SOU’WESTER EVENTS!
See what’s happening during your next stay or plan a visit around our free live music, workshops, wellness offerings and more!
Matt Dorrien is a songwriter currently living in Portland, Oregon. Having self-released two albums under the moniker Snowblind Traveler, he now looks forward to the premiere of his most personal album to date, which will be released under his own name early next year on the Portland-based label Mama Bird Recording Co. His music has been described as timeless and heartbreaking, and his songs reminiscent of the work of artists like Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, and Carole King: A tribute to the golden age of songwriting.
This event is free and open to the public
Workshop Series at The Sou’wester
Plant Allies and Writing Rituals: Shifting into a New Year of Personal Resilience with Lara Pacheco & Abby Chroman
Create a practice for personal resilience in the year ahead, with simple medicinal herbs, a daily writing practice, and practical tools for dealing with a challenging world. We will explore a couple of plant allies and rituals to incorporate into daily life that include making a tea blend and a smudge stick. We will take a short walk to cultivate awareness of the elements and season and use this as a place to draw inspiration for a writing practice.
Lara Pacheco is a Taino, Latinx mamita that believes that our collective liberation is accessed through decolonizing ourselves by weaving ourselves into the web of ancestral medicine. Lara directly works through ancestral medicine with plants and fungi. When not caring for her family, land and all creatures, Lara runs Seed and Thistle Apothecary, an educational resource, and co runs the Seasonal Wellness Clinic that works to provide access to herbal medicine and massage for marginalized communities and Brown Girl Rise, a youth empowerment program for young femmes of color.
Abby Chroman is a Program Manager at Portland State University’s School of Business, where she helps launch and lead social impact and innovation initiatives. An MA candidate in Conflict Resolution, Abby is also a facilitator and trainer in conflict resolution, and collaborative process, for individuals, organizations and community groups. Before joining PSU Abby worked for five years with Ashoka, an international NGO, where she helped select and connect leading social entrepreneurs.
COST: $15-$20 sliding scale
BRING: Notebook and writing implement, comfortable clothes for being outside in the winter. Please bring a sack lunch and/or snack (hot tea and coffee provided)
All workshops are open to the public.
All Skill Levels Welcome. (The walk will be no more than a 1/4 of a mile and will take along the paved path along the road towards the ocean.)
This workshop is geared for adults.
RSVP via souwesterfrontdesk@gmail.com or 360-642-2542
The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644
This class is part of the Fall & Winter 2017/2018 Workshop Series at The Sou’wester. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/calendar to see the entire schedule of more than 28 artist-led workshops.
Lorain (formerly Grand Lake Islands) is a recording, performing, and head-clearing project of songwriter Erik Emanuelson and instrumentalists Bob Reynolds, Joseph Anderson, and Robin Bacior.
They play woozy American music. Emanuelson’s expressive tenor, recalling ghosts of Nashville Skyline era Dylan and the late Jason Molina, floats over lush textures and the band’s understated groove.
Having played and toured for years—in New York City, Portland, and throughout the west coast—under the name Grand Lake Islands, Emanuelson, along with current collaborators, Reynolds and Anderson decided to step away and reassess. The band had cultivated a creative chemistry and sound that had drifted significantly from Grand Lake Islands’ ramshackle-folk beginnings. With the addition of Portland musician, Robin Bacior, the change was imminent.
Lorain was conceived around a batch of new songs and the desire to build a project, collectively, from the ground up. These new songs emphasize restraint, relying more on subtlety, texture, and structure than crescendo to hit their mark. Despite this, Emanuelson’s ability to emote has remains intact, if not refined.
This event is free and open to the public.
New Year’s Eve Dance Party All Night Long! Bring in the New Year with dance grooves and moves!
Last person on the dance floor wins a gift certificate for a free weekend stay at The Sou’wester!
Born in Stockton, California and raised in Forest Grove, Oregon, Haley Heynderickx wasn’t brought up in a musical family, but she was keen to try it out after having a dream in which she was the female version of Jimi Hendrix. Being eleven years old and burning with desire to set her guitar on fire, her parents allowed her to take several guitar lessons. However, Forest Grove is a pretty small town and only a bluegrass instructor was available. This experience worked out for the best, bringing Heynderickx an appreciation for country music and acoustic implementations. She gradually found a love of writing and folk music once entering college. Heavily influenced by folk, rock and pop music of the 60s and 70s, Heynderickx’s writing found influence in Dylan, Nick Drake, along with local musicians she began performing with.
Her simultaneous feelings of anxiety and love for the 21st century is captured in her haunting vocals and honest lyrics. Though she has enjoyed performing this as a solo songwriter, she found greater satisfaction in a big band noise through the flair of her bandmates. With Alex Fitch of Typhoon on drums, and Lily Breshears of Big Haunt and Sheers on bass and backup vocals, Heynderickx’s subtle softness reaches greater capacities of emotion and longing with the amplification of instruments and energy. This band is young, attentive, and excited to explore their musical horizons.
Unsure of her genre, she jokingly refers to their noise as ‘doom folk,’ but will happily let you decide for yourself if you give it a listen.
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Traveling, creating, and sharing original live music are a few essential ingredients for the enrichment of humanity. Norman Baker and his band play homage to this fact by introducing new and old songs to as many communities as possible. Their new album utilizes undertones of pedal steel, mandolin, banjo, upright bass, clarinet, and of course an onslaught of acoustic and electric guitars telling stories of loss, loss prevention, camping, driving without cell phones, childlike innocence, home towns, and walking till your shoes wear through.
Baker’s respect of family values, roots, and tradition is evident throughout his music. His debut release, “The Art of Not Knowing,” features his mother on fiddle, father on keys, uncle on drums, himself on many other instruments, in addition to several other Seattle musical stalwarts. The artwork for his newest release, “Present Day,” features a series of photos from a 1970 house concert of his pops performing, his mom in attendance, and cops busting the party.
Norman was 13 the first time he performed on stage with fellow Backroads band mate Michael Muir. They sang and played Beatles and CCR while sitting in with the band their dads were in together. Twenty years later their harmonies and guitar work continue to weave seamlessly through timeless original rootsy compositions. Muir’s Clapton and Allman tinged guitar approach meshed with Baker’s Doc Watson meets Neil Young influences prove to be a great combo as the band continues tacking on the miles around the Western US.
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In 2009, Blake, a singer/songwriter in Portland, OR- released a series of music videos on
YouTube, songs that were written using a formula based on mathematical constants. His “What
Pi Sounds Like” music video went viral with millions of views and was featured by NPR’s
Morning Edition, CNN, NBC, FOX, as well as online sites Reddit, Collegehumor, IFLScience,
Gizmodo, Yahoo! and many others.
Blake is now focusing his attention on non-math related compositions as he prepares to release
a brand new full length album entitled, “Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom.” About the album Blake
states, “These songs represent a new beginning for me as a songwriter. I’m exploring musical
territories previously unknown to me, and lyrically my feelings of inadequacy and fear have
never been more honestly expressed.
“Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom” is being released on CD and 12” vinyl and is a result of Blake’s
recent successful Kickstarter campaign. It features 10 songs, the lion’s share being recorded in
Blake’s home studio in Portland, Or. Blending acoustic based indie folk with carefully edited field
recordings and touches of orchestral elements, Blake strikes a delicate balance between lush
acoustic minimalism and a densely curated collage.
This event is free and open to the public.
Workshop Series at The Sou’wester
Yoga & Ayurveda for Winter Vitality with Elyssia Maya Schaeffer
Learn nourishing foods, breath work and yoga to support your body through the winter season. Workshop includes homemade chai, an Ayurvedic snack and a 30 minute guided meditation.
Elyssia Maya Schaeffer is a Certified Ayurveda and Yoga Teacher, Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Wellness Coach living in Portland Oregon with her husband and two cheeky chihuahuas. Follow her on instagram at #anandamayaayurvedapdx
COST: $20
BRING: Please bring a yoga mat and wear warm, comfortable clothes.
All workshops are open to the public.
All Skill Levels Welcome. 7 students max.
RSVP via souwesterfrontdesk@gmail.com or 360-642-2542
The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644
This class is part of the Fall & Winter 2017/2018 Workshop Series at The Sou’wester. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/calendar to see the entire schedule of more than 28 artist-led workshops.
Drawing from diverse influences ranging from John Hartford, Joanna Newsom, Pete Seeger, Jim Henson, and Townes Van Zandt, Hollis Peach weaves evocative, mischievous and deeply personal stories in the American vernacular of song and story. This unassuming, yet highly original duo is currently touring in promotion of their debut release, “Sometimes We Feel the Same”. Founding members of the rootsy folk orchestra Patchy Sanders, songwriter and guitarist, Dan Sherrill along with his singing partner, Jacqui Aubert, create a finely nuanced musical pairing.
Though deceptively simple, their musical arrangements and harmonies are lush, intricate, and often hypnotic in their elegance. Kenneth Pattengale, of the Grammy-nominated The Milk Carton Kids, describes Dan as, “…a monster guitar player.” And this is true, as Dan’s phrasing comes out in the cleverest and subtlest of ways. When all is said and done, Hollis Peach’s music is a powerhouse of subtle gestures and graceful storytelling.
This event is free and open to the public.
Workshop Series at The Sou’wester
Writing Your Conservative Relatives with Jenny Forrester
It’s a fairly universal experience to disagree with family members sometimes. But what if those disagreements are more like a epic gulfs of bafflement and horror? What if your family members are conservatives? What if they’re Republicans? What then?
Write the conservative members of your family into immortality by bringing your pen and paper to the Thanksgiving table. We’ll write scenes that have the immediacy of fiction steeped in the emotional depths of lived experience.
If you’ve dreamed of leaving a story for posterity to tell your whole truth long after you’re gone or if you’ve dreamed of publishing this story for the world, this class is for you. Maybe you feel compelled to write and see what comes of it—consider the possibilities later. Maybe your childhood home remains within your mind as a bright place or a painful place or a beautiful, long gone now place, but the conservativism or religious authoritarianism remains in your metaphors. Write it all. Maybe even find some peace with it.
Literary Memoir offers the opportunity for growth and expression that other types of writing don’t. It’s not just that we’re writing our life’s memories, it’s that we’re writing our resistance through artistic expression. It’s that we’re writing ourselves resilient. So, in this class we’ll talk about what makes memoir literary.
Jenny Forrester has been published in a number of print and online publications, including Seattle’s City Arts Magazine, Nailed Magazine, Hip Mama, The Literary Kitchen, Indiana Review, and Columbia Journal. Her work is included in the Listen to Your Mother anthology published by Putnam. She curates the Unchaste Readers Series. Her debut memoir was published recently (May, 2017) by Portland’s own, Hawthorne Books.
COST: $60
BRING: Paper/Pen/Computer – whatever you’d like to use to write. Please bring a sack lunch and/or snack (hot tea and coffee provided)
All workshops are open to the public.
All Skill Levels Welcome.
This workshop is for students age 17 and up. 20 students max.
RSVP via souwesterfrontdesk@gmail.com or 360-642-2542
The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644
This class is part of the Fall & Winter 2017/2018 Workshop Series at The Sou’wester. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/calendar to see the entire schedule of more than 28 artist-led workshops.
Workshop Series at The Sou’wester
Let’s Make a Sandwich with Tommy Habetz & Jason Cohen
Join Tommy Habetz, of Portland’s Bunk Sandwiches and Pizza Jerk, for an afternoon of sandwich philosophy, sandwich construction, and sandwich eating. Working in one of the Sou’wester kitchens with both fresh local ingredients and the sort of things that anyone might have handy in their own kitchen, we’ll learn how to make one Bunk classic, and also develop and write the recipe for a brand new sandwich of our own.
Hailing from the kitchens of Mario Batali and Bobby Flay, Tommy Habetz joined forces with Nick Wood in 2008 to start Bunk Sandwiches. Made with high-quality ingredients, Bunk sandwiches are creative and comforting, satisfying and delicious. Its signature sandwiches – such as the Pork Belly Cubano, the Meatball Parmiagiano Hero, and the Pulled Pork with Apple Cabbage Slaw – have garnered national media attention from the likes of The Food Network, Food & Wine Magazine, and Travel + Leisure. Bunk has since expanded to five locations in Portland (as well as outposts in the Moda Center and Providence Park). In November of 2015, Tommy also opened Pizza Jerk, a New Haven style pizza joint in the Cully neighborhood of Portland. Pizza Jerk was named one of Bon Appetit’s “Best New Restaurants of 2016.”
Jason Cohen is an author, journalist and food writer whose work has appeared in such publications as Portland Monthly, Eater, the New York Times, Texas Monthly, and Street Roots. He wrote the first chapter of his most recent book, This is The Noise That Keeps Me Awake (co-authored with the band Garbage) at the Sou’wester.
COST: $45 includes lunch
BRING: Lunch is included, as you’ll be making it! Bring a beverage or favorite bag of chips. And a potential sandwich ingredient if you’re so inclined! (hot tea and coffee provided)
All workshops are open to the public.
All Skill Levels Welcome. 8 students max.
RSVP via souwesterfrontdesk@gmail.com or 360-642-2542
The Sou’wester Lodge at 3728 J Place, Seaview, WA 98644
This class is part of the Fall & Winter 2017/2018 Workshop Series at The Sou’wester. Visit www.souwesterlodge.com/calendar to see the entire schedule of more than 28 artist-led workshops.
Baptist Arms create a dystopian gothic folk landscape with spare instrumentation and evocative harmonies.
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Anna Fritz is a cello-wielding activist folksinger who plays songs that crack you open and heal you. She creates a musical alchemy of cello and voice, strumming the cello like a guitar and playing beautiful melodies with the bow as she sings. Her songs boldly dig into themes of colonization, climate change, racial justice, gender, spirituality, and connection to the natural world. Like the great folksingers of previous generations, Anna is a catalyst for people to sing together. Her songs are infectious and easy to learn, imbued with a sense of timelessness as if they’ve been sung for generations. Her disarming, gentle nature and powerful presence gets unlikely crowds of people singing together from town halls to night clubs.
Listeners will find plenty of rockstar cred in this folksinger’s past. Anna Fritz is a sought after cellist with a 15 year tenure spanning the world of classical music and Portland, Oregon’s indie rock scene. She toured nationally with Portland Cello Project for seven years and can be heard on albums from My Morning Jacket, Band of Horses, The Decemberists, Dirty Projectors, and case/lang/veirs. As a solo artist, Anna Fritz has independently released three albums and performed for audiences in more than 50 venues in seven states.
This event is free and open to the public.