artist began with Joe Purdy recording her first album, a self-titled affair that garnered acclaim for its compelling songwriting and stark, nostalgic feel. The album won Feeny an audience in Belgium where it was championed by French-language radio station Classic 21.
However it is Feeny’s second album, 2005′s “Hurricane Glass,” for which she is best known. The song “Mr. Blue” was picked up by KCRW in LA, and later featured in “Running with Scissors,” “The O.C.,” and “Miss Conception.”  The attention won by “Hurricane Glass” resulted in the album being picked up by EMI Records.

Catherine is teaching a songwriting workshop here at the Sou’wester Tuesday July 12th, Wednesday July 13th and Thursday July 14th, so this performance will be a real treat.  Songwriting at its best.

Join us in Welcoming Invisible Familiars opening for Jolie Holland.

Over the span of her career, Jolie Holland has knotted together a century of American song—jazz, blues, soul, rock and roll—into some stew that is impossible to categorize with any conventional critical terminology. “Jolie Holland flows back and forth and in and out of genres like water trickling in a stream, from pedal steel cowgirl to smoky jazz diva, from soul and gospel devotee to indie chanteuse, all within the parameters of what we think of as the singer/songwriter tradition. She has a sensuous voice, marbled with a richness that’s utterly satisfying.” ~from Editors’ Notes – iTunes

Wine Dark Sea came out May 20th, 2014 on ANTI- Records.

Jolie Holland photo by Shervin Lainez Invisible Familiars photo by Nathan West

“Invisible Familiars’ debut album, Disturbing Wildlife, is out now! The band signed to Other Music this past spring, releasing the 7” single “Clever Devil” b/w “Digger’s Invitation” in June. Stereogum called it, “T. Rex in a funhouse of horrors,” advising, “Let it cast a spell on you.” Invisible Familiars is led by Jared Samuel, a New York City-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has long made his living playing music and supporting a variety of NYC artists – from Sharon Jones to Martha Wainwright, and most recently, Cibo Matto and the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger.” ~www.othermusicrecordingco.com

Come learn the art of healing with water and temperature applications! The uses of water in its various forms have been utilized as medicine in various cultures across the world, from the Chinese to the Greeks and Indigenous North Americans. This workshop includes a scientific overview of how water (as liquid, ice, and vapor) acts as a medicinal carrier of temperature, a group sauna and cold plunge, and discussion/practice of traditional folk remedies for home use. We will cover methods of reducing muscle pain, treating stress and insomnia, headaches, immune system enhancement and more.

$30 per person. Handouts included. Bring a bathing suit!

RSVP souwesterwellness@gmail.com OR call our front desk @ 360.642.2542

Space is limited to 8 folks

Let’s meet @ the wellness camper!

Join us in welcoming Espacio Flamenco to The Sou’wester!

BUILDING FLAMENCO HEARTS

Our goal is to create a space where flamenco arts and culture can be experienced, explored, learned and refined. We provide instruction, performance, and special events that encourage individual expression as well as collaboration and exchange among artists. We want to share our love of Flamenco with our community!

Brenna McDonald – Guitar
Randa BenAziz – Vocals
Lillie Last – Dance
Montserrat Andreys – Dance
Christina Lorentz – Dance/percussion
Nick Hutch – Cajon

Join us for an exploration into the worlds of two renowned medicinal mushrooms coexisting in the forests of Cascadia. This workshop includes: an introduction to the classification of fungi, identification techniques for Reishi and Turkey Tail (including distinctions from common look-a likes), an overview of the medicinal constituents of each species and their histories in healing, conscious and sustainable wild harvesting skills, as well as medicine making techniques for tinctures, balms, and teas.

$30. Includes handouts and a balm sample.

RSVP souwesterwellness@gmail.com OR call our front desk @ 360.642.2542

Space is limited to 10 folks

Let’s meet @ the wellness camper!