September 1 • 7:30 pm
All through the summer, the Royal Room’s “Great Women of Country Tribute Series” has seen local artists take the stage to interpret the works of such icons as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Nanci Griffith. This month’s offering features a modern pairing that will dive into the music of Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt. Sue Quigley, who curates the series (and serves as MC and host), explains she chose these artists because of the huge influence they had on her own career as a performer: “From my perspective, their music will always be relevant due to everything that they went through as women artists—speaking the truth in their songs or interpreting songs of others in unique and sometimes unprecedented ways.”
The bill for this evening features Northwest performers whose collective experience spans decades. Sheryl Wiser and Kim Virant are veterans of ’90s alt-country/Americana acts Somebody’s Daughter and Lazy Susan, respectively; Kristy Smith’s 1990s-era band 3 Track Mind appeared in the set-in-Seattle film Georgia. Quigley, Amanda Winterhalter, and Erin Rae emerged in later years, further enriching an already vibrant singer/songwriter scene. Each singer will perform a few songs of the featured artists with the house band, itself a talented crew (“Country Dave” Harmonson, guitar; Michael McDermott, bass; Kristin Chambers, piano; Aimee Zoe, drums), guaranteeing a lively night of variety. Says Quigley, “What I have loved about the shows this summer is there has been such camaraderie and such a lifting up of each other as women artists.”
