Soggy Folklife

5/24/24 KEXP/Cafe Vita at Seattle Center

As rain dripped off our heads, Kim and I wondered whether we would be the only ones who showed up for the USk outing at the Northwest Folklife Festival. Before the pandemic, USk Seattle used to sketch at Folklife nearly every year. Although Memorial Day weekend weather is always iffy, I don’t recall rain ever falling on our Folklife outings. Well, there’s a first time for everything.

Busking drummer

Apparently the only sketchers intrepid enough to show up in the rain (never mind that we’re both admins leading the event), Kim and I retreated to KEXP radio station’s Café Vita on the Seattle Center grounds. In addition to being the actual broadcasting studio, it’s a huge venue that also hosts town halls and other community gatherings. As part of Folklife, the station was holding a panel discussion to help performing musicians, “Financial Fitness for Gigging Artists.” As I sketched, I learned a lot about business and financial issues that musicians face and how to resolve them.

Near the throwdown time, the rain had stopped, so we ventured back out to the Armory meetup location. I had a few minutes to fill, so I followed the sound of drumming and found a drum soloist busker. Listening to music through his headphones, he drummed along with it.

Kim and I were delighted that a few other sketchers did show up, and we high-fived for being among the USk Seattle hardcore.

Where da heck are the rest of the sketchers??!

The hardcore showed up for the throwdown!