There’s a new spot not to be missed at Strawberry Festival this year. The VARSA Youth Stage located in lower Ober Park will feature Seattle headliner and hip- hop musician Draze on Friday night, with opening acts by island youth musicians Intelligent Design & Baron 1, Max Moore, Ralph Reign and Colin Loch. The show will run from 7 to 11 p.m.
Pete Welch and Allison Shirk, co-founders of Vashon Events, booked the acts in keeping with their dedication to help island youth musicians learn about the music industry and perform on stage.
“It’s super important to us to help these kids on the island,” Welch said. “When you hear them, you understand why: They are the future of music. You get goosebumps hearing them play. I don’t remember when I was young that there were people reaching down to help kids.”
Shirk, a musician, agrees adding that if someone had helped her learn about the music business early on, she’d be much further along in her career.
Vashon Alliance to Reduce Substance Abuse (VARSA) is sponsoring the stage along with Scarleteen.com, Vashon Events & Bandstand Music and the Vashon Chamber of Commerce.
Jim Marsh, executive director of the chamber, hopes to have a zipline installed that would end right at the dance floor and said VARSA will provide color cornstarch powder for some spontaneous play.
“We wanted to make it fun and give the youth a chance to do what they want,” Marsh said.
Shirk explained that there’s always been a youth stage at festival, “but it was at the Village Green. It’s different now as it will be at Ober Park and with the things that VARSA is arranging.”
As for the youth musicians, Welch said all are from Vashon except for Draze, who picks and chooses the venues where he plays these days, and is known for reaching out and connecting with the youth.
“There’s a lot of buzz about him in Seattle,” Welch said.
Draze has performed as an opening act for Snoop Dogg, Floetry and others.
In a press release, Draze said he is “getting co-signs from artists like Sir Mix-A-Lot and Macklemore, (which) is an honor. Now, I’m just trying to grab the baton and run with it.”
If his latest releases —”Seattle Sweeties” and “The Hood Ain’t the Same” — are any indication, Draze is off to a blazing start.
The island youth bands will include hip-hop and electronic dance music-inspired Intelligent Design & Baron 1 from 7 to 7:30 p.m.; Max Moore, son of island musician Ian Moore, who writes his own music, drawing influence from hip hop, indie and pop music from 7:45 to 8:15 p.m.; Ralph Reign, originally from Harlem in New York City and who now resides on Vashon and has deep urban roots that shape his jazzy, funky, hip-hop sound from 8:30 to 9 p.m.; and hip-hop artist Colin Loch, who was born in Scotland but who found his way to Vashon, from 9:15 to 9:45 p.m.
