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Event
Margaret - Music inspired by the life and writings of Margaret Rucker
"Margaret" Comes Home to the Everett Theater
Advance ticket sales have ended, but there are still nearly 200 tickets available at the door. Doors open at 7 and show starts at 8.
On April 11th a group of acclaimed musicians and performers are putting on a one night event weaving history with music and poetry at the Historic Everett Theater. The concert is being organized by Everett-based musician Jason Webley with support from the Everett Music Initiative and will feature performances by Webley, Shenandoah Davis, Jherek Bischoff, Eliza Rickman, Zac Pennington, Led to Sea, Lonesome Leash, and Mountains and Tunnels.
Last year while visiting San Francisco, a friend showed Webley images from a scrapbook that he had found in a dumpster almost twenty years earlier. The friend had kept the book because of the beautiful and melancholy story it told.
The scrapbook was a cradle-to-grave document of the life of a woman born in Everett in 1907. It contained photos, documents, newspaper clippings and pieces of her poetry published in periodicals and journals of the day.
That woman's name was Margaret Rucker.
The Rucker name is very familiar to anyone from Everett. It is found on buildings, a major street, a whole neighborhood, and the monolithic 30-foot pyramid-shaped granite mausoleum that towers over Evergreen Cemetery.
In1889, brothers Bethel and Wyatt Rucker purchased most of Port Gardner Peninsula which would become the town of Everett. Investors representing John D. Rockefeller soon took an interest, speculating that the peninsula would be the ideal western terminus of the Great Northern Railway. The Rucker brothers donated nearly 900 acres of their land to the cause of developing the young city, which grew quickly with Rockefeller's backing. However, when the rail line was continued to Seattle in 1893, the Eastern investors quickly withdrew, and the Rucker brothers remained in Everett.
Wyatt Rucker never married and had no children, but Bethel Rucker had two children - a son named Jasper, and daughter named Margaret. This is the Margaret Rucker whose story is captured in the abandoned scrapbook.
Struck by the strange serendipity and local historical importance, and inspired by the dark beauty of the images from Margaret Rucker's scrapbook, Webley has invited some of his favorite songwriters from the area and beyond to compose original songs inspired by Margaret Rucker's life and writings.
"The response has been really overwhelming. There are almost too many amazing artists who are going to be part of this show," says Webley.
John Rinaldi, who discovered the book in that San Francisco dumpster, will present a slide show of images from the scrapbook. The rest of the program will be made up of short musical performances by different songwriters.
"I don't want to give too much away," says Webley, "but there were a lot of surprises in that scrapbook, and the little slivers of her life that we see are really fascinating. But for me, the main thing that got my attention was her poetry. She was a good writer. A few of the lines that survived are truly haunting."
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
Jason Webley is a modern troubadour who has built a following around the globe with his passionate uninhibited performances. Webley has released six albums and numerous collaborations on his own Eleven Records label and has performed in over three dozen countries, everywhere from Siberia to Tasmania.
Originally from the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, Shenandoah Davis composes American-gothic inspired songs that weave together strains of classical, ragtime and klezmer. Growing up studying classical piano and opera, Davis' music lands somewhere between Debussy, Irving Berlin and Kate Bush.
Composer Jherek Bischoff has been called a "pop polymath" by the New York Times and a "Seattle phenom" by the New Yorker. After years playing as a sideman to various projects, he achieved acclaim under his own name with the 2012 release "Composed" featuring lush orchestral arrangements underscoring the voices of artists such as David Byrne and Caetano Veloso.
Led to Sea is the solo project of Seattle violist/violinist L. Alex Guy, who approaches pop music with the mind of a classical composer. She has performed across the U.S. and Europe alone and with performers such as Laura Veirs, Mirah and the Degenerate Art Ensemble.
Eliza Rickman of Los Angeles earned a degree in orchestration from Azusa Pacific University, but now favors sparse arrangements of pizzicato strings and percussive toy piano to underscore her haunting melodic voice. She is currently gathering material for her second full-length album.
Originally from Everett, Zac Pennington is the lead singer and driving force behind Portland's Parenthetical Girls. Starting as a bedroom recording project, the prolific group is known for Pennington's dramatic delivery and tunes combining baroque pop and experimental elements.
Lonesome Leash is the solo moniker of New Orleans-based multi-instrumentalist Walt McClements. Known for previous involvement in groups such as Dark Dark Dark and Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship, his new project takes the form of a one man band, with McClements deftly navigating drums, accordion, trumpet and vocals to craft complex yet infectious tunes.
Chris Poage and Sarah Schmidt of Everett's own Mountains and Tunnels are a dynamic songwriting duo whose voices compliment each other with a soulful, natural quality that embraces subtle imperfections.
"Chicken" John Rinaldi is a showman, author and activist living in San Francisco. He is the executive director of the San Francisco Institute of Possibility.
The venue for this special performance is the Historic Everett Theater. Built as an opera house in 1901, it is the oldest operating theater in the state of Washington.
"Margaret" is happening on April 11 and features Jason Webley, Shenandoah Davis, Jherek Bischoff, Led to Sea, Zac Pennington, Lonesome Leash, Eliza Rickman, "Chicken" John Rinaldi and Mountains and Tunnels. Doors open at 7 pm and the show begins at 8 pm. The Historic Everett Theater is located at 2911 Colby Ave. Tickets are $15 in advance and are available through Brown Paper Tickets.
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LocationHistoric Everett Theatre (View)
2911 Colby Avenue
Everett, WA 98201
United States
Categories
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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