James McMurtry plays the Tractor Tavern on Wednesday, Sept. 21, and Bainbridge Island’s Treehouse Cafe on Thursday, Sept. 22.Earlier this year we wrote about Bainbridge Island’s Treehouse Cafe when they booked the Moondoggies to play the 250-person room for $10. for Island reisidents and their neighbors in Kitsap County (Poulsbo, Kingston, Bremerton, etc.) the show–according to a review by Reverb’s Gwendolyn Elliott–was a rare chance to see a top-shelf show without hopping the ferry. and for Seattle residents, it provided a chance 16;o see the band in a venue considerably smaller than the 1,000+ Showbox that they’ve been playing in town lately.
After a year of hosting shows, Treehouse owner Arnie Sturham says the room has hit its stride. In addition to booking up-and-coming Seattle acts (Zoe Muth, Nov. 5) and local favorites (Pearl Django, Aug. 27), they’ve had success snagging headliners (Greg Brown’s Nov. 8 show sold out in short order), including Austin troubadour James McMurtry–recently profiled by SW editor Mike Seely–for a Sept. 22 set.
That the Treehouse has found a sustainable, live-music niche for itself on Bainbridge is significant in that after many fits and starts, it’s a rarity for a venue in Kitsap County to book acts normally found in Seattle clubs with any regularity. It also represents something of a compromise on the part of Seattle clubs and promoters who have been hesitant to allow acts to play a possibly competing show in such close proximity.
Sturham says the Moondoggies’ set was probably the only show in the last year that drew a larger crowd from King than Kitsap County. and he has no interest in trying to take business away from the band’s Seattle club show.
“We certainly do not want to step on anyone’s toes,” he says. “If [Seattleites] can see McMurtry at the Tractor or see them here, I don’t think they see them as stealing from their market.”
For Bainbridge Island and Kitsap County residents–badges I’ve worn at different points in my life–the reality of seeing a show at the Tractor, for example, means driving onto the ferry both ways ($30+), and getting home well after 2 a.m., which is pretty much out of the question on school nights if the artist isn’t a must-see. Sturham’s shows, on the other hand, start at 8 and are over by 11. and while they may peel off the occasional hardcore fan from a Tractor show, any sliver of revenue lost is 8;ikely more than offset by the way the room is strengthening the regional scene by creating another night for bands to play on the end of a Seattle show that doesn’t involve a long haul.
Upcoming Treehouse shows include:
– Aug. 25: Whitney Monge — Aug. 27: Pearl Django– Aug. 28: the Preservation– Sept. 16: Amy LaVere– Sept. 17: Taste of Lynnwood, Featuring LeRoy Bell, Massy Ferguson, Dysfunction Junction, Grupo Meridional, Johnny Bregar & the Country Dawgs– Sept. 22: James McMurtry– Oct. 8: Greg Brown (sold out)– Oct 22: Abby Mae & the Homeschool Boys– Nov 5: Zoe Muth
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