Skagit Storytellers

Phil Carter is a local drummer from Bellingham, though, as we discovered on the podcast, he was born in Canada. I cut out hours of us talking about hockey, Tim Horton's and the Hip and left in some stories that Phil shared about touring, playing in his son's band, brushes with death and his current musical focus, Cory Vincent and the Electric Band. They are recording a live concert on 11/9/24 at t...

Kelly Beane is an enthusiastic local hiker who wrote an inspiring book about her adventures. She also writes a blog called " Slowest Hiker ". Head to her blog to read about her most recent hikes and marvel at her amazing photos. I hope that this episode encourages someone to step out of their comfort zone and push themselves to try something new. Kelly's book is available on Amazon (send it to som...

Pete Ruble is a Whatcom based singer/songwriter originally from Lynden. We talk about being the middle child, being grounded, being old and friends we love like Tim and Cody. Check out Pete's EP called Postcards (the cover art was a Polaroid I took of Pete when he was a guest on my radio show in Concrete) here . Pete's next big show is on Nov 22nd at the Honeymoon in Bellingham. Enjoy your week, b...

Welcome to Season 3! Hannah Wyatt is a local musician who has an album coming out in December. We talk about music, places she's lived, and we touch on her silly and talented boyfriend, Tim. Pre-order her album, "Sunday Cowboy" here . While you're on the Washingtones site, check out De-essar's album Tame (aka Victor). Check out her Bandcamp , and she's on IG too. Enjoy your week, be of use, and go...

Episode 57! Cheryl Perry and I met a year ago at the Liquor Store in Concrete. She loves live music and saying yes to adventures. I can guarantee that her story is one that you've never heard before and I can't thank her enough for being so raw, open and honest about her life. Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of drowning. Enjoy this podcast, be of use, and go do something hard....

Welcome to Episode 2 of the new season! My guest this week is Tim Mechling, local musician, amazing cooker of meats and my friend. He is the co founder of Washington State's best record label, Washingtones Records, where they "empower Washington’s independent music talent through honesty, collaboration and ingenuity." Sam Chue and Tim started the label in 2023 and I was honored as one of their top...

Welcome to the first episode of Season 2! Jim and I sat down near the end of 2023 to chat about music and life. Learn about his various jobs he's had, hear stories of local music (and musicians) and enjoy a tune on the mandolin. You should go see Jim with his band mates, Undecided, at the Birdsview Brewery on Friday, May 3rd. Here is the video of the Barefeet show on the roof of the Hub. Be safe,...

Enjoy these stories, show up at the artists gigs, say hi, support them! As Steve Chambers would say "Purch the Merch" 🙂 (Listed in random order!) Dylan Dalgarn from Nurhachi, Shane Gildnes from Fanny Alger, Scott Storie from Pavlov Jones, Matt Specht from Pavlov, Jeff Spradlin from Lazy Acres, Selena Mac from Dangerous Curves and Cats Like Us, Spencer Duffy from Pretty Much Nothing, Barefeet, *an...

Enjoy these songs! Here are the creators names. Show up at their gigs, say hi, support them! Shane Gildnes from Fanny Alger Charlie Krengel from Cory Vincent & the Electric Band and Friends for the Ghost Selena Mac from Dangerous Curves and Cats Like Us (she also plays solo!) Zach Michaud Michael Dayvid Aida Miller Cascade Cody Sandy Rowe Cory Vincent (& The Electric Band) Shane Gildnes fr...

Episode 54! Selena Mac was recommended to me by several musicians in this area. I'm so glad I sat down and heard her story about how she became a musician. I'm always under the assumption that good musicians are good because they started playing at a young age. Selena has only picked up the guitar within the last 5 years and she not only has her own band, Dangerous Curves, she also plays with Leo...

Episode 53! This episode will change someone's life. Todd Barnett is an ambassador for a charitable organization called Consequence of Habit . He had weight loss surgery in September of 2021, and ran/walked his first 10k one year later. I'm proud to say that Todd is now an ultra runner (His next race is Saturday and it's a 50k on Amelia Island in Florida). We talk about my terrible geography skill...

Episode 52! Welcome to the final installment with my four friends, Clay, Wes, Cody and Charlie. Just like in the two previous episodes, it's sweet, funny and offensive. I love these guys and I am so thankful that I get to call them my friends. Please enjoy the music at the end of the conversation.  The first song is Animal by Wes. It was recorded in Walker's studio in Bellingham by Subdued Session...

Episode 51! I've recorded a couple of episodes with fellow gleaners, but I knew I had to have Morgan Curry (I call her "The President") on so we could talk about Skagit Gleaners in depth. I love hearing about how she got the job and I appreciate her clearing up misconceptions that I had. If Gleaners is a good fit for you, awesome! Even if it's not for you, it might be the perfect thing for someone...

Episode 50! Welcome to Part 2 of my podcast with my four friends, Clay, Wes, Cody and Charlie. Just like in the previous episode, it's sweet, funny and offensive. You won't need a barf bag for this one, kids! 🙂 Love music? Go to Washingtonesrecords.com and score some sweet merch, cool tunes and support locals following their passion. Love my intro song and my logo? Check out Clay Work . He is inc...

Episode 49 ! This episode was fun to record and I think it will inspire a lot of people to try out Zen Tangle. Listen to the intro with an update regarding the rest of the episode. I am thankful to get some joyful words about Sara's late husband Dave on the podcast so she can listen to them for years to come. Check out her work at zenvalleytangle.com (great website and blog, and you can find her o...

Episode 48! Welcome to the first group podcast attempt. My guests include Wes Jones, Cascade Cody, Clay Christofferson and Charlie Krengel. It's Skagit Storyteller's version of JRE's Protect our Parks. It's funny, offensive and sweet. Lastly, I hope you laugh at my intro because my kid is hilarious and all these guys featured on the episode love her too. Olive's so lucky to have so many great peop...

Episode 47! My neighbor Ngoni came over in the summer of 2023 and we had a great chat about life. He even convinced me to answer some of his questions about myself, which I was hesitant to take out, but I left in. We talk about music (check out his bandcamp page here ), his journey from Zimbabwe to Sedro-Woolley, and farming.  He's going to send me any new music he records and I'll be sure to add...

Episode 46! Sandy Rowe first came across my radar because of Zach Michaud, and one day when Sandy was on his way to Rockport for a gig, he stopped by the studio to record with me. We recorded in the summer of 2023, and shortly after, Sandy got sick. Listen to my intro for the story behind that. Thank you to Sandy for stopping by and sharing stories with me. I'm glad you're feeling better and I loo...

Episode 45! Tara Ellis is an Amazon best selling author who lives upriver. Do you love post-apocalyptic, dystopian or mystery writing? Then she's got something for you. Check out her website at www.taraellisbooks.com and look at her Tara Meyers Author Page on Amazon here . I love Tara's story, and if you know someone who wants to be a writer, send them this podcast. Love music? Go to Washingtonesr...

Episode 44! Trevor Lance drums for one of Skagit Valley's best bands, Lazy Acres . When he's not drumming, he's doing fun things like getting ridiculous tattoos, firefighting, running and hanging out with his wife Lindsay. Check out his Youtube channel TLanceDrums ! His band's next show is a big one: They're opening up for Eden at the Lincoln Theater in Mount Vernon. This show will sell out fast s...

Episode 43! Todd Warger grew-up in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, in the small community of Shelburne Falls. He graduated from the University of Nevada with a B.A. in history, relocated to Bellingham, Washington to attend Graduate school. He has been on staff at the Whatcom Museum since 1992. Todd is an Emmy Award nominee for the documentary film The Mountain Runners and a recipient of t...

Episode 42! Aida Miller first crossed my path at the Concrete Theater when she opened for Jack Mattingly and the Enthusiasts. I was lucky enough to bartend that show and it was one of the busiest shows I've seen there. I hope that Aida returns to Concrete at a later date, or Sedro, or Burlington... really anywhere. As you'll hear in the episode, all you have to do is contact her and she'll come pl...

Episode 41! My guest today is Jeff Spradlin. I first got to know Jeff when he was a guest on my radio show with his Lazy Acres band mate, Wes Jones. I’ve seen Jeff around at various shows, but had never spoke to him until the radio. He seemed like a fun guy to chat with so here we are, episode 41. This episode is filled with local musician lore from all the way back to the early 2000s. A couple fu...

Episode 40! Sonny Brown is the drummer and singer of local rockabilly swing band, The Dimes. He’s also known for being in Gin Gypsy until 2020. When he’s not playing tunes with Rick and Ken, he’s hanging out with his girlfriend Maya or riding around town with the Vicious Badgers. Sonny was a pleasure to chat with and, like always, I’m eternally grateful that folks trust me to share his story to th...

Welcome to another episode of Skagit Storytellers. My guests today are Luke Lomsdalen and Danny Hagen.  Luke owns Old Timers in Sedro-Woolley and Danny Hagen is the County Assessor, but they are both on the podcast because I wanted to talk about the Skagit Highland Games. If you listened to Scott Storie’s episode (#33 of this podcast!), I discovered on air that Luke is Scott’s nephew. So, in addit...