ARTIST TRUST GAP APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

ARTIST TRUST’s 2008 GAP (Grants for Artist Projects) applications are now available to artists who reside in Washington State.

The GAP program provides support for individual artist projects by awarding up to $1,500 for projects including (but not limited to) the development, completion or presentation of new work.

The GAP program is open to artists working in all creative disciplines including visual, performing, literary, media and emerging and cross-disciplinary arts. Applicants must be residents of Washington but cannot be a graduate or undergraduate student enrolled in a degree program.

For complete information and guidelines, or to request an application, visit www.artisttrust.org or by send a self-addressed, stamped, business-sized envelope to:
GAP Application
Artist Trust
1835 12th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122-2437.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on February 22, 2008.

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Also, Artist Trust is accepting nominations for the Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. The annual award of $10,000 is given to a Washington State female visual artist, age 60 or over, who has dedicated 25 years of her life to creating art. The award recognizes creative excellence, professional accomplishment and dedication to the visual arts.

Complete information is at www.artisttrust.org

DOH, THE DODOS TO MAKE A STOP IN YAKIMA TOMORROW

***UPDATE: THE DODOS HAVE HAD TO CANCEL DUE TO THE WINTER APOCALYPSE.***

San Francisco experimental-indie-folk band THE DODOS are making a pit stop at the Sports Center tomorrow night.

As always, local folk crooner Chad Bault will be rocking his sweet jams tomorrow night, too.

Oh, and NO COVER.

And tonight at the Sports Center, you can catch Wayman Chapman along with the legendary LARRY KNECHTEL, who was just inducted into the MUSICIANS HALL OF FAME in Nashville.

MOXEE COUNTRY SINGER ADVANCES IN ONLINE CONTEST

Moxee’s TOBY BRADLEY has made it into the final four of Country Music Television’s “Music City Madness 2,” a national online talent search.

The music video for his song, “When You Come Home (Jessie’s Song),” won one more round in this contest which began with 64 acts that have been pared down in a bracketed-style competition.

Listen to Toby Bradley sing “Belleau Wood”

Now in semi-finals, the 36-year-old Bradley is up against Macy VanArnam — CMT incorrectly lists her as Macy Ann Arnam — a teenager from Morristown, N.Y. The other two finalists battling it out are Linda Alber of Portsmouth, R.I., and Katelyn Jolley of Clinton, Utah.

This round of voting is open through Monday and you can vote as many times as you want here:
www.cmt.com/interact/music_city_madness/vote

The winner receives an all-expenses-paid trip to CMT’s Nashville studio to record an episode of “Unplugged at Studio 330” on www. cmt.com and audition for executives from Sony/BMG Nashville.

Bradley wrote the touching “When You Come Home” in the wake of the 2005 abduction, rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in Florida. The lyrics are also influenced by Bradley’s life as a truck driver, which takes him away from his family.

MOLLY GLOSS BOOK SIGNING & LECTURE TOMORROW

Author MOLLY GLOSS’ latest novel, “THE HEARTS OF HORSES” (Houghton Mifflin) is currently No. 1 on the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association hardcover fiction bestsellers list.

And, the straight-forward, yet nostalgic, look at Oregon ranch life in 1917 — a time when men were at war and women, like the main character, 19-year-old Martha, were working the homesteads — is earning the Portland, Ore., writer good reviews in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Seattle Times.

Beginning at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, Gloss WILL SIGN BOOKS in the Peggy Lewis Gallery at the Allied ArtsCenter, 5000 W. Lincoln Ave.
At 7:30 p.m., she will SHARE HER INSIGHTS on writing, motherhood, Western literature and the American heroic myth.

For more information, call the Allied ArtsCenter at 966-0930.

And click here to read Gloss’ Powells.com essay.

WEEKEND REWIND

Since for most people the weekend probably kicked-off Wednesday night, we’ll begin there, too.

• It’s easy to get in a rut and wear a butt imprint into your favorite stool at your favorite bar while sipping your favorite cocktail.
I know I do.
But on Wednesday, a karaoking friend of mine dragged a group of us down to BOOMER’S ROADSIDE BAR & GRILL, 1719 S. First St. (Yes, I was there the next day for Thanksgiving.)

If you’re looking for a new dive bar with stiff drinks and great karaoke, then look no farther than Boomers. It’s divey, but not creepy, and the karaoke singers there are actually pretty good — you gotta check out karaoke regular Paul’s freestyle beatbox version of “Purple Rain.”

SPOTTED: Bartenders who are free and easy with their pours.
*** *** *** ***

• We were all stuffed of leftovers and beat from holiday shopping on Saturday, but hopefully you got in a nap and made it to the STAR ANNA show at the Sports Center.
She’s so young and so talented and has this voice that, as her mom says, can make grown men weep.
Also, the addition of Justin Davis to the group has brought in a whole new vibe. The longtime Ellensburg/Seattle guitar player — I’ve known him since college — has an infectious energy and playfulness, not to mention a great grin, that compliments Star’s melancholy manner.
(Across the way at The Seasons, Kristin Korb was playing and I hear that concert was amazing, as well.)

SPOTTED: My beautiful friend Josie celebrating her birthday.
*** *** *** ***

• Well, the shopping bug finally bit on Sunday and I headed out to help the economy, eventually making my way to the new COSTCO.
Eeeak, it is big, perhaps a bit overwhelming. I only ended up leaving with dinner — a box of wine and salmon.

SPOTTED: A kid whose parents let him spend a good 20 minutes behind a drum kit on display. A woman handing out samples wondered just how much trouble she’d get in if she snatched his drumsticks away.

* Kim Nowacki *

GOT THE NEW GUITAR HERO YET?

Can you get me one too?

Just kidding. I want one of those digital picture frames.

Anyhoo, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and aren’t regretting that extra piece of pecan pie.

This year, I did T-day at little different and spent the day visiting various dive bars. And it ruled.

Next year if you’re looking for a way to get a great meal without having to put up with your family, may I suggest BOOMER’S ROADSIDE BAR & GRILL, 1719 S. First St.

Yes, Boomers. Here they served up a heaping plate of turkey — white and dark meat — mashed potatoes and dressing all covered in gravy, plus sweet potatoes and a roll, AND pumpkin pie, all for … $5.95.
You can’t beat that deal and it was delicious. (The cook there used to work at the Barrel House.)

Boomers also makes a mean bloody mary.

* Kim Nowacki*

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN TO PLAY SEATTLE

Forget Santa, The Boss is coming to town.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND will play Key Arena in Seattle on March 29 (that’s a Saturday).

Tickets — which I think are reasonably priced at $65 and $95 — go on sale at 10 a.m. Dec. 8 through all Ticketmaster outlets.

WEEKEND REWIND

• I don’t want to say Friday’s “PRAY FOR SNOW” issue of ON Magazine appeased the snow gods, but there certainly were some happy faces Sunday night as the FLAKES FELL while folks filed into the Capitol Theatre to see Warren Miller’s new film, and then partied afterwards at the Sports Center.

SPOTTED: A parking lot full of roof racks … and, of course, SNOW!
— Kim Nowacki

LET THE FOWL FLY

Let me just say TURKEY BOWLING is fun, but also gross, especially when the turkey begins to thaw.

But it’s for a good cause. And there was hand sanitizer.

Yes, fellow YH-R reporter Rod Antone, our Web guru TJ Mullinax, and I made up the YH-R team for this morning’s fourth annual CELEBRITY TURKEY BOWLING FUNDRAISER at the Yakima Grocery Outlet store.

The participants were local “celebrities” from area television and radio stations and — since I opened my big mouth last year about newspapers not being invited — print media.

The competition was created by Vicki Baker, who owns and operates the local Grocery Outlet with her husband, Dennis, as a fun way to donate frozen turkeys to area charities. For each strike a team member gets, a turkey is donated to the team’s charity of choice.

Here were our scores:

Rod got 5 strikes
TJ got 6 strikes
and I got 4 strikes

… for a total of 15 turkeys to be donated to St. Vincent de Paul.

Training has already begun for next year.

— Kim Nowacki

PRAY FOR SNOW

Check out YH-R photographer Gordon King’s audio slideshow from the White Pass Ski Patroll Ski Swap:

http://yakimaheraldphotos.com/galleries/skistories/

TRIBAL JAM TOMORROW

Headlining tomorrow’s Tribal Jam, a festival featuring some of the top names in American Indian music, is blues-rocker Derek Miller.

Here’s Miller’s video for the song “MUSIC IS THE MEDICINE.”
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/POmB5p-6tPE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Produced by Tribal Vibe Productions, the lineup also features Seattle’s Ella Rose; Randy Woods, a member of the Northern Cree drum group; contemporary pop singer Fara Palmer; comedian and ventriloquist Buddy Big Mountain; and modern rock band Eagle & Hawk.

The concert runs from 7-11 p.m. tomorrow at the Yakama Nation Cultural Heritage Center Theater at Highway 97 and Buster Road in Toppenish.

Tickets cost $25 for general admission and $35 for VIP seating and are available by calling KYNR Radio at 865-5363.

There’ll also be an arts and crafts show in the Winter Lodge, and the Heritage Inn Restaurant will serve an American Indian buffet from 3-9 p.m.

JONNY, OH YEAH, HE SMOKES

Multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist JONNY SMOKES brings his multi-personas to the Speakeasy this weekend.

The Seattle musician will ROCK-AND-AWE tonight with his solo show, in which he uses a loop sampler and a bunch of effects pedals to layer drums, bass, guitars and vocals into a complete song. (It’s really pretty incredible to watch.)
Check it out:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/NWH1XBdTfwc" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Then on Saturday, Smokes will be joined by his rock cover band, the SMOKING LOUNGE, which began as a side project for Smokes’ Alice in Chains tribute outfit, Jar of Flies.

Yeah, he’s a busy guy.

Both shows begin at 9:30 p.m. at the Speakeasy, 104 S. Third St. No cover tonight and $10 gets you in Saturday night.

WOO HOO! EDGE FEST CONTINUES

Despite the departure of founder Jeff Murray, EDGE FEST will continue. And organizers are already seeking bands to play the daylong music festival.

Here’s a note from the new ringleader, Donovon Walton (who deserves a big high-five for stepping up and keeping this thing going. It wouldn’t be June in Yakima without Edge Fest.)

Ok, everyone. It’s about time to really get started on Edgefest for this year. I don’t quite know where to start, there is so much to get done, so I’m gonna start with the big stuff and work my way towards the little stuff. So, WHO WANTS TO PLAY AT EDGEFEST THIS YEAR?
I’m looking for sincerely dedicated talent of a great variety to play the show. There are many bands I’d like to have back and there is a lot of other talent out there that I’d love hear some interest from. Edgefest is going to be June 7th, 2008. It’s a long ways away but I’ve got to have a solid list long before then. This is just the beginning of a decision process that I’m sure is going to take a long time. So, if your interested in playing Edgefest this year, shoot me a message here or at my email address (asbprog2@yvcc.edu) telling me: who you are, that you’d like to play, why you think your band would be a good choice for the lineup, what kind of music you play, and anything else you think my be important to know. Let the emails fly.

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION

I’m the guest tonight on George Finch’s “SKETCHES OF JAZZ AND BLUES” radio show. It airs from 9-10 p.m. on KNDA 91.9-FM.

We’ll play some cuts from Charles Mingus, Taj Mahal, Amy Winehouse, Big Mama Thornton, Janis Joplin and Muddy Waters.

I had a lot of fun recording this show and hopefully I don’t sound idiotic.

— Kim Nowacki

p.s. the group who originally did the song “Undun” is the Guess Who.

IAN FISHER, 1956-2007

The Seattle music community — the ones from the time between Heart and Nirvana — are mourning the loss of New Wave/Brit-punk/reggae rocker IAN FISHER, frontman of the band The Cowboys.

Fisher died of a heart attack early on the morning of Oct. 23 on Samui Island in Thailand. He was 51.

You can read his full obit here.

And although Yakima native BRAD SINSEL, the frontman of early ’80s Seattle glam-rock-turned-hard-rock band TKO, came from a different scene than Fisher, he remembers the “skinny tie” rocker fondly.

He wrote this in an e-mail today:

Ian will be sadly missed. He was a rarity back in that time. It was Old Seattle, when it was “Boeing Town” … not “Micro-Latte Land.” He was the only guy in a skinny tie that was tolerable.
I recall that TKO had loaned the Cowboys our sound engineer (Charlie Harkus) for a few dates while we were on break. When the soundman returned he informed me that Ian had broken my favorite mic stand. When confronted by Charlie on the matter he asked, “is that stand really Sinsel’s?” Charlie assured him it was … Ian reportedly laughed and yelled “GOOD … make sure you tell him I broke it!”
I was a fan from that moment on.

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