Seattle Sounds

		Northwest performers & friends in it together

18th Annual International
Folk Alliance Conference: 2006

Austin, TX: February 10-14

HILTON AUSTIN
**  ROOM #1012  **
500 E 4th St.
(512) 482-8000

Seattle Sounds, San Diego, 2004
Seattle Sounds, Nashville, 2003

Seattle Sounds Showcases

**  HOTEL ROOM  # 1012  **

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Linda Allen

Linda Allen is one of those rare performers who combines story and song into a rich and generous flow.  She sings the songs that tell of the lives and the work, the hopes and the dreams of people everywhere.  Her songs are rooted in tradition and honed by years of commitment to an art that both informs and transforms.

Linda has over thirty years experience collecting stories, writing songs and performing.  She has seven recordings to her credit: The Long Way Home, Lay It Down: Images of the Sacred, Women’s Work, Washington Notebook, October Roses, Mama Wanted To Be A Rainbow Dancer, and her most recent, Where I Stand.

Linda has been Resident Songwriter for the State of Washington, has organized two community folk centers, and has toured extensively throughout the US and beyond. &nbap;She serves on the national executive board of Local 1000, the Traveling Musician’s Union.  She has published two collections of Washington songs and frequently appears in schools with workshops on Washington’s history.  Linda recently received her doctorate with a dissertation on helping disempowered women find their voices.  Linda frequently teaches workshops and offers keynote addresses at conferences, seeking to empower others to find their physical and creative voices.

www.lindasongs.com

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Seattle Sounds - Room # 1012

Lisa Aschmann

Lisa Aschmann writes and co-writes songs a capella, and sometimes performs them that way.  She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.  Several folk, jazz, R&B, and country artists have recorded her work.  Lisa has released six albums: The Pear (folk); The Feast (folk); The Birds (folk); The Sisters (bluegrass); The Planets (swing); and The Stars (swing).

Lisa has been a co-writer par excellence, a prolific professional songwriter for several years, and is currently enjoying the fruits of being a singer as well.  Lisa’s music is eclectic, heart-felt, and inspirational in the way you would expect from someone who is a songwriter first and foremost—that is, she creates some killer diller songs, and then sings them.  With her partner, Joel Evans, Lisa has contributed source cues to several TV shows and films. Her book, 750 Song Writing Ideas for Brave and Passionate People, is available from Amazon.com.

Lisa has appeared in a variety of venues including folk and jazz festivals and stages around the country and the world.  She has appeared on four gold records, and one double-platinum!  The list of individuals and groups the have worked with Lisa or recorded her songs is both diverse and exhaustive, but suffice it to say that she has contributed to over 300 cuts!

www.songwritingideas.com

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Seattle Sounds - Room # 1012

Ruth & Max Bloomquist

For over 20 years Ruth & Max Bloomquist have been winning audiences and fans wherever they play.  Ruth Bloomquist in concert, as a solo, as part of a duo with husband Max, or backed by the band Amaryllis, is an experience not soon forgotten.  Ruth’s rich alto voice and her well crafted original songs will stay with you long after the show.

Ruth is the winner of the 2003 Merlefest, Chris Austin Songwriting Contest in the Gospel category with her song By The River©.  Ruth was also nominated for a West Michigan Jammie Award for her CD, All For Love’s Sake, in 2002.  The Wheatland Music Organization had Ruth co-anchor the songwriting workshops at the Wheatland Traditional Arts Festival in 2001 & 2002.Ruth is a member of the International Bluegrass Music Association and was selected for the Songwriters Showcase at the 1999 World Of Bluegrass trade show and convention in Louisville, KY.

In 2004 Ruth performed with Garrison Keillor, at his request, during his one-man show, An Evening With Garrison Keillor, at the historic Frauenthal Theater in Muskegon, Michigan.  Ruth and Max’s 2005 schedule included performing and facilitating a songwriting workshop for the Celebration Of Women In The Arts, Manistee Michigan; performing with The Northern Michigan Songwriters In The Round; the annual South Boardman Bluegrass Festival (with Paul Kirchner on banjo), and opening slots for Lou Reid And Carolina, The Chenille Sisters, and Sarah Lee Guthrie And Johnny Irion.

Now booking duo and band dates for 2006, Ruth and Max will be touring the south in the Spring with festivals booked in Louisiana and Mississippi in March and April.  Meanwhile, they are recording CD number three due for release in early 2006.

www.ruthbloomquist.com

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Seattle Sounds - Room # 1012

Nancy K. Dillon

Nancy K. Dillon is making a name for herself.  This gifted singer, songwriter and recording artist weaves the textures and rhythms of American folk and country music into her songs, which fit comfortably in today’s pigeonholes of alt-this and Americana-that—but she paints from a much broader palette.

Dillon sings about escaping her native red-dirt Oklahoma on the opening track of her independent 2004 release Just Let Me Dream, but she is definitely a product of that great musical cauldron that bubbles and boils in the American Southwest.  Just Let Me Dream generated a definite buzz amongst indie circles.  Nancy and her talented singer/songwriter friend Michael Hill co-produced, and it has been hailed by many critics as a wonderfully honest and soulful album.

Nancy contributes to the Northwest music scene in many ways.  If nothing else, she must be acknowledged as a founding member of the renowned Western swing band Ranch Romance.  But it’s those Southwestern roots that continue to nurture her—and her soulful voice polishes the music until it gleams and sparkles like fine jewelry.  Listen to her sing sometime and see if you don’t agree.

     Finalist, 2005 Tumbleweed Song Contest - “Almost To Idaho”
     Finalist, 2004 Tumbleweed Song Contest - “The Ballad of Mabel Dodge”
     Just Let Me Dream selected “Best NW Artists/Folk CD” - July 2004 - KBCS 91.3-FM Seattle
     #6 American ROOTS Radio Americana Top 10 - July 2004
     “2004 Top Albums & Songs - Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart”

www.nancykdillon.net

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PK Dwyer

With an eclectic career that now spans over 30 years, PK Dwyer is still an innovative force on the roots music scene today.  Often thought of as a native of the Pacific Northwest, PK actually comes from Mill Valley, California, and now makes his home in the beautiful Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

In the 1970s Dwyer was noted for writing, performing, and recording the music for Jac Zacha’s hard to find cult classic film Walk The Walk; being the first to street perform at the Seattle Pike Place Market, thus spawning the Seattle busking scene; his Northwest radio hit DandyAnnie/Drawbridge; and founding the cow punk quintet The Jitters, a favorite band of No Depression founder Grant Alden and Young Fresh Fellows/Minus 5/REM’s Scott McCaughey.

PK Dwyer moved on to Europe in the 1980s where he found notoriety and a fan base while street performing in Paris and was also the winner of the First Annual Amsterdam Street Performers Competition in 1981.  PK proceeded to New York and set the NYC folk scene on its ear with his infamous cabaret act, the Hollywood Dick Doll Revue.  Hollywood Dick Doll, a controversial act at the time, was championed by Richie Havens, Suzanne Vega, and Dave Van Ronk.  Dwyer was signed to Riche Havens’ production company in 1983 and in 1989 PopLlama released George Michael Jackson: King Of Gonzo Folk to rave reviews and a nationwide tour.

The 1990s brought Dwyer back to the west coast and PK spent a few years living on Venice Beach and busking on the boardwalk before drifting back up to the Pacific Northwest.

The year 2000 brought salvation when PK Dwyer had a conversion to the blues.  Inspired by a sighting of the ghost of Jimmy Reed, PK went back to his roots and started writing original jump blues material.  In 2001 the CD Up To My Balls In The Blues was released to worldwide airplay on folk, blues, and college radio.  The tracks Lookin’ For A Woman and Time To Try have been used on episodes of MTV’s reality show MADE.

PK Dwyer’s most recent CD, Blues Guy Now, was released in 2003 to an enthusiastic audience, worldwide airplay, and critical acclaim.  Vintage Guitar magazine calls Blues Guy Now “a modern blues masterpiece” (Nov. 2004).  The tracks Celebration Blues and No Longer My Girlfriend have been used on MTV’s MADE and Keep On Walkin’ is currently the theme song for Real Change TV, a public access television show in Seattle that covers issues of poverty homelessness, and public affairs.

In 2005 PK Dwyer was nominated for a Seattle Weekly Music Award and is the only solo acoustic artist ever to be nominated in the Blues category.  PK was also awarded a grant from Art Patch to begin work on a new CD, and recording and mixing were completed in December.  The new CD will feature an acoustic version of the original PK Dwyer Trio, and guest musicians Alice Stuart, Michael Guthrie, and Larry ‘Jugs’ Vanover; look for its release from King Pin Head Music in March 2006.

www.pkdwyer.com

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Joe Jencks

Joe Jencks’ life-long interest in folk music led him to undergraduate and graduate studies in Vocal Music Performance, Choral Conducting, and Music Education.  In addition to performing opera, jazz and classical music, Joe has also acted in musical and dramatic theater. ’While living in Seattle during the 1990s, Joe became entwined in the Traditional Irish music community.  This musical infusion was the thread that sewed together the quilt of Joe’s diverse performance background.  It also signified a return to his earliest musical roots.

Joe’s style is both fierce and tender.  Writes Bill Fischer of the Victory Music Review: “He has a remarkable tenor voice that’s capable of great strength and sweetness in the same moment, much as was Phil Ochs’ voice. His guitar is always a dead-on accompaniment to his songs’ intentions.“  Joe has an inspiring ability to connect genuinely and intimately with audiences of diverse ages and backgrounds.

Joe’s 2003 CD, I Hear Your Voice, was hailed as a significant work of modern folk music: “This is not a collection of naval-gazing tunes from your average singer-songwriter,” remarks Ron Olesko of (Teaneck, NJ), “These are inspiring songs!”  What Kind of Brother, released in 2000, also received national acclaim for it&3146;s powerful songwriting and passionate singing.  His latest effort is a live-concert recording of labor music entitled Rise As One.

Joe Jencks is a proud member of A.F.M. Local 1000: North American Traveling Musicians Union, and a founding member of the Seattle Performing Songwriters musician’s co-op.  Joe’s CDs are currently available through the Seattle based record label, Turtle Bear Music.

www.joejencks.com

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The McKassons

The very first time you experience the mythical melodic force that is The McKassons you vow it won’t be your last!  Ryan and Cali, a brother/sister band from the Pacific Northwest, perform their Celtic musical magic on an intuitive level.  Since last year’s release of their superb debut album, Tall Tales, The McKassons have been turning heads in the American Celtic music scene.  Ryan, fiddler, and pianist, Cali, bring an exciting edge to the treasured Scottish fiddle tradition, creating constantly evolving textures within a powerful mix of contemporary and traditional influences.

Ryan is a virtuosic fiddler who was the National Scottish Junior Fiddle Champion in 1995 and went on a year later to be the youngest fiddler to win the National Scottish Fiddle Open Championship.  His mentors have been Alasdair Fraser, Johnny Cunningham, Buddy MacMaster, and Martin Hayes.  He has fiddled with renowned vocal artist Bobby McFerrin in Santa Barbara, California, and in 2001 he collaborated with fiddler Richard Greene and the Greene String Quartet for the Harry Smith Project at Royce Hall in Los Angeles.  Ryan attended the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.  He is now touring the United States, bringing audiences his “powerful and majestic playing...” (Laura Risk).  When he isn’t performing, Ryan has been a tutor at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington, and teaches classes on Scottish fiddle technique throughout the United States.

Cali is the driving rhythm behind The McKassons duo.  She studied her art under Cape Breton pianist Barbara MacDonald Magone.  Her inventive playing style and shifting tonal colors weave a fantasy tale of mystery and surprise for her listeners.  Cali received a bachelors and masters degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music and has served as a teacher and accompanist at the well-known Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School in California.  She has appeared in concert with fiddlers Alasdair Fraser, Andre Brunet, Laura Risk, Calum MacKinnon, Hanneke Cassel, and Laura Cortese.

www.themckassons.com

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Miles & Karina

Miles & Karina are David Miles Keenan and Nova Karina Devonie.  Their music is the happy collision of combined years of musical exploration.  Blending a corner of the string world (guitar, banjo and fiddle) with the ever-evocative strains of the accordion provides sometimes traditional, sometimes unexpected, yet always delightful results.

Miles started out behind the banjo playing bluegrass, confused by a steady diet of bossa nova on the family turntable.  Adding guitar and fiddle to his arsenal he went on to play in several bands including North American fave Ranch Romance in the early nineties.  It was in this rollicking alterna-country-swing outfit that he met his future musical cohort, Karina.

For Karina, life began as an accordion player deep in the wilds of her Canadian homeland where she ran amok with interesting peoples and cultures, bringing joy to all who met her.

After Ranch Romance retired, Miles & Karina were able to pursue their more eccentric musical interests without abandoning their western roots.  A compositional flurry of seemingly unrelated ideas came to the fore, culminating in the release of their debut tour de force, Quirkish Delights.

Miles & Karina are also members of Seattle group Jo Miller and Her Burly Roughnecks, with whom they will be showcasing with here at FA.  David can also be seen with Nancy K. Dillon in her Seattle Sounds Showcase.

http://www.nwlink.com/~twang/

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Seattle Sounds - Room # 1012

John Nelson

John Nelson, a native of the Pacific Northwest, is a songwriter, guitarist and record producer.  He plays in a blues and folk style on steel and nylon string guitars.

His debut CD, Soliloquy, was released in 2003.  This collection of gentle guitar lullabies was inspired by performances at Children’s Hospital in Seattle.  Victory Music Review noted: “One of the most gratifying solo guitar sets in some time, sweet, simple, touching...like letting your eyes dwell on a campfire or waterfall.  The word that keeps coming to mind is ‘care.’  You are likely to care deeply for this set.”   The Light Connection echoed the sentiment: “Soothing and inspirational, his solo guitar provides a gentle experience that frees the mind and invites the soul to do its healing work.”  In its profile, The Seattle Times observed: “The self taught musician, who has been playing guitar for nearly four decades, is a composer who brings an array of musical tastes, from rock to world beat, jazz and folk to his work.”

John’s lyrical compositions deal with themes including faded love and transformation through life’s trials, to time on the road and new beginnings.

In December 2004 he released Coast Bound Train, a collaboration with songwriter Max Schwennsen.  This CD blends folk, country, and blues with vocal harmonies.  Music veterans Jon Parry (violin) and Alice Stuart (vocal) lend their talents to this set of 12 original tunes and one penned by the great Ron Davies.  Victory Music Review reflected: “Coast Bound Train is a great record, one that sounds very different each time it’s played.  It stands up to serious musical scrutiny, the songs are about mature relationships and things that grown ups think about in 2005, without any brooding about what’s past and gone.  If the music happens to occasionally remind us adults of, say, Brewer and Shipley, well that's OK and it's about time somebody did!  The album is tastefully produced and handsomely packaged and was made with worthy cameo appearances by the legendary Alice Stuart and fiddle ace Jon Parry.  Go get it.”

John can be found performing in and around the Pacific Northwest at coffee houses, Folk festivals, benefit concerts and nightclubs.

www.johnnelsonmusic.com

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Seth Paul

Seth Paul was raised by a philosopher artist mother, in the shadow of an absent, brilliant piano playing father.  His childhood was filled with the a diverse range of music, including Albert King, Bob Dylan, Smashing Pumpkins, Jimi Hendrix, and Miles Davis, which combined to form his style of singing and guitar playing.

Growing up in Spokane, WA, Seth eventually made it to Seattle in 2000, joining several bands and playing around the music scene.  In 2003 Seth decided to collaborate with producer Stevie Adamek a solo album, and from their work came Stepping Away.

www.sethpaulband.com

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Seattle Sounds - Room # 1012

Joel Tepp

Joel Tepp is a familiar face as a multi-instrument accompanist at Northwest concerts, in California, Kerrville and beyond.  He has regularly added his slide guitar, harmonica and clarinet stylings to the music of Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat, Danny O’Keefe, Iain Matthews, Spencer Davis, Caroline Aiken and many others.  In addition to these artists, his recording credits include Jerry Garcia, Crazy Horse, John David Souther, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, several major films, television shows and much more.  In his early years, he learned from the masters, not through recordings but by accompanying them on tour and gaining his musical knowledge face to face, one on one.  His teachers and departed friends include Johnny Shines, Bukka White, Earl Hooker, John Lee Hooker, Sippi Wallace, Magic Sam and Shakey Jake.

http://home.earthlink.net/~joeltepp

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Seattle Sounds - Room # 1012

Steve Wacker

Seattle-based Steve Wacker is a singer, songwriter and guitarist with a wide range of influences.  Although he has lived in Seattle for a number of years, he grew up in Wisconsin, where he learned from and absorbed many different styles of music.  Steve says his songs “hang around the intersection of folk music, rock ’n roll and the blues.”  You’ll also hear traces of the country and Tin Pan Alley traditions.

Steve’s easygoing performance style and slightly off-kilter sense of humor help keep things breezy on stage.  He also covers the work of other songwriters both famous and obscure; for example, his renditions of Bonnie Koloc's “Children’s Blues” and Townes Van Zandt’s “To Live Is to Fly” are often crowd favorites.  Steve has appeared in coffeehouse corners, on auditorium stages, and in venues that cover most of the ground in between.  One reviewer called him an “unheralded troubadour” for whom “more applause seems likely in coming years.”

www.wackerwordsandmusic.com

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Seattle Sounds - Room # 1012

Wes Weddell

In the spring of 2001, Seattle singer/songwriter Wes Weddell captivated the Northwest with his ambitions to chronicle the lives of contemporary Washington State residents in song.  In sixty-five days cavorting around the state, the multi-instrumentalist produced nine regionally-themed songs based upon the stories he encountered and recorded them to a CD entitled My Northwest Home.

Hailed a “Modern-Day Woody Guthrie” by the Seattle Times and at once a “refreshing throwback” and a “pioneer” by critics, Wes’ poised musical delivery and celebrated storytelling ensure an entertaining and memorable experience for listeners from concert halls to classrooms.  His efforts have gained the attention and respect of the Seattle Folklore Society, Portland Folklore Society, Washington State History Museum, Victory Music, Seattle Times, and Northwest Public Radio among many others.

Wes has also founded Puget’s Sound Productions, a seattle-area 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping local musicians and audiences connect on a community level.  His efforts as singer/songwriter/sideman/organizaer are frequently tapped by Reilly & Maloney, Joe Jencks, Cindy Kallet, and others passing through.

www.wesweddell.com

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Seattle Sounds Showcases

**  HOTEL ROOM  # 1012  **

HILTON AUSTIN
500 E 4th St.
(512) 482-8000

Seattle Sounds in Nashville, 2003
L to R: Wes Weddell, Mary Lytle, Pat McFarland, Levan Lortkipanidze,
John Nelson, Marsha Reeves  (picture Bill Corral)

*   *   *

Thanks, as ever, to friend and founding member Pat McFarland
for foresight, support, initiative, & spirit

info@wesweddell.com