Monday, November 23, 2009

Skylark Was A Bar Before You Were Born...


...unless you are in your 90s. Check out this awesome photo of the "Youngstown Tavern" in the 1920s. It wasn't officially open during Prohibition, of course, but there are rumors of bootlegging operations until the repeal of Prohibition and immediate return of the renamed Delridge Tavern in1932. This neighborhood was called "Garlic Gulch" back then because of all the Italians. So it's fitting that us Italians are serving Baked Ziti here now.

Our landlord (born in 1917) tells a fascinating story of the history of this area (and the taverns in the Skylark building) here. Slingshot gang wars, gravel truck accidents, shuffleboard championships, drugstore thieves, salmon fishing on Andover Street, go-carts made out of salvaged wheels from the city dump. History buffs will love it.

Friday, November 6, 2009

The Riffbrokers and Unsmashable Records Celebrate 10 Years on Saturday 11/7

Nick and Heather Millward formed the Unsmashable Riffbrokers in Boise, Idaho in the fall of 1999. A few years after relocating to Seattle, they dropped the first half of the name and used it to launch their own record label. The label became a DIY vehicle for a close circle of musician friends to release their own albums. Under the banner of Unsmashable Records, The Riffbrokers have self-released four of their own albums. In 2006 they contributed a song to a Buffalo Springfield tribute compilation on Not Lame Records. In the first half of the '00s, The Riffbrokers toured the western states regularly, and even pulled off one haphazard cross country trip.

Nick Millward's songwriting is heavily influenced by Bob Dylan, The Byrds, and John Prine. The band's sound remains a blend of Americana twang with powerpop guitar and growling vocals.
The Riffbrokers will celebrate their ten years as a band by inviting friends onstage to perform their favorite Riffbroker songs. Friends include Michael Dean Damron, 50 Grit, The Tripwires, Young Sportsmen, Crown Aruba, The I Love Myselfs, Paul Lynde Fan Club, Radio Nationals, North Twin.

I joined Julie and Jennifer and friends on The Menage on KKNW radio Wednesday to chat about the Saturday show and talk a bit about Skylark. We ramble aimlessly in true morning-radio-style about the hotness of the Skylark staff, the ladder in the basement that goes into the bowels of hell, microphone technique, orgasm-titled drink specials, and other miscellany. Take a listen. (I join them about a third of the way through the clip.)

~Jessie SK

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Multitrack Recordings Available of Your Show



As bands who've played here in recent months know, we offer you a multitrack recording of your performance (on DVD, but there's no video) for $15. This is not just a board recording like you may have purchased elsewhere, it's individual tracks...so you can mix them down yourself in the software of your choice and enhance or tweak as you desire. This means you can't just put the DVD in a player though...those tracks you see on the DVD are not your individual songs but individual tracks of the whole performance. If you have a Mac it comes with GarageBand now and that works just dandy, or you can go to town with ProTools or something more sophisticated.

If you want to try something cool, record a video of your show and then sync up our sound with your video. Mighty Shiny did this for a few songs of their September show and it came out really well (much better than any camcorder sound I've ever heard, for sure).

We are building up quite an archive for posterity...your purchase of show DVDs goes towards hard drive space (those files are enormous).

Any questions about this process or our PreSonus digital mixer? Email cha at skylarkcafe dot com.