Our first House Concert was a great success.  This inaugural event was preceded for some of us with a delicious meal at The Eatery.  James' guitar fingering amazed and humorous musings entertained us all.  A true professional who draws on on a varied repertoire and presents his own distinct take on contemporary music.  He'll remember Tootsie's pickled chickens feet!

Jean's lyrics, drawing on her love of nature, friendships present and past, and life in general convinced us that she will always be in demand in our corner of the Pacific Northwest.  We especially appreciated her new song "the dance."  She would like to come back in the summer to give an outdoor (barefoot) concert. 

Saturday, 06 November 2004
  House Concert:  James Hurley & Jean Mann

After an early stint as a rodeo bull rider, James Hurley settled into the life of professional musician, and was lead guitar for a number of bands over many years.  In late 2003, James decided to focus instead on a new career as a solo singer/songwriter acoustic performer. For James, “Performing live is where the magic is. There’s a thing that happens when you’re performing that reveals the commonalities of the human experience. I’ll play a song and when it ends, I’ll realize that the audience came along with me for the ride. Music can give us a mutual understanding that transcends language or cultural differences, three minutes at a time. Nobody really knows the words to ‘Louie Louie’ but everybody relates to it at some level.”

James’ exposure to different countries, cultures and communities, his own natural inclinations and his father’s eclectic tastes as a music aficionado have resulted in James’ music being a unique fusion of Blues, Rock, Jazz, Folk, and Adult Contemporary Acoustic with occasional Latin influences.

James is currently on his Fall 2004 West Coast Tour (many stops on the CA to BC circuit and back), and we are lucky to have him for this evening.

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Jean Mann began writing songs in 1999 and released her first full-length album in August 2000 and completed her latest, Seasons, in April 2003. The years have taken Jean on a journey that winds around love and love lost, success and sorrow, in and out of dreams, and straight through the heart of anyone who has the happy chance of hearing her music.

  “Simple, yet sophisticated...sweet, personal and real...” -Hip Fish, Astoria, OR ---  “Jean Mann is shy, but her music isn’t.” Dee Axelrod, Bainbridge Island Review ---  “...her music exudes a quiet peace…as soothing as a forest stream.“ -Sara Zeno, Sound Affects