Final Seattle show, as a resident
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The day is finally upon us. My last Seattle show as a local. Luckily we can do it with singing and celebration! I assembled an all-star cast to make this a very special “going away party”. I am proud to be sharing the bill with long-time friends and frequent collaborators, Eric Howk (The Lashes/Palmer AK), Noah Star (USE/Wonderful), Josh Ottum (Friends for Heroes/Mr Pleasant).

I will be joined by my all-star band featuring Ty Bailie on Keys, Ryan Richter on Lap Steel, Brendan Bosworth on bass, Brian Bosworth on drums and the beautiful girls of the vocal group, The Chromettes - Mia Katherine Boyle, Alicia Dara, and Fiia McGann.

And that’s not all - your $10 at the door also makes you eligible for free drinks all night!

Give me the chance to sing for you one last time before I return to Seattle with a southern accent and a belly full of comfort food!

Love,
Shane


Goodbye Seattle, Hello Nashville
Monday, November 30, 2009
Dear Beloved Seattle,
On January 1st I am packing up the car and driving across the country to move to Nashville, Tennessee. It’s something I’ve been dreaming and scheming about for years now, and I’ve finally set a date. I was born and raised here in Seattle (a true Seattleite), and although I will surely visit family and friends frequently, I am looking forward to a new home across the country. I am grateful to all the talented musicians I’ve had the opportunity to work with, during my years with Dolour, The Traveling Mercies, and my “solo” band. When writing my latest album (Shouting At A Silent Sky, June 2009) I sort of envisioned it as a ‘Goodbye to Seattle’ album. Songs like “Never Turnin’ Back”, “There’s No Star to Lead Me Home”, and “Death & Texas” captured my growing restlessness.

The South had always been a great mystery to me. The fabled land that brought country music and blues together and breathed life into rock and roll. My first experience with Nashville was in June of ‘08 when I flew down there to play some shows supporting “Hey Lazarus!” (my second album with The Traveling Mercies). I fell in love with this legendary music city. Although it is one of the greatest music meccas in the country, it still carries itself like a small town. I met so many great people, went to so many great clubs, and I saw endless possibilities as a songwriter. It was on that trip that I started writing my most recent album, Shouting At A Silent Sky. Now I feel a strong desire to dig deeper in the heartland, and get to know the South and its music from a first-hand perspective.

If you would like to congregate one last time while I’m still living here you can see me and my band play Wednesday, December 16th at the Electric Tea Garden (the “Artificial Limb” building) in Capitol Hill. It should be a fun filled night, full of song and celebration.

I hope that Seattle will stick by me during this new period of exploration, musically if not geographically, and I will be back to play shows as often as I can.

With Love,
Shane Tutmarc

And here is a new video to accompany this departure…



UPdates & DOWNtime
Friday, October 30, 2009
With the big Neumos/Cave Singers show and the Tractor/solo Dolour show behind me I’m excited to have some free time to work on new songs. As ever, each new song is taking me to new places.

While recording Shouting at a Silent Sky I didn’t write hardly anything. I wanted to stay in the “Silent Sky” mood as long as I could to see those songs through to the end. When I finished the album in February, I opened the floodgates for songs to start pouring - but it was more like a trickle. I’d write a little something here, a little something there - waiting for that cornerstone song to show me where where the music wanted to go. Finally by summer something was developing, and now I am well on my way to finding that next sound. Without counting my chickens before they hatch, I just wanted to let you know that during this (probably brief) downtime I am cooking up some new jams for y’all. Also, I am constantly looking for new ways to connect with the fans, be it Facebook, iLike, Twitter, ReverbNation. We also hope to play some more out of town shows before the year is out.

Keep checking here for developments on all of the above.

AND - have a spooky Halloween,

XO Shane