Country band performs on outdoor stage
The Seattle country band Ganges River will play a free show from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Ober Park. Aaron Dugas, who fronts the band, originally hails from Houston. His gravelly voice has been compared to the dry croon of Son Volt’s Jay Farrar. The band includes a rotating cast of musicians, including Dugas’ high-school buddy and bass player Steven Burnett and pedal steel player “Country” Dave Harmonson. Songs like “Winter All the Time” and “I Am Your Man” have just the right amount of twang, along with other tunes that bring Seattle music fans to their feet. “Every show we’ve played, everyone was dancing,” Dugas said. “Even friends we knew didn’t know how we were doing it.” Bring a picnic, lawn chairs or blankets for another all-ages, free summer concert in the park.
Good friends, good music
Vashon singer-songwriter and playwright Kat Eggleston will team up with internationally renowned singer and storyteller Jim Page for an evening of song and stories at 7 p.m. Friday at the Vashon Grange. A few months ago at a dinner party, islander Rich Osborne queried Eggleston and Page about playing a show together. The two busy musicians answered that they didn’t have time to produce it. Undaunted, Osborne suggested a fundraising concert, with proceeds going directly to the two performers. “Kat and Jim are always there to play for (someone else’s) good cause,” Osborne said. “Paying them a decent amount for their hard work and years of experience seems like a good idea to me.” Tickets are $20 and available at brownpaper tickets.com.
Aerialists take to the sky
Open Space for Arts & Community invites islanders to its sixth annual outdoor aerial festival, “Open Air,” complete with a bit of circus and magic, at 4 p.m. Saturday in the meadow behind Open Space. Audience members will see Vashon and Northwest performers — with Mount Rainier as the backdrop — whom Open Air producers Janet McAlpin and Lynelle Sjoberg have booked for the show. Confirmed performers include Carey Cramer; the duo Dizzy Daze with their newfangled heathen trapeze; aerialist Dream Frohe; rope artist Eric Sanford; a hoop quartet with Martha Enson, Lynelle Sjoberg, Janet McAlpin and Louisa Moody; recent UMO graduate Lhamu Konrad; samba dancer Molly Shannon; poet Tom Pruiksma and more. The event is free, though donations are suggested. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Movie en plein air
Vashon Center for the Arts is celebrating its 50th anniversary with free events open to the community. An outdoor screening of 1984’s “Footloose,” starring Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer and John Lithgow will be shown at 9 p.m. Saturday in the Katherine L White Hall parking lot. Bring your own lawn chair. There will be popcorn, music and food available from the Orca Eats food truck.
Play reading of classic script
Vashon Center for the Arts and Civic Rep will present a free reading of the play “Hedda Gabbler” by Henrik Ibsen and adapted by Jon Robin Baitz at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 22, in the Katherine L White Hall. Hedda is considered one of the great dramatic roles in theater. She is the daughter of an aristocratic general who marries a young, frugal and undistinguished scholar. Feeling trapped in a compromised and pedantic life, Hedda reaches for freedom with fraught consequences.
