Prepare to Folk Out at the Conservatory

What? Rock gets to be a verb. Why not folk?

Aaaaaanyway... every second Sunday of every month throughout the year, Tacoma Metro Parks hosts an acoustic concert, featuring local musicians, at the lovely W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory in Wright Park. Shows start at 1 PM and last about an hour and a half. This particular Sunday will feature the Conservatory debut of yours truly, the Izenmaniac himself.

Primary billing goes to those who booked the gig, Don Izenman (look! he has the same last name as me! weird...) and Goodwin Trent. The two of them have been making music together in Tacoma for years in a variety of groups. Mr. Trent, as fine a bass player as you are likely to meet (his bass has no frets, I can't work it) is currently recovering from major back surgery (is there such a thing as minor back surgery?), and so, to fill out the ensemble, Don enlisted his youngest spawn, some weirdo named Joe.

Maybe Goodwin will feel great and I'll just hop in on a few songs. Maybe I'll be playing along for the entire hour and a half. We shall see. I can promise that it will be fun no matter which of us is playing when. You can expect a blend of folk, country (the good kind) and acoustic rock, with both covers and a few originals peppered in.

In addition to the music, Saturday is also the opening of the Hilltop Artists glass exhibit, so that display will be in full swing for the show. Free music, free art, oodles of plant life... what more do you need?

Plus, for only the second time ever, you get to see me performing on a mandolin. How cool is that?

Sunday, February 10th. 1 PM - 2:30 PM. Be there or be whichever polygon you find the least cool.

Opening for Garrison Keillor (but not really)

Hey kids! If you read Spew today you know that the incomparable Garrison Keillor (of Prairie Home Companion fame) is coming to town tonight to spread his usual brand of laid back good cheer and humor at the Pantages.

Less publicized (except to those whom it actually affects, presumably) is the pre-show BCPA subscribers reception. If you happen to be there between 6 and 7 PM tonight, drinking their wine and eating their snacks (or whatever it is people do at pre-show receptions these days), and you happen to see a couple guys with a mandolin and a guitar quietly rocking in the corner, please take a moment out of your day to tell them that they are awesome. Because, well... we are pretty awesome :)

It's pretty cool, in my brain, anyway. Will we get to meet The Tall One himself? Probably not. Will we even get to watch the long since sold-out show? Chances are slim, and rely on either no-shows or the fire code letting us stand in the back. Will anyone really even remember that we were there? Who knows. We're meant to be background music anyway. But two out of three Izenmen shall rock that small room in the Pantages like nobody's business. Rock it like only a family of folk musicians can.