SOU’WESTER EVENTS!

Country music was not always about glitz, glamour and praising the red, white and blue. In its earliest inception, it was a means for communities and families to get together, quaff whiskey from jugs and mason jars, and share stories about the hardships of life. While most mainstream country artists like to ally themselves with “real” country, few of them come within a good squirt of tobacco juice of it.
Leave it to Portland, Ore.’s Lana Rebel to hit the mark. Dusty roadhouses and the front seats of beat-up Chevys are the landscapes for her broken hearted tales, delivered in a sweet alto with just enough instrumentation to keep it interesting. Don’t expect boot-kicking barnstormers here, or sassy odes to “redneck woman” power; these are love songs, and Lana knows that that is one four-letter word that often rides with hurt.
Lana avoids many of the clichés of country music, like annoying vocal inflections and clever turns of phrases that are just too predictable. Her music falls somewhere between The Virginian-era Neko Case and Mary Gauthier records. If sad songs don’t drive you to drinkin’, and if tales of woe don’t bring you down, this record will be your friend.

The Sou’wester is so excited to have these two ladies joining us!

Rebecca Clay Cole is a musician from Great Crossing, KY. She has played a multitude of keyboards, drums, and/or percussion instruments in many bands including The Minders, Wild Flag, Rebecca Gates & the Consortium, and Portland Cello Project. She currently plays keytar in Portland’s own Chanti Darling and keyboards in Seattle’s Telekinesis, in addition to performing and recording her own music as Clay Cole.

Rebecca Gates is a US based musician, curator, artist and audio editor. She has released five albums, three as leader of the critically acclaimed group The Spinanes (Sub Pop), toured internationally and appeared as a vocalist on numerous records by artists as wide ranging as The Decemberists and Willie Nelson. Her record Ruby Series was hailed by Spin Magazine as “warm, thoughtful, and melodically gorgeous.”

The forests of the Cascadian bioregion are rich with medicine, and there is never been a better time to discover and re-connect with these gifts of life and the grandeur of the natural world. In this workshop we will learn to identify specific trees, lichen, plants, and fungi that contain therapeutics beneficial for human health, learn how to responsibly harvest them, and make first aid products for home use. Participants will walk away with an overview of the ecology of healing with plant medicines, ID skills, and techniques for making wound sprays, liniments, and muscle balms.

$30 per person. Handouts and a take-home sample included.

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

Space is limited to 10 folks

Let’s meet @ the wellness camper!

A swing group from Portland, OR inspired by 1920s-40s swing, hot jazz, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli, Les Paul and Mary Ford. From Brazilian to Bebop to Bach, to Parisian musette waltzes; this Guitar and Cello fronted ensemble comes in a lot of combinations, additional players, and permutations but always employs the freedom and spirit of improvisation, a good time, and simply enjoying and loving life.

Sharing vocal and songwriting duties, Birger Olsen, Mike Elias and Tom Bevitori are the heart of Denver, while the rest of the line-up has long included several of Portland’s finest players. Currently, the band consists of drummer Sean MacNeil, bassist Billy Slater (Grails) and the legendary Lewi Longmire on lead guitar. Past and future editions include Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Earley and Michael Van Pelt, Ben Nugent (Dolorean), Ryan Spellman (Quiet Life), Ray Raposa (Castanets), Tom Menig and many others.

Paste praised their 2012 self-titled debut’s “perfect tunes,” while KEXP hosted a live session and proclaimed, “sweet harmonies and tight arrangements abound.” Statements like these become all the more relevant with their upcoming release, Rowdy Love, as Denver teamed up with Earley and Adam Selzer (M. Ward, Norfolk & Western) for their first trip to a proper studio. Recorded live in just two days at Selzer’s Type Foundry Studio, Rowdy Love certainly showcases all the endless chops at Denver’s disposal.

The record’s true focus, however, lies in the rare way Olsen, Elias and Bevitori’s distinct voices co-exist. There’s a natural melding of styles that’s evolved from afternoons on Olsen’s back porch, late night’s around Elias’ fire pit, and every last time they’ve nailed “The Weight” harmonies at the old Triple Nickel. Denver’s three songwriters may come to the process with varying style and influences, but Denver’s songwriting is universally honest and bare, whiskey-fueled, sweat-soaked, and steeped in working class life. Some might call it country. Some might call it rock. Some might call it a few drunks on a stage. Either way, bullshit and irony have no home here.

Tara Jane ONeil is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and visual artist.  She creates melodic and experimental music under her own name and in collaboration with her brilliant friends. Her recordings and live performances range from solo songing to noise improvisations. TJO has composed and performed music and sound for films, theater and dance performances, and written large and small ensemble experimental architectures.

Katy Davidson (formerly Dear Nora, Key Losers) writes and performs lyrically-driven experimental pop music that explores the liminal zones between reality and alt-realities.

Cynthia Nelson writes songs and sings them and plays them on instruments. in order of appearance: ruby falls, retsin, the naysayer, the sophie drinker music project, cynthia nelson, cynthia nelson band. new album forthcoming in 2016.

Geoff Soule lives in Portland, Oregon.

In this special event we will come together in a cooperative effort to educate ourselves and make healthy plans for minimizing stress, living fuller and healthier, with endurance and spacious awareness. As a group we will come together and learn how to create personal refuges based in stress prevention and relaxation techniques. A general overview of stress and anxiety in human health will be met with yoga techniques, breathing methods, recommendations for natural therapeutics, creative outlets, mindfulness meditation, a discussion on diet, grounding techniques, and more. Participants will walk away with a toolbox of resources of personal empowerment, allowing them to improve mood health with understanding and confidence.

$30 per person. Handouts included. Space limited to 10 people.

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

Space is limited to 10 folks

Let’s meet @ the wellness camper!

Bart Budwig doesn’t write the big songs. He writes the songs about the places between the hills, in the draws and hidden canyons where truth is a little more in focus, stories can take their time gettin’ told, heartbreak is a place of deep reflection, and melodies don’t have to wear rhinestone suits or drive new, shiny, cars to be beautiful. Bart’s also not afraid of working out of the spotlight- he engineered not only his own full-length Whiskey Girl (2012), but also albums and tours with Radiation City, Holiday Friends, Girlfriends, Misé, John Craigie, Edmund Wayne, and Mama Doll.

“Mike Midlo is a storyteller disguised as a musician. His latest project, MidLo, received a grant from Portland’s Regional Arts & Culture Council and was released on March 5, 2013.” www.getyourpitchforkon.wordpress.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!