Is the Fountain District Bellingham’s next music hub? New festival suggests so

Last weekend, I stopped to check out the Hindsight Festival, which took place Jan. 10 at the old Mojo Music space (2626 Meridian St.). Twenty-five local bands recently created a compilation album featuring covers of 25 of their favorite songs of the last 25 years. The festival brought 20 of those bands together to perform from noon until late, as a benefit for music education programs.

The festival drew a great crowd, full of engaged listeners, even though it was still early in the afternoon. It was great to see a crowd that wasn’t just the normal folks you expect to see at the bars: There was a wide range of ages, including some enthusiastically dancing preschoolers.

While I was there, I got an update on the space. The nearby music school Joy of Music has expanded and taken it over for both lessons and performances. Going forward, they’re hoping to use it as a venue on a regular basis, which is a pretty exciting possibility. The stage has been built, and they’re working on bringing in permanent sound and lighting gear.

Owner Joy Westermann is excited to offer up the space (which they’re tentatively calling “The Crow’s Nest”), and there are lots of bands that have already expressed interest in playing there. 

Between Joy of Music, Bellinghome School of Music and Bellingham Windworks, that stretch of Meridian seems like it might be on its way to becoming the musical version of what Iowa Street is for cars or Squalicum Parkway is for medical services. Add to that live music at Zeeks Pizza, Menace Brewing Co. and this potential new venue, and you start to see something coming together. 

I’ve also had some more time to absorb the album that the festival was created to accompany. 

I appreciate the diversity of it, and the way some bands took the chance to do things they aren’t normally associated with, like Checker Bloom veering into country territory with an Avett Brothers cover, or Scout & The Foxes going pop with “Dancing on My Own.” I also loved it when Feral Moon brought in the Cookie Monster-style metal vocals on “Wrecking Ball.”

The prize for the most completely reimagined version probably goes to J. Chang & The Lover Boys, taking a Tech N9ne song and turning it into cheerful reggae. My absolute favorite of the whole bunch, though, is Aching Pine’s intricate chamber-pop rendition of Imogen Heap’s “Headlock.”

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It’s not on Meridian Street, but there is another cool organization starting up downtown. Bellingham Helps Access Music (aka BHAM) began last year with a goal of helping the music scene with both community and logistics. They have a space in the basement of the old Eagles Hall on Forest Street, where they’ll offer monthly and hourly practice space and rooms for lessons.

The group also has bigger plans to help organize music education programs at local middle schools and host open jams at local venues. Director Mikel Perkins is hard at work right now getting the practice spaces open, hopefully in the next month or so.  The goal is to make it soundproof and fully designed for music, not just a storage space that has been adapted. 

Speaking of new music venues, there’s another rock show happening at the Aim & Game arcade in Ferndale. That’s on Feb. 7 and features Seattle’s Black Ends plus some strong local openers: Done to Death, Adventure Bites and Seraphic. Once you pay the cover, you get to play arcade games for free!

This all points to a larger issue or trend I’ve been wondering about a lot lately.  A lot of live music has traditionally taken place in bars or clubs, and the financial underpinnings are all based in some way on alcohol sales. With alcohol rapidly losing popularity, especially among younger generations, it’s interesting to think about where the financial support for the live music ecosystem will come from. There’s a lot of demand out there for fun live music from people who aren’t interested in drinking a lot, so whoever can figure out a way to make that work could find a lot of success.

One other venue that was recently brought to my attention: Bigfoot’s Den Cafe & Pub in Sedro-Woolley is hosting an open mic every Wednesday at 6 p.m. They’re trying to emphasize making it accessible and friendly, so if you’re looking for a place to get on stage, you might want to give it a try.

Finally, an album to look forward to. Aaron Guest’s keyboard playing was a key part of two of my favorite local albums of last year (Jenner Fox Band and Cumulus), so I’m glad to hear he’s got a new solo album coming. “Felted” will be out on Feb. 1, and features his instrumental piano compositions in a quiet, contemplative vein.

Jesse Stanton’s music column, The Beat Goes On, appears weekly. Reach him at [email protected]; @JSBhamMusic. Check with individual venues to make sure events are still taking place as scheduled.

Click here for Jesse’s listing of live music events in Whatcom County.