Publish the Quest will play at the Red Bike

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Publish the Quest, a band with deep Vashon roots that has made a name for itself worldwide as a force both musically and philanthropically, is coming home to Vashon at 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 20.

Jacob Bain, front man for the group and also a founder of the all-Islander ensemble Trolls Cottage, grew up on Vashon and lives on the island now. Publish The Quest will share their energetic and danceable mix of blues, rock, ska and world pop, at Red Bicycle Bistro on Friday.

A passion for social and musical outreach has taken the group around the globe. Working with a nonprofit called Learn Africa, Publish the Quest has made several trips to Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Mali, Poland, Portugal and Spain, where band members have played in festivals and music halls, recorded with local artists and conducted music workshops and jam sessions with local children.

On a recent trip to Zimbabwe, the band brought along a trove of donated instruments and soccer balls to give to kids in the slums just outside the city of Harare, Zimbabwe.

An impressive roster of international stars has collaborated with the band — Femi Kuti, Nneka Lucia Egbuna, Matt Chamberlain, Eyvind Kang, Radioactive, Oliver Mtukudzi and Vieux Farka Touré, to name a few.

Bain said he has found great inspiration in working with kids and musicians in Africa — people he said had “an insatiable appetite for music.” To share the healing aspects of music with children in Africa, he said, “has been a joy.”

Opening for Publish The Quest is Rabble, a new island band consisting of Dominick Wolczko, Brendan Bric and Nick Hyde.

The show, at Red Bicycle Bistro, is all ages from 8:30 to 11 p.m., at which point it becomes a 21-and-up show with valid ID required. Cover is $10, and the show is likely to sell out, so advance tickets can be purchased at vashonevents.com.