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 Chase Jarvis by Cheryl Waters What do you get when you bring together an incredibly talented and passionate group of musicians (and their instruments) and a few of their friends with great food and lots of wine in a dramatic setting on a spectacular evening? Songs for Eating and Drinking, of course. Songs for Eating and Drinking is a collaboration between local food provocateur, Michael Hebb, and renowned photographer/director Chase Jarvis. Hatched from Hebb’s underground One Pot themed dinners and documented with Jarvis’ unmistakable eye, Songs For Eating and Drinking brings together a remarkable group of talented songsters in a dramatic and inspiring setting to share songs, food, drink and good company. I have been fortunate enough to attend both installments of Songs for Eating and Drinking and have walked away from both duly impressed. The first one, in December, completely transformed the band room at Neumos into a dark and sultry cabaret with long communal tables covered in burlap and candles, set with china, silver and glassware, and overflowing with wine, whiskey, and sumptuous food from renowned local chef Matt Dillon (Sitka & Spruce, The Corson Bldg). Throughout the evening, musicians who included the Nick Jaina band from Portland, Stone Gossard and others peppered the evening with songs. It was completely surreal, and I walked away heady with wine, food, music and one hell of a uniquely special experience. Michael Hebb, the instigator of the evening, also knew something special had transpired that evening and knew that it had to be repeated – and documented. Being no fool, Hebb enlisted the talents of world-renowned photographer and director Chase Jarvis, and with their impressive combined experience and skill, the two took the event to the next level, turning it into a living, breathing entity. Thus, the second installment of Songs for Eating and Drinking, another intimate evening for musicians and their friends, sharing more amazing food, wine (sangria, in this case) and music. The talented co-conspirators, Hebb and Jarvis, chose a very dramatic venue for this next event, which took place on a beautiful summer evening on the first day of August, in a cavernous airplane hangar at the Sand Point Naval Air Station. The setting was equally impactful and aligned with the slightly altered theme for this evening: Songs for Eating, Drinking – and War. Once again, a long communal table was impressively set -- this time with starched linen table coverings and camouflage cloth and huge silver candelabras dripping with candle wax.  Friends new and old gathered together family-style on this beautiful night to share sumptuous seasonal food prepared by Michael Hebb: salad fresh from the garden, baby back ribs falling from the bone, succotash bursting with fresh kernels of corn, laced with freshly-picked green beans and infused with unimaginably delicious flavors and strawberry shortcake prepared by the magical mavens from the Volunteer Park Café. Immediately the enormous room was filled with intimate conversation and laughter. Sarah Rudinoff kicked off the meal with a dramatic performance of a song about being so thin, she absolutely needed to eat more and more. And, thus commenced the relaxed and stunning musical accompaniment to the lavish meal. Every 10-15 minutes, someone would get up and share a song about food or, in this evening’s case, war. Grant Olsen of Arthur and Yu sang about horsemeat (I’m guessing this falls into the food category). Head Like a Kite unexpectedly busted out with a cover of Neil Young’s “Ohio” (a personal fave of mine). Tiny Vipers, on the shy side, gathered the group closely around her for a haunting and intimate performance. Equally impressive were songs from Loch Lomond, who made the trip up from Portland for the evening, talented up-and-comers Fences, and the always entertaining The Saturday Knights, joined unexpectedly, and much to their delight, on one song by Stone Gossard on guitar. It was the kind of relaxed and languorous evening that allowed for impromptu moments like this that made for a one-of-a-kind experience for these musicians to share with one another. What an inspired idea it is to bring an eclectic and talented group of musicians together to share superb food and drink in a relaxed setting and see what transpires. Thankfully, Jarvis documented the entire evening in intimate detail, successfully capturing the mood, both in photos and on video. You can see for yourself what a success it was. Check out this video of Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam and Barb Ireland covering “Cool Water” by Hank Williams: Look for more videos and fantastic photos from Chase Jarvis and his crew in the coming weeks on the KEXP Blog, and head over to the Songs for Eating and Drinking website for more now.
 Photo courtesy of Juno
The Pledge Drive was an enormous success. And, lots of fun. Thank you so much for hanging out with us last week and, especially, for your continued support. Some exciting news. This week, we’re putting tickets on sale for 2 exciting KEXP Benefit Shows in December. The Yule Benefit on Dec. 9 and 10 at Neumos, featuring a reunited Juno, Junior Boys, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Cold War Kids, Annuals and more. Get a jump on this before it sells out! Presale ticket info at TicketsWest. I’m also excited to announce exclusive presale ticket info for the John in the Morning Show at Night New Year’s Bender on Sat. Dec. 30 and Sun. Dec. 31st at Chop Suey feat. Jeremy Enigk and Wild Sweet Orange (all the way from Alabama for their very first Seattle show ever!), Catfish Haven and Walter Meego (coming in from Chicago, also for their first Seattle shows), Pablo (from Brookyn! And, this time with a full band, which includes 2 sets of brothers and a husband and wife.) and The Ettes from LA and gonna rock your socks off! As are Portlanders The Village Green. Join us at Chop Suey for New Year’s Eve weekend. It’s the first time we’ve had our own New Years Eve Show and not only that but TWO nights of music. Saturday will be action packed and live on the radio and Sunday we’ll be doing some extra stuff to ring in the new year. It’s really a great way to end the year with the bands we’ve discovered both here and on the road. Here’s the info – “John in the Morning at Night New Year’s Weekend Bender w/ Jeremy Enigk” Presale going on RIGHT NOW at TicketsWest Tickets to General public go onsale Friday, October 27th at ticketswest.com and all tickets west outlets Line up: Sun. 12/31 (Champagne toast at midnight courtesy of KEXP)
With Cracker, listen to their live performance from Aug. 22 now. What’s with all the rain in Seattle today? It’s POURING out there! Cats and dogs I tell you. I think I have to finally admit that summer is gone. It’s time to put my feet back in jail (Oh sandals and flip flops, howRead more –
I had the craziest morning yesterday – .I was having trouble falling asleep Monday night. I went to bed around 1 or 2am and I’m tossing and turning in bed and just about to fall asleep at 3am when all this commotion starts right in front of my house. About five huge fire trucks comeRead more –
Sonic Smith of Thee Emergency, KEXP Yule Benefit Photo courtesy of Greg Perez I’m going on vacation the first half of next week. John’s taking me to his lake cabin in Idaho. You’d think he’d get enough of me here in Seattle. So, last night I saw the rockin’-est show in the UNIVERSE. Thee EmergencyRead more – |