Entertainers invade Spice Route

Diners at Spice Route Restaurant will be entertained by Bollywood and classical Kathak dancers as well as musicans and performers Ela Lamblin and Christian Swenson from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12.

It’s all part of a fundraiser spearheaded by Lelavision Physical Music for Camino Seguro Escuela, a school in Guatemala City. Spice Route Restaurant will give 50 percent of every meal purchased on Jan. 12 to the students in Guatemala.

Salish Seas offers a concert

Salish Sea Concerts and the Salish Sea Early Music Festival will present “Putting Louis XIV to Bed: The King’s Musicians,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, at Vashon Methodist Church. The concert will feature John Lenti on baroque guitar and theorbo (a long-necked lute), baroque bassoonist Anna Marsh, baroque flutist Jeffrey Cohan and baroque violinist Courtney Kuroda. A free-will offering of $15 or $20 is suggested. Youth 18 and younger will be admitted for free.

Red Bike offers two shows

Jon Whalen and special guest Simon Martin will play a free show at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14, at Red Bicycle Bistro. Whalen has been playing music on Vashon Island on and off for the past 10 years. Recently, he teamed up with other Islanders to form The Field Hands, a roots/Americana style band. Martin, a percussionist, currently plays with Vince Martinez and the Great Blue Yonder in Seattle.

The Seattle roots rock band Massy Ferguson, just back from a tour of Iceland, will play a free show starting at 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15. The band recently released a new album, “Hard Water,” which has received great reviews and heavy rotation on a number of national stations, including Seattle’s KEXP. The band’s recent trip to Iceland came about after it won a Seattle Weekly poll that sent the group to represent Seattle in the Iceland Airwaves Festival in Reykjavik.

Shows at the Bike are for all ages until 11 p.m., then 21 and older after 11 p.m.

Events fill up Café Luna

The weekend will get started at Café Luna with a wine tasting with Vashon Winery’s owner Ron Irvine from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14. Irvine will offer five wines for $10.

Coinciding with the wine tasting will be a free concert at 7 p.m. by Ric Gillman, a solo performing and recording artist. Gillman, who lives near the shores of Lake Superior, is a sailor, writer, producer and guitar player. He has five CDs to his credit, and a sixth is in the works.

The next night, Saturday, Jan. 15, Lunavision will present a documentary film “Under Our Skin” at the café at 6 p.m. The film is billed as “a gripping tale of microbes, medicine and money” that “exposes the hidden story of Lyme disease, one of the most controversial and fastest growing epidemics of our time.”

On Sunday, Jan. 16, from 4 to 6 p.m., Celtic players and knitters are invited to gather at the café for an afternoon of merry music making and crafting. There is no charge to participate.

Leroy Bell plays an Island show

Acclaimed Northwest singer and songwriter LeRoy Bell and his band His Only Friends will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, at the Blue Heron Art Center. The ensemble will perform music from Bell’s latest album “Traces” as well as tunes from his four previous recordings. Tickets, $12 and $15, are on sale at Blue Heron, Heron’s Nest, Books by the Way and brownpapertickets.com.

Early in his career, Bell wrote songs that were recorded by The Spinners, The O’Jays, The Temptations, Rita Marley and most notably Elton John. He has performed with the likes of B.B. King, Etta James, Al Green, Michael McDonald, Keb Mo, Taj Mahal, Los Lobos and others.

Awilda Verdejo at the Blue Heron

Vashon Allied Arts’ next Arts & Humanities event at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, at the Blue Heron will feature soprano and Seattle resident Awilda Verdejo, who will combine the literary works of celebrated African American writer Langston Hughes with music written by a variety of contemporary composers specifically for Hughes’ poetry. A few tickets, $18 and $20, are left for the event. Call 463-5131 to reserve a spot.

Magic and poetry are on the way

Island magician and poet Thomas H. Pruiksma will present his “Poet’s Magic” at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, at Vashon Bookshop. This new show combines poetry with the art of illusion. The performance is free for children age 12 and under and $7 for adults.