The Comet - November 2019

everything will be fine

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE

JAIME’S TATTOO GARDEN

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE

contributors: Cory Calhoun, Allegra Hart WEB: thecometmagazine.com facebook.com/thecometmagazine

instagram: @thecometmagazine twitter: @cometmagazine email: thecometwenatchee@gmail.com

editor: Ron Evans

publishing assistant: Sarah Sims

KEN STRINGFELLOW

COMET HEADQUARTERS

Well this one is a doozy! I love these packed 32 page issues. It always happens this time of year it seems. We cram a whole year’s worth of events into three months every Autumn. We have tried our best to cram all that good stu into this issue but there will always be some orphans left behind. You can help with that! If you would like to see an event or artist covered in The Comet then send it our way at thecometwenatchee@gmail.com.

I hope you were able to squeeze every ounce of October out while it was here. There seem to have been three or four Halloweens in the Valley this time around (not that I’m complaining) and I missed most of them. Addams Family SOLD OUT. Couldn’t make it to Hallow Queens. No time for the pumpkin patch. However, we did have a Drink n Carve night at RadarStation while we watched It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and other spooky cartoons. And we hosted our 2nd Halloween Radar Dames Burlesque show on the 26th and that was a thing to behold. The entire troupe (those in the show anyway) dressed up like me and danced a number around me on stage. The whole thing was a surprise. And surreal as shit. I love these beautiful weirdos. It was the cutest damn thing I ever saw.

Along those same lines...you may have noticed (once again) that the magazine has been decidedly Ron-heavy. This is not an ego thing. Well. Not entirely anyway. This little rag barely makes enough nickels to pay for itself and it’s really a labor of love. I hate that term. Sometimes I hate writing. But still do it with a certain sense of satisfaction. A labor of compulsion feels better. And being that, writers come and go. People approach me

about a column or contribution they want to do and if they can write and it seems like interesting stu , it’s usually a yes from me. Run it up the flag pole and see who salutes it as Lemmy from Motorhead once said. But passions wane, interest fades and life gets in the way and contributors move on. It just happens. But I would like to put the call out to people who think they may have a thing or two to say about a thing or two. We have been doing Comet Tales for most of our issues. Poems, short stories and essays as submitted by the readers and it’s been one of my favorite parts of the mag. That will continue (in spite of it missing in this issue) but I would like to do a similar thing where we have a Public Access Column - say, that’s not a bad title... where you can try your hand at this here publishing stu . Video game talk, rants about fashion, a book review, whatever speaks to your passion. Or compulsion. Send it our way at thecometwenatchee@gmail.com. Send it up the flag pole. See who salutes it!

Happy trails,

Ron Evans Editor, The Comet Magazine

Ron Evans is the owner of RadarStation art gallery at 115 S. Wenatchee Ave., host of the Tales from the Spacepod podcast, author of “Edgar Rue,” and creator of many other things, many of which have robots in them. He is editor of The Comet and lead designer.

THIS REALLY HAPPENED.

FRENCH FOR RABBITS: kiwi dream pop in wenatchee

by ron evans

Wellington, New Zealand’s shoegazey/ dream pop group French for Rabbits is coming to Wenatchee for a stripped down show at RadarStation (the very first show of their U.S. tour) on November 9th. I reached out to singer Brooke Singer about this mesmerizing band and how their homeland has impacted their music and style.

How did French For Rabbits come to be?

We formed in Waikuku Beach, New Zealand. It’s a relaxed, small beach-side community. We moved to Wellington after a few big earthquakes did a good job of flattening the city (Christchurch). We started performing at open mic nights and we just followed our songwriting noses from there.

You can’t make a full-time living in music very easily from New Zealand so we do it for the love of our craft, and have toured to some amazing places - Iceland, Poland, Spain, Italy...opened for some amazing artists such as Agnes Obel and Lorde, and

now we’re coming to the USA!

Tell us about your current tour?

On this tour we’ll be playing music from our two albums, our debut EP and a few unreleased songs too. The Weight of Melted Snow came out in the US in January on Muscle Beach Recs. It’s a really dreamy record and I think it really pays o on repeat listens.

I’m very much a lyric/melody person, and luckily I have an amazing drummer Hikurangi Schaverien, guitarist John Fitzgerald and Ben Lemi and Penelope Esplin who also sing have incredible voices. On this tour we’re stripping the songs back, and joined by a violinist and bassist from Seattle.

Your music is textured and rich with soundtrack-esque layers which make

it perfect for creating art to. How much does the visual arts (if only imaginary) element of creating factor into your songwriting?

That’s cool you noticed this. We have a few fans in the visual arts world and I love when people tag us in instagram stories of them creating art to our music. My mum is a painter, and so I’ve definitely grown up with an appreciation for it, even working for a time in a contemporary art gallery.

For me our music is very much evocative of New Zealand - our wild rugged coastlines, and subdued but lush forests and fauna. We work a lot with our friend Misma Andrews who is a potter mostly these days, but is also an incredible photographer.

Anyone that has ever tried to line up even a small regional tour can tell you there are tons of legalistic/schedules and finances to line up. Do you have a tour manager or are you booking your own shows and hitting the road (planes)?

We are pretty DIY, we’ve always been self-managed mostly out of necessity. I’ve become unexpectedly knowledgeable at logistics, marketing, budgeting and booking etc. The USA is new to us though, and luckily Jeremy from BIRP agency o ered to book us this run of shows. It’s been a real relief not having to do it ourselves and we’re so grateful to him for believing in the music.

People keep asking me about the name French For Rabbits. Where did this lovely moniker come from?

Haha, yes! We get asked that all the time too, and I feel I’ve never quite had the perfect story. I’m not an obsessive rabbit fan, and I cannot speak French. I did grow up reading Beatrice Potter however, and the

“You can’t make a full-time living in music very easily from New Zealand so we do it for the love of our craft...”

PHOTO BY EBONY LAMB

tales of Peter Rabbit. Honestly though, I can’t remember why I chose those words except that it was for a secret moniker to share the music under as I had a phobia of singing in public...and this way I could share the songs anonymously.

Is there an artist/band you’d love to work with but haven’t yet?

There are so many artists I admire - I’m currently a big fan of Hand Habits, Andy Shauf and Hannah Cohen. I’ve been doing a bit of co-writing lately, and a new song is coming out on November 8th from that which I wrote with Australian artist called Alexander Biggs - he writes these beautiful Elliot Smith type sad songs, and I love them.

What’s your favorite album of 2019 so far?

I’ve heard some great albums this year... but my current favourite is another New

Zealander called Secret Knives. The album is called SNUFF and it’s really elaborate and detailed but with these beautiful yearning lyrics.

What can folks expect from November’s performance at RadarStation?

Hopefully something that they walk away from feeling really good and calm and content! Our shows are normally a mixture of our really sincere/sad/beautiful songs and me rambling a lot which can be quite entertaining, I’m told.

Online links/social media?

We’re on the streaming services, and our favourite bandcamp: frenchforrabbits. bandcamp.com. You can also find us on Instagram: instagram.com/frenchforrabbits and our website is a good portal/ home for all things FFR! frenchforrabbits. com. C

PHOTO BY EBONY LAMB

Crosswords & more made exclusively for The Comet

THE 2nd META CROSSWORD PRIZE CONTEST!

Enter for a chance to win a coolmysteryprize by solving meta crossword #7! HOWTOENTER:1. Solve the crossword below. 2. Solve itsmeta puzzle (instructions at tinyurl.com/corymetas). 3. Email just the meta puzzle answerbased on the hint (don't send the solved grid!) to cscxwords@gmail.comby12amPT,Nov.30,2019 (One submission per entrant, please.) We'll randomly pick a winnerfrom the correct submissions, and announcethewinner and puzzle answersin the next issue. Good luck!

"INITIAL MEASURE"

HINT: Find a 3-letter noun.

and X-Men actress Jannsen

17. Clock

18. What confusion-free statements "have"

21. Tonya Harding, once

DOWN

1. Zoom, for example

2. Wasn't injured

3. Water color?

4. Squirt

5. "Pull a Brexit," perhaps

6. Product maker: Abbr.

7. Cereal grains

8. "The Hobbit" dragon

9. “Overalls” worn on snowy slopes

10. Pine

11. First mes of the año

12. Extra

13. Casino or hotel conveniences

14. Clown around

19. Adult Swim comics Tim & 20. Mexican food truck offering 25. Soft rock

27. "Mind blown!", online 28. "Mind blown!" 29. Amazon digital assistant devices

30. Pelt

31. "Now, where ?"

32. Vintage soft drink brand

34. Kitchen sponge brand

35. One of a dozen in a box

36. Squander

39. Mexican food truck offering

41. Children's author Silverstein

43. They're gained through marriage

44. Doctors Without Borders and PETA, for two: Abbr.

45. Cranks

51. Abrams, former member of Georgia's House of Representatives and the first black female major-party gubernatorial nominee in US history

53. K-12, for short

54. Directed, as traffic

55. Gift getter's question

56. Stable worker, often

58. Hamlet has five

59. Gilmore Girls daughter

60. Corrupt

62. Pot starter

64. Calf-length skirt

65. Cancel

66. Tolkien creatures

67. Old US gas brand still sold in Canada

69. Clairvoyance, briefly

70 Publish private info online

SOLUTION TO LAST EDITION'S CROSSWORD

SOLUTION

I CRAVE FEEDBACK! Thoughts? Suggestions? Lemme have it. CSCXWORDS@GMAIL.COM

Center as part of his 2019 tour. Don’t miss out!

7:30pm-10:30pm • Tickets are on sale NOW at www.towntoyotacenter.com

JAN 11: Matthew Perryman Jones w/ Molly Parden

Brewminatti • Prosser

On the very night of the 56th anniversary of the assasination of JFK we will be screening Oliver Stone’s controversial, spellbinding and award winning epic focusing on the Warren Commission, the Patsy and the conspiracy surrounding the President’s murder.

social justice.

7:30pm • Tickets $17-$21 • www.numericapac.org/event/ villalobos-brothers/

7pm • Tickets: $22 • VIP Tables: $140 • Series Pass: $60 • www.numericapac.org/event/cwn-andrew-sleighter

Doors 7 - Intro 7:45 - Film 8pm

Originally from Pennsylvania, Matthew grew up in Georgia and cut his artistic teeth in the Atlanta music scene before heading north to Nashville. Songs from across his catalog have been featured in dozens of film and TV placements, and tours have taken him across the U.S. and abroad to share stages with legends like Shawn Colvin and Patty Griffin.

Riverside Playhouse: Wenatchee

7:00pm • Tickets at brewminatti.com/upcoming-events/

Full Circle Theatre presents Circle Mirror Transformation

Jan 12: Michael Carlos • Cowboy dan

November 8-9, 14*, 15-16, 22-23 at 8pm

Wally’s House of Booze • Wenatchee

The annual Michael Carlos Birthday Show!!! Also featuring Cowboy Dan and spoken word artists. Come out and party with us!

Show at 9:30 • $5 cover • 21+

JAN 12-13: Bavarian Bruisefest 2019

When four lost New Englanders who enroll in Marty’s six-week-long community center drama class begin to experiment with harmless games, hearts are quietly torn apart, and tiny wars of epic proportions are waged and won. A beautifully crafted diorama, a petri dish in which we see, with hilarious detail and clarity, the antic sadness of a motley quintet.

Leavenworth Festhalle

The 5th Annual Bavarian Bruisefest is here! This 10-team tournament hosted in beautiful downtown Leavenworth has become a massive attraction for teams all over the PNW.

Tickets available through Numerical PAC www.numericapac.org or (509) 663-ARTS or at Riverside Playhouse one hour before the show.

*Special Pay-What-You-Can performance on November 14 - tickets for this performance available only at the door*

Stein: Leavenworth

First game starts at 9am; last game ends around 7:30pm on Saturday. On Sunday, 9am first game; last game ends around 6:30pm. Games on the hour all day long. Championship ceremony will take place on Sunday after the last game.

Music at Stein - 8pm

9:00am-6:30pm leavenworth.org/event/bavariianbruisefest-2019/

Nov. 1 - Nate Weakley Project

Nov. 2 - Kevin Jones Band

Jan 17: Villalobos Brothers

Nov. 8 - Mugsy’s Groove

Numerica Performing Arts Center • Wenatchee

Nov. 9 - The Feral Folk

Nov. 15 - The Fun Police Part 1

Nov. 16 - The Fun Police Part 2

Nov. 22 - DJ Lovechain

Nov. 23 - Bandits Of The Animal Kingdom

The Villalobos Brothers (Ernesto, Alberto, and Luis) use their violins and voices to redefine contemporary Mexican music. Their original compositions masterfully blend elements of jazz, rock, classical, and Mexican folk to deliver a powerful message of love, brotherhood, and

Nov. 29 - Bandits Of The Animal Kingdom

JAN 18-19: Compedy at Campbell’s with Gabriel Rutledge

Campbell’s Resort on Lake Chelan

Nov. 30 - Devil’s Gulch & The Missionaries

“Gabriel Rutledge is a quick thinking, fast talking, hard working bad ass.” - Louisville Weekly

Wally’s Tavern: Wenatchee

Snatchee Records Presents: LIVE MUSIC AT WALLY’S HOUSE OF BOOZE!

$5 cover, music at 9:30, 21+

A past winner of both the Seattle International Comedy Competition and The Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, Gabriel has made numerous television appearances. He is also author of the book “Happiness Isn’t Funny.”

Get tickets at https://rottenapplepresents.com/events/comedy-at-campbells-gabriel-rutledge/

Nov. 1 - Halloween Show!!! Datura, Children In Heat, The Crushers

Nov. 15 - Wayward Youth,The Schizophonics and The Nightmares

JAN 18-27: Lake Chelan Winterfest 2019 East Woodin Ave • Chelan

Nov. 16 - Franks and Deans, Head Honcho, Plus Guests

Nov. 22 - Jim Basnight, Dustin Hays, Dylan Morrison, Rylei Franks

Wenatchee Convention Center: Wenatchee

Nestled among the snow-capped hilltops and glacier fed waters of Lake Chelan, Winterfest is the perfect escape to a Washington winter wonderland. Join us for wine and ale tastings, horse-drawn carriages, intricate ice sculptures, live music, activities for kids of all ages, a massive beach bonfire, spectacular fireworks show and much more!

Specific event and ticket details: siteline.vendini.com/site/ lakechelanwinterfest.com

Laugh Riot 2019

Saturday, November 9 at 8pm - 10:30pm

JAN 19: Cosmic Serenity

For 19 years strong Laugh Riot has been bringing in the best in stand up comedy and this year is no exception. CO headlining together will be Quinn Dahle and Willie Barcena, both are comedy veterans with numerous stage and TV credits.

Wally’s House of Booze • Wenatchee Snatchee Records Presents!! A night with Cosmic Serenity, Alterna/Psych from Hilo, HI.

Music at 9:30 • $5 cover • 21+

Wenatchee Downtown Association: Wenatchee

JJan 19: Stand-up Comedy with andrew sleighter

Numerica Performing Arts Center • Wenatchee Cold Winter Nights brings three months of comedy at the Numerica PAC to kick-off the New Year – including a three-part stand-up comedy series featuring some of the best comics in the industry.

Holiday Open House & Wine Walk

Saturday, November 9 at 12pm - 5pm Kick off the Holiday shopping season in Downtown Wenatchee! Visit participating downtown locations hosting wineries & cideries from throughout the region. Special thanks to sponsors Moss Adams and Dave and Sandy Gellatly. Sip, stroll and shop through the heart of downtown. Get your holiday

January’s stand-up show features Andrew Sleighter, seen on Last Comic Standing, Nuvo TV’s Stand Up & Deliver, and Conan. He has also written and performed sketch comedy for Comedy Central. Intended for a ma-

AN 19-20: Bavarian Icefest 2019

wish list made or cross those gifts off the list for loved ones!

Leavenworth

Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center:

Wenatchee

Leavenworth loves winter, and each year on MLK Jr. weekend we celebrate winter’s bounty with IceFest! The village is still dressed in over half a million twinkling lights and this weekend is a flurry of frosty frivolity. Come celebrate winter with us!

Haunted Museum

Oct. 30, 31 at 6pm.

Games and events both days • Fireworks Sunday at 6:00pm • leavenworth.org/event/bavariian-icefest-2019/

Pre-sale tickets are $12 and tickets at the door are $15. Ticket sales at the door open at 6 PM. Join us for scary and thrilling creatures and special effects at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center for our Haunted Museum! Come see the only professionally created Haunt in the Wenatchee Valley, complete with some of the best jump scares and amazing special effects scenes that rival the likes of Hollywood.

Jan 25-26: Timbrrr! Winter Music Festival 2019 Downtown Leavenworth and Leavenworth Festhalle

Ye Old Bookshoppe:

The sixth annual Timbrrr! Winter Music Festival offers a weekend of music and northwest wintertime fun. During the day, attendees can take in live music at a handful of venues throughout downtown Leavenworth. At night, 21+ guests will rock out to the festival’s headlining acts and enjoy local beer from Icicle Brewing Co. and Timbrrr’s celebrated Hot Toddy Garden. Lineup and ticket details: winter.timbermusicfest.com

Wenatchee

JAN 25: Sway Wild (ft. Mandy Fer & Dave McGraw)

Open Mic - New Night

Brewminatti • Prosser

Tuesdays at 6pm - 7:30pm - Free

Bring your words, your song, your voice, your ears, your heart and soul. Join our weekly open mic, a casual and fun way to express yourself and meet some like-minded folk :)

We first met them at Brewminatti Block Party 2018 and LOVED them. Excited to have them back.

“...roots trailblazers Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer continue their upward stride towards artistic nirvana.... scintillating...” – PopMatters

Palm & Tarot Readings

Fridays 5:00pm

“...refreshing...stunning...some of the best I have heard.” –No Depression

Every Friday Night from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. we will have a reader in the shop offering Palm & Tarot Readings.

“...had me at ‘hello’...” –Seattle Post Intelligencer 7:00pm • Tickets at brewminatti.com/upcoming-events/

JAN 26: Brett Benton Duo

Halloween Trunk Show & Readings

Club Crow • Cashmere

Thursday, October 31 at 5pm – 7pm

Wicked Wildcrafts, Shades of Color Artistry, Palm and Tarot Readings.

Brett Benton returns to Club Crow! Come get down with this dirty delta and heavy hill country blues duo like y’all always do! Always a party!

9:00pm

Sway wild

Wenatchee first Friday

Kasey Koski with Wenatchee First Fridays helped put together this list of shows, along with their First Friday hours. Remember, while most places have special events, artists receptions and free admission during First Friday, the art itself is on exhibit all month long in most locations.

Designer Floors

Robert Graves Gallery

MAC Gallery

509 Bierwerks

Pans Grotto

Mission St. Commons

19 N. Wenatchee Ave • open First Friday 9am-8pm

Wenatchee Valley College

Sexton Hall, 9th Avenue entrance

Monday-Thursday, 9 am-1 pm.

Terry Valdez features portrait paintings in a show titled Coyote Emerging & The Millennial Series. His portrait subjects are of past students from years as an Art Educator in the Eastmont School District. Each individual by their own unique existence has inspired Terry to attempt to peel back and connect to the complicated layers of this emerging generation.

Robert Graves Gallery welcomes local artist Chad Yenney with his Collage work and Craig van den Bosch showing Ceramic Mixed Media which integrates 3D computer graphics. Artists will speak at 6:00pm during the First Friday reception. As always, refreshments available.

MAC Gallery

WVC Music and Art Center

1300 Fifth Street, Mon-Fri 9-5

September 23—October 25

WFF Opening Reception: 5:00-7:00

Lemolo Cafe & Deli

Gonzaga University Painting Professor Laura Truitt displays a suite of complex landscapes filled with ghosts of deconstructed architectural spaces. The beautifully painted surfaces of the pieces belie underlying conflicts generated by the artist’s concern for climate change, land abuse, and over-consumption.

114 N Wenatchee Ave • Open First Friday 1am-6pm

Sketching On the Fly: Travel Journal Adventures

Two Rivers Gallery

102 N Columbia, 2riversgallery.com

Wed-Sat:11- 4, Sun:1-4

First Friday Reception 5-8

My travel sketches tend to be completed under time pressure. Maybe the sketch was done while waiting in line or for a meal. As such, the sketches tend to be vibrant and fresh. The quickly drawn inaccurate lines dart and bounce around the page portraying a small moment in time. For me, the traveler, the drawing marks my memory... I still can recall the moment caught... the sun, sky, place and the people I was with.

Featuring the late Walter Graham. Music by Connie Celustka. Complimentary refreshments. Walter Graham was “without a doubt the most prolific artist Wenatchee has ever seen.” He was noted for painting in oils, watercolors, he worked in wood, bronze, tile and murals.

200 S. Columbia Street

M-Th: 3-8 pm, F-Sun: 12-9 pm, Art Walk hours: 6-9 pm

1300 Fifth Street • First Friday (Closing) Reception 5pm-7pm WVC Art Department faculty members show that they are professional practitioners of their disciplines with a group exhibition of their creative work in a variety of media. The exhibition includes pieces by Ruth Allan, Scott Bailey, Vicki DeRooy, Natalie Dotzauer, Elena Payne, Yev Rybakov, and Majka Sadel.

509 Bierwerks will feature local artists and makers and all of them will have their work for sale during First Friday. Featured in November is the work of the talented Shelby Campbell with Heirloom Apparel & Design (https://heirloomapparel.co/), the small batch artisan chocolates of Yeti Chocolates handcrafted by Willow Merritt (https://www.yetichocolates.com/) and the captivating photography of Andy Jaynes (https://ajaynes.photography/).

Hilton Garden Inn

25 N. Worthen Street, Wenatchee

First Friday Hours: 5 – 8 pm

Happy Hour appetizer and drink specials available 5 – 7 pm

Mela

17 N. Wenatchee Ave • Opening Reception 5pm-8pm

Color from Plants 2: karen dawn dean

Join us at the Hilton Garden Inn Wenatchee, where we will be featuring Brenda McGowan Jewelry from 5 – 8 pm. Brenda McGowan Jewelry is a line of hand crafted, gemstone and mixed metal jewelry. Brenda has been making jewelry for over 15 years and loves to combine unique, quality gemstones with intricate wire wrapping and metal stamping.

3 N Wenatchee Ave, Suite 2, Don@pansgrotto.com

218 S. Mission Street • Open Mon-Fri 8am-6pm

Vonda Drees presents her daily journaling practice of connection, intuition and spirit. Other members of Grunewald Guild to bring a variety of work and programming information.

Celebrate the Day of the Dead: The Day of the Dead or Día de Muertos is a time to honor and remember those who have passed on. Come check out what our local artists have come up with to celebrate the world beyond. The Day of the Dead show will be featured for all of November.

Tumbleweed Shop & Studio

105 Palouse

Mon-Fri 10-6 , Sat 10-5 First Friday 5-8

Jennifer Wittig is the creator and maker behind Precious Feet – hand crafted home décor. She works from home with the help of her husband and two children. She began by making décor for her own home and gifts for others and then decided to take it to a business.

Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center

127 South Mission Street

wenatcheevalleymuseum.org

The Nature Conservancy

T-Sat: 10-4, First Friday (FREE): 10-8

115 Orondo Street • First Friday 5pm-7pm

Perspectives on the Value of Shrub Steppe

Collapse Contemporary Art Gallery

115 S. Wenatchee Ave. Fri:4-7, Sat:12-5

Natural dyes have been stuck to my bucket list for almost 50 years. I finally stepped out of my normal art making practice, dug into the alchemy and hermetic practice of botanical color extraction. It’s been a year’s-long journey of discovery; coaxing and persuading plants to give up their unique colors. I will share some of the techniques I’ve learned about indigo resist printing and the eco-dyeing process at 6:30 pm. Two workshops mid-month.

“Street Light,” the second solo show of local artist Sharratt DeLong, explores the concepts of time, presence, and inward return, in a series of nine large oil paintings depicting twilight scenes, selected from the Wenatchee area. As the sun sets, the streetlights turn on, and we reflect. Visit @collapse_gallery on instagram or www.collapsegallery.com

In the main gallery My Sky invites children and adults to explore the Sun, the Moon and the stars together. Throughout the building we celebrate Dia di los Muertos or Day of the Dead, a celebration to remember loved ones who have passed. Join us for this cultural experience including crafts, tacos and music.

Mela

The Nature Conservancy will be hosting a showing of Marc Dilley’s photography and Jan Cook Mack’s pleinair work from the Moses Coulee in Eastern Washington. This showcase honors the rich history of our arid lands and the unique landscape that is the precious home to many species of plants and wildlife. Educational Panel Conversation 6pm-6:45pm.

17 N. Wenatchee Ave., caffemela.com

Mon-Fri:6-6, Sat-Sun:8-4

First Friday Reception 5pm - 8pm

SCINTILLA GROUP EXHIBITION: This unique

Pan’s Grotto

3 N Wenatchee Ave, Suite 2 • Open 10am-8pm

From Orion to the Zodiac is it written in the stars? Humanity has looked up at the sky in awe since the beginning of time and we are still watching the stars in contemplation. Come check out our local artists spin on different constellations the entire month of January.

event, features 9 of our valley’s talented artists, who blend artistic expression with extraordinary craftsmanship. They work in silver, ebony, cashmere, encaustic, clay, grass, fibers, felt, oil paint, wool & silk. The month long Scintilla Exhibition includes pieces by Ruth Allan, Nik Penny, Katelyn Mingo, Lindsay Breidenthal, Kasey Koski, Claudia Mullek, Yev Rybakov, karen dawn dean, and Alessandra Piro. Also, join Scintilla Artists’ 1-day holiday art sale. Sat. Nov 2, 9-6pm, 19 Wenatchee Ave.

Ye Olde Bookshoppe

11 Palouse St.

Store Hours: Mon. 11-7; Tue.-Thur., 10-7; Fri.-Sat. 10-8. , Art Walk Hours: 5-8 pm

Ye Olde Bookshoppe welcomes John J. McCabe in November. Using a minimum of shapes, lines, and colors, John J. McCabe creates abstract paintings that can elicit emotional experiences.

Lemolo Cafe & Deli

RadarStation

114 N Wenatchee Ave.

115 S. Wenatchee Ave • First Friday FREE Reception 5pm-9pm

RAD: An Installation Mural

Sun & Mon 11-4, Tue-Sat 11-6

Tumbleweed Shop & Studio

105 Palouse • First Friday Reception 5pm-8pm Tumbleweed Bead Co. launched in 2002 when owner and creator Jessica Russell began creating delicate, sophisticated, eco-friendly jewelry at her in-home studio. Tumbleweed believes in keeping life and accessories simple, fun and beautifully designed.

Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center

light snacks and beverages. All proceeds from First Friday Art Walk sales will go back to the students and classrooms for additional art materials. Please join us from 4:30-6:30pm.

Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce

137 North Wenatchee Avenue

First Friday Reception 5-8 pm. Join the Chamber of Commerce in welcoming illustrator and artist Claudia Wiggins and author Jennifer Burke as they sign 3 of their children’s books. Enjoy tasting wines from Chateau Faire le Pont Winery as well! $10 tasting fee. 5-8 pm.

RadarStation

115 S. Wenatchee Ave.

Two Rivers Gallery

102 N Columbia • First Friday Reception 5pm-8pm

the middle of November.

127 South Mission Street • First Friday (FREE) 10am-8pm

Wells House

1300 5th St. WVC Campus

(509) 888-6240, First Friday 5-7pm

In conjunction with the Beyond the Frame: Inland Bounty exhibit, the Museum presents Gifts of the Earth. It is a look at some of the resources of Indigenous people of the Wenatchee Valley. Learn about native plants, their uses, and the cycle of seasons and harvest.

Be among the first to see the newest acquisition for Wells House. The tiger oak, partner desk that A.Z. Wells used during his time as a business man and philanthropist in early day Wenatchee.

Julie Aynn Photography

15 Palouse Street #103 Wenatchee, WA 98801

Regular Business Hours By Appointment only

Art Walk Hours: 5pm-8pm

Julie Aynn Photography will be hosting: Pretty Nice Creations – Cozy dog blankets, gorgeous woven scarves and customizable earrings. Signs Etcetera – Specializing in custom and personalized wooden and metal signs for all occasions.

Link Transit Art Tour

Ye Olde Bookshoppe

Catch them if you can!

11 Palouse St • First Friday Reception: 5pm-8pm

Rad Volume I by Ron Evans is a celebration of the glorious music players from the 70’s and 80’s. Painted acrylics on large canvases in a style that’s more graphic design than traditional composition. The current project is over twenty feet long. Sarah Sims will have more handmade Earth-friendly jewelry and more fun mini-paintings will be added to the Dish of Fate.

Open First Friday until 6

Lemolo is happy to host the work of Marti Lyttle. She says of her work, “I have long been attracted to trying to capture a place, a plant, and/or a person in its natural state: studies of my appreciation for the world around me and an attempt to visually document the abundance and beauty of life.”

Mission St. Commons

Free Art Tour with Terry Valdez

218 S. Mission St, Open: M-F 8-6 www.missionstcommons.com

Mission St Commons is proud to host a fundraiser for Joyful Scholars Montessori School. Artwork from students ages 3-15 will be up for sale as well as

Featuring the oil paintings of Western artist Dean Rainey. The gallery will have a whole new show of over 50 local and regional artists. Music by pianist Jeannie McPherson. Local wines. Complimentary refreshments.

First Friday FREE Reception 5-9 pm Stephanie Waterbury. Delicate only in technique, Waterbury’s paintings are simply crafted but make bold and iconic statements that would be equally at home in a fine art gallery as on a cheap skateboard deck. From the artist: “Creating is not an escape from reality, but merely an infallible moment of passion. And as for the nicotine-loving subjects - I envy the attitude. As an oncology infusion nurse I find human tobacco consumption repulsive. It’s bad, it irrefutably causes cancer and death, but people still choose it. And that my friends...is riveting.”

Pybus Public Market Events Center

3 N Worthen St, Wenatchee, WA 98801

Pybus Arts is pleased to present paintings by Niki Stewart, on view in both the Pybus Event center and Boardroom. Niki’s work is strongly influenced by her trips to India, and the Event center is filled with her interpretation of India’s oldest, devotional art form, sacred rangoli. The exhibition runs through

Professional artist Terry Valdez leads the first in a series of free guided art tours on Friday, January 4, 5:30pm-7:10pm. His talk will briefly highlight his “Confluence of Communities” funnel series at Columbia Station. Guests will then board Current B to tour the Robert Graves Gallery Members Show. Tours begin and end at Columbia Station. Sign up by phone: 509-664-7624 or email: sdanko@linktransit.com.

NCW based crafter Amanda Northwind has been making hand hammered jewelry for her shop, Mystic North, for 5 years. When’s she not dreaming up new ideas, you can find her out in the mountains.

First Friday Free Transit!

Link Transit’s Art on the Move project for November will handing out tissue paper flowers created during an October workshop held at Wenatchee Valley College led by Parque Padrinos. The floral art was created in honor of the traditional Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos and artists will be strolling the streets and ArtsWalk venues from 5 to 8 p.m. Catch one in a social media post tagging Link Transit and be entered to win a fun prize. Free Link Transit service begins at 4 p.m. on all First Fridays on routes 1, 5, 7, 8E, 8W, 11 & 12. For more information about becoming an Art on the Move Artist or how to participate in the social media challenge, please contact Selina Danko at 509-664-7624 or email sdanko@ linktransit.com.

Monthly art tours coincide with Link Transit offering free First Friday service after 4:00pm on Routes 1, 5, 7, 8E, 8W, 11 & 12.

THE SCINTILLA PROJECT:

by ron evans

scintilla: a spark of a specified quality.

On November 1st the Scintilla Project, a holiday art sale of highly designed Fine Craft and Fine Art objects, made by nine local professional artists is coming to Wenatchee. Nik Penny’s streetside guerilla knit art piece is installed on the tree in front of Mela and Designer Floors. Inside, Kasey Koski’s Estuary, a felted wool and silk sculpture, flies above the art. A percentage of the sales go to support the college’s MAC Gallery and its programs. Participating Artists: Ruth Allanceramics, Claudia Mullex-basketry, Kasey Koski-felted forms, Lindsay Breidenthalpaintings & giclees, Nik Penny-cashmere and bamboo knit cowls, Yev Rybakovebony jewelry, Alessandra Piro-encaustics, Katelyn Mingo-jewelry, karen dawn dean-ceramics.

The Comet talked with organizer and contributing artist, karen dawn dean about this unique showing.

What was the initial idea behind Scintilla Project?

Scintilla Project grew out of the realization that in the years of Wenatchee First Fridays art walks, there has been about approximately 1000 venues to visit. A thousand artists were given the opportunity to display their works, and overwhelming those opportunities were afforded to painters.

As a community, we have come to expect that on any art walk night there are a variety of works to look at and appreciate, with favorite venues and vibes to enjoy. What we haven’t done well is make the case for buying art. Looking at art, yes… buying art, no.

While we may have made art visible, we haven’t made it viable. Additionally, there has been a lack of serious curation and venue opportunity for the artists who work in art that “touches the human body,” loosely (and sometimes pejoratively) classified as craft.

The Scintilla Project takes on these considerations. Can craft be as valued as art? Can an object you use be as important as an object you look at? Can the local economy for the arts be expanded?

Knowing that NCW is rich in creative talent, artists whose work is usually shipped out of the area to urban markets or directly to collectors, the idea was to establish an event that gave locals first chance to buy this work before it left the area.

Early on, advice was sought from many people; arts consultants who had experience successfully growing arts urban events, economic development people, marketing experts, foundation directors, art collectors and events planners. Collectively their advice provided the foundational road map for the first iteration of

the Scintilla Project.

As Scintilla Project artist Claudia Mullek writes, “Our community needs the opportunity to experience high end art and meet its creators. Scintilla Project is a group e ort, bringing local recognition to established artists. This event will expose our community to the caliber of artists who live and work here yet sell their art outside the Wenatchee Valley area.”

This project needed a small number of artists who were very proficient and professional in their art making, an outstanding place to present a curated event, a plan for letting clients in the community know this was happening, volunteers to populate the tasks, and money to make this work.

The easiest part of this project was to find the artists willing to participate, as we’ve all experience the frustration of lack of venue and economic opportunity. Nine respected local artists were selectively invited to participate. They work in silver, ebony, cashmere, encaustic, clay, grass, waxed linen, paper, fibers, felt, oil paint, wool and silk. They make by hand, jewelry, paintings, wearable art, baskets, cards, sculpture, scarves, ceramic vessels. There are seven fine craft makers and two makers of fine art.

Once Greg Wilson of Designer Floors stepped in with the o er to host this first

Scintilla in his design showroom, the project had legs. Between the walls in Mela and the space that Greg has made in Designer Floors, these two adjacent venues, 17 n & 19 n Wenatchee Ave. provide the necessary space for the two legs of the project….a month long group exhibit on the walls of Mela, Nov 1 through Dec 1; and the one day art sale pop-up, Scintilla Project on Saturday Nov 2.

How did you let people know this project was happening?

We ‘took out’ a bill board ad in the form of Nik Penny’s guerilla knitted public art installation on the tree in front of Designer Floors. The tree’s color fields in the sun light and the tree’s Suessical attitude have generated an “X marks this spot” sign. This public art installation lasts until November 12 and is art-angel funded by Jessica and Tyler Russell of Tumbleweed Bead Co.

What’s a Pop-up, for the uninitiated?

A pop-up event is a short term project in an unexpected location. The Scintilla Project Saturday November 2nd is a one day pop-up event, 9am – 6p.

While a design showroom may seem to be an incongruous and unexpected setting, without Greg’s attitudes about community arts and craftsmanship, the Scin-

tilla Project 2019 wouldn’t happen. When he was asked about why he was making this huge e ort in his place of business, as well as donating the use of his business space, he said, “This group of artists reflects what my showroom is all about… good design and precise craftsmanship. I’m rearranging my showroom to make room for this first time event because we all need to work together to provide more community support for the arts.”

Are there di erences in your curation methods for this type of show than say a traditional gallery space?

There are di erences in what’s needed, but not in how carefully the quality work is curated. This is a grass roots peer e ort, populated by people with deep footprints in related arts skills. We inform each other as to the best practices from our experiences. We’ve needed to transform a design showroom into a setting to hold and present these objects. In that e ort, we’ve created a stage for this event that is appropriate to the venue, art, season and event.

In keeping with the holiday feel of this event, the work will be nested on tables under twenty 15’ white aspen trees and 5000 tiny white lights. The lighting in the event is as intimate as the work being presented. These sale displays are akin to small tables of treasured works, softly

illuminated sitting in an interior design showroom.

Are there hopes for this to be an ongoing project, or a one o ?

This is definitely organized and presented as the first of what is hoped to be not only ongoing, but an expanded e ort.

Any other exciting news or plans concerning local arts you can share with us?

The Scintilla Project has a group of nonartist but arts savvy folks assisting in the myriad of tasks needed to present this new arts initiative. These folks have the understanding and skills to grow a nonprofit all-arts umbrella, something that Wenatchee has lacked for 40 years. To grow the arts locally, we must treat it as an economic development project. In small places like Tieton, WA or up in the Methow, when we look at their vibrant arts scenes and cultural footprint, we see that there is a strong economic sustainability aspect built in them, from the beginning.

I have hopes that the current marketing support which the Scintilla Project has experienced in the historic district, with the Wenatchee Downtown Association and Wenatchee Valley Chamber is the first of many economic development collaborations. Stacy Luckensmeyer, the

Business and Industry Liaison at the college reports, “Having a strong arts scene in the region is important to the growth of a number of industries, including the tech sector. We know from the recent Tech Study done by WSU that technology workers prefer to live in areas with a variety of art and culture o erings, and supporting these e orts in our region will bring quite a bit of benefit to both our artists and our community.”

As to potential arts development space, there is a rough plan for transforming the Wenatchee downtown PUD campus into community use. Also up in Leavenworth, the old Osborne Elementary sits vacant while the community and school ponders it future use. Entiat, assisted by the NCW Economic Development District was one of 23 rural communities who just received a National Endowment for the Arts Funds Design Assistance grant. C

LAURA TRUITT: Genre bending at the mac

by ron evans

November’s First Friday opening at MAC Gallery will feature the impressive and bold works of Laura Truitt, assistant professor of painting and drawing at Gonzaga University. Before getting her MFA in painting at Colorado State University Laura studied painting and drawing at Goucher College, the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland, Vermont Studio Center and the Chicago Art Institute. Truitt is currently represented by the William Havu Gallery in Denver and has shown her work all over the country including here in the northwest, the Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, The Painting Center in New York, the Arvada Center in Colorado, Coker College in South Carolina, Wabash College in Indiana and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. She has been a featured artist in Ruminate Magazine, and her work was recently published in Manifest Gallery’s INPA 7 Painting Annual. We talked with Truitt about her upcoming show and her process of creating her genre-bending paintings.

How did your upcoming show at the WVC MAC Gallery come about?

The director of the MAC gallery and I, Scott Bailey, both went to Colorado State University for graduate school (in di erent years) and shared a painting professor who made the connection. Scott saw my

work when we both had pieces in a juried landscape show in Spokane and invited me to show at WVC after that.

Your work has elements of the abstract but with levels of realism and definitive form creeping through here and about. Do you consider yourself to be an abstract artist to some degree?

I see abstraction and representation as complex elements on a scale rather than a dichotomy. There are lots of abstract elements in my work, and representative ones as well. I try to balance in between recognizable forms because I find that some of the metaphors I’m reaching for work better in that middle ground.

Fine distinct lines and fields of proper perspective are also running themes in your art. Some pieces almost resemble architectural schematics, while still maintaining a touch of chaos and looseness. Talk about working with these types of juxtapositions.

That juxtaposition is a formal one. It’s another balancing act between humanmade and ‘natural,’ and between organic and geometric and trying to find a working space in between those dichotomies.

In many landscape paintings humans are portrayed as outside of nature, or oppo-

site nature. That sets up an extreme dichotomy that is harmful - perhaps nature isn’t something that we can destroy or save, maybe it is more encompassing. I hope that my work examines these perceptions.

One feeling I get while taking in your body of work is a sense of desolation or ruin. Is this intentional or is it the whiskey and my past mistakes talking?

It’s intentional, I use a lot of source imagery of spaces in transition - falling down or being built. Destruction and Construction. I’m originally from southern Ohio and started working with falling down barns because it represented the small farming exodus from that part of the country. Ohio’s leftover buildings and objects were a visible history of land abuse in some ways. I hope to use imagery around me that connects to how we use/ abuse the land.

Most productive creators seem to express a constant longing or maybe a lack of true satisfaction with their own work. The unscratchable itch I calls it. But is there one thing that gives you the most satisfaction in the entire creative process from conceptto gallery wall - to sale?

Definitely the process of making the work. Usually my favorite work is the one that I just finished, if it’s successful it’s started me thinking about the next one and is doing interesting visual things that I’m excited to explore.

Many contemporary artists don’t even approach galleries, opting to show/ sell completely online and on social media. Describe how you approach your online presence as well your experience with brick and mortar shows in the increasingly digital age.

I still enjoy going to galleries and museums! Seeing images online is so di erent from being with objects of art. There’s a movement in the art world to make art viewing more experiential - and I think that’s pretty exciting. Meow Wolf (installation art project experience) in New Mexico is a good example of this, and Terrain in Spokane as well.

Where can we follow your exploits online?

I try to keep my website updated: lauracarpentertruitt.com and I’m represented in Denver by the William Havu Gallery. C

ken stringfellow: have piano, will play

by ron

Ken Stringfellow may be the Kevin Bacon of indie music in the Pacific Northwest - and well beyond for that matter. He cofounded The Posies with Jon Auer in the late 80’s and they were front and center during the circus of the Seattle ‘grunge’ explosion in the early 90’s. Though The Posies never quite reached the level of fame of Pearl Jam and Nirvana (few did), they were a highly influential and crucial part of that entire scene. Seattle at that time was known mostly for the heavier stu and the sweet harmonies and insanely catchy indie-pop-rock songs of The Posies was almost punk in its contrast.

Music seems to be Stringfellow’s entire universe as he’s pretty much always been in a band while also having multiple side projects of all sorts of genres. He also has been a member of or stepped in for recording sessions and tour legs with bands like Lagwagon, Sky Cries Mary, The Minus Five and White Flag. In 1993 he and Jon Auer were tapped by Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens to reform Tennessee’s Big Star and they would record and tour together until Chilton’s death in 2010. In 1999 Stringfellow joined R.E.M. in the studio to work on the Man On The Moon

soundtrack and he would continue as part of the band for over five years.

He is currently touring North America performing his seminal 2001 solo album Touched and on November 3rd, he brings this show to the intimate RadarStation in Wenatchee.

When his tour manager Tina Dunn reached out about a show, her only question was “Do you have a real piano?”

The answer was an excited yes. I caught up with the world’s busiest musician while in a Seattle studio between shows to chat about his seemingly impossible career as well as life on the road.

Some musicians adore touring, they can never get enough of it. Many detest the grind that it can be. Which camp do you fall in?

I love it. I love traveling in general but I would say that touring, especially solo, is very easy. If you want to stop you just stop

and if you want to eat at that restaurant you eat at that restaurant - if you want to go to a party after your gig you go. It’s a lot of freedom.

You are currently performing your entire album

Touched which was released on September 11, 2001. All of us, of course, felt the heaviness of that day, but it must have been a surreal experience to have had such a monumental and personal project incidentally tied to that horrific event. Walk us through that part of the story of Touched.

Well it was too late to really change the release date, it was being released, so it was more about what to do next. Nobody’s mind was going to be on anything like that and all the news and information sphere was talking about was the attack. But I decided to go on tour and that was probably a really interesting thing to do

at that time. Most people were canceling their flights. I think part of me just said that I would like to try. Try to find as much normalcy as possible without being ridiculous about it. Certainly I understood the concerns because nobody knew what was going to happen next. Are their other attacks on the way? I couldn’t really do anything about that, you know what I mean? I also felt that the perpetrators of the attack shouldn’t have that victory of keeping us from life. So I actually got on a plane as soon as Friday the 14th to fly to New York because my tour just happened to be scheduled to start in that region. Driving from the airport toward Manhattan you could see the crater and the smoke was still coming out of it. It was pretty intense. The first show was actually in Philly opening for Phantom Planet on Saturday the 15th. Saturday was too soon. People really weren’t ready. Sunday I played in Hoboken and that was still too soon, nobody was ready to come out. But as the week progressed people started ungluing themselves to the news cycles and started showing up. On September 20th I played the Mercury Lounge in New York and it was a really cool experience. It was the best possible moment in the worst

PHOTO BY LOJINX

“...I’m totally dependent on the audience’s participation. We create that evening together. We are all vulnerable there.”

evans

possible time.

What has led to Touched being the focus for your current tour?

It has to do with that show actually. The Mercury Lounge is celebrating their 25th anniversary and they invited me back. As it happens, the date that was available for my show was September 21. Eighteen years and one day from the show in 2001 and we all thought that Touched would be a great idea.

Talk about this tour in terms of venues. RadarStation is a cozy house at fifty people, but you are doing house shows as well as larger clubs this time out.

Yes, and generally it’s really not about the size but more about the atmosphere with people who are solely there to listen. Whether that’s 5 or 500, that’s immaterial to me. When it’s a full band you have each other to bounce o of, but with a solo thing I’m totally dependent on the audience’s participation. We create that evening together. We are all vulnerable there.

The Posies have become active again in recent years, did they ever o cially break up? Or was it more of a planned hiatus?

We did split up in 1998. We played a farewell show in San Francisco, thinking that would be the last time we’d ever even be speaking to each other. But, we eventu-

ally got over it and started playing again a couple years laters. We occasionally take some time o but we don’t really hate each other enough to split up anymore. We have played a few shows recently and at the moment we are working on a new record.

How did you find yourself in not one but many bands that you were previously a big fan of - specifically R.E.M. and Big Star?

R.E.M. happened right after The Posies split up in 1998. That band has a rule to not hire musicians who were already in functioning bands because they didn’t wanna cause a breakup. I didn’t know at the time but later found out through Scott

McCaughey of the Young Fresh Fellows that R.E.M. had talked about approaching me earlier, I don’t know why they were so interested in me but it’s a great compliment. R.E.M. recorded Automatic For The People in Seattle and when they came to town Peter Buck (R.E.M. guitarist) looked up musicians they knew of in town. One of them was Scott who I was working with in a band called The Minus Five which Peter later joined. Peter saw I could play lots of di erent instruments and that I was a responsible person and that likely led to them asking me to join R.E.M.

I discovered Big Star about the time The Posies started. All of those Big Star albums had not really been available since the 70s but they started reissuing them on

THE POSIES IN 1990. PHOTO BY JAMES BUSH

CDs. So I finally got my hands on the music and it was a fantastic revelation. We (The Posies) were obsessed with them. It seemed unlikely there would ever be more Big Star music. Chris Bell, one of the main songwriters died in the 70s and Alex Chilton had moved on to other things. The drummer, Jody Stephens had heard our Big Star covers and we’d become friends. So when Jody and Alex talked about finally doing Big Star again they had a dilemma. They needed a band. Jody knew that Jon and I were capable of hitting those arrangements and eventually our enthusiasm is what likely led to us being asked to join the band. When Alex died that was the end of that of course and I now really just focus on my solo work and The Posies with an occasional one-o .

I take a lot of jobs because I genuinely love the work, whether that’s as an artist or doing production work in the studio. I also have to make a living and production has a wage attached to it which is more dependable. Not that it’s all work. You can do production for a well known artist and push things way, way, way up there. Or you can work with someone who is new and maybe you can help them sound better.

What was it like for you, being in the middle of the Seattle chaos in the early 90’s?

It was exciting. It was almost out of nowhere that all of these great bands were selling hundreds of millions of records. It was like being in London during the Swinging 60’s but without the gogo dancers. There’s a lot of tragedy with so many of those people gone now. Drugs were a big part of all of that of course. Most of the bands we talk about from the Seattle scene are a few years older than me. Jon and I were underage when we first started playing with The Posies so we couldn’t even get into bars and we never really got into any of that and I think that’s part of our secret to longevity. Never tried heroin. I don’t really have an answer why so many Seattle musicians tried it. Whether it was peer pressure or it was just easy and always around.

But it was an exciting time and even though our band didn’t end up selling millions of records, we had a front row seat to an amazing cultural phenomenon and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

See page 8 for more show info. C

WAYWARD YOUTH: these punks again?

by ron evans

Wenatchee punks Wayward Youth have been causing a ruckus (and some sweet bonus tinnitus) around the valley since the late 90’s. After a hiatus or two the band recently reformed and is primed to unleash all they’ve pent up over the years at their home-base, Wenatchee’s beloved Wally’s House of Booze on November 15th. I talked with the band about surviving two decades of constantly evolving music scenes, lineup changes and in-band conflicts.

Jeremy (Vocals): It started with two complete fucking failures who were too poor to go do anything but still wanted people to hang out with us. It was Andy on Drums, and me playing guitar and singing with a cheap mic that was duct taped to a vacuum cleaner. I was homeless so I stayed with Andy and his family. Andy’s bedroom had enough room in it for the couch he slept on and me on the floor. We didn’t have any intent, we were unknowing nihilists. We had no hope for our futures, and it turns out we were fucking right. Andy brought in Manuel to play guitar. We were too loud to practice at Andys so Manuel said we could practice in the shed at his dad’s house in an orchard.

Joel (Bass): I joined when they were getting the band together, pretty much because I was probably the only person they knew who owned a bass guitar. They have

been stuck with me ever since.

Jeremy: On the way to our first practice we saw Joel at the skatepark. Joel was kind of a dork but he was a nice guy. He used to pull his socks up to his knees. Anyway I thought the punk rock thing to do was to not give a fuck who your bass player is and so we stopped and picked him up and we played our first show (terribly I might add) three days later. Joel’s addition was the best move we could have made ‘cause he was the only one of us that was responsible and he basically booked everything and held us together. Matthew came on a few months later to try to give us the sound that we were lacking due to our tiny amps.

Matthew (Guitar): I started a band called Not All There in 1998. We played with Wayward Youth a few times in 1999 and sometime that next spring the guys asked me to join as a second guitar player to help fill out the sound. They were playing often so it wasn’t long before my first show in Wayward Youth at the IOOF Hall in Wenatchee playing songs o their first album called “The First Four Month” and we were in the studio recording the first songs for our second release “It’s a Wayward Life” soon after that. My first band Not All There is still playing often down at Wally’s House Of Booze and for the last five years or so I’ve been playing with Children in Heat, Wenatchee’s sea-

sonal Misfits cover band. About seven years ago Ando Peart and I partnered up to continue Snatchee Records after Raymond Malstead moved out of town. Ando and his wife Jas do most of the hard work these days, I’m mostly in it for the beer.

Joel: The band ended when I moved to Bellingham, to go to school in September of 2001. I suppose it could have kept going at the time with a di erent bass player, but for whatever reason it didn’t. We did a reunion show a few years later, maybe 2004-ish. And played two shows in 2013.

Jeremy: When Joel left I told everyone I would do this forever but I understood if they wanted to quit and they all decided it was time to call it a day. I assume it is because no one wanted to deal with me without Joel there to mediate.

What made you decide to get back together?

Joel: I’m not even sure how we all got back together. The first of the two reunion shows in 2013 was amazing. Great crowd and we nailed those songs. The band sounded like a well oiled machine. The second reunion show we did in 2013 wasn’t exactly a good way to go out. Let’s just say one of the former members on guitar didn’t exactly come prepared knowing the material. It was a disappointment, and we all were extremely bummed. He’s not

with us anymore. Problem solved.

Matthew: Andy (original drummer) retired to Florida because he wanted to get as far away from Wenatchee as possible and Alaska was too cold so we asked Brian from the Moses Lake band Dept. of Martyrs to join. I’ve known Brian since some of the first shows at Wally’s and always liked his style.

Jeremy: For me, I just want the opportunity again to scream at the top of my lungs how fucking useless our society is and why my feelings are hurt.

Is there new music in the works?

Joel: We have a handful of new songs. Two we will be playing on November 15th. We are all pretty proud of those. It feels great to play with Jeremy and Matt again. I love those guys, and it’s like nothing changes. It’s been great to play with our new drummer, Brian, and he’s no stranger to the local scene. We are pretty excited to be back.

In the age of Netflix and seemingly widespread agoraphobia, are you noticing a trend one way or another in terms of show attendance (your bands or others) or is it always in flux?

Joel: It all depends on the genre, and your intended audience. Rock and punk isn’t

WAYWARD YOUTH PRESENT DAY

exactly the top genre anymore. We’re far removed from the 90’s when all the Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph bands were huge, and shows were well attended. College age kids are listening to a ton of other genres, all of which are way more available to them via Spotify and the internet.

The bigger/older more established bands (Swingin Utters) seem to draw well but local bands who have been around for a while have a hard time sustaining draw from what I’ve seen. We’ll do great as we haven’t played in years, but who knows down the road what will happen to our draw. You need a ton of local bands in town to keep draw good for the smaller touring acts, but if a local band plays every few weeks, their draw will take a dive. It does seem like Wallys has a built in crowd though, and Ando has done an incredible job in keeping the local scene alive. I would image though, a key to success to a local venue would be diversifying what types of music gets played there.

How would you describe the current music scene in Wenatchee compared to WY’s early days or even going back further?

Matthew: The all ages shows back in the late 90’s were great. Everyone was young and dumb and the kids were responsible for our awesome little scene. It really felt like a community. Our punk scene in the

late 90’s was built o of the rock ‘n roll scene in town in the early 90’s and the current success Wenatchee is having, I feel, is based on this long history of music.

Joel: As far as local shows that we all attended/helped organize when we were in high school, it almost seems like those are a thing of the past.

You will be sharing the infamous Wally’s stage carpet with The Nightmares (Wenatchee staples) and San Diego’s Schizophonics. What can you tell us about this band?

Joel: I first heard the Schizophonics from a Facebook friend of mine down in San Diego. She happened to attend a show, and posted a video. I was blown away by their music, and even more so by their live performance. I messaged the band o ering a Wenatchee show if they ever toured, and they just happened to be booking a NW tour at the time. I booked a show for them at Wally’s, and had my Ramones cover band play with them. It was a free weekday show, so I paid both touring bands out of my pocket, and Ando Peart took the evening o his paid job, to run sound for free. They blew the doors o the place, and said it was one of the best shows on that tour! They have since toured the world, and wanted another show at Wally’s on their current

tour supporting their new album “people in the sky.” Some of the nicest people you will ever meet, and easily the best live band I’ve ever seen in the 25 years I’ve been involved in the music business. I can’t say enough about this band. They will be a tough act to follow on the 15th.

Where can we follow your exploits online?

Matthew: Our first tour of duty was over before sites like Bandcamp or Facebook were around. We probably still have a MySpace page one can visit if they want a

computer virus and skin rash. We do have a Facebook page up and running now that we keep updated. We’ll continue to post concert info, new recordings and other band information there for now.

Jeremy: You can expect to see us kicking around here and there all over Washington periodically. We are all fat nerds now. We don’t have time to get in a smelly-ass van and play to five people all the time.

See page 9 for more show info. C

WAYWARD YOUTH THE EARLY YEARS

HOOP DREAMS: THE EMBROIDERY OF stacey denman polley

by ron evans

Stacey Denman Polley has been involved in the arts in the Wenatchee area for many years - she was a featured musician in the LEAP event at the Numerica PAC as well as on the LEAP Sound Album 2015. She recently discovered a knack and passion for embroidery work and her eyecatching pieces have been quite popular in both viewer reaction and sales. I wanted to see what got Stacey going down this path of creativity so I tossed a few questions her way.

When did you happen upon hoop/embroidery work?

I bought a “starter kit” on a whim for Christmas of 2018. The first hoop I attempted was incredibly bad, it was pretty laughable. I didn’t try again for almost a year. I had a minor surgery August of this year, so I decided to try again with all the free time I had. It sort of blossomed from there.

Your pieces can vary in style - some are outline heavy and comicbooky/

cartoonish, others can accurately be described as “yarn paintings.” What materials are you using?

I use standard cotton/polyester embroidery floss, which is typically 6 thin threads spun into one.

You have dabbled in other visual arts as well, how do you approach these other art forms di erently from embroidery?

I’ve delved into all kinds of art, whether it was successful or not. Most of it has just been for me, but people have showed interest and connection to the hoops and that makes me want to push harder. When I embroider, I think about it the way I paint; with strokes of color. Or the way I draw, with shadows and sketching. There’s something really exciting about creating 3D tangible art, something that you can’t make a copy of. I think that’s another reason people get excited about owning one, it will never be a photocopy and that level of “personal” feels good.

Are you still making music?

I hope to revive the musician inside myself eventually. One can only have so many hobbies going at a time. My husband is an audio engineer and the opportunity to record and put out new music is always available to me, so hopefully inspiration strikes soon.

Many people give up art/passions/creativity to some degree once children are involved. As a mother, do you have any advice to other parents that may think art has to be on hold for 18 years or so?

Making time for art/music/hobbies when you have kids is hard. But when it comes down to it, if it’s important to you, you’ll make time. But it does come with sacrifices. It’s just about choosing to pick up an art project when you’d rather nap or watch TV. You won’t regret making art, you might regret sleeping. It also feels really good to show your kids that creating is important. My daughters love to watch

me sew, I hope it inspires their artistic aspirations.

You are selling these things as fast (or quicker) as you can make them. Are you creating all the time to keep up with demand or it is more of an inspired-based productivity level?

I was on a pretty hot streak for about a month, making two or three a day. I have slowed down to about one a week now that I’m back to work but I’ve acquired a taste for it and won’t be stopping soon. I’ve sold about twenty hoops in two months, both online and personal custom requests. I’ve tried to vary the styles as well as prices. Some of them I have spent six or more hours on and are $35+, whereas others are small, simple, and under $15.

Where can people find your pieces for purchase?

etsy.me/33Revvp

KRAZY KAT

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1922

BY GEORGE HERRIMAN

how bizarre: the gram parsons body heist

by ron evans

Gram Parsons is often considered the king and original pioneer of country rock. His band The Flying Burrito Brothers melded the two genres in a way that appealed to people on both sides of the listening spectrum. They even played the infamous Altamont Festival and by most accounts, their performance was one of the very few mellow moments in what would become a violent, even fatal, disaster of a concert. But it was when Gram Parsons set out on his own that his songwriting really started to shine. The Rolling Stones loved him so much they let him record Wild Horses years before they did. It was only after seeing the success of Gram’s version that the Stones decided they’d better take the song back.

Gram fit right in with the Stones, and one of his closest drinking and drugging buddies was Kieth Richards. Richards often claimed that Parsons would outdo even him most times. Think about that. All that partying was bound to catch up to the crooner who is now likely known to the general population as the dude that wrote Love Hurts, made a classic rock staple when Scotland’s Nazareth covered it on their Hair of the Dog album.

While touring with the Burrito Brothers, Parsons fell in love with the South West-

ern American desert, specifically The Joshua Tree National Park. He would often stay out there at a little motel called The Joshua Tree Inn doing copious amounts of all the bad but fun things. One night in September of 1973, Parsons was staying at the inn with some of his pals. He tried to get them all to party with him but they were burnt out and passed. He drank six double tequilas and said “I’ll drink for all of us, then.” and made his way back to room 8 hwere he was staying. Along the short trip he met a young woman who o ered him what most people are guessing was morphine. She went back to his room and injected him with the drug and he immediately started to O.D. Upon realizing that all was not well, the girl ran to get Gram’s pals who tried to revive him in a number of ways, including an ice enema. You read right. But, nothing doing. So they called an ambulance and by the time they’d arrived to the hospital Gram was already dead.

One of Gram’s best pals and road crew member Phil Kaufman claimed that Gram’s wishes that he specifically spoke to Kaufman one night - after a funeralwas that if he were to die he wanted to be cremated and his ashes scattered over Cap Rock in the Joshua Tree. However, Parsons’ stepfather Bob had already

planned for a private funeral in New Orleans and didn’t allow anybody outside of the immediate family to attend. This was extra aggravating for Parsons’ friends and fans because it became known that Gram’s stepfather was going to inherit a lot of his grandfather’s estate if he could prove that Gram was a Louisiana resident. It’s kind of complicated but essentially he needed to be buried in New Orleans for his stepdad to get a bigger cut of his inheritance - money that would have gone to Gram at some point.

So...Kaufman and a friend decided to steal Parsons’ body from the airport and carry out his final wishes. They knew a girl who owned a Hearse and she loaned it to them gladly for the cause. The rest was as easy as acting the part to convince the airport sta they had every right to take the coffin. They were met with very little to do and soon were hauling ass (and Gram) to the desert.

They wheeled the co n over next to the Cap Rock formation, opened the lid, filled it with two gallons of gasoline and flicked a lit match into it. The body didn’t exactly ignite so much as fucking explode. Like...a lot. Kaufman later recounted that a cloud of ash towered up into the air dusting the entire rock. Just as Gram wanted.

The cops were hot on the trail and missed the body thieves by minutes. They doused they flames and took what remains...remained back to the station and later they were sent home to Bob in New Orleans. They caught Kaufman a few days later and brought him downtown. Amazingly, there were no laws concerning stealing a corpse that hadn’t yet been buried. So all they could really do was charge the two insane buddies with stealing the coffin that Gram was in. The gal that lent them the Hearse paid that fine of $750 and the two were let go. This is all completely true. There’s a movie called Grand Theft Parsons starring Johnny Knoxville as Kaufman. It’s a bit romanticized with lots of liberties taken, but the heart of the story is 100% true. The Joshua Tree Inn is still there and you can even stay in Room 8 where Gram by all accounts passed away. For years you could go out to Cap Rock and still see the soot from the fire of the makeshift cremation. The parks department later sandblasted it to get all the gra tied tributes o the stone.

Borrowing a Hearse, stealing your corpse, running from the law and blowing your shit up over your favorite spot. Those are true friends, man. C

THE DOC IS IN: holiday stress

ALLEGRA HART

TAKE BACK YOUR BREATH - Your very own renewable resource.

you exhale, breathe out through your mouth like you’re blowing through a straw and draw your abdomen back toward your spine.

Dr. Allegra says…

do?

A: The feeling of impending doom around the holidays is a common sentiment. Our modern world can feel overwhelming in the best of times and having so much expectation placed on doing more and being happy around the holidays can feel like too much to handle.

First, if anxiety is a normal state of being for you, I recommend addressing this regularly so it no longer haunts you throughout the year. There are many easy and e ective ways to address anxiety no matter what time of year it hits. I’ll share a couple here with you today.

Often when you feel anxious, your breath may become more shallow, and you may even hold your breath. When you don’t breathe deeply, carbon dioxide (a waste product from every cell) builds up in your body, making you more acidic and reactive, both physically and emotionally. Holding your breath, and even shallow breathing, literally limits your body’s ability to detoxify and eliminate waste.

It sounds so simple, and yet many people are often not breathing fully. When you shift your awareness to your breath, your brain cannot focus on all the other things you might be worried about. Completely focusing on your breath brings you into the present, where there is less room for worries about the past or future. It also lowers your heart rate and engages numerous biochemical processes which can aid in calming your entire body while simultaneously increasing its efficiency.

Here is what to do:

Begin by inhaling slowly through your nose. Be aware of your shoulders: keep them level, down, and back. As you inhale, allow your abdomen to expand. As

Be aware of what the air feels like as it fills your lungs and again as it exits your body. Try to make your exhale slightly longer than your inhale. This helps eliminate more carbon dioxide. The goal with these breaths is slow, smooth, steady, and silent, so these can be done anywhere.

This is a deceptively simple, and highly e ective tool. I recommend you do 100 slow, deep, steady, abdominal breaths every day. You can do them all at once or sprinkle them throughout your day, whichever works best for you.

THE POWER OF NO

You don’t have to say “yes” to every holiday event, food, or experience. In fact, when you pick and choose only the ones that feel good, you’ll enjoy the season much more.

Maybe there are a few events that are very important to you, schedule those in first and then pick and choose others that feel right for you. Consider engaging in only a couple of events a month, rather than having three events a week. Your schedule is your own, so OWN IT!

Be conscious of when you choose to apply these tools. Sometimes it is important to show up even when stress is high. This is your call to make and you can do so wisely when you teach yourself to remain objective and open.

I hope these simple, yet e ective tips are as helpful to you as they have been for me in my life.

Cheers to a relaxing, enjoyable holiday season!

ABOUT DR. ALLEGRA HART

Dr. Allegra Hart is a licensed naturopathic physician, speaker, author of Nourishing Space Within: Essentials of Self-Care, founder of Naturae Naturopathic Clinic and Dr. Allegra’s Apothecary, and works with patients worldwide.

Dr. Allegra specializes in helping women cultivate e ective, natural self-care and rebuild their health from the inside out. When we choose to cultivate a healing foundation on our own- the ripple e ect will inevitably inspire others to do the same.

If you have a question for Dr. Allegra, email us at info@naturaeclinic.com with the subject “The Doctor Is In Question”. C

Naturopathic Physician

Q: I feel overwhelmed by the thought of the holidays coming so soon. I feel like I just make it through the rest of the year and the holidays make my anxiety worse. What can I

by ron evans