t’s fitting that while our Editor Chey Scott is traveling in Japan, our Music Editor Seth Sommerfeld is highlighting the similarities between globetrotting and exploring a new music scene in his intro to this week’s ARTISTS TO WATCH. Music can transport you to other worlds, even if your feet are planted firmly on a sticky bar dance floor right here in town. How lucky are we that not only does Spokane have places large and small to catch concerts, but also so many local artists pouring their talented hearts into creating and playing music for us.
While big name artists draw crowds from throughout the Inland Northwest, we know that catching the local acts can be a real (and much more frequent) treat. From jazz fusion to self-invented genres like “Scablands hardcore,” if you can dream it, there’s somewhere and someone who’s gonna sonically vibe with you here. Stay weird and wonderful, Spokane, and don’t forget to dance, wobble, stomp or clap along to the tasty tunes.
— SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL, NEWS EDITOR
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IF YOU WERE TO FORM A BAND, WHAT WOULD THE NAME BE?
TRISTAN PASSINETTI
Emergency Water Shut Off.
Why?
I was in a band, and that’s what we called it. We started practicing in our basement, and there was an emergency shut-off valve right there, and we decided that would be a good name.
KEARSTYN PASSINETTI
I really like ladybugs, so I would call us “The Ladybugs.”
Why do you like ladybugs? Ladybugs represent luck, and I really like the meaning behind that.
JOE FREY
It would be something about Jesus. I like that name, and I don’t think people really know about Jesus.
What type of music would you play?
My personal taste in gospel music would be bluegrass, but I would play gospel folk music.
LIA ESPINAL
The Internationals.
Why?
I’m from a foreign country, the Dominican Republic.
NORHAN ALI
The Beethovens.
What genre of music would you play? I would play classical music.
INTERVIEWS BY HANNAH HIGENS RIVERFRONT PARK, 05/09/2025
Be a Superhero for Kids
On Wednesday, May 21, some popular superheroes will once again be scaling Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, bringing joy and wonder to children with life-threatening illnesses.
You can be a superhero too, by making a donation to help our region’s sick kids. Your gift stays local and provides everything from life-saving medical equipment to financial assistance for families that are struggling due to a child’s health challenges.
at give.providence.org/inw/CMNH-Superheroes or scan the QR Code.
Follow the superheroes’ progress and hear stories of hope and healing on Providence social networks: Twitter.com/providence_phc Instagram: ProvidenceEasternWA Facebook: @Providenceinw
JOIN OUR WHISKEY CLUB
County Ukrainians are counting on the U.S. to help protect their families back home from Putin. (See the documentary 20 Days in Mariupol.)
In his inaugural address, Trump invoked the 19th century Manifest Destiny doctrine that proclaimed the U.S. would “expand its territory.” The Manifest Destiny creed — that the American Empire was divinely ordained — was propagated to dispossess and exterminate Native peoples. It’s the John Wayne, Old Hollywood, how-the-West-was-won exceptionalism narrative, more Little House on the Prairie than Killers of the Flower Moon.
Americans love classic Old West film mythology. In these legends, the “good guys” (God-fearing cowboys, law-abiding sheriffs) invariably prevail over the “bad guys” (bank robbers, cattle rustlers). In Trump’s script, the bad guys win — Putin, Viktor Orban and the other European neofascists. Bad guys aplenty are riding the global range, reckoning, like the last scene in the movies, that the sun’s setting in the West. And that the good guys — like Zelenskyy — get the rope.
Trump’s version of Manifest Destiny revives the Monroe Doctrine’s claim that the Western Hemisphere is the U.S.’s providential domain (including Canada and the “Gulf of America”). It’s likely to be a retread of the acquisitive 20th century U.S.Latin American policy of unbridled Cowboy Capitalism, servile banana republics and pliant dictators like El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele. Greenland not for sale? Trump has proposed that Denmark exchange it for Puerto Rico.
For Elon Musk, Manifest Destiny includes Mars, which natalist Republican technocrats aim to populate with “technological supermen,” as they are called in Marc Andreessen’s “Techno-Optimist Manifesto.” Do we Earth proles then get Neuralink implants?
“…if we condone policies that subvert our sacred democratic principles… then we are unpatriotic.”
Then there’s Gaza. For Trump, the Gaza carnage is a business opportunity, “the Riviera of the Middle East.” Netanyahu’s violence against civilians means condos and casinos for Trump. As Trump’s former ambassador to Israel mused, “Mar-a-Gaza or Gaz-a-Lago?” This would be a desecration. (See the 2024 Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.)
Equating criticizing Israeli Gaza policy with anti-Semitism is a tactic to silence dissent. Anti-Semitism has been proliferating in America since 2015 — by 2023, 48% of hate crimes targeted Jews, who make up 2.4% of the U.S. population. Meanwhile, the inconsistencies are glaring, as some of Trump’s acolytes are vociferously anti-Semitic and Holocaust deniers.
This is Trump’s “exceptional” America in which free speech is only “inalienable” as long as one recites his agitprop. Conflating any criticism of Trump’s policy with being unpatriotic is one of his authoritarian dog whistles.
In reality, however, if we condone policies that subvert our sacred democratic principles, here and around the world, then we are unpatriotic. When we are silent, we are complicit. Furious flag waving and unconstitutional assaults won’t dispel these truths.
But if all this is only rhetorical cover for an anti-democratic, repressive reality, then America has lost what makes it great, is historically unexceptional and an abbreviated American Century could be swept away to the ash heap of history by our hubris and hypocrisy.
U.S. military power must be predicated on the soft power of democracy and human rights Trump’s Manifest Destiny saberrattling will not make America great again. n
John Hagney, M.A., U.S.-Soviet Relations, researched in Russia and Ukraine from 1988-1993. His oral history of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms has been translated into six languages.
Now through June 16, enjoy 20 off all Fjords furniture, including recliners, sofas, home theater seating, and more. Whether you,re upgrading your favorite reading chair or creating the perfect lounging space, there,s never been a better time to experience the comfort and craftsmanship of Fjords. Your back and your wallet will thank you.
ELECTION 2025
Who Will It Be?
More than 150 people in Spokane County filed to run for elected office last week; here are some of the Spokane Valley races to watch ahead of the August primary
BY COLTON RASANEN
Once again, another Spokane County election cycle begins. From May 5-9, folks from across the county filed to run for city councils, school boards, and other elected positions like those in fire and cemetery districts.
Voters will decide the top-two candidates in competitive races in the Aug. 5 primary election, and then will make their final choices in the Nov. 4 general election. Below are a few of the races to pay attention to. For a more comprehensive summary, find a longer version of this story at Inlander.com.
DÉJÀ VU
Those who pay attention to school board elections may notice that the race for Central Valley School Board Position 5 looks much as it did four years ago when now-board member Pam Orebaugh ran against Rob Linebarger and Jared VonTobel.
Orebaugh and Linebarger edged out VonTobel, making it to the general election where Linebarger was on the ballot but endorsed his opponent. Now, the pair are again running for the spot against a third candidate, Mark Bitz.
Orebaugh says she’s running for reelection to continue the work she’s been doing on the board to enhance “accountability and transparency.”
“As a board, especially in the last year and a half, we’re
making a lot of headway with increased academics for our students, especially after COVID, and we’re finally seeing a big bounce in that student learning,” Orebaugh says. “If you look at our board docs, we put a lot of information on there when years ago there was hardly anything there. We really push hard to get this information out to the public.”
Bitz taught trades for a decade at Spokane Valley Tech, a public technical high school for interested juniors and seniors in Central Valley, East Valley, Freeman and West Valley school districts. After retiring in 2023, he decided that another way to help people become “capable, successful, competent citizens” was to run for election to the school board.
Considering his background, Bitz hopes to advocate for career and technical education programs in the district if elected. He also says he’d like to see the school board use its resources and time more wisely.
“I attended the last school board meeting, and it’s disappointing when our local leaders spend their time and our money getting into issues that are out of scope for their roles,” Bitz says, referring to a recent meeting where the board sent Title IX complaint letters to the federal government over Washington’s gender-inclusive schools law. “School boards have to follow state law, and whenever we’re acting outside of state law, then we’re really not focusing our time and resources on things that we can actually
make decisions on.”
Linebarger, the current Spokane County Republican Party chair, says social issues that put state or federal funding for districts at risk, like the one Bitz referenced, are always important for a school board to address.
Linebarger says he’s running for the board seat again because he doesn’t think the current board is as effective as they need to be. He believes that the current board does exactly what Superintendent John Parker wants, rather than enforcing the will of the voters who elected them.
“The school board is there to be somewhat of an adversarial relationship to the district on behalf of the voters and the taxpayers — not adversarial like mean or hostile, but like they’re there to ask questions, to push back on how money is spent,” Linebarger says. “It seems like the district, you know, they have the upper hand on the school board. I think we need to kind of turn that around to where they know that the superintendent of the school district reports to the school board, not the other way around.”
For example, Linebarger says he opposed the district’s 2024 six-year capital levy that will fund improvements to the district’s buildings, not because he doesn’t think schools should be fully funded, but because he thought the levy should have been a bond instead.
“You don’t fund capital investments with a credit card,
Spokane voters will decide who serves on city councils, school boards and more this year. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO
that’s basically what a levy is. It’s a short-term funding source … whereas a bond, you know, the taxpayers pay for that over a 10-year period,” Linebarger explains. “I get why they don’t do it that way now, because there’s a 60% voter threshold [to pass a bond] and quite frankly, people are tired of giving more and more tax dollars to schools.”
Orebaugh, who voted to approve the $47.5 million capital levy, disagrees with Linebarger about running a bond instead.
“I don’t know what difference it makes, you know, it’s a six-year capital levy versus the bonds which tend to run a lot longer,” she says. “The capital levy helps us get the job done faster, so that we can have less construction costs, less interest, and pay that off faster.”
Orebaugh similarly criticized the school board for bending to the will of the school district before she joined it in 2021, but she believes that’s changed with her on the board.
“I know [the school board] did basically whatever the district wanted,” she says. “They just said yes to everything, and there wasn’t a lot of liaisoning with the community, but in all honesty, the community wasn’t demanding it either.”
While Linebarger agreed that Orebaugh would be a better school board member than him in 2021, he thinks she could have done better in her first term. He was the first candidate to file for the seat this year.
“I think I can do a better job, and I’m in a position now where I can do it. My background is in business and executive leadership, and I think that’s what the district needs,” Linebarger says. “I think it’s a win-win for the voters having a little bit of competition in this race.”
Orebaugh thinks her experience on the board, where she’s been the board president and vice president, makes her more qualified than her competitors.
SEEKING LOWER OFFICE
Spokane Valley City Council member Rod Higgins has served longer on the council than anyone, but now he plans to finish his elected work after his current term.
Four candidates filed to replace Higgins in Position 1. Two of the candidates ran unsuccessfully for the state Legislature last year including Kristopher Pockell, who lost his race against Rep. Suzanne Schmidt, and Mike Kelly, who ran unsuccessfully for outgoing Sen. Mike Padden’s seat. The other two Position 1 candidates are Lisa Miller, who sits on the Spokane County Board of Equalization, and Adam Smith, the owner of Smash Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
In 2024, Padden surprisingly endorsed Kelly in the primary election for his Senate seat, over other conservative candidates that he worked closely with, such as then-state Rep. Leonard Christian (who won the Senate race) or
Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley. While Kelly didn’t make it past the primary last year, he says his relationship with Padden and his wife, Laura Padden, who is on the City Council, is what inspired him to run for this election.
“When I found that Rod Higgins was going to be stepping down and not running again, I thought that would be a good place to start trying to shape policy here in the Valley and conserve our values and conserve our resources,” Kelly says. “Also, I sit on the [city’s] planning commission, so I understand the control that Olympia is trying to exercise over us. I’m a big proponent of being able to make decisions and keeping local control.”
If he’s elected, Kelly says he would step down from the planning commission.
Pockell received less than a third of the vote in his 2024 race against Schmidt. However, he says that was a challenging election because he agreed with the incumbent on nearly every issue. Now, he’s hoping his lifelong love for
Central Valley School Board Position 5 candidates, from left: Mark Bitz, Pam Orebaugh, and Rob Linebarger. CANDIDATE
Are We There Yet?
Washington legislators secure North Spokane Corridor project funding with gas tax increase
BY VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ
Many Spokane residents are unfazed by the broken record of threatened (or real) delays in completing the North Spokane Corridor, which broke ground in 2001.
Just months ago it looked like the construction project could have been paused again due to a $1 billion deficit in the state transportation budget for the next biennium. Eastern Washington city officials and state lawmakers expressed concern about a potential pause in an already delayed project.
On March 11, after attending a city action day in Olympia, Spokane Valley City Council member Ben Wick told fellow council members about his concerns that the corridor could be paused as other transportation projects might be prioritized due to budget constraints.
“It was very evident that the governor’s office was trying to highlight that the only project that could be delayed was the north-south corridor,” Wick told the council. “It could be delayed up to six years to try and figure out cash flow.”
Without a delay, the corridor is expected to be completed by 2030, with 70% of the 10.5-mile connection between North Spokane and Interstate 90 currently completed. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, the project’s estimated total cost will wind up being $1.5 billion.
The Spokane City Council was also concerned about the impacts of a potential delay and on March 31 unanimously voted to send a letter to the House Transportation Committee. The letter described the need to complete the
project because other projects depend on its completion. By 2030, the Spokane Transit Authority expects to complete the Division Street Bus Rapid Transit route, running from downtown Spokane to the unincorporated area of Mead.
“Further delays risk compounding costs, eliminating jobs, and missing a critical opportunity to realize the full potential of this project for Spokane, Eastern Washington, and for the statewide transportation network,” the letter states.
To address the transportation budget shortfall, Democratic Washington legislators compromised with a transportation budget that includes a 6-cent motor vehicle fuel tax increase. The fuel tax increase is the first in nearly a decade, and raises the rate from 49.4 cents per gallon to 55.4 cents, which will increase by 2% each year for inflation.
Only California (57.9 cents/gallon) and Pennsylvania (57.6 cents/gallon) have higher gas taxes than Washington. Other fee increases associated with the transportation budget include a 3-cent increase for diesel and a 10% sales tax on luxury cars over $100,000, which will take effect in July after Gov. Bob Ferguson signs the transportation bill as expected.
In a press release, the city of Spokane noted the final transportation budget includes $51.7 million to complete the North Spokane Corridor.
State Sen. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, says he was resolved to ensure the funding was there to complete the corridor. He says construction costs went up statewide because of tariffs, inflation, and higher material and labor costs.
Riccelli says he wanted to ensure the corridor received funding if the gas tax was increased, because of the positive impacts the freeway will have on the region’s economy and development.
“If a gas tax was going to get passed, I was going to ensure we were going to get the most for our region, and make sure that there was no pushing back in the timeline for the North Spokane Corridor,” Riccelli says. “It’s great for economic development, creates jobs, reduces emissions, so it’s better for our environment, and it reduces travel time and will get people home quicker.”
Riccelli says the importance of completing the corridor is amplified by regional trade from neighboring states and Canada, STA’s rapid transit plans for Division Street, and the need to increase mobility access to various neighborhoods in Spokane.
Spokane City Council member Paul Dillon says the bold fuel tax proposal was needed to fund the $51.7 million required to complete the corridor. He says the 3rd District lawmakers advocated successfully to meet the needs of Spokane residents.
“I am proud our 3rd Legislative District fought for Spokane in this package and that it passed with bipartisan support,” Dillon says by email. “It’s exciting that this budget finishes the job on the North-South Corridor, especially after the Spokane City Council unanimously passed a letter in support.”
Dillon notes that the gas tax and additional vehiclerelated taxes will also help fund many projects that will improve bicycle and pedestrian safety despite the uncertainty of federal funding cuts.
“This increase will be incredibly important in the wake of impending federal cuts to federal walking and biking funds over the next three years or more,” Dillon says. n
North Spokane Corridor construction should be able to wrap up in 2030. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO
Energy Emergency?
WA sues to maintain environmental reviews for energy projects. Plus, Gabriel’s Challenge calls on Spokane to tackle the fentanyl crisis; and WSU gets a grant for rural obstetrics training.
BY INLANDER STAFF
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is co-leading yet another multistate lawsuit, this time with California and 13 states, which was filed in federal court for the Western District of Washington last week. The lawsuit challenges President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order declaring a “national energy emergency.” It claims that, thanks to the executive order, the government is unlawfully using emergency permitting procedures to bypass critical reviews under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and the National Historic Preservation Act for energy projects. In a press release, Brown said the executive order wouldn’t result in lower prices or increased energy supply. “The president’s attempt to bypass important environmental protections is illegal and would cause immense harm to Washingtonians,” Brown said. “We’re back in court to hold him accountable.” The lawsuit states such emergency procedures have only previously been used for natural disasters like hurricanes or catastrophic oil spills, such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. is already the world’s largest oil and natural gas producer. (VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ)
COMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Two months ago, Gabriel Fensler died from a fentanyl overdose the day after his 24th birthday. He had been discharged from addiction treatment, but completed an extensive process to apply for housing through a local nonprofit — which called him back the day after he died. Gabriel’s death was painful proof to his mother, Kitara Johnson-Jones, that the disconnect between services and people is deadly. In response, she created Gabriel’s Challenge, a citywide movement focused on education and connection, which kicked off on Mother’s Day and will end on Father’s Day. If you missed the kickoff, there are still plenty of ways to participate during the 36-day effort — spend time reading resources on the dangers of fentanyl, “adopt a block” and walk through your neighborhood to chat with housed and unhoused neighbors and let them know they’re seen, or attend a meeting every Tuesday night with harm reduction experts at City Hall. Visit gabrielschallenge.org for more information. (ELIZA BILLINGHAM)
MATERNAL HEALTH
Earlier this week, the Washington Department of Health announced four recipients of its 2025 Maternal Health Innovation grants, which are meant to improve maternal health in Native American and rural communities throughout the state. The Washington State University College of Nursing, based in Spokane, received one of these grants to fund a rural health program meant to help communities in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Klickitat counties. The grant will provide the school with up to $100,000 each of the next three years to partner with hospitals to train its students in maternal and obstetric care while they live in their home communities. “These awards are a key step to improving maternal health and reducing health inequities in tribal and rural communities, where access to maternity care can be limited,” says Lacy Fehrenbach, chief of prevention, safety and health at the Department of Health. (COLTON RASANEN) n
A Sign of the Times
Chris Bovey’s
relocated store is giving more space to his prints and collection of neon signage
BY E.J. IANNELLI
It would be hard to miss Chris Bovey’s new retail space in the North Monroe Business District.
It’s not just that Bovey’s operations now occupy the entire ground floor of the three-story Boulevard Building, a prominent landmark at the busy intersection of Indiana Avenue, Northwest Boulevard and North Monroe Street.
Nor is it that the side of the building now features a boardwalk-style mural with “Vintage” in a bold, red cursive and “Print & Neon” in tinier block lettering below. To its left, Bovey’s football-headed mascot Mr. Vintage stands in salute.
Much more eye-catching, especially after dark, are the incandescent bulbs that chase one another along a rooftop arrow that arcs downward over the brick building’s cornice. Not to mention the glowing, tubular signs — another “Vintage,” an electrifying figure with lightning bolts for limbs, one for Dempsey’s Brass Rail — that illuminate the shop’s windows and interior.
Then again, eye-catching is precisely the point. Bovey’s new location is more than a production house and showcase for his retro prints that pay homage to Spokane past and present. It’s also meant to indulge his second love, neon.
“I had this neon sign collection in my yard, and I really wanted to combine Vintage Print with some of my signage and actually start a neon museum,” he says.
The neon collection Bovey began at his Medical Lake home — an accumulation he affectionately calls the “Boneyard” — got its start back in 2020 with a sign for Wolffy’s Hamburgers that was bound for the junkyard.
In time, he added more pieces from local landmarks: An 8-foot pizza slice from Boston Pizza. The avian logo of the now-defunct Blackbird Tavern. Italian Kitchen’s caricature chef, whose iconic flipping pan was static until Bovey restored motion to it.
“I had my eye on that chef for years,” he says. “It looked so cool. And I kept bugging the owner over and over again. I was very persistent. But the problem with him was that no sign company could get him functional. When I got it, none of the pans were lit. There was no animation to them.”
After hiring a professional to carefully remove the Italian Kitchen sign, he “gutted” the chef and got his pan moving again. Now, when Bovey activates a switch at the back of the store, the chef springs to life, with a pronounced click every time the pan illuminates along its trajectory.
That audibility, he says, is part of neon’s charm.
“It harkens back to a simpler time, you know what I’m saying? You can hear the mechanics of it. You hear the buzz. If you look up close you can see the neon dancing on some corners,” Bovey says. “It instantly brings this feeling of nostalgia and romance back to whoever’s looking at it.”
Bovey likens neon’s je ne sais quoi to that of vinyl records and 35 mm film.
They all have, in his words, a “tactile” quality that eludes their contemporary counterparts. And perhaps the current renewed appreciation of these media is actually for the strange comfort of their analog imperfections — something that’s absent from high-tech LED lighting or the sterile ones and zeroes of digital music and video.
PAST IS PRELUDE
In keeping with Bovey’s preservationist bent, the new Vintage Print & Neon has many vestiges of its earlier incarnation.
The flashing rooftop arrow, the wall of rectangular prints, the merch, the central printmaking equipment and even some of the signage have all made their way down from the first location that he opened in the heart of the Garland District in 2022.
The new location for Vintage Print & Neon has a large selection of novelty items.
That space provided Bovey with an excellent starting point for his brick-and-mortar venture, but barely two years had passed before he found himself faced with rising rent costs and a shortage of available space for his planned inventory. He estimates that the Boulevard Building has a one-third larger footprint than the former Garland store, and the ceilings are high enough to display several rows of signs, both neon and painted, as well as prints.
“The visibility [of the new location] is huge, having parking is huge, but we have also expanded into what we can sell as well,” Bovey explains. He points to the front section of a classic truck that he salvaged from his yard and kitted out with working headlights.
“We can actually display our shirt designs, which I’ve never been able to do before. It’s always been just on a rack. So allowing those designs to breathe is huge.”
Alongside the T-shirts are mugs, cards, stickers and even old-school novelty items like gag faucets and bug candy that Bovey suspects still hold a mischievous allure for the young at heart. Strategically placed throughout are objects like a Mr. Peanut cutout, a creepy mechanical clown, a kiddie sit-on ride in the shape of Looney Tunes’ Sylvester the Cat, the giant scissors from Dan’s Barber Shop, a retrofitted jukebox and old-fashioned amusement signs.
They all piqued Bovey’s curiosity at some point, and his aim is to evoke the same delight in folks who are drawn inside by the glittering lights and the popularity of his prints.
“My hope is that as soon as you walk through the door, you’re just going to be blown away, like, ‘Oh my gosh. Look at this, look at that, look at that.’”
Bovey plans to share that sense of nostalgic fun more broadly. He’s toying with the idea of renting out the space for after-hours events, and he’s working toward making the Spokane Neon Museum a reality. The store already has informational placards for some of the more distinctive neon signs, and Bovey is in talks with the Spokane Preservation Advocates to host the city’s first-ever neon festival.
Along similar lines, he — under the Spokane Neon Museum moniker — was recently awarded a grant for a project titled “Let There Be Light: Museum Ignites” through the business district’s American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funding. And based on the response, the public is eagerly picking up what he’s putting down. Mayor Lisa Brown performed the ribbon-cutting at Vintage Print + Neon’s grand opening on May 3; the event drew somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 guests over the course of the day.
“It was packed,” Bovey says. “We had a line around the door waiting to get in. Everyone seemed to love it. They were taking pictures, and a lot of gratitude was expressed for saving the signs.” n
Vintage Print + Neon • 1905 N. Monroe St. • Open Tue-Sun from 11 am to 5 pm • facebook.com/vintageprint.us • 509-443-5275
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Chris and Liz Bovey bring light to the Boulevard Building.
Found in Translation
EWU music students produce original music based on DNA data for Vytal Movement Dance’s upcoming production
BY COLTON RASANEN
While Eastern Washington University last year rebranded itself a polytechnic university — a place where students apply their education to the world around them — EWU music students have long found real-world educational opportunities to flex their musical muscles. In recent years these young musicians have composed pieces for the Spokane Symphony, the Spokane String Quartet and now, local dance nonprofit Vytal Movement Dance.
On Friday, Vytal Dance will host its eveninglength dance performance “Translations” to live music composed by the EWU Composers Forum, a group of music composition students under Jonathan Middleton, Eastern professor of music theory and composition.
Lexie Powell, artistic director of Vytal Movement Dance, says this show will be the dance company’s first featuring entirely original music. Live musicians from Eastern, including current students and recent alums, will provide live music for the entire show, which will span about two hours, including an intermission.
“It’s very special to get to work with entirely original music and also having a live component, because we don’t often get to perform with live music,” Powell says. “Not only is it really fun to get to work locally with other artists, but I feel like it makes it a little bit more unique, like it feels a little bit more special.”
The show will feature five dances, each molded by a different duo of choreographer and composer. The composers have created pieces based on different DNA samples, including from
donkeys, octopi, jellyfish, orchids and a prion disease. These musicians aren’t trying to create an exact sample of what the DNA sounds like, but instead they turn the patterns inside these genes into sound and then interpret those sounds into a song.
“We’re very dynamic, so the students are getting experiential learning experience with professionals pretty much on their own after having drafted these pieces with me,” Middleton says. “This was especially unique because the choreographers and the composers kind of had a back and forth, so there got to be a conversation around building this piece kind of together.”
Middleton has been interested in turning data into music and creating sonifications for more than two decades. (Read more about his research at Inlander.com.) Now, he’s ensuring that students in one of his music composition classes have the same opportunities.
“We center the class around molecular biology and organic shapes, just to give [students] something to go on. Now we have a collection of pieces that have snippets of DNA from various sources, like orchids, jellyfish, octopi,” Middleton says. “The students got to choose the animals to some degree, but they then did those conversions, and then started building musical pieces from the sketches that they managed to develop. The dancers then got to choose which pieces they wanted to choreograph.”
One piece, choreographed by Mandy Scheffler, will be set to a song based on the characteristics of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy,
Each dance in “Translations” is performed to music composed by EWU students. ERICK DOXEY PHOTOS
JUDGE STEVEN LEIFMAN
also known as mad cow disease. This type of disease causes the proteins in a cow’s body to misfold, inevitably leading to brain damage and death.
Like the show’s music, these dances aren’t meant to be literal interpretations. Powell says her choreographers pulled inspiration from their DNA subjects.
“Mandy would take all of our movements and make us change them or put them in different orders,” Powell says. “She did a lot of copying and pasting when she was creating her movement and her concept, and she played a lot with folding, because of that DNA.”
The throughline for the entire production is translation, but beyond that, each piece is distinct.
“Musicians use DNA to translate into music, and then the choreographers are translating that into movement,” Powell says. “Each choreographer explored a different concept within that parameter because the music pieces all sound so different and utilize different instrumentations and have different moods and tones.”
In fall 2023, Middleton approached Powell because one of his students was interested in composing music for dance. However, that single piece soon transformed into this evening-length performance with live accompaniment focused on translations.
“The concept of ‘translations’ applies in some way to the potential conversion of ideas across disciplines,” Middleton explains. “Translations took place between biology and music, biology and modern dance, and between new compositions and modern dances.”
Middleton also hopes this production will introduce youth in the Inland Northwest — especially those living in more rural areas — to the magic of performing arts. That’s why he invited and paid for students from the Wilbur-Creston and Deer Park high schools to attend the production.
Working with local musicians and ensuring that local students can see the performance exemplifies the community collaboration that Powell imagines for Vytal Movement Dance.
“This is my second year as artistic director, and one of my big goals has just been enhanced collaboration in the community and this is, I would argue, the largest collaboration we’ve done,” Powell explains. “You know we started this process almost two years ago, so it’s really exciting, and it makes me think about what else we could do.” n
Translations: An Evening of Original Music & Dance • Fri, May 16 at 7:30 pm • $27-$39 • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • vytalmovement.org
Collaboration is key for Vytal Movement dancers.
Facing the Future
tion and what she came up with, and it’s this kind of blowing up a portrait and a visual and then putting it back together again,” Baker explains.
Ellis’ work ranges from photo manipulation to photo “weavings,” which emulate the warp and weft of a traditionally interlaced tapestry. Pieces like “I See You” and “Looking” are more three-dimensional, however, approaching kinetic sculpture.
Although Ellis exhibited similar photo weavings while an undergraduate at Eastern Washington University, her new work is more feminine, she says.
Chase Gallery’s
latest exhibit explores portraiture
by four emerging Spokane-area women artists
BY CARRIE SCOZZARO
Every picture tells a story, as the saying goes, yet throughout history, the narrator has been overwhelmingly male, especially in academic settings. From the Renaissance onward, that began to change, although well into the early 19th century, the only woman in some classrooms was the nude female model. However, through their own fortitude and aided by individuals and institutions acknowledging these and other historical disparities, female artists have flourished, choosing whether or not and how much to emphasize the female vantage point.
A new exhibit continuing through June 27 at Spokane’s Chase Gallery does just that, but not only that. “Portraits from Within; 4 Emerging Spokane Artists” features the unique perspective of four young women, ages 22 to 30, all graduates of rigorous college art programs within the past couple of years and all with strong ties to the Spokane area.
All four artists are also making work in a similar vein, explains exhibition curator and Spokane Arts Commissioner Kelly Baker.
“While they are not exclusively portrait artists, they all do versions of portraiture and storytelling about themselves or [other] people that I find really interesting and quite different,” Baker says.
A recent Eastern Washington University graduate who also spent six months as an artist-in-residence at the Spokane Public Library’s The Hive, Lily Henderson crafts meticulously detailed dioramas, then photographs the little scenes she creates.
There is a lamb in a darkened room looking up at a lantern. A woman lying on the floor, seemingly passed out and surrounded by bottles of sugary drinks. A photo of a diorama titled “Show Me on the Bear,” which is what a therapist or assault counselor might ask of a young child
after they’ve been hurt.
They’re evocative, Baker says.
“I love how she’s using these childish and childlike images and concepts to talk about her own personal memories and also the concept of moving from childhood to adulthood.”
One of Baker’s friends introduced her to paintings by Emily Flynn-DeLay, a University of Montana graduate and recent Spokane transplant who included both painting and sculpture in the Chase show.
For “The NAME Series,” FlynnDeLay comes up with a title for the yet-to-be-finished work, such as “Just Because It’s True Doesn’t Make It Not Mean,” then paints her model’s interpretation of the title for a unique collaborative twist. Flynn-Delay’s “Trauma,” which deals with sexual assault, is one of two life-size and lifelike sculptural installations in the exhibit, and easily one of the most conceptually and visually compelling.
“It embraces the common shared experience of womanhood,” Ellis says.
Shared experiences are important to Ellis, who, like Henderson, was an artist-in-residence at The Hive through EWU’s Emerging Artist Program (she and Henderson were studio mates).
One of the biggest benefits of being at The Hive, Ellis says, was the connection with the other artists there. “So it’s all just like creatively feeding and growing off of each other,” she says. “And the open studios were really great just to meet other artists, and that’s how I got to meet Kelly and get this opportunity.”
“It embraces the common shared experience of womanhood,”
In addition to The Hive, Ellis is big on other opportunities in Spokane, including Spokane Arts, for which she completed an asphalt art mural last year in the Browne’s Addition neighborhood at the intersection of Third and Elm.
Elsa Oxford, like Baker, is a Lewis and Clark High School alum, although Oxford moved to the west side to attend the University of Washington before relocating back to Spokane.
Her paintings are vibrantly colored snapshots of everyday life with titles like “Brother and Sister, Ritz-Like Crackers” and “Dad at Lucky’s Pho.”
Baker describes the work as “very modern and an intimate feeling.”
Carly Ellis is the fourth artist in the Chase exhibition and, like Baker, has a photography background, although she also paints and does graphic design.
“I just loved hearing [Carly’s] process, experimenta-
“They really take a chance on emerging artists, which is so important for uplifting those entry-level artists,” she says.
Ellis is also appreciative of the way she was both surrounded by talented artists and teachers at Eastern, and the way it pushed her to expect more from herself.
“I don’t think [art] school is necessary but Eastern was necessary for me,” she says. “It really heightened my art career. I’m not sure that I would have been able to call myself an artist without it.” n
Portraits from Within: 4 Emerging Spokane Artists • Through June 27; open Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm • First Friday reception: June 6 from 5-7:30 pm • Free • Chase Gallery • 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • spokanearts.org • 509-321-9614
“Push” by Carly Ellis. PHOTO COURTESY CARLY ELLIS
Left: Art by Carly Ellis. CARRIE SCOZZARO PHOTO Center: “Plastic Bag Pretty” by Emily Flynn-DeLay. ART COURTESY EMILY FLYNN DELAY
ArTiStS to WaTcH
Exploring a music scene is not too dissimilar from traveling the globe. The more places you visit, the more types of people you meet, the more stamps you acquire in your metaphorical sonic passport and the richer your worldview becomes. So perhaps it’s best to think of picking up a new edition of the Inlander’s Artists to Watch issue the same way you would enthusiastically pick up a copy of a Rick Steves guidebook before taking a trip. We’re not claiming to encompass everything the local music scene has to offer (last edition spotlighted hip-hop and EDM acts, while this entry has more folk and jazz), but it’s a good starting point for
audio adventures.
Let us help you plan your journey to the lands of earthy singer-songwriters, Scablands hardcore mosh pits, literate indie folk pastures, and experimental jazz jams. It’s auditory jet-setting that offers an escape from the dayto-day grind.
So place your tray tables up, fasten your seatbelts, and let us take you on a musical ride.
Thanks for flying through the pages of Inlander Air. Please come again.
— SETH SOMMERFELD, Inlander Music Editor
THE BED HEADS
Artists to Watch THE BED HEADS
BY SETH SOMMERFELD
While evolution in nature can take eons, The Bed Heads are trying for a much more rapid musical evolution. In just over a year of existence, the Spokane indie folk band has already established itself as one of the Lilac City’s premier groups thanks to its incredibly accessible melodic folk tunes. But rather than take a victory lap after finding an audience early, The Bed Heads are striving to keep up the momentum while also pushing their sound in new directions.
The core of The Bed Heads sound emanates from frontman Landon Spencer’s thoughtful songwriting and tender voice, with the rest of the instrumentals working in harmony to elevate his history major lyricism. Those songs can range from stripped-down sundrenched reflections on everyday beauty to an entire EP based on Homer’s Odyssey (My Name is Nobody).
“To me, the fun part about songwriting is figuring out what a song can be and where you can take it,” Spencer says. “Even writing for My Name is Nobody, it wasn’t necessarily trying to write songs about the Odyssey, but trying to write from the perspective of the
...continued on page 21
ROFILE
PHOTO BY MAX DELSID
Don’t sleep on The Bed Heads, including (from left) Sam McQuarrie, Landon Spencer, AJ Ramirez and Drew Brereton
Artists to Watch Artists to Watch
“THE BED HEADS,” CONTINUED...
characters from the Odyssey if they were trying to write a song. It’s just really, really cool to figure out different ways of storytelling, because songwriting can be super, super logical and next step big picture painting, or it can be incredibly abstract. But they can each paint an equally vivid picture for the listener.”
The Bed Heads’ origin story can be traced back to Spencer and bassist Sam McQuarrie’s high school days at Mt. Spokane in 2017, when the pair played in the band Spilt Milk. The group kept things going through the guys’ collegiate years, before disbanding in 2023. Still wanting to play together, Spencer stepped from just being a guitarist to the center of the stage to create The Bed Heads in February 2024. The group’s initial folk sound actually was based on not having a full band more than anything else.
“A lot of people in the band weren’t really folk artists before we started, but the restraints that we had on production really made us into a folk band,” McQuarrie says. “And we just kind of leaned into it at first.”
But over the course of the last year, The Bed Heads solidified its lineup, eventually adding electric guitarists Drew Brereton and Eric Kennedy, plus AJ Ramirez on drums. Spencer cites Ramirez’s arrival as a turning point, as having the energy of a drummer allows the band to explore more indie rock and Americana sonic realms.
Expect to hear The Bed Heads testing out those new styles aplenty in 2025. The band has already released two new tracks this year that feel closer to indie pop acts like Medium Build and Bendigo Fletcher than PNW folk. “Love Refused” is a slightly funky soft pop jam, while “Nancy Kerrigan” is a peppy synth-infused number that muses about the titular figure skater being an online therapist. Moreover, the band’s goal is to release a new song every four to six weeks this year.
“From the logistical side of it, writing a song and producing a song takes a lot of time and money. So it’s definitely expensive to put out a whole project. And if you’re putting out a whole project, you can’t necessarily pitch — or have everyone listen to — every single song,” Spencer says. “We’ll eventually recollect these all together and put them in a project, but this way we can definitely show the songs that we’re really proud of to everyone. Make sure that every song has its own moment.”
The Bed Heads is also hitting the road to expand its reach beyond the Inland Northwest. Already this year the guys have played Boise’s Treefort Fest, had shows in Seattle, Vancouver, and Nashville, and have festival dates lined up including Olympia’s South Sound Block Party and Liberty Lake’s Zephyr Folk Festival. It’s not hard to imagine the band garnering plenty of new fans, as The Bed Heads concerts can feel more like casual hangs with your buddies — ones where you don’t dread when someone reaches for an acoustic guitar — rather than performances.
“It’s kind of like campfire sing-along vibes sometimes,” Spencer says. “It’s so awesome when everyone knows the words and is singing them along like that. That, to me, is the coolest thing — when everyone’s kind of coming together for a moment.” n
THE BED HEADS
Instagram: @thebedheadsmusic NEXT SHOW: June 7 at Zephyr Folk Festival
Artists to Watch Artists to Watch
HANNAH SIGLIN HANNAH SIGLIN
PROFILE BY MADISON PEARSON
PHOTO BY ALICIA HAUFF
Hannah Siglin’s mom will tell you she came out of the womb singing, and it’s not hard to believe.
“She says I had this really piercing shriek,” Siglin says. “It was like a tone rather than a typical baby’s cry.”
As she grew older, she would hum in her crib and sing songs while toddling around the house and outside in the yard. When she turned 6, her parents bought her a guitar, and she began learning how to accompany herself.
Siglin’s first official gig was just her and her guitar at a local farmers market where she performed a full set of John Denver songs — folk always being her forté, as it made her feel connected with the beauty of the world around her.
“I’d say there are two original loves in my life: music and plants,” Siglin says. “As a little girl I played guitar and sang folk music and then I spent all of my free time in the garden.”
After honing her classical guitar skills with the help of mentor Michael Millham, snagging a songwriting degree from Berklee College of Music in 2019, and moving back to Spokane after brief stints in Los Angeles and Hawaii, Siglin released her album Seeds in 2019 and continues to showcase her gentle folk musings with the world.
Seeds showcases Siglin’s raw and intimate lyrics over intricate guitar parts, fiddle, mandolin and other traditional folk instruments, her voice the stunning, striking centerpiece of it all.
With lyrics of harvest, wishing for rain, and heartbreak, the album is a masterclass in folk songwriting and pulls at the heartstrings of any listener who appreciates nature and a slow life well-lived.
Siglin, now 28, lives a very similar life to that of her childhood self.
She has two cats, five chickens and grows various herbs, plants, flowers, vegetables, and myriad other things in her home garden in Spokane while also playing select, extremely intentional gigs around town.
“My garden is a huge creative outlet for me,” she says. “My song ‘Persimmon’ is all about being in the garden. It’s me talking to myself while I’m in this beautiful place surrounded by all of my plants.”
At a recent show at Haystack Heights’ common house, the room fell silent as Siglin began to sing “I Smell Rain” from Seeds
“Summer’s been a scorcher, the fields have all gone dry. Everybody’s praying for water from the sky…”
She commands the sonic space with just her voice and a guitar, unintentionally silencing those who inhabit it, and filling it back up again with a singular line.
“...Oh darling we are saved, cause I smell rain.”
The emotion is practically palpable in the room as her voice weaves through chord changes to form a haunting melody that erupts into a chorus backed by fiddles and a beguiling piano line. As the strings speed up their weary dance, so does Siglin’s voice as it pierces through, bellowing a lyrical “hallelujah” when rain finally falls.
Siglin has made her own happiness and the community a priority over everything else in her career, wanting people to really hear her music — not amid the noise of a bustling bar, but to feel the melancholy and reflect as they listen to Siglin’s introspective lyrics.
“I’m definitely not in the mindset of trying to get fans to the show or hurriedly writing new songs,” she says. “In five years I see myself frolicking in a field with my goats.”
HANNAH SIGLIN
Siglin cites singer-songwriter Melanie’s 1971 tune “Some Day I’ll Be A Farmer” as inspiration for her future life.
“I have a very hyperlocal, small vision for what I want to do with my life and my music. That idealism of taking care of the land and taking care of people and then just making music based on just loving everything,” Siglin says. “That’s where I am and I love it.” n
TIME BABY
Instagram: @timebaby_official NEXT SHOWS: May 31 at the Big Dipper June 1 at MAC ArtFest
music to alter their playing and mix up the sound of the songs depending on the venue they’re at or the other bands performing on the bill.
“We all have the tools to express different feelings through our music,” McKinley says, “If we’re performing a song and I want it to sound a certain way, the other members do a really good job of picking up on the energy that I’m trying to convey. It could be the volume at which we’re playing, the scales or different textures that help songs come across a certain way.”
And though performing live is Time Baby’s bread and butter, this past February, the band set up shop at J Bones Musicland, Jay Condiotti’s dual recording studio and venue space in Chief Garry Park, to begin work on their debut album.
Slated to come out this fall, the record is full of original tunes composed by nearly all of the members of Time Baby. And, just like their live shows, expect it to be full of whimsy, sonic joy and pure funky vibes.
“Jazz has been around for such a long time, so we’re not trying to rewrite history,” McKinley says. “But, I do think we sort of have a mission to change people’s perceptions of what jazz means.” n
May 30-June 1, 2025 • @ the MAC $5 per person or $20 for families 4+
The Last Lunch with Time Baby (from left) Riley Gray, Caleb Brown, Lauren McKinley, Nick Harner, Mercy Maxson, Tim Zilar, and Ben Dysart, at Chowderhead.
ArtiStS to ArtiWatch StS to Watch
SPØØKY SPØØKY
“Ibelieve that to have a friend, a man must be one. That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.”
Thus begins “The Lone Ranger Creed.” That old Western yarn might seem like a far cry from the brash world of hardcore punk music, but, partner, you’d be incorrect with that foolish assumption.
A room full of hardcore punk kids can feel intimidating for scene outsiders, what with their resting snarl faces and willingness to violently slam into their best friends. But anytime a certain guitarwielding masked cowboy in assless chaps — looking like The Lone Deranger — takes a Spokane stage with his trusty dress-wearing percussive companion by his side, an inclusive hardcore hootenanny is fixin’ to go down. The two varmints in question are Micah Clay Lübben and Wes Marvin, who together unleash a barrage of wonderful heavy noise as the two-man hardcore sludge posse known as Spøøky.
The duo’s unique visual style and relentless energy help them stand out in Spokane’s thriving hardcore music scene, bringing a
dose of mirth to a sometimes too-serious genre, thereby allowing everyone to lower their guard a bit and have an absolute blast while still thrashing about with riotous aplomb.
Like most hardcore bands, the members of Spøøky first met at a viral BBQ cookout. (Do not fact check that last sentence.) Lübben and Marvin were both pals with the Spokanites who humorously posted on Craigslist searching for a “Generic Father Figure for Backyard BBQ” back in 2017. After the listing went viral (garnering national headlines and major sponsors), both of the future bandmates were invited, happened to meet there, and immediately hit it off.
Less than two weeks later, Lübben recruited Marvin to drum in an “art project” called Spøøky (the stylized Øs being necessary because too many bands are called Spooky),
PROFILE BY SETH SOMMERFELD
PHOTO BY ALICIA HAUFF
where the two would try to record some weird surf punk songs in a single take. And while the project was meant to be a one-off, the guys soon got invited to play a Halloween show where they met and connected with members of local bands Bad Motivator, Indian Goat and Itchy Kitty.
After a few shows, the dudes put Spøøky to bed. Instead, they focused on a new hardcore band they’d started called Thrpii (“therapy”), which was on the rise until COVID shut things down and their other bandmates moved away. But when the musical world started reopening after lockdowns, the pair had a heavy music craving that needed to be satiated.
“We were itching to play some music and we’re like, ‘F—, let’s bring Spøøky back,’” Marvin says.
The resulting much more brutal weirdo hard-
core sound — inspired by bands like The Chariot and Norma Jean — can be heard on Spøøky’s 2024 three-song Dëmø. Lübben also came up with a great genre name for the band’s new sludgy sound — Scablands hardcore. It’s an evocative nod to Spokane’s geographic region (the Channeled Scablands created by the Missoula floods) and the band’s “brokedown home on the range country vibe.”
Spøøky’s now-distinct fashion sense is relatively new and wasn’t intentional at first. The guys have dressed in costume since their first show (it was Halloween after all), but used to mix things up every show. That was until one gig where Lübben donned some chaps and Western garb. When he didn’t wear it again for a subsequent show, his buddies in the scene expressed disappointment because they loved the look. As for Marvin, his look began as a “Wes in a dress” bit between him and local MCs Jang the Goon and IAMTOPP. And while the guys weren’t exactly stoked to be pigeonholed into dressing a certain way to perform, they soon saw that it had value.
“It became more intentional at a point. Because the music’s so heavy, we typically play with a lot of, like, beatdown bro-y hardcore bands,” Marvin says. “So we’re like, ‘Oh, this is kind of our opportunity to not be that, and not take ourselves too seriously.’”
“We want to create an environment that makes people feel safe, feel comfortable, and also just f—ing punch your friend,” Lübben adds. “Hardcore’s origins are [centered on] a positive mental attitude and finding solutions to the issues. But at the shows because of all the mosh pit culture and the slam culture, it can be pretty violent and give off the wrong message sometimes, even if those kids in the pit that are being super aggressive are oftentimes just trying to find a positive release for their issues. So we like to disarm people. We dress funny and look like goofballs so that everyone can just relax.”
While the thirtysomething members of Spøøky can sometimes feel like the oldheads in the hardcore scene (what with their full-time jobs and whatnot),
they’re greatly appreciative that the younger guys in the scene still dig their music and want to share concert bills with them. But their more ache-prone bodies aren’t slowing Spøøky down. The band is currently on tour with Marvin’s other Spokane hardcore band Blacktracks, just recorded five songs and has plans to release music videos and new songs (including “The Neighbors Upstairs,” which dropped just last week) in the upcoming months.
But more than anything else, Lübben continually wants to emphasize that Spøøky’s Scablands hardcore is meant to be inclusive and fun for everyone (perhaps call it “The Lone Deranger Code”).
“We are absolutely all about love ideologies and philosophies,” Lübben says. “We are for queer people, trans rights, immigrants and people who are on the margins of society.” n
SPØØKY
Instagram: @thespookyband
NEXT SHOWS:
May 26 at Mikey’s Gyros (Moscow) June 20 at The Big Dipper
C’mon Feel the Noise Artists to Watch Artists to Watch C’mon Feel the Noise
Taking the temperature of the Spokane music scene
STORY BY AZARIA PODPLESKY | PHOTO BY YOUNG KWAK
In Wes Marvin’s eyes, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Spokane’s music community had a vital urgency that he imagines was similar to Seattle when grunge was on the rise.
“I was feeling like Spokane had something that felt unique and that was going to be part of something bigger to grow,” says Marvin, the drummer for local hardcore bands Spøøky and Blacktracks.
Once the pandemic came along, that unique something felt like it was stifled by stay-at-home orders and social distancing.
The pandemic was a period of ebb and flow. We lost bands, as members could no longer practice together, and venues, like The Pin. But we also gained new musicians, who picked up instruments that had previously been gathering dust, and opened “new” venues, like The Chameleon, which took over the former Lucky You Lounge.
Five years after the pandemic began, there’s a sense of normalcy once again when it comes to live music. We dance and drink together at shows, event calendars are once again full of things to do, and passenger vans and tour buses are again common fixtures near venues.
But how is Spokane’s music scene really doing?
Marvin is encouraged by the uptick in younger bands featuring musicians who came of age during the pandemic and have since exploded onto the scene.
“There was a lull there for a second where a lot of the same old bands were filling the gaps and a lot of
bands broke up,” he says. “But then all of a sudden, little baby bands — that’s what we call them — of young kids playing some heavy shit all just started popping up one at a time.”
With the rise in younger bands, Ryan Levey, who took over as the owner and talent booker at the Big Dipper two years ago, has also noticed an increase in younger fans at shows. Five to 10 years ago, he says, it would be tough to find younger people at concerts, but after the pandemic, “it has been way the hell better.”
“There’s a lot more bands, there’s a huge younger generation that are into music these days,” says Leavey, who has been booking shows around town since 2008.
“I think there’s been a big shift in pop culture and what kids are into these days, and they’re coming back to shows, and it’s awesome. It’s great to see kids wanting to get out of the house and go experience arts and culture.”
Kent Shelton, general manager of the Knitting Factory since 2021, has also seen an increased interest in local acts. About three years ago, he and his team converted the District Bar into a 250-capacity venue after it’d previously just been a place concertgoers could eat and drink before or after shows at the Knit.
With a smaller stage, Shelton says he has more opportunities to reach out to local bands to either open for a touring artist or perform at a showcase of local acts. He can also build relationships with bands from out of town who aren’t yet able to sell 1,500 tickets and introduce them to local audiences.
“It’s went from being a place where we were doing a couple shows a month to having a calendar probably just as busy as the big room,” he says.
While celebrating the good, Levey and Shelton acknowledge there’s always room for improvement.
Levey wants to see a mainstay music festival in Spokane and more local artists play the Pavilion. He would also like the city to do away with the admissions tax they collect from each venue. Instead, fans could use that money to support bands by buying merch or venues by buying food and drinks.
Levey and Shelton are both quick to say that, gripes aside, they’re proud to be part of Spokane’s music scene. They’re proud of the musicians who dare to share their work onstage and proud of concertgoers who support the musicians night after night.
At the end of the day, when the house lights go down and the stage lights go up, the electricity in the air is the result of performers, venues and the audience working together to keep the city’s music scene as vibrant as possible.
In short, they celebrate the work those on both sides of the stage have done to breathe new life into the scene after the pandemic.
“The young kids that are starting the new bands and keeping the scene going are pulling their weight as much as we are,” Marvin says. “That’s super encouraging. I think it still has a lot of recovery to do, but I think our scene is thriving.” n
The Spokane music scene is once again alive and kicking.
Collabrewations
29 Spokane-based breweries create a collaborative beer for Spokane Craft Beer Week
BY DORA SCOTT
Local brewers step on the platform of a mash tun at Lumberbeard Brewing on the morning of April 22. They take turns pouring malt into the massive metal vat for the beginnings of a collaborative hazy IPA dubbed 509 Brew Parade (6.2% ABV).
The roughly 40 barrels produced will be distributed and offered on tap and in cans at the 29 participating breweries from May 17-25 as part of Spokane Craft Beer Week.
Libation enthusiasts may recall Spokane Craft Beer Week from when it was conceived by Matt Hanson from Whistle Punk Brewing in 2019.
“[It] was essentially just reaching out to all the breweries in town and saying, ‘Hey, we’re doing a designated week to celebrate craft beer. We’re encouraging you all to come up with different events and things that will
bring people into your taprooms,’” recalls Adam Boyd, the director of brew operations at Garland Brew Werks.
The pandemic put an end to the weeklong event, until a few local breweries including Humble Abode, Garland Brew Werks and Whistle Punk started talking about bringing it back — more robust and engaging.
“We called a meeting at Whistle Punk. I reached out to every brewery I could find in the Spokane area and pretty much everyone showed up,” Boyd says. “So everyone was behind it, everyone had the energy.”
Humble Abode Brewing co-owner Matt Gilbreath, one of the forerunners who hoped to bring the event back, was inspired by similar craft brew festivals (like Seattle Beer Week) where brewers collaborate on brewing a single beer.
One of the initial challenges was thinking of a
brewery large enough to host the brewing operations for 509 Brew Parade. Luckily, Lumberbeard has a 20-barrel brew system and a canning line to boot.
“We have the second-biggest brew system in Spokane,” says Bret Gordon, the president and head brewer of Lumberbeard Brewing. “It’ll make a lot of beer. We’re going to make a double batch for this beer because there’s [nearly] 30 breweries, so there’s a lot of breweries who want this beer.”
Hannah Gordon, the marketing and design manager at Lumberbeard Brewing, came up with 509 Brew Parade’s can design. The magenta label has bold yellow print and depicts the Monroe Street Bridge, Spokane Falls, and sprigs of lilac and wheat.
Even the ingredients behind 509 Brew Parade are representative of the Inland Northwest. LINC Malt and Cold Stream Malt & Grain Co. donated all the locally grown malt, and the three hops varieties (Citra, Azacca and El Dorado) were donated by Roy Farms, based just outside Yakima in Moxee.
“The hops that we kind of chose are definitely leaning toward like the citrusy, tropical kind of aromas and flavors,” Boyd says. “It should be a very juicy beer.”
Some of the standout flavors are reminiscent of pineapple, mango and limeade.
It’s hard to imagine dozens of brewers coming together to decide on a single beer recipe. Boyd says a small committee headed the decision-making process before weighing in with the group.
“I think hazy IPAs are very popular. Especially in this region, any IPA you kind of can’t lose with,” Boyd
A cinematic companion piece to The Weeknd’s new album of the same name, this musical psychological thriller finds the singer playing a fictionalized version of himself who’s on the verge of an insomniac mental breakdown before encountering a mystifying stranger played by Jenna Ortega. Rated R
Our House, In The Middle of Our Mall
Secret Mall Apartment is a thoughtful documentary about art, life, and where they come together
BY CHASE HUTCHINSON
Secret Mall Apartment both is and isn’t about a secret mall apartment.
The film makes a charming collective of artists surreptitiously setting up a living space in a mall its hook (and what a helluva great one it is), though it also becomes much more than that. At its core, this is a documentary about the decline of America’s already rather shaky quality of life through the eyes of the community of Providence, Rhode Island, and a big new mall that was hailed as the savior of their city. In reality, it became a marker of a shift toward a more economically stratified future that cared not for the people and their cultural history it was attempting to crush underfoot, which director Jeremy Workman lays out with a mournful yet still playful verve.
The secret mall apartment is then a project to poke fun at this, as artists build a small sliver of community in a world where it’s fading, and then expand outward from there. The result is a scrappy, joyously entertaining and surprisingly emotional slice of life portrait of a film, one that — much like the artists themselves did — smuggles in greater ideas in a familiar documentary package.
While the film relies on the standard documentary
elements of talking heads and reenactments that teeter on the edge of being a bit too cute, Workman interweaves them with fascinating videos the group took as they went about secretly building an apartment in a forgotten space in the mall’s blueprints over the course of several years. We hear them remark on the absurdity of what they’re doing just as they ponder the real challenges of gentrification and displacement in the city that the mall embodies.
In archival clips, we hear a parking attendant guard working at the mall share how he can’t even afford to shop there, which is then followed by a woman unashamedly predicting it will “attract a better clientele of people.” This grimly hammers home a key point that informed the mall’s building: It will bring the “good” rich people in while the “bad” poor people get further pushed to the margins. The secret apartment then becomes like a reverse heist film where nothing is stolen, as they build, piece by piece, a tiny little apartment in what they cheekily refer to as “underused space.” It’s an immensely silly undertaking, but one that becomes deeply meaningful to the collective.
Townsend, we also glimpse how this wasn’t always easy for those around him. He’s undeniably passionate, but there is a limit to how much others can go along with his project. This is no hagiography where he is held up as a flawless genius. Instead, it creates a more honest portrait about what motivates him, rough edges and all. There could have been more to this, but what’s there deepens its impact. It’s all part of how the film isn’t afraid to gently reveal how not everybody could or would want to do this, proving to be both self-aware and sincere in how it becomes about making a life dedicated to art.
SECRET MALL APARTMENT
Rated PG-13
Directed by Jeremy Workman
Screening at The Magic Lantern
Critically, as we hear them reflect back on it, they don’t ever have an inflated sense of what they’re doing or the naiveté to believe that this alone will save the world. Instead, they talk about it as merely one part of art worth doing, because they found joy from it and because it brought greater connections to where there might otherwise be none.
At the same time, as the film cuts a bit deeper into the philosophy of the group’s leader of sorts, Michael
It’s in these greater resonances where Secret Mall Apartment really finds something more unexpectedly yet humbly profound. Though it doesn’t offer any easy answers, it’s about grappling with how we find meaning, art and connection in a world where that is increasingly hard to come by. One of the most interesting works of art we see is not even the mall apartment, but a striking hidden piece of figures frozen under the ground that has since been destroyed. Without spoiling the details of what happens, the secret mall apartment itself was not to be a permanent work, and eventually the game comes to an end. But it’s in the creation process where the film finds its greatest joys. All these moments of joy are painfully fleeting and increasingly impermanent, though that only makes remembering them all the more essential. Secret Mall Apartment both is and isn’t about a secret mall apartment, though the film becomes much like the home the group made: a way of carving out a space for connection where there otherwise is none. n
Secret Mall Apartment tackles gentrificaiton via guerrilla art.
LOCAL ELECTRONIC MUSIC
SYNTH CITY
A look at Square Wave Wednesdays and Spokane’s synth music boomlet
BY ELISSA BALL
On a typical Wednesday night, Ian Thurston twists knobs and punches buttons on a big mixing board at the casino where he runs sound for onstage talent. But tonight at Pacific Pizza in Browne’s Addition, it’s the live sound engineer’s turn to step into the spotlight.
Once Thurston plugs his laptop into the pizzeria’s soundboard, he becomes DJ Ion — a party-enhancer who unleashes his original techno tracks into a crowd that he further hypes up by pumping an index finger high above his head, even weaving into the audience to groove for a few bars.
The 20 or so people packed onto the bar’s micro dance floor return Thurston’s enthusiasm by bopping and jumping to his beats like they’re at a warehouse rave.
This is no typical Wednesday, after all. It’s Square Wave Wednesday, a monthly synthesizer open mic night that Pacific Pizza (formerly Pacific Avenue Pizza, though it’s still called Pac Ave or just Pac by many patrons) has been hosting every third Wednesday of the month for the past six months.
The synth players and electronic music lovers who hang out on Square Wave Wednesdays are cultivating
a consistently well attended creative hub. It’s become a plug-and-playground for noise nerds.
If the Tide Pod challenge is proof that peer pressure can be harmful, then Square Wave is proof that peer pressure can be helpful. After all, the whole thing began as a long-distance dare.
Scrolling his socials last fall, Pac General Manager Nat Mooter learned that his Midwest buddies in a band named E.T. were starting a synth open mic at Seward Cafe in Minneapolis. When Mooter remarked, “That’s the coolest f—ing idea I ever heard!,” the band dared Mooter to start one himself in Spokane. They even offered him advice like “use two tables” to make transitions quicker.
Katie Smith, a “cooker and booker” at Pacific Pizza, says the bar rolled out Square Wave in November 2024 in part because staff wanted to add more programming to bring out the less socially inclined during the cold months.
“It’s wintertime. People wanna experiment. Synthesizer people tend to be shut-ins, so this is good to bring them out,” Smith says.
One of those “synthesizer people” is Joaquín Kinyon, a familiar fixture of Square Wave. His interest in analog drum machines was sparked a few years ago and soon grew into a passion for synths like the Behringer TD-3 and other gear that allows him to “make full music without a band.” Kinyon views Square Wave’s open mic as an opportunity to “just come out and practice, basically.”
Each installment of Square Wave sees around six to 10 artists perform 10-15 minute sets, punctuated by small set-change breaks. Unlike some open mics, so far participants honor the time limit and don’t overplay their welcome.
Square Wave sign-ups start at 7 pm, when Mooter plops a spiral notebook on one of the two tall tables positioned in the stage area. Musicians jot down their names and total number of line inputs they’ll need.
At 8 pm, Mooter opens the event by performing a couple acid-house style songs from his electro solo project called Iron Chain, often accompanied by glitch-art visuals fed into the stage’s TV monitor that adds to the gathering’s AV club vibe. For the next two hours, he’ll wrangle musicians, adjust sound levels, record
audio of folks’ sets, and even shoot livestream video for the @squarewavewednesdays Instagram account — a fairly recent addition.
While the open mic format provides a predictable structure for socializing and sharing, the night’s music and music-making machines are delightfully unpredictable.
One moment producer Darby Meegan (DJ Spicy Ketchup) is peppering the pub with dialogue samples slowed way down for humorous effect, and the next Taylor Roff is lowering everyone’s blood pressure with futuristic, crystalline tones that pour from his gear.
Short sets make it easy for listeners to stay curious and open to diverse sounds. Not into whatever eerie drone noise is happening onstage? Wait six minutes and soon enough you might hear sound engineer and Bandit Train band member Chris Malsam go full Mozart mode as he tickles multiple levels of ivories, using three keyboards to cover a tune from a 1988 video game titled Xexyz.
Square Wave regular Drew Mitchell mainly composes songs on his laptop and then for live performance uses gear like the Maschine Mikro MK2 controller, a drum machine with four rows of square buttons – the squares referenced in “Square Wave Wednesday” – that light up according to timing and function. Unlike most Square Wavers — who don’t often use vocals — Mitchell sings over his own gauzy, beep-bloop tracks in a mellow, laid-back style.
Another vocalist is Greg Bem, who performs as Talus Field with a setup that includes a CHOMPI chromatic sampler, created by Spokane’s own CHOMPI Club. CHOMPI founders Chelsea and Tobias Hendrickson’s former synth meetup club, called Techno Logic, inspired Mooter to dive deeper into the world of synthesizers years ago.
Bem — a poet and librarian — creates “ambient and noise soundscapes” and “auditory collages featuring field recordings,” to which the writer adds his own vocals that range from narra-
tive spoken word to screams. Bem’s not the only one to get wild at Square Wave. Many performers play with harsh noise like static, screeches and squeals, so bring ear plugs!
One might assume a room full of gearheads and pro musicians might radiate gatekeeper energy or ooze intimidation. But Square Wave celebrates fresh blood.
Katie Smith says Square Wave was meant for “a variety of skill bases,” from total beginners to people who’ve “been doing this for years but are kind of hiding in their houses.”
When Joa Robak brought her modular synthesizer machine — with its tangle of colorful cables — to Pac Ave’s table, it wasn’t just her first time performing at Square Wave, but her first time ever performing live
“I’ve just been playing it in my bedroom,” Robak says of the digital/analog hybrid synthesizer that she admits is “on the niche end.”
Not only did the crowd get loud for Robak, but her parents were also there cheering her on. It’s not uncommon for even seasoned synthers like Kinyon and Malsam to have family members drop in and catch their Square Wave sets, snapping photos and effusing encouragement.
Stephen Hoang – who grew up playing in bands in Manchester, England and has been releasing music on Soundcloud for 14 years as Binary Solo – says “the hardest thing about Square Wave was playing by myself.” What pushed Hoang to just go for it — even though he felt “terrified” and “naked on stage” — was peer pressure, in the form of a line on a Square Wave flyer that read “You only live once.”
Nerves and all, Hoang turned the bar into an indoor block party with his high-energy set that, once finished, caused audience members to complain that “he should have played longer!”
Square Wave may be the current clubhouse for Spokane synth enthusiasts, but there’s more electronic music activity stirring beyond Pac’s walls. This month a handful of Square Wave regulars staged a “Square Wave takeover” as openers for Alabama electro-pop artist Klypi’s show at The Chameleon.
For a few months this winter, Pacific Pizza wasn’t the only synth open mic in town. Neato Burrito briefly hosted a monthly synth night called Pink Noise organized by Baby Bar bartender Banks Lannigan and Neato Burrito “door guy” Oliver Bento. When Neato owner Patty Tully heard that Pacific Pizza was running similar programming, she phoned Mooter to check in. The two coordinated schedules so their respective open mics wouldn’t compete or conflict with each other. And while Pink Noise went quiet in February with no plans to restart, it’s that sense of cooperation that’s helping Spokane nurture a synth scene.
“That’s how building community works, especially in Spokane,” Mooter says. “We’re not trying to be the best or the first, we just wanna get people involved.” n
Square Wave Wednesday • Wed, May 21 at 8 pm (Third Wednesday of Every Month) • Sign-ups at 7 pm • Free • 21+ • Pacific Pizza • 2001 W. Pacific Ave. • instagram.com/pacific_pizza_spokane
Square Wave has become a hub for the electronic scene. ERICK DOXEY PHOTOS
J PACIFIC AVE PIZZA, Square Wave Wednesday
J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Bob Breadling RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Jam
J TIMBERS ROADHOUSE, Cary Beare Presents TRVST, The TRVST Open Decks
CAMP, AUGUST 13, DESIGNED TO INTRODUCE YOUNG CAMPERS TO THE CAMP EXPERIENCE WHILE CONNECTING WITH OTHERS WHO UNDERSTAND LIFE WITH DIABETES.
COMMUNITY SEEING PURPLE
As anticipation builds for the weeklong Spokane Lilac Festival, a decades-old tradition that gives tribute to the military, empowers youth and celebrates Spokane, festivities and celebrations are beginning to pop up across the city. This Saturday, Spokane’s iconic Armed Forces Torchlight Parade will return to the city’s streets. With the purpose of honoring military, first responders and local heroes, as well as showcasing local marching bands, dance teams and floats, Spokane lights up with patriotism and community spirit during this beloved springtime tradition. The parade will start at Washington Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard, as it winds around downtown Spokane through Main Avenue and Howard Street.
— HANNAH
HIGENS
Lilac Festival Torchlight Parade • Sat, May 17 at 7:30pm • Free • Downtown Spokane • spokanelilacfestival.org
THEATER ABRACADABRA!
Do you believe in magic? Whether you’re a diehard fan or skeptic, the four-person team of illusionists in the Champions of Magic will put on one hell of a show. Liberty Larsen, Fernando Velasco and British duo Young & Strange conduct thrilling and mind-bending illusions that will put you on the edge of your seat, while also incorporating humor and audience participation into the two-hour show. For lovers of the Now You See Me films, this is your chance to see daring, fast-paced illusions brought from your screen to the stage. There is something for everyone from eye-catching spectacles to nail-biting, Houdini-like escapes to groundbreaking magic.
— DORA SCOTT
Champions of Magic • Sat, May 17 at 3:30 pm • $50-$90 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • broadwayspokane.com
WORDS ALOHA, KEIKI!
Positioned right across the street from Inlander HQ, Spark Central is a hub of education, diversity and compassion for kids in Spokane’s West Central community. Their latest program features author Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell and her new international award-winning children’s book, Let’s Live A.L.O.H.A., a story teaching young readers the transformative power of empathy, adaptability and heart-centered living through the acronym A.L.O.H.A. — ask, listen, observe, heart and adapt. The first 24 families from the West Central neighborhood to attend will receive a free autographed copy of the book to take home and ensure the spirit of A.L.O.H.A. lives on long after the event ends.
— MADISON PEARSON
The Spirit of Aloha Storytelling • Sat, May 17 from 1-2 pm • Free • Spark Central • 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. • spark-central.org
I SAW YOU
TRIED CALLING YOU Oui, c’est moi ... tried calling you last week because I have two VIP tickets to a once-in-a-lifetime concert there this Summer... of course I’d love a brewery tour while I’m there, and we could act out a couple of scenes from “TAG!” In the immortal words of Shrek, “Can’t we just settle this over a pint?!” So if you wanna go, call me back...
REBOUNDING AT THE SPEED OF DESPERATION You’ve certainly been busy! Between long hours at the hospital, tinkering with rusted relics, and reshaping wood into melody, you’ve still found time to host sleepovers like some kind of blended-family boot camp. It’s impressive how swiftly you trade one relationship for another, like swapping parts instead of fixing what is actually broken. It begs the question: are you even capable of love, or just looking for someone to fill an empty space in your life? Rushing to blend lives before the divorce is even finalized, well, that’s certainly a bold move. One would hope a little self-awareness might kick in. If not embarrassment, at least a flicker of realization. Perhaps a moment of reflection might serve everyone better than going full throttle into the next chapter.
SPARKS FLY In Liberty Lake you had issues with a kitchen breaker tripping. I was hoping to fix it, but nothing was broken. Maybe you could break my heart? I would have asked you out, but I don’t think that’s okay in a professional capacity, especially considering I already have your name, number, and address. Next time, I’ll shave and wear deodorant.
CHEERS
THANKS MUFFIN Cheers to the Muffins with Moms event organizers. It was so lovely! It shows compassion and brings such joy to the community! I appreciate all the moms who woke up earlier than normal to put on such a special morning.
OUR CITY COUNCIL IS THE FREAKING BEST I just want to say a loud and hardy thank you to city council. You all have a tremendous amount of courage and stamina to continue showing up and representing the citizens of Spokane. And I mean that you represent ALL citizens. Not just some. Thank you.
KEEP ON SINGIN’! Cheers to the person who got a TV from me via Craigslist to volunteer karaoke at the retirement homes. I have family in a facility like that and I know they really enjoy any entertainment that comes to them, even if they don’t show their appreciation. Thank you for making their days a little brighter!
GOOD WILL AUTHORS Thank you all for taking the time to brighten our day by sharing your positive experiences!
HEROINE LIBRARIANS Cheers to the incredibly adept librarians at in the Central Collections Room located at the main library downtown. When I was a boy in the late fifties riding my old one speed bike on the dirt roads around Albi Stadium and Fairmount Cemetery, sitting on the northern edge of the bluff above the valley was a full sized ski jump. I always wondered about that strange structure, unattached to anything else. I went to the Central Collections to see if the experts at research could find the answer to my 66-year-old question. Within fifteen minutes they started finding information about the ski jump based on the few clues I could provide. Soon I had all the answers and photos also. It was called City Ski Acres Resort and it operated for two years 1959 and 1960. It had a 700 foot and a 300 foot rope tow, was lighted, and had snow making machines. Thanks to the wonderful librarians who took on my question as their mission.
JEERS
I HAVE A DRUMSTICK FOR YOU To the young Trumptard during the Bloomsday Run who ripped the Pride flag from my drum kit and stomped it on the ground:
SOUND OFF 1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm
with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”
I was taken by surprise and did not react immediately, but if there ever is a next time, I have a drumstick with your name on it. BTW: I did recover the flag and have reinstalled it so you will recognize me and hopefully for your sake stay the f--- in your own lane.
CAR TAB CRUELTY Shame on you with so
“
little regard for the old and poor! Is that what your Jesus taught? Crack open a bible sometime. I know you think somehow if only the car tab scofflaw had been as virtuous as you think you are, they would have saved plenty of money to take care of their needs in retirement, but you ignore lots of what you already know to be true. There are so many circumstances beyond a person’s control that keeps them paycheck to paycheck which describes the vast majority of folks. Then, someone runs a red light and puts them in the hospital for many weeks which then causes them to lose their job and home. And the insurance company finds a loophole and sleezes out of paying the medical costs and BOOM! No job. No home. Debts to the ceiling and they were doing everything right. Working hard. Obeying the laws. Or their roof or plumbing struck a leak and one of those “Virtuous Christian” businesses took unfair advantage and left them paying sky high credit card interest rates that sucks all their monthly social security? You could care less if they starve. WTAF is wrong with you? Heartless and cruel doesn’t begin to cover it. Again, SHAME ON YOU!
RE: I DON’T CARE Hey so I hate to break this to you but you are absolutely losing any kind of credibility you were desperately clinging to by saying you have so little empathy to the less fortunate that you don’t care someone has CANCER and might have bigger problems than car tabs. I sincerely hope you have been rage baiting people for your own entertainment because otherwise it is YOUR pathetic soul God needs to find mercy on. I’m by no means a Christian, but since it seems you are I highly recommend reviewing the following passages for your next Bible study: Matthew 5:21-22 and Luke 10:25-37 It’s not that deep dude, go outside for once and touch grass.
RE: HOMELESS SHELTER Either the unhoused camp on the streets and in parks or more shelter space is added to the city. Either they camp in public places or they stay in a shelter. You can’t have it both ways where there’s not public camps but no shelters.
RE: TABS ET AL Don’t pay for tabs. Don’t get your headlight fixed. Don’t cover the white
light facing the rear. Keep your danglies on your rear view mirror. Don’t. Even. Get. Plates. This is a fun game called Probable Cause for the Blue Light Gang - to look for plain view crimes in your vehicle. So while you’re at it: leave your pipe on the dash, stash your foil in the cup holders, keep your tutors in the door handles, make sure your beers are empties, and above all else: keep your prison wallets full: Introduction is a Felony.
ILLEGAL PLATES There have been many posts about illegal plates in Spokane as of late. And for these, I am sympathetic. It reminds me of the great story by Dickens in which Scrooge states that if people want to die they should do so and decrease the surplus population. I have great admiration for losers who decide to keep on living despite sucking off everyone else and not contributing anything to society. That’s just great. It really shows you how special Spokane is. Really Really Really special. In many cities, people would give up and take a dirt nap. But because of how special Spokane is, they just keep living. Even total losers who can’t afford cheap tabs.
WA SUPREMES GET IT WRONG, AGAIN!
Dear Washington Supreme Court; since you insist on Bans, which is confusing to say the least because you are essentially Banning an enumerated Constitutional right. Well, let’s leave the legal stuff for the Appeals court! What I am pointing out to the Learned folks of the Law is this: if Bans on substances and material goods work, why not just Ban Fentanyl? I look forward to your responses!
RE: CAR TABS BREAKING: Not merely a loser, you’re stealing revenue from the city and its citizens. Choosing to violate
laws, a company of thieving delusional law breaking basement dwelling fantasy cosplaying no badge authorities. Name callers describe themselves. Were you a Hall Monitor when your neighbor’s 9yr old brought their handgun to school? Too much? Democracies must self regulate. We The People make free will choices. Learn to rise above selfishness, it is rewarding. Love thy neighbor and respect our rules
or be just another snarky self justified sociopathic narcissist. Excuse yourself but driving is a privilege not a right. Pay your fair share.
DISAPPOINTED IN ALL SIDES I am disappointed in the Ferguson administration, the state legislature and church hierarchy in regard to this new law about confession and confidentiality when dealing with sexual abuse cases. Before this was signed into law by the Governor of Washington it is a real shame a compromise between all parties could not have been reached. It’s my understanding other states have similar laws. They should have used these as models before creating the new statute. The legislature and Ferguson obviously were aware this would all be controversial. Also with all of the sexual abuse claims and settlements reached by many religious entities over the years, you figure these groups would want to make sure any current or future abuse is minimized and eventually stopped all together by whatever means necessary. For example, I know there are exceptions to confidentiality for Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Nurses, Social Workers etc. n
NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers & Jeers is for adults 18 or older. The Inlander reserves the right to edit or reject any posting at any time at its sole discretion and assumes no responsibility for the content.
Spokane String Quartet BENEFIT
PROJECT HOPE: THE CRUCIBLE In a rendition set in the 1950s, The Crucible tells a dramatized and partly fictionalized story of the real-life Salem witch trials that took place from 1692-1693 in colonial Massachusetts. All proceeds from the performance go to the Washington Innocence Project. May 15, 7 pm and May 16, 7 pm. $8. Ferris High School, 3020 E. 37th Ave. ferristheatrearts.com (509-354-6000)
WOOFS & WHISKERS An evening of fundraising for SpokAnimal features food, exciting auctions hosted by our KREM and heartwarming stories—all to support local pets in need. May 16, 5:30-8:30 pm. $100. Felts Field, 6105 E. Rutter Rd. spokanimal.org
SPRING FLING 2025 A fundraising gala benefitting Safe Spokane featuring a dinner catered by the Davenport culinary team, beer and wine by Mac & Jacks and live and silent auctions. May 17, 5-9 pm. $75. Woman’s Club of Spokane, 1428 W. Ninth. safespokane.org
JULIE MORRIS MEMORIAL BENEFIT
BRUNCH 202: This annual memorial brunch benefits Spokane Area Jewish Family Services and features live music and awards presentations. May 18, 1011:30 am. $40-$80. Gonzaga University Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet Ave. sajfs.org (509-413-8254)
SPOKANE YOUTH SYMPHONY
SPRING TEA LUNCHEON & SILENT
AUCTION This tea party event serves as a benefit for Spokane Youth Symphony featuring live and silent auctions, door prizes, chamber music and special honored guest, EWU professor Dr. Jody Graves. May 18, 1:30-3 pm. $55-$275. Montvale Event Center, 1019 W. First. Ave. spokaneyouthsymphony.org
ONE LIFE AT A TIME LUNCHEON
Speaker and author Megan Fate Marshman speaks about investing in community. All proceeds directly provide job training and employment for impoverished and underserved women in Spokane. May 19, 11:45 am-1 pm. $50. True Hope Church, 1316 N. Lincoln St. christkitchen.org (509-325-4343)
TENTH ANNUAL GUATEMALA COMMISSION CELEBRATION The Guatemala Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane celebrates 65 years of partnership with the Diocese of Sololá with an evening featuring a quilt raffle, refreshments and a special presentation by Julianne Connell Sachs. May 19, 5:30-8 pm. Free. Barrister Winery, 1213 W. Railroad Ave. dioceseofspokane.org
GIVE LIKE A WOMAN A fundraising event for the Women Helping Women Fund with keynote speaker Mariana Atencio and opportunities to give to the scholarship and grants fund. May 21, 3-5 pm. $135. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. whwfspokane.org (509-328-8285)
COMEDY
JOSH BLUE Following his groundbreaking win on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in 2006, Josh Blue has risen through the ranks to become a well-established headliner at venues throughout the world. May 15-17; Thu-Sat at 7 pm, FriSat at 9:45 pm. $25-$35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)
MULTIPLE CHOICE At every twist and turn, you decide the fate of the charac-
ters and the outcome of the plot at this improv comedy show. Fridays at 7:30 pm through May 30. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar. bluedoortheatre.org
PIN-UPS ON TOUR: SALUTE TO LAUGHTER A touring comedy show tailored to veterans, active duty military and first responders featuring high comedians and variety artists. Ages 21+. May 16, 7-10 pm. $20. Cruisers, 6105 W. Seltice Way. pinupsontour.com
EXPEDITION A family-friendly improv show featuring the Blue Door Theatre players playing a improv games with audience suggestions. Every Saturday at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar. bluedoortheatre.org
COMEDIC CODY Comedic Cody aka Cody Smith garnered vial fame on TikTok and Instagram with his comedy videos. May 21, 7 pm. $27-$37. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)
COMMUNITY
ARTISAN GUILD 6 MONTH ANNIVER-
SARY Perusegoods and art from local artisans. Also features raffles, snacks and a free D&D session. May 15, 10 am-7 pm. Free. The Artisans Guild, 4727 N. Division St. facebook.com/TheArtisansGuild01 (509-808-2694)
FIRE: REBIRTH AND RESILIENCE An exhibition exploring the catastrophic 1889 fire that destroyed more of Spokane’s downtown core. The exhibit features information on historic and contemporary fires, illustrating how destruction is a catalyst for rebirth and resilience. Tue-Sun from 11 am-5 pm through Sep. 28. $9-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org
SAMURAI, SUNRISE, SUNSET Step into the world of a samurai and experience armor, weaponry and personal items from the powerful military class that ruled Japan for nearly 700 years. Each item tells a story through its master craftsmanship and individual details. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through June 1. $9-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)
WHEATLAND BANK HORSE & CARRIAGE RIDES A free, eight-minute horse-drawn carriage ride through Riverfront Park. Friday from 4-8 pm through June 20. No rides during Hoopfest weekend. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. my.spokanecity.org/riverfrontspokane (509-625-6600)
ARMED FORCES TORCHLIGHT PA-
RADE The annual evening parade through downtown Spokane features more than 300 entries, including floats, military groups, marching bands and more. May 17, 7:30 pm. Free. Downtown Spokane. spokanelilacfestival.org
CFI SPRING HAMMER-IN Blacksmithing instruction for beginners or folks who need a refresher. Learn the basics and make a simple project like hooks, bracelets, etc. May 17-18, 10 am-5 pm. $25-$45. Morgan Jade Ironworks, 2403 E. Euclid Ave. columbiafireandiron.org
COMMUNITY MUTUAL AID An event focused on giving mutual aid to the community through sharing clothing items, food and more. No ID required. Donations and volunteers welcome.Tt the corner of State and Pacific streets. Third Saturday of each month from 7-8:30 pm. Free. Downtown Spokane. instagram.com/lilacmutualaid
SLAY FOR THE CAMERA MURDER
MYSTERY At Colton Steele’s latest venture, each guest arrives expecting the collab of a lifetime, but the second they step inside, it’s clear something is off. Figure out the mystery with a group of fellow detectives. May 17, 1-4 & 6-9 pm. $49-$400. Crime Scene Entertainment, 3960 W. 5th Ave. crimesceneentertainment.com (208-369-3695)
BLACK HAIR EXPO An event fostering pride in Black hair featuring a hair fashion show, a selection of businesses and hair care professionals in Spokane and workshops on caring for curls, locs, braids and fades. May 18, 1-4 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
MEET CUTE MARKET A market featuring local makers and artists, bookish and romance-inspired merch, themed treats and more. May 18, 9 am-5 pm. Free. It’s a Love Story, 8927 N. Hess St. lovestorybooksandcafe.com
ROSALIE MURREY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION CARROUSEL EVENT Enjoy specified low sensory times, volunteer riders for physical assistance and fun activities like coloring, temporary tattoos and snacks. May 18, 2-6 pm. Free. Looff Carrousel, 507 N. Howard St. rosaliemurreymemorialfoundation.org
DROP IN & ZINE Drop in and learn how to make your very own eight-page mini-zine using a single piece of paper and Spark’s art supplies. Every Tuesday from 5-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org
LIVE EDGE WOOD WORKSHOP A three-day workshop in which attendees will select, prep, shape, mount and finish a piece of live edge wood. May 20, 6 pm and May 27, 6 pm. $50. The VetsGarage, 224 E. Pacific. vetsgaragewa.com
DROP-IN AND DRAW, PAINT, KNIT, STITCH... Bring your current creative project to the Hive and create in company with others. Every third Wednesday of the month from 5:30-7 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
FIREARM VIOLENCE PREVENTION
CONFERENCE Excelsior Wellness’s Office of Research and Evaluation invites community leaders, organizations and residents to a one-day event focused on evidence-based strategies to reduce firearm violence in Spokane. May 21, 9 am-5 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley. spokanelibrary.org
PROPAGANDA AND HOW IT SHAPES
POLICY An opportunity to network, make new connections and enjoy a mix of dancing, drinks and a discussion on the impact of culture on the policies that shape our communities. May 21, 5:30-9 pm. $25. Montvale Event Center, 1019 W. First. washingtonpolicy.org
MEMORIAL DAY CLUSTER DOG SHOW
A five-day, all breed dog show featuring performances in the conformation and obedience/rally rings and other sporting events. May. 22-26, daily from 8 am-5 pm. Free. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. spokanekc.com/2025-cluster
TEN THOUSAND THINGS: ARTIFACTS
OF ASIAN AMERICAN LIFE
From a second-hand novel to a blue suit worn by a congressman on January 6, Shin Yu Pai discusses Asian American histories, the complexity of identities and where they fit or don’t fit within larger conversations on race. May 22, 5:30-6:30 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org
$13-$15. TAC at the Lake, 22910 E. Appleway Ave. tacatthelake.com
MARY POPPINS Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family members how to value each other again. May 16-25; Fri-Sat at 7 pm, Sat-Sun at 3 pm. $17-$22. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. cytnorthidaho.org
TRANSLATIONS: AN EVENING OF ORIGINAL MUSIC & DANCE A collaborative evening of original music and dance featuring Vytal Movement dancing original choreography to music by the Eastern Washington University Department of Music. May 16, 7:30-9 pm. $20-$30. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. vytalmovement.org
WAITRESS Jenna, a waitress and expert pie maker, is stuck in a small town and a loveless marriage. Faced with an unexpected pregnancy, Jenna fears she may have to abandon the dream of opening her own pie shop until a baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s handsome new doctor offer her happiness. May 16-June 15; Wed-Fri at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. $15-$42. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. spokanecivictheatre.com (509-325-2507)
CHAMPIONS OF MAGIC A magic show full of mind-bending illusions, largescale magic and more performed by top magicians and illusionists. May 17, 3:30 pm. $50-$90. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org (509-279-7000)
VISUAL ARTS
TRACY POINDEXTER-CANTON: VI -
GNETTES & WANDERINGS New mixed media works inspired by poetry and prose by Tracy Poindexter-Canton. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through May 24, 11 am-7 pm. Free. Liberty Building, 203 N. Washington St. spokanelibertybuilding.com
MASTER OF FINE ARTS THESIS EXHIBITION A collection of work from current WSU Master of Fine Arts candidates Cameron Kester, Anna Le, Abigail Nnaji and Sara St. Clair. Tue-Fri from 11 am-2 pm, Sat from 10 am-4 pm through June 28. Free. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson. museum.wsu.edu
PORTRAITS FROM WITHIN: 4 EMERGING SPOKANE ARTISTS A showcase of works by Elsa Oxford, Lily Henderson, Carly Ellis and Emily Flynn-Delay curated by Kelly Baker that explores the various experiences of young woman artists in Spokane. Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm through June 27. Free. Chase Gallery, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokanearts.org
VISIONS UNVEILED: THE WOMEN
PAINTERS OF WASHINGTON A contemporary fine art showcase revealing new perspectives from the Women Painters of Washington. Wed-Sat from 5-8 pm through June 27. Free. Trails End Gallery, 204 E. Main St. chewelah.org
YOUR COLLECTION: FACULTY REMIX
EXHIBITION This unique showcase brings together works by WSU studio art faculty and highlights their creative dialogue with the museum’s permanent collection. Through thoughtful curation, faculty artworks are placed alongside pieces
from the permanent collection, sparking conversations across time, space and artistic expression. Tue-Fri from 11 am-2 pm, Sat from 10 am-4 pmthrough June 28. $0. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson. museum.wsu.edu
TAKE IT AS IT COMES Art by Sironka, Ralph Noll, Katie Frey, John Thamm, Darrell Wilcox, Roch Fautch, Matt Wolf, Audreana Camm and Kodi McQuillen featuring a blend of scenes and animals. Fridays from noon-7 pm through May 31. Free. Shotgun Studios, 1625 W. Water. ShotgunStudiosSpokane.com
TEA & KIKI Join Drag Thing T.S. Loveless
AKA Lich Wyrmwood for an evening of tea, treats and crafts. There are no limitations on experience level for this group whether you are a drag aficionado, new to the scene or just interested. Every third Friday from 6-8 pm. Free. Lunarium, 1925 N. Monroe St. lunariumspokane.com
WILSON ONG ARTIST DEMONSTRA-
TION Experience the art of oil painting up close as Ong demonstrates his technique and creative process live. May 17, 11 am-1 pm. Free. The Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman Ave. theartspiritgallery.com
BRUSH ON THE BLUFF This free plein air art festival features 50 artists stationed along the trail on the High Drive Bluff, over a dozen nature-themed crafts, food, games, music and more. May 17, 10 am-4 pm. Free. Polly Judd Park, 1802 W. 14th Ave. friendsofthebluff.org
THE LILAC MENACE ZINE SWAP A monthly get-together for zine-makers and readers. Fourth Friday of each month from 6:30-9:30 pm. Free. Lunarium, 1925 N. Monroe. lunariumspokane.com
WORDS
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND MENTAL ILLNESS Judge Steven Leifman hosts a lecture about reforming how the criminal justice system handles mental illness. May 16, 8-10:30 am. Free. Gonzaga University Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet Ave. helloforgood.org
RESISTING ERASURE THROUGH STORYTELLING Award-winning writer Putsata Reang, author of Ma and Me, discusses the dangers of dwelling on differences and encourages audiences to share their personal stories as an antidote to erasure. May 16, 4-5 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
FINDING HOME THROUGH POETRY A writing workshop with Heather Woolery that explores the concept of “home.” This event is part of the Inland Northwest Poetry Salon. Register to attend. May 17, 3-3:50 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org
POETIC TEXTILES A poetry workshop inspired by textiles and fabric arts featuring Annastacia Stegall. May 17, 10:1511:05 am. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org
PRACTICING POETIC PRESENCE A poetry workshop about celebrating the creative act rather than the product featuring Spokane Poet Laureate Mery Smith. May 17, 10:15-11:05 am. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
SPIRIT OF ALOHA STORYTELLNG Award-winning author and community advocate Dr. Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell
shares a live reading of her international award-winning children’s book, Let’s Live A.L.O.H.A. This inspiring narrative teaches young readers the transformative power of empathy, adaptability and heart-centered living. May 17, noon. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org (509-279-0299)
PUTSATA REANG: STORIES HOLD THE CURE A generative writing workshop led by award-winning memoirist Putsata Reang. Open to Asian immigrants, refugees, and Asian American community members, the workshop invites participants to explore how storytelling can transform pain into purpose and reclaim agency over their narratives. May 17, 10 am-noon. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. aclspokane.org
WRITING FROM PHOTOS: A POETRY WORKSHOP Generate poetry from photographs in this writing workshop led by one of Spokane’s most lauded poets, Laura Read. May 17, 3-3:50 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
BROKEN MIC A weekly open mic reading series. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm; sign-ups at 6 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. bit.ly/2ZAbugD (509-847-1234)
NO NEUTRAL: POETRY NIGHT WITH SHIN YU PAI Award-winning poet and former Seattle Civic Poet, Shin Yu Pai, presents a special retrospective reading featuring her latest work, No Neutral which explores identity, place, activism and voice. May 23, 6-7 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. aclspokane. org (509-990-6164) n
SUNDAY MAY 18
PAMELA BENTON
MONDAY MAY 19
RON GREENE
MONDAY MAY 25
PAUL GROVE
MONDAY MAY 26
TUCKER JAMES
SUNDAY JUNE 1 KŌSH
RON GREENE
MONDAY JUNE 2
MONDAY JUNE 9
DANTE D’ANGELO
SUNDAY JUNE 15
ERIC NEUHAUSSER
MONDAY JUNE 16
RON GREENE
LIVE MUSIC ARTISTS
SUNDAY JUNE 22 MATT BROWN
MONDAY JUNE 23 RONALDOS
SUNDAY JUNE 29
SCHAUER WITH FRIENDS
MONDAY JUNE 30
KORI AILENE
Consider This
Go beyond the old school with some novel ways to consume cannabis
BY WILL MAUPIN
Cannabis is more than just buds and brownies or blunts and bongs. In the years since legalization, research and development operations have pushed pot into forms and functions that would have been almost inconceivable just over a decade ago.
Dispensary shelves still stock classics like flower, prerolls, edibles and concentrates, but the range of products available today goes well beyond those. Spend some time really perusing local dispensaries, and you’ll find all sorts of ways to consume cannabis, or save yourself some time and try one of these three products we found at shops around town.
POTENT PATCHES
Traditional cannabis topicals like lotions and balms are made for relaxation and pain relief. Even if they
contain THC, they aren’t made to get you high. In fact they can’t, because THC topicals aren’t designed to penetrate the skin and reach the bloodstream.
But cannabis brand Mobius produces a line of transdermal patches that are designed to push the THC past the skin and into the bloodstream. Toker Friendly in Airway Heights sells one formulated specifically for menstrual relief.
The transdermal design slowly and evenly releases the patch’s 50 milligrams of CBD and 25 mg of THC over an extended length of time.
PHARMACEUTICAL LOOK-ALIKE
If you don’t want the stereotypical look of cannabis, consider capsules. Cinder locations around the Spokane area stock Double Delicious brand’s line of THC capsules in sativa, indica and hybrid varieties. Each pack comes with 10 capsules packing 10 mg of THC per dose. And because they look just like any other vitamin, supplement or medication, they’re as discreet a way to consume cannabis as there is on the market.
TINCTURES FOR PETS
For years, national chains like Petco have stocked CBD products for pets. However, those chains are prohibited from selling anything with THC. State-licensed dispensaries, on the other hand… Greenhand on North Monroe carries a selection of Fairwinds Manufacturing’s line of ultralow THC tinctures designed for furry friends. They come in flavors like roasted chicken and savory bacon with just 0.6 mg of THC and 3 mg of CBD per serving — typical edible dosages for humans start at 5 mg of THC and go up from there.
The THC is not there to get Fido stoned, though at higher doses it certainly could, but rather to accentuate the therapeutic benefits of the CBD. That said, consult with a veterinarian — as we’ve written about before, dogs have more cannabinoid receptors than humans and can be far more impacted by THC. And as with any edible, start small and go slow to be safe. n
GREEN ZONE
BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks associated with its consumption, and it may be habitforming. It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov.
NOTE TO READERS
Be aware of the differences in the law between Idaho and Washington. It is illegal to possess, sell or transport cannabis in the State of Idaho. Possessing up to an ounce is a misdemeanor and can get you a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine; more than three ounces is a felony that can carry a five-year sentence and fine of up to $10,000. Transporting marijuana across state lines, like from Washington into Idaho, is a felony under federal law.
