Local musician Wil Russoul treated a few local coffee and tea drinkers to a short setlist Wednesday morning at Nirvana Coffee Company. If that’s any indication of how easy it is to bring live music to the area, it’s another fun, local element to introduce as summer approaches in Aberdeen.
With the temperatures climbing into the upper 80s and low 90s this weekend, thoughts of summer are sprouting, so what sort of music scene should residents expect throughout the season? To paraphrase Russoul, who also heads the Downtown Aberdeen Association, a lot.
“As far as music goes in Aberdeen and Grays Harbor, one of the things I’m excited about, just locally is you’ve got The Loading Dock every Friday,” Russoul said of the downstairs area inside the Becker Building. “I went last Friday, they usually have four to five bands playing at The Loading Dock.”
Randy Beerbower, a local historian who’s plugged into the music scene, said he believes The Loading Dock is booked throughout the whole summer.
On the exterior windows of the Becker Building — 114 S. I St., in Aberdeen — there’s a number for GH Music — 855-642-7684.
“They’ll send you all the information about their shows,” Russoul said. “I think that’s a really cool feature because you won’t ever miss a show. I love that.”
“I usually share as many events as I can on GH Music as the bands and planners share them with me,” Beerbower said.
Those exterior windows — the one facing Wishkah Street and the South I Street facing window — also feature advertisements for future live shows there. Just stop on the sidewalk and take a look.
Russoul championed the efforts of the proprietors at Messy Jessy’s Bar and Grill — 212 S. I St.
“Upstairs they have their own stage and they have a promoter,” Russoul said. “They’re bringing in music there. I would encourage people to go up there, get something to eat, check out the music scene there. I know the promoter is gonna look at doing an original music showcase down here. I’m very excited about that.”
In addition to live music there, Messy Jessy’s also has karaoke from 8 p.m. every Friday.
Mount Olympus Brewing Company is another location in downtown Aberdeen that music-minded folks should look toward, according to Russoul.
“We know Mount Olympus has scheduled people, believe they’re on Saturdays, all summer long,” Russoul said. “They also built an outdoor stage now. There’s music at Mount Olympus happening. Honestly, just the caliber of artists that are showing up to that, that’s an amazing thing.”
Mount Olympus’ manager Katie Gonsalves provided a list of bands and artists that MOB is hosting this summer.
All shows start at 7 p.m.:
Graysen and Amanda Ransom — May 20
Norman Baker — June 24
Boxcar Pete — July 8 and Sept. 8
SR 109 — July 22
Black Shepard — Aug. 5
The Six — Aug. 19
Kyle and Darin — Sept. 9
“They are all different,” Gonsalves said. “Some of them are just acoustic guitars that play covers and originals, others are full bands that play rock or jazz. Really great musicians.”
Russoul added Nirvana Coffee Company — 205 S. I St., — to the list of venues.
“Throughout the summer you’re gonna see impromptu concerts, people showing up to play — that includes me,” Russoul said, before adding he’s working on having another show.
“People can come down here to play guitar at any time,” Russoul said about Nirvana Coffee. “Amy (Mathews-Smith) has been really good at other things too. She’s had events down here, from painting to poetry, readings and different things like that, which keeps people in town and doing something fun.”
Russoul said people can also play an acoustic guitar at Tinderbox Roasters — 113 E. Wishkah St. He keeps one there in case an idea sparks in a musician’s head and they want to play.
“People just stop by and have music there for whenever they like to do that, and that’s always a welcome sight,” Russoul said.”
And then there’s The Green Room, which doesn’t yet have an open date. The Green Room is inside the Side One Building — an urban moss green building at the intersection of West Wishkah and South K streets.
“That will be grunge-specific around Kurt Cobain and other artists,” Russoul said. “You might start to see some things happening there. He’s kind of planning it out right now. That’s brought to you by Side One Studios.”
The vast musical choices in Aberdeen that Russoul brought to light Wednesday appeared to put him in a good mood.
“In Aberdeen, that’s quite a bit, let alone knowing all the musicals that are happening at the Driftwood Playhouse,” Russoul said. “People always got to remember while that’s not right downtown, it’s part of our art and music district. We want to support them and they use a lot of artists in there for the kinds of things they do. Plus you’ve got the Bishop Center across the river that does all sorts of stuff. They do a really good job of advertising.”
Russoul also talked about Grays Harbor Historical Seaport, which has a venue.
“They have a stage. There’s things you can do there,” Russoul said, before noting that people just need to look for the tall ship while it’s in-port.
He also noted Boomtown Records — 201 E. Wishkah St., and how it can host musicians.
“I recently played in it,” Russoul said. “Boomtown Records has an entire little acoustic cafe, although you can do a lot more there beside acoustic. There’s instruments sitting in there right now. People can pick them up, play them, write a song, create a song, jam. Being a record store, it’s all about music. If you’ve got a small band that you want to throw in there, let’s try it. I think that’s a lot of fun.”
And then, there’s also Aberdeen Sunday Market — which starts May 28, just south of the intersection at South Broadway and East Heron. Russoul said Aberdeen Sunday Market features an artist on Sundays.
Russoul said Steam Donkey Brewing Company — 101 E. Wishkah St. — will also have music. The Tap Room — 103 E. Wishkah St., — also occasionally has live music. Russoul said he’s also played at Go Get the Pho — 100 E. Heron St.
“He has a little area for people to play,” Russoul said about Go Get the Pho. “That’s a great place to do music, it sounds wonderful in there. Isn’t that surprising? Here’s Aberdeen, and I bet I forgot places.”
And there’s also The Cave — 823 W. 1st St. — which is just a few blocks outside downtown Aberdeen. Clinton “Dogger” Mullins recently played an open mic session there a couple weeks back.
Another interesting bit of information that Russoul had was that most of the shows in town are for all-ages.
“I think what I like about what’s going on is there’s a good buzz going on with music,” Russoul said about Aberdeen’s music scene.
While it’s hard to pinpoint the schedule of events throughout Aberdeen, Russoul recommended music fans follow musicians’ Facebook page. He provided an example.
“If you look up Amanda Ransom, you start to see every place that she’s playing, and then basically you start to meet other artists there, and that kind of thing,” Russoul said.
While that’s just downtown Aberdeen, there’s more in Hoquiam, Montesano, Elma and other Grays Harbor County cities.
They will be chronicled in future Thursday articles in The Daily World.
One of those events is “Celebrate Summer Jam” at the Ocean Shores Convention Center — 120 W. Chance A La Mer NW — where 10 artists and bands will play. The first band — Wish Flower — starts playing at 3 p.m. The last artist, Leah Justine, starts playing at 9 p.m. Tickets can be found at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5704601. The ticket prices span from $25 for general seating ($27.99 with service fee) to $40 ($43.89 with service fee.) They can be received via will call, at home printing or mobile delivery at no extra charge.
To add an event to The Daily World music report, send details — name of artist, start time, date, venue — to Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.
Flyers posted on the Wishkah Street windows of the Becker Building —114 S. I St. — show details about the future shows that will happen this summer in its venue, The Loading Dock. The flyers are also posted on the South I Street window.
