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!
!mindparade (unplugged) : Presented by Sou’wester Arts
!mindparade is a psychedelic/experimental project that formed in Bloomington, Indiana. Originally the solo bedroom project of Alex Arnold, the live show and recordings are fleshed out by a revolving cast of musicians utilizing electronics and orchestration. !mindparade’s beautiful cacophony of bombast is pleasantly bewildering. Wild flourishes of dreamy psychedelic instrumentation zoom past you in all directions like standing in the middle of a busy intersection.
Currently based in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Jeremy James Meyer: Presented by Sou’wester Arts
Jeremy James Meyer is an artificer of song. A songwriter’s songwriter. He crafts redemptive songs full of woody rock ‘n’ roll tones. His deep, penetrating voice has a wide range, and is especially captivating in his droning, lower register. He spent the last decade drifting around, a tool belt troubadour, working carpentry by day, bringing folk music to the people at night. As with most well traveled songwriters it’s hard to tell where the road ends and Jeremy James Meyer begins. His songs seamlessly blend plain-language and poetic lyricism. They wander from personal truth to outlaw legends. He’s capable of cathartic protest songs, cosmic country canticles, and dive bar sing-a-longs. Whenever, and however your path crosses with Jeremy James Meyer’s (and it will) prepare for an enchanting, psychedelic trip through cosmic American music.
“Alive and OK by Jeremy James Meyer is a lesson in what country music can be. This is not the pop country of Nashville. This is real country music with stories and melodies that keep the listener engaged. Whether it’s a foot stomper or a song made for slow dancing, Meyer delivers songs that will get you moving.”
“Last year was a devastating time for fans of Americana, country, and pretty much anyone who loved a well-written song with the passing of Walker, Prine and Billy Joe Shaver all in the span of six months. It’s heartening though to know there is another generation of talented singers and songwriters eschewing current trends and fads and focusing simply on writing timeless, relatable music agnostic of specific genres. Meyer is certainly one of those acolytes to the greats, alongside peers like Todd Snider and Hayes Carll carrying that tradition into the future.”
Bijoux Cone: Presented by Sou’wester Arts
Bijoux Cone (Formerly Bryson Cone) is a visual artist, filmmaker, musician and producer based out of Portland OR. Bijoux Cone’s debut album “Magnetism” was released February 19 on LA based label Cleopatra Records. Her forthcoming sophomore album is pending release.
Bijoux Cone’s music explores themes of love, loss and identity paired with lush melodramatic synth pop and disco synth grooves.
The live band includes/has included members such as:
Bijoux Cone (FKA Bryson Cone, Reptaliens, Gary Wilson & The Blind Dates),
Hannah Blilieh (The Gossip, Chromatics), Bambi Browning (Reptaliens, Blouse),
Ben Steinmetz (Kyle Craft), Thomas Mabus (Reptaliens, Wampire),
Chris Hoganson (Fur Coats, Wampire) and Cat Hoch (Blackwater Holylight).
Jed Crisologo : Presented by Sou’wester Arts
Jed Crisologo is a soulful Seattle singer- songwriter, who mixes Americana, Punk Rock and Soul influences into heartfelt, catchy, honest tunes. His introspective and thoughtful songwriting sets an honest, alive and intensely human core to their songs. This combination of earnestness and swagger creates a sound that travels from wonderfully noisy and ambient to stripped down and raw, from raucous and bombastic to swinging and groovy all while emphasizing the truth and humanity in the songs.
Nick Delffs : Presented by Sou’wester Arts
Nick Delffs grew up in Mendocino County, a lawless stretch of coastline that’s hard to get to and, for many, hard to escape. Nick did — emerging in the early aughts as the frontman for Portland band The Shaky Hands, whose sharp, jittery rock was anchored by Nick’s quavering vocals and questing lyrics. The Shaky Hands were mainstays of Portland on the verge of a major shift, and they rode that shift a while, signing to Kill Rock Stars and touring internationally with some of the bigger names in indie rock. But a hiatus in 2011 became indefinite and Nick Delffs was once again cast into the world: working as a sideman, releasing solo records, doing manual labor, going deeper into his spiritual practices, and, crucially, becoming a father.
Becoming a parent can affect different artists in different ways. Nick rode that change with surpassing grace and maturity. 2017’s Redesign, his first full-length under his own name, reflected the transition. In “Song for Aja”, Nick touched on other concerns familiar to those who follow his work: love of the natural world; longing for spiritual and physical connection; the desire to suffer with meaning and exult with abandon, to embrace somehow the world in its maddening contradictions and find the unity at the core.
Childhood Pastimes, his second release on Mama Bird Recording Co., is both more focused and, despite being technically an EP, more ambitious. It’s a four-song cycle — one song with many movements or four songs that bleed into one another, depending on how you hear it — that can be viewed either as a personal journey or an archetypal passage of a human being through four discrete stages: roughly, the movement from childhood innocence into adolescent adventure (The Escape); the sudden immersion into a life of discovery and excitement (The Dream); the first experience of romantic love, followed by the onset of heartbreak, dissolution, breakdown of self (The Affair); the emergence into a new way of thinking, a fresh perspective that encompasses all the suffering and joy into a balanced whole (The Outside).
Nick plays nearly all of the instruments here and the result is a unified aesthetic, born ultimately of his deep-seated love of rhythm: the thrum and throb of the acoustic guitars, the percussive melodic bang of the elegantly-crafted piano lines, and always, always the insistent, driving drums, propelling the record, and the listener, on this journey as the four tracks bleed into one another, one body, one blood, one beating heart. The concept of four songs that are really one suite of music requires a sure hand, and Nick’s never shakes: the way the songs blend together while retaining their distinctiveness — from the poppy exaltation of “The Escape” to the cold intensity, almost like an acoustic Kraftwerk, of “The Affair” — shows a songwriter and musician who has fully grown into his powers.
Those who have followed Nick’s career may see this as a culmination of years and years of honing and fine-tuning his bountiful gifts, and wonder with delight what might come next. For those who haven’t listened to Nick before, Childhood Pastimes is the perfect entry point, a distillation of what’s come before and the promise of a new beginning.
4th Annual ARTS WEEK!
During Arts Week The Sou’wester hosts 30-35 artists and art collectives for a week of residency work culminating in a weekend (Friday and Saturday) of music, studio tours, performances and installations.
Over the past 9 years we have held an event around this time of year to highlight the creative process and the experiential nature of the Sou’wester Residency Program. Each year this event brings amazing artists to this neck of the woods and shines creative light into the darkest heart of winter.
The focus of Arts Week 2023 is SHIFTING CYCLES:
“Our reliance on a known occurrence has been disrupted. This shift is replacing existing patterns and problems. Collective action and individual insight paving our path forward.”
On the weekend, Friday and Saturday March 17th and 18th, 2023 the public will be invited, free and open to all, to tour the grounds and surrounding areas for a weekend full of installations, music, performances and open studios.
(The Sou’wester has regular residencies offered year-round in addition to residency events such as the annual ARTS WEEK. Applications for the Sou’wester Standard Residency are separate from ARTS WEEK and accepted on a rolling basis.)
Thank you to our Arts Week 2023 Sponsors!
Singing in the land: earth magic, song, and the body
Thursday, May 25 5-7 pmJoin bodyworker, musician, and animist priest ell rieke (they/them) in residency at the Sou’wester for a magical, musical exploration of connection with the earth, our ancestors, and the world of spirit. Part workshop, part participatory sonic experience, we will spend the first part of our time in conversation, talking through questions like: what is magic and why does it matter? Where do songs come from? Is the earth talking to us? How can sound and rhythm help us navigate this complicated, painful, beautiful world?In the second half of our gathering, ell will guide participants in using voice and body to connect with spirit and the earth. They will teach some songs of the season, from both folk and modern traditions, and then guide a gentle ritual of reverence and celebration for the coming of summer. You will be invited to sing or hum and move your body, and are also welcome to just sit and experience. All bodies, voices, and backgrounds are welcome, including kids!Please bring something to sit on, and cozy layers in case the evening is cool. You may want to bring a journal and pen, if you like taking notes, and are also invited to bring a special object (that will return home with you) and/or flowers for the group altar.
June 27th-29th
Stop Motion En Plein Air! with Aarica North
This summer camp week is currently full. Feel free to register for a different summer camp week.
Who says you have to animate alone in the dark? Each student will build their own puppet with organic material, then the group will play a collaborative game outside where we create a stop motion animation together. Students will receive a copy of the final animation, and can bring their puppets home with them.
DIY Screen Printing with Azenath and Ian
Screenprinting is a hands-on medium that allows students to reproduce any artwork they want in multiple colours and on many mediums. Our workshop, aimed at beginner students, will show how to undergo the entire printing process using a combination of recycled, homemade and a few purchased tools. Students will leave with the handmade screens and prints they made in the workshop, a booklet of historical art and propaganda prints from our collection, and inspiration and understanding to help them start screenprinting on their own.
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.
