Youth musicians share the stage with Seattle band

September 19, 2017 1:30 am
Left to right: Sasha Poll, Nathan Brown, Iris Sackman, Joziah Cladoozby, Isaiah Montemayor and Chick Green with mentor Jason Staczek. (Courtesy Photo)
Left to right: Sasha Poll, Nathan Brown, Iris Sackman, Joziah Cladoozby, Isaiah Montemayor and Chick Green with mentor Jason Staczek. (Courtesy Photo)

Sharing the Stage returns to the Red Bike with five Vashon High School student musicians and one from Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, who will all open for the Seattle band Kunika at 8 p.m. Friday.

Sharing the Stage (STS) — an organization dedicated to community-building and offering youth musicians a chance to experience performing in a professional setting — and Debra Heesch Productions will present the 16th show since the inception of the nonprofit. Known for bringing rising local bands to the island such as Macklemore &Ryan Lewis, Chastity Belt, Blue Scholars, Tacocat, Brothers from Another and The Young Evils, STS is bringing Kunika back to Vashon for this show. The band — Zach and Nathan Hamer, Miranda Zickler and Jillian Walker — has previously played here under a different name when it opened for the Shook Twins at Open Space for Arts &Community, the Vashon Island Roasterie and Concerts in the Park. A recent press release described the band’s new name and inventive musical genre:

“The name Kuinka (coo-WINK-uh) comes from the Finnish for ‘how’; how does a band bristling with spirited creativity continue to evolve artistically and challenge themselves while staying true to their own roots? For Kuinka, the answer comes in the form of letting go: a joyful acquiescence to their cumulative love of songwriting and shared experience, regardless of genre or instrumentation.”

The youth acts will include two VHS bands — Petrichor (Iris Sackman and Nathan Brown) and Ouch Pouch (Isaiah Montemayor, Chick Green, Joziah Cladoozby) — as well as a songwriter and junior at Seattle Academy, Sasha Poll, who has performed twice in Seattle Sharing the Stage shows, opening for BFA and Tangerine.

After successfully auditioning for a spot with STS, the students received feedback and help with their performances by island composer, record producer and keyboardist Jason Staczek.

The idea of students from different schools performing together is new to STS, according to founders Fred Strong and Harris Levinson.

“A goal we have for our shows is to integrate student performers from different schools whenever possible,” Stong said. “For example, a Tacoma band, Soccermoms, played a Vashon show in 2016, and that same year a Vashon band, Ten Cent Time Machine, played a Seattle show.

“This is a trend we hope to continue,” added Levinson.

Tickets are sold at brownpapertickets.com and at the door.