Vocalist Ara James, joined by her partner Jamie Stillway, will present a celebratory evening of music and poetry at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Vashon Center for the Arts.
Though the couple writes and performs music separately, they are excited to share the stage at VCA for the first time, debuting their respective new works alongside musical collaborators including guitarist Andrew Reissinger, bassist Bruce Phares, and percussionist Bill Moyer.
Over the last few years, James has worked with Reissinger on a new collection of songs that will be debuted in concert at VCA, while Stillway will present a selection of songs from her new album, “Lullaby for a Stranger.”
Stillway is nationally recognized in the guitar world as an acclaimed fingerstyle guitarist. A regular contributor to industry journals and magazines, she has taught master classes internationally for the last 15 years and is a current co-host of the “Acoustic Guitar Magazine” podcast.
Her new album, “Lullaby for a Stranger,” through Portland’s Fluff and Gravy Records, is coming out on Nov. 11. The album was written in the island home she shares with James, over the course of the pandemic, and is a capstone to her significant 25-year career.
Deeply personal, the album chronicles the effects of generational trauma that led both Stillway’s grandmother and her mother to ultimately give up their children for adoption. Through haunting songs of contemplation, loss, and beauty, Stillway explores and deepens her understanding of these two women, who ultimately remain strangers to her.
James, perhaps best known for her recent single, “Nasty Woman,” is a critically acclaimed vocalist and songwriter who has toured nationally for more than 10 years. In 2019, she performed at VCA with her former duo project, Stand and Sway, and is currently completing a degree in clinical mental health with a focus on the integration of voice work with somatic psychotherapy.
Her songwriting is heavily influenced by poetry and blues, and her self-proclaimed “heathen gospel style” is rich with smoky vocals and moving imagery.
In concert at VCA, James will share work formed in a series of “sound medicine” sessions with guitarist Andrew Reissinger — a collaboration she defines as something that helped them both keep sane during the last few years of isolation.
For both James and Stillway, the concert will mark a return to the stage after a long pandemic hiatus, with neither performing remotely during that time on online platforms.
“It never had any appeal for us,” said James. “It doesn’t begin to replicate the experience of live music in a real room, the participation of an audience, the living exchange that happens in that space. I think that music, in that context, is one of the more beautiful things we get to experience as human beings.”
Purchase tickets to the show at vasoncenterforthearts.org.
