Music
Part of the Q Cafe vision is to support the arts. We feel that music and other art forms have the potential to make a positive impact on people and communities by encouraging creative expression and discussion. Just as the Q Cafe aims to support artists with its space, artists who use the Cafe are supporting its efforts to foster community and social change.
Q Cafe doubles as a great music venue (check our Calendar and/or sign up for Q Cafe Live Music Updates on the left side of this page!). With our 238 persons occupancy, no alcohol, solid sound system, tons of free parking, and a classic Seattle urban cafe vibe, it's one of the up and coming all-ages-venue in Seattle. As an all-ages live music venue, the Q Cafe is unique in that all the focus is on the music. We've hosted folk, rock, pop, gospel, hip hop, jazz, classical, open mics, one grammy winner, and of course, many local musicians. Some highlights: Tyrone Wells; Nickelcreek (Grammy winner and sick with the mandolin), Tiny Vipers, Hoquiam, Ingrid Michaelson, Andy Davis, J Tillman, Grand Hallway, Ginny Owens, William Fitzsimmons, Chris Tomlin, Shawn Macdonald, Josh Hoge, and Smoosh.
Shows take place every Friday night and the occasional Saturday night with special events scheduled on other evenings. If you are interested in getting booked please contact tom@qcafe.org
We also host a kick-arse open mic with Victory Music on Tuesday evenings from 7-9pm. Come early to sign up from 6:15 to 6:45pm.
Live Music @ Q is sustained by the efforts of volunteers. Contact Tom if you're interested.
Press
Alarm Magazine features Q Cafe as DIY Venue Spotlight
"Friends of quiet music should already know about the Q Cafe, an all-ages venue that, for its size, hosts some of the most polite, reverent audiences in Seattle. In fact, it might just be the best place to hear all of those gorgeous folk bands who've been cropping up like dandelions in the Northwest as of late" -Seattle Weekly Oct. 08' FULL ARTICLE
Seattle Weekly Show Suggestions 1/16/09
Seattle Weekly Photo Slideshow 1/16/09: Hoquaim, Husbands, Love Your Wives, and Grand Hallway live a Q Cafe
"The comfortable atmosphere and informality increased the listeners' attention level and engagement with the music" -Seattle Weekly, 06' FULL ARTICLE
"It is a great listening room and a supportive environment to play." -Queen Anne Review, 08' FULL ARTICLE
"The Q is a non-profit coffee shop that really puts a focus on being a contributor to the community...Overall, its an innovative way of using “cafe culture” to do something significant" -Majority Mag, Aug. 08' FULL ARTICLE
LIVE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT: Verlee for Ransom
by Maritza Skidmore
Verlee for Ransom is:
Keira Verlee, guitar - piano - lead vocals.
Kyle Morrison, cello - guitar.
Rio Chanae, keys - back vocals.
John Harrison, drums.
Kaye Gill, bass.
In May 2008, young singer/songwriter Keira Verlee bursted out on the Seattle music scene as half of the acoustic guitar and vocal harmony duo, VerleeRose. Even at the young age of 14, VerleeRose managed to write and record an album as well as play over 30 venues and festivals in the Puget Sound area and later became a trio with the addition of Rio Chanae on piano. Last month I had the opportunity to interview Keira's new band, Verlee for Ransom, (that formed out of the breakup of VerleeRose last February) before their show at Q Cafe. This was a very important night, they tell me. Something they've been rehearsing for since February when they became Verlee for Ransom - it was the night of their very first Seattle show.
Sitting down with these five musicians, the only thing on my mind was how young they looked. "So, really guys, how old ARE all of you?" Their manager speaks up to say that the age span in the band is 9 years. I'm shocked! They start with the youngest, Kaye, on bass. She's 11. Many of her influences are other local Seattle bands, which I was a bit impressed with. Next is Kyle, the newest member of Verlee for Ransom, at the ripe old age of 15. Then there is Keira, the one who started it all, at 16. John on drums is 19, and Rio on keys the "mother bird" at 20. The band's chemistry together was that of a family. I could tell they all really get along, despite the age gaps. They each seem extremely mature for their age, though sometimes I am reminded of their youth after certain questions that I asked like, "What's your goal for the next few years?" are answered with, "DOMINATE THE WORLD!"
Next we moved on to influences. Drummer John was very excited to talk about his major influence, Muse, and how he's literally memorized all of their music. Bassist Kaye told me of her huge influence by local bands The Globes and Blunt Mechanic. Keira chimed in with another local influence, People Eating People. And Rio told me how much of her writing influence is drawn from Sirens Sister, another local Seattle band. To me, each of their influences provides reason for their particular sound. I asked them to describe themselves. "People say a lot of different things." Rio tells me, "Indie alternative, soft rock, power pop. We don't want to say just one because we're a lot of different things."
Since the "reformation" of VerleeRose to Verlee for Ransom, the band has written and recorded an E.P. and look forward to playing more shows in the Seattle area. They continue to write and rehearse in hopes of one day dominating the world!
Check verlee4ransom.com to listen to half of their E.P. FOR FREE!
NOAH GUNDERSEN AND THE COURAGE
If you weren’t at the Q-Cafe on October 9th for Noah Gundersen’s new EP release, you missed a great opportunity to see him and other local artists (Briar Rose, Paper Mache, Jordan Lake, and guest musician Kale Lotten) at their best and in their element. It was the last show of a two month tour, and playing to a sold-out crowd, their excitement to be home was contagious. “[The tour] had its ups and downs,” said Noah when I sat down with him and his band The Courage. “I’ve been on several tours before, but this was the longest one - but it was good, it had its rough parts and its great parts, and its good to be home for a while.”
Noah and Abby Gundersen, a brother-sister duo, have been playing together for years, but the formation of The Courage seems to be almost accidental. Ivan Gunderson, the band’s percussion artist, played with Noah on-and-off on the church worship team, and Travis Ehrentrom just joined The Courage before the tour as a result of a chance meeting a couple of years ago. “We were both playing our own music and just kind of met, and then we actually went on a tour together last summer,” Travis said. “I think at the end of the tour I was like, ‘Dude if you ever need anyone to do anything just let me know,’ and I don’t know how it came to base but I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll play base.’”
After such a long tour, most of the time seems like a blur to the band, but each member of the has their own favorite memory. Noah remembers Chicago fondly; Travis’s favorite show was held in an old milk barn in Tacoma, and Ivan reminisces about his and Noah’s attempts to surf in California, “We didn’t see that there were a bunch of rocks on the beach and got skinned backs, so that was a good memory... but also kind of a bad memory... but yeah, good times!” But it’s Abby who seemed to sum up the sentiment of the group with a simple “Love Washington.”
So, what is it that keeps such great talent coming back to the Q-cafe? “It’s nice that’s its an all-ages venue, that means a lot to me,” says Noah. “Being under 21 but not being able to go to shows is very frustrating, thats probably my favorite part about the Q-cafe - that we can have all of our audience.” “And it’s a nice space,” interjects Abby, “very spacious.”
You can check out Noah Gunderson and The Courage on MySpace, or purchase past recordings at www.CDbaby.com.
- Katherine R. Parker
Live Music Spotlight: ALLEN STONE (myspace.com/allenstone)
With a jazz vibe and danceable beats, it’s easy to get lost in the catchy, pop-ish sound of Allen Stone’s music; but if you listen to the lyrics, you’ll find that there is more to his songs than pleasant tunes. Love, politics, religion, and self-doubt influence Allen’s music, addressing the issues that the youth of all generations have struggled to answer through, in his own words, “the universal language of song”. Growing up, most people feel as though they are given a role and are expected to act within the confines of that role. Allen is no exception to this, only, unlike most teens, he was placed in the role of being a pastor’s son. “Being a pastor’s son, you’re placed in a box,” he says. So when Allen began attendance at the Moody Bible Institute in Spokane, he found himself questioning the things that he had been taught while in his “box”, leading him to write “Last to Speak” at the age of 19.
“[It’s about] why I believe what I believe; what had been pushed on me as a child; what I had just, kind of, let be just because it’s comfortable. It doesn’t just touch on the church, it touches on the politics of sexual abstinence and other things that are pressed on our generation, and at the end of it, it’s like, ‘What do I do?’”
It’s that question that drives most of Allen’s music; if his audience is left thinking and wanting to change the world for the better, he has accomplished what he set out to do.
“I think what we’ve lost in our music culture is our ability to create and inspire change. I think about old Creedence [Clearwater Revival] records, or Marvin Gaye, those artists that really stirred up change in a generation. Then you look at people who don’t do anything but write pop songs that people can dance to in clubs so that they can make some money – that’s where music is right now… I do have a side of me that’s just pop, but the heart of what I do, really, is to try to provoke inspiration inside of people.”
After signing with an independent Christian label and recording the album “Change”, Allen found himself displaced from his small hometown of Chewelah, Washington and trying to find his way as a musician in Seattle. However, now that he is no longer working with the label, he shies away from being classified as a “Christian artist”.
“[Religion] plays into a lot of the lyrical content, but it’s not blatant… I wouldn’t take a stand via my music, but it’s in there, for sure… That’s a different side of my life. I write about my spirituality but it doesn’t always coincide with Christianity – I kind of branched out a little bit.”
His song “Satisfaction” is just one example of his “branching out”, as it tackles the issue of commercialism in the church, something that he says he saw a lot of when he came to Seattle.
“My family was very paycheck-to-paycheck, my dad never made a lot of money… The church is an incredibly awesome thing, but there’s also the business side of church, and growing up as a pastor’s son you see that, and you see these mega-churches and the pastor’s fly in helicopters, and it’s like ‘What is that about?’”
It’s not just the church that this self-proclaimed “hippy kid from the middle of nowhere” sees as needing reformation. While he would be honored to have the option to sign with a major label, he feels that the people behind the scenes of the industry can really stunt the creativity of musicians, and he is enjoying the freedom of being an independent artist and making his own plans.
“I just love relating to people, I think I probably got that from my father… and music allows me to do that through the universal language of song. Getting up onstage and being able to interact with people, I love it. That’s why I do music, it’s not for any kind of recognition, God knows!”
Part of this plan includes the release of his first full-length album, which is to be released on August 14th at the Q-Café – the first place he performed in Seattle. “It’s very intimate, that’s what I like about the Q,” he says. “You really have to pay attention to the music… you’re not just background noise there. It does a great job, not only connecting the audience to the music, but also connecting artists; there’s just an aura, an energy… it’s fun, it’s feel-good.”
– Katherine R. Parker
Dynamik Live at Q Cafe
Tyrone Wells Live at Q Cafe
