Performances

Live Performances at Bullerville

Brookhaven Lodge is the Resort's venue for music and other live entertainment events.  We will attempt to bring you a varied selection of performing artists, with an goal of providing memorable enjoyment for our guests and Upper Skagit Valley neighbors in a comfortable environment.  This is a chance to meet the performers personally, perhaps getting them to sign their CD during the break or after the performance.

House Concerts are a growing phenomenon, where someone opens up their home for a neighbors to gather round as an audience to enjoy a single performer or small group of musicians.  Many people believe that such concerts will provide much of the livelihood for many musicians in the coming years, not just for those who are just starting out their careers, but also for those who have been unable to break into the "big time" otherwise dominated by the corporate music labels, or those who simply realize that the joy of their profession is connecting with their audience on a face to face basis.

How it works:  Show up at the door with your admission/donation about a half-hour before show time and find a seat. Seating may be limited to 35-40 people, so calling ahead or making a reservation is wise, plus you'll save a few dollars.  Performances will usually start at 7:30pm (check below in the Schedule for specifics), with about an hour of entertainment in the first set.  There will be a 30 minute break about 8:30pm, during which you can get some refreshment or perhaps talk to the performers.  Artists often bring a supply of their CD's for sale, should you wish to take some of their music home with you.  Then at 9:00pm we'll start the second set.  Performers take home most of the door income (10% is contributed to The Bullerville Foundation), and of course, all of their CD sales revenue.  If everybody is just enjoying each other too much to stop at 10pm, we'll pass the hat for additional money for the performers.

Sometimes, we will combine one of these performances with a special dinner at The Eatery Restaurant right here at Skagit River Resort, for those who want to make a full occasion of the evening.  If you are coming from a distance just to attend, you may always make reservations at the Resort for overnight accommodations.  Follow the links in the menu column at the right side of this page to see what's available for your overnight stay.

We provide free coffee, tea and lemonade.  At the break, sweets and other munchies are available for a small price (bring some small bills & change for the cookie tin).  Or, if you like, bring a plate of treats pot-luck style, and you won't have to pay for any of your refreshments.

Our emphasis will be folk, blues and light country music, with an emphasis on enjoyable acoustic performances that can be enjoyed by all ages.  We are members of BIMA, the Bellingham Independent Music Association, from which many our performers come.  Down the line, we hope to be able to fill out our event schedule with other small-gathering events such as readings, open-mike nights and maybe even some comedy club sessions, coffee-house style.  In the summer, some of these events will be held outdoors, where you are welcome to bring a lawn chair or blanket and sit out on the grass to enjoy the show.

As our event calendar fills out, we'll post news of upcoming performances here.  Click on the event date link to view an 8.5x11 event poster in PDF format (which you may save or print out)---

SCHEDULE  

Saturday, 11 July 2009
House Concert:  Jennifer Spector

Performing songwriter Jennifer Spector has been playing her distinctive “genre-blending” music in her engaging solo acoustic shows for over a dozen  years.  Her award-winning style is anchored in traditional Folk and influenced by the smart sassiness of Jazz and a bit of rootsy Americana.

After many years in and around the Southwest based in Phoenix from whence she toured the US and Europe, she has more recently moved to the wetter, greener pastures of Washington state. 

She mixes her new earthy Northwest outlook with the quick, inevitably sharp wit of a woman who came of age in New Jersey.  She and partner David Tieman in duo are The Hayburners.  Jennifer actively seeks and promotes the House Concert performing environment, and we know you will enjoy her music.

 7:30pm at Brookhaven Lodge.   Suggested contribution:  $10.00 per person at the door ($8.00  in advance, or if you are an overnite guest at the Resort). Pricing is for adults & teens (children up to 12 years are $4.00).  10% of all concert admission income will benefit The Bullerville Foundation.  

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Saturday, 22 August 2009
House Concert:  The Mission Three

The Misson Three are three local musicians from in the Mission district of San Francisco.
They have played and toured with tons of local SFO bands separately but when they get together the stars align. They are on tour in the Pacific Northwest this summer.

7:30pm at Brookhaven Lodge.   Suggested contribution:  $10.00 per person at the door ($8.00  in advance, or if you are an overnite guest at the Resort). Pricing is for adults & teens (children up to 12 years are $4.00).  10% of all concert admission income will benefit The Bullerville Foundation.  

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Saturday, 12 September 2009
House Concert:  David Michael

Celtic harpist David Michael specializes in original, romantic world-fusion music and improvisation. He grew up in Seattle and has been playing stringed instruments for over 50 years, starting with cello. In 1983, he realized he'd been "trying to make a guitar sound like a harp" for many years until finally deciding to get a harp ... which quickly became his forte. He usually is found performing solo, as duo with flutist Randy Mead, with his wife Dari, or collaborating in various ensembles.

A multi-instrumentalist, David is also proficient on guitar, viola-da-gamba, zither, psaltery, bouzouki and more. He was a founding member of the Seattle based world-fusion ensemble WIND in 1975, which received arts grants, performed widely in the Pacific Northwest and was featured on numerous radio and television programs. While actively composing, he began experimenting with free-form improvisations, collaborating with dancers and artists in myriad interdisciplinary activities in a wide range of styles.

David spent most of the '80s in the San Francisco bay area, collaborating with numerous ethnic music masters and his studio recording work came into focus there. His first CD, Petals in the Stream, was released in 1986 in Japan by Nippon Phonogram and he has recorded for many other domestic and foreign labels since then. He now has 18 CDs of his original music published on his own Purnima label and has been a guest artist for numerous other labels. His music has been featured extensively on PRI's 'Echoes' program, NPR, cable and network television and videos internationally.

In 1990 he moved to Port Townsend where he operates his independent record label Purmima Productions.  Over the next 17 years he became something of an institution for his impromptu concerts aboard Washington State Ferries, performing free concerts for over 50,000 visitors a year. Recently, he and Randy Mead have been creating musical scores and custom soundtracks for DVDs and various media. David still performs widely on harp in the Western U.S. and Northern Europe. The beauty of the Pacific Northwest is key to his musical inspiration.

 7:30pm at Brookhaven Lodge.   Suggested contribution:  $10.00 per person at the door ($8.00  in advance, or if you are an overnite guest at the Resort). Pricing is for adults & teens (children up to 12 years are $4.00).  10% of all concert admission income will benefit The Bullerville Foundation.  

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Saturday, 26 September 2009
House Concert:  George Cole

Note: 4th Saturday of the month

George Cole's superbly crafted and melodically sophisticated original music reminds us of the best of George Gershwin, Johnny Mercer and Cole Porter. He is considered by many of his peers to be one of the top "acoustic shred masters."  His highly stylized approach sounds like a cross between Django Rinehardt and vintage Les Paul.  George's crooning vocals evoke the sound of early Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick Jr. His songs have a Jazz Age, Swing Era and Gypsy Jazz rhythm that will make you want to move your feet and get up a dance.  We are so very fortunate to have had George contact us to set up this rare appearance in the Pacific Northwest.  He is just not to be missed!

7:30pm at Brookhaven Lodge.   Suggested contribution:  $10.00 per person at the door ($8.00  in advance, or if you are an overnite guest at the Resort). Pricing is for adults & teens (children up to 12 years are $4.00).  10% of all concert admission income will benefit The Bullerville Foundation.  

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This is a non-profit activity for us, and we are working to fill up our calendar so house concerts and performance events happen on a regular basis.  As performers commit to dates, we will post them here.

Follow these links to info & photos of previous events:

2004:

2005:

2006:

2007:

2008:

2009:

Performers:  If you have a entertaining talent that might be appropriate for our venue and have a repertoire that will fill about two hours or so, we would love to hear from you so we might consider working you into our schedule.  We are attempting to make the second Saturday of each month our regular house concert night.  Stop by or send an email to Judi at the Resort Office introducing yourself and describing your performance skills and booking availability.  We'll need to hear a sample of your work, so send a weblink to playable samples of your music, attach some audio files to your email, or send us a tape or CD.

• Performers receive a generous percentage of the door as compensation (10% of the performance receipts is a donation to the non-profit Bullerville Foundation) -- and, we'll pass the hat if performers want to play beyond 10pm
• Free Dinner for artists at the Eatery Restaurant before the performance (or, free breakfast the morning after if you'd prefer)
• Free Refreshments for performers at Brookhaven Lodge B&B
• Free Overnight accommodations for artists the night of the performance (companion $15.00)
• $60.00 per night for any entourage accommodations (double occupancy; extra bed $18.00 each)
• No parking problems, we are well beyond the city sidewalks here in rural NW Washington
• Welcoming Host and Hostess (Bob & Judi Brooks)
• You may set up on one of our tables to sell your CD's before, after and during the break
• Lots of fun -- we're sure you'll probably want to come back in the future too
• We have home sound system to hook up to, as well as a Peavey PA system available for use
• If you have mailed us a CD of your music, we will play it at The Eatery Restaurant in the weeks leading up to your performance, to promote your music and your upcoming concert

Contact

Local telephone: 360-873-2250    Toll-free: 800-273-2606    Fax: 360-873-4077

Postal address

58468 Clark Cabin Road, Rockport, WA 98283 USA

Highway address

Milepost 103.5, North Cascades Highway, Marblemount, Skagit County, Washington, USA