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 Teri Tibbett |
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A ferry ride to the Lower 48 terminates in Bellingham, Wash. With a population of about 75,000, it's definitely a bigger city than Juneau, with more people, cars and shopping, but also more venues for live music.
I flew there recently to visit my son for parent weekend at college. Besides touring the campus and meeting his friends, we went to a jazz concert, road-tripped to Mt. Baker and watched a Western Washington University football game, where Alex played in the drumline with the pep band.
At night, when he was doing homework, I headed out to a few music spots. Both the Entertainment News Northwest (www.ennw.info) and ClubVibes (www.clubvibes.com) show where and when to find live music in Bellingham.
The Green Frog Café Acoustic Tavern (www.acoustictavern.com), features singer-songwriters in the folk and blues vein. With peanuts on the floor and a long list of locally brewed beers, the tavern is a comfortable place to listen to music and meet good people.
I saw Camille Bloom and Namoli Brennet perform there. Both have introspective lyrics with an assertive and bold delivery.
Seattle-based Bloom belts out songs with one-word titles, like "Stay," "Habit," "Secret," "Damage" and "Wiser." She talks to the audience comfortably and doesn't apologize for being sensitive. Her Web site is www.camillebloom.com.
Brennet, originally from Tucson, Ariz., didn't talk much between songs, but her singing and lyrics were powerful and commanding. Though she played only guitar at this gig, her CD features backing by the other instruments she plays, including slide guitar, bowed guitar, electric guitar, ebow (a hand-held electronic bow for the guitar), piano, synthesizer, vocoder (a voice synthesizer), Rhodes piano, drums, shakers, tambourine, cajón (a type of box drum), harmonica, banjo, mandolin, bass and the glockenspiel. Her Web site is www.namolibrennet.com.
It was punk music night at the Wild Buffalo the night I was there, featuring local bands deerseekingheadlights, Nude Loaf and Muppet Fetish. The bar, with its high ceilings, red brick walls and colorful paraphernalia, is a great place to hear live bands in Bellingham. Past performers include Leon Russell, the Insomniacs and Junkyard Jane. Playing this month are the New Riders of the Purple Sage and Sweetheart of the Rodeo, as well as plenty of local bands. Their Web site is www.wildbuffalo.net.
On Thursdays at the Main Street Bar & Grill in Ferndale, Chuck Dingée hosts an open mike that offers a featured performer followed by anyone else who wants to get up. My favorite was Clare Mercy on electric guitar, who sang her own songs backed only by a drummer. One song announced honestly: "I have got the f------ blues. Whatever. Whatever. Whatever. It's like I f------- care." Main Street's Web site is www.main-street-bar.com.
The best time, however, was the after-after party following Absinthe Films' Sphere of Influence Tour screening of its latest snowboarding film, "Optimistic?" After the movie (which, by the way, featured tons of footage from last winter's epic season at Eaglecrest), the party moved to Callaloo Caribbean Kitchen for a night of spinning and good conversation.
With a Jamaica-like atmosphere, the club features island food and DJ music, mostly hip-hop and reggae. "Old-School Hip-Hop Throw Down" on Thursdays looks fun and the list of DJs can be spotted on their Web site: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=122420534.
Next time you take the ferry to Bellingham, instead of driving straight off the boat to I-5, consider hanging out for a few days and checking out the music scene there. It's definitely a step up from what Juneau offers, but not as overwhelming as the Seattle scene.
• Teri Tibbett is a writer and musician living in Juneau. Her radio show, "The Global Edge," features world music and airs Sunday nights on KRNN-FM.
