Hometown heroes will shine in shows this weekend

This weekend will give Island music lovers a chance to come out for concerts headlined by world-renowned musicians who also happen to call Vashon home.

This weekend will give Island music lovers a chance to come out for concerts headlined by world-renowned musicians who also happen to call Vashon home.

Ian Moore brings The Lossy Coils to the Red Bicycle Bistro

Islanders can hear the soaring pop, roots and rock-infused sounds of Ian Moore when he plays a show on Friday at the Bike. 

It’s the first time that Moore’s entire touring band, The Lossy Coils, has joined him to play a show on Vashon — something that was made possible, Moore said, by a local fan who offered up his frequent flyer miles so the band could have an Island gig. 

“His only request was to be on the guest list,” a grateful Moore said of his benefactor. 

Bay area bassist, back-up vocalist and co-songwriter Matt Harris, and Austin, Texas drummer Kyle Schneider are Lossy Coils members, and they recently recorded a new album, “El Sonido Nuevo,” with Moore. 

“We just had what seems like the best tour I’ve ever had,” Moore said. “The shows were so good.” 

Many Islanders are familiar with Moore’s music and the story of how he arrived on Vashon’s shores in the late 1990s after stepping back from a sizzling music career in Austin.

Moore was still in his teens when he burst on the Texas music scene with such prodigious guitar skills that he was frequently compared to music legend Stevie Ray Vaughn. 

During the heady early years of his career, Moore cut album after album, made hundreds of television appearances and crisscrossed the country on tour, playing and trading guitar licks with the likes of Joe Ely, Willie Nelson, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top and Bob Dylan. He even made a brooding, noteworthy appearance in Billy Bob Thornton’s hit indie film, “Slingblade.” 

But in the late 1990s, Moore surprised everyone by moving far away from Texas and settling down on Vashon with his wife, elementary school teacher Joleen McCauley, and their two growing sons. 

The move turned out to be a good one.

Moore said that in Texas, surrounded by the least savory trappings of the music business, “I just had a real bad taste in my mouth about playing guitar. It felt like a noose around around my neck.”

The move to Vashon, he said, allowed him to “get some space and come to things on my own terms and enjoy playing guitar again. I love playing guitar. It’s a beautiful instrument.”

Recently, Moore snared a high-profile gig, working as a sideman to pop superstar Jason Mraz and touring with Mraz’s band to huge arena venues nationwide. 

But more importantly to Moore, he’s garnered rave reviews for “El Sonido Nuevo.” 

“‘El Sonido Nuevo’ continues the evolution of Ian Moore,” said Seattle Post-Intelligencier reviewer David Bowling. “It takes talent and resolve to move in new directions and leave the comfort zone of the past behind. Ian Moore has both of those attributes.”

 

Long-time legend Danny O’Keefe has a show at the Blue Heron 

Longtime Islander Danny O’Keefe, who has played guitar and written many chart-topping songs since the early 1970s, will perform Saturday night at the  Blue Heron. 

It’s a rare chance for Islanders to enjoy a concert by O’Keefe, who will be joined on the Blue Heron stage by multi-instrumentalist Joel Tepp and flutist Beth Chandler. 

Known in Nashville and beyond as the “master of melody,” O’Keefe has written songs that have been recorded by a long list of music legends, including Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Earl Klugh, Leon Russell, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Lee Lewis, Alison Krauss, Jimmy Buffett, John Denver and Sheena Easton. 

“Well, Well, Well,” written by O’Keefe with Bob Dylan, has been recorded by Ben Harper, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Bonnie Raitt and David Lindley. 

Tepp, who has performed with O’Keefe for years, plays slide guitar, harmonica, mandolin, clarinet and a dazzling array of other instruments. Chandler has performed at festivals, universities and other venues throughout the United States and abroad.

At the Blue Heron show, O’Keefe, Tepp and Chandler will play music from O’Keefe’s newest release, “Dreamers,” a multi-media project about the Nez Perce tribe. They will also play favorites from O’Keefe’s many albums, as well as his best known, million-seller hit “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues.”

 

Ian Moore and The Lossy Coils will play at 9 p.m. Friday, April 22, at the Red Bicycle Bistro. There is a $10 cover charge. The show is for all ages until 11 p.m., and ages 21 and older after that. 

Danny O’Keefe will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at the Blue Heron. Tickets, $15 and $18, are on sale at the Blue Heron, Heron’s Nest, Books by the Way and www.brownpapertickets.com. Call 463-5131 to purchase by phone.