A creative and interactive evening of artists supporting the Play it Forward scholarship program will gather to play music and raise funds at the Bishop Center Saturday evening. Play it Forward co-founders Kristi Daniels and Wil Russoul are among the 30 or more performers, and most of the rest of them are also from the area.
“Probably about half, well, maybe well over half of the performers were or are Grays Harbor students,” said Russoul. “Nick Burgess is from Elma, there’s Michael Johnson, a Grays Harbor College graduate.”
The evening kicks off at 6 p.m. with a preshow where vendors, local artists — including Gayle Loman, Ashlee Devlin, Erica Rose and Ivy Moyer — and the performers will mingle, talking music and the importance of nurturing a solid music scene in Aberdeen. “That’s why we’re calling it a mini-fest,” said Russoul. “As opposed to the normal kind of performance where you have someone come in and you experience them, these are the people that are among us already. This is your music scene, artists from our area.”
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m., with local musicians including Brian James, Ericka Corban, Chrissy Shelton, Jackie Mitchell, CD Scofield, Brian Cokeley, Daniel Walker, Shannon DeLong, Gordon Shaw and many more. Also on stage will be three performers from Grays Harbor College’s summer musical “American Idiot:” Casey Bronson, Quentin Sotomish and Christian Sperline. Tickets to this performance are $10 and can be purchased online at www.ghc.edu/bishop.
There will be a special after show, an intimate affair featuring music by The Siren &Assassin. This duo started performing together after meeting in New Zealand in 2011; Shannon Delong provides the vocals, Dan Walker the guitar and percussion. Tickets for this performance are $20; only 65 tickets are available and can be purchased online at www.ghc.edu/bishop. Tickets to both performances can also be purchased at the door the evening of the event.
All proceeds from the evening will benefit Play it Forward’s Grays Harbor College scholarship program.
“We started doing this a year ago and it’s something we’re very proud of,” said Daniels. “This really is a community scholarship. We simply provided the seed, and the community provided the water through monetary, emotion and social support that has enabled it to grow. As long as the support is there, we will continue to do this.”
Daniels added, “Our scholarships at Grays Harbor College are currently open for the 2017-18 academic year.” Applications can be found at ghc.edu/scholarships.
Play it Forward is a nonprofit organization that encourages the arts by repairing and donating musical instruments and funding Grays Harbor College scholarships. The scholarships give preference to unaccompanied youth, meaning young people who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian, and to those studying music and art.
