The Seattle Acoustic Festival returns to Capitol Hill this week with pay what you can pricing, a gloriously underrated musical venue in Broadway’s All Pilgrims, and an expanded three days of performances.
“We wanted it to stay small and focused but we’ve decided to let it grow a little bit,” organizer and musician Elijah Dhawan tells CHS.
The 2016 festival starts Friday and runs through the weekend across three stages at All Pilgrims, 500 Broadway E. This is the third year Dhawan and co-organizer Paul Mauer have held the festival. The two also organize an annual acoustic festival in Olympia.
Levi Fuller and the Library – For Seattle Acoustic Festival by Tori Dickson
“‘Quiet is the new loud’ encapsulates the ethos of what we’re trying to do,” Dhawan said. “People get sort of oversaturated by this wall of rock. The point of our festival is you can play in an intimate setting and the experience is just as big.”
With the expansion from one day to three, the 2016 festival also will feature a “quiet” explosion to 68 acts:
Tobias the Ow // lIntisaar Jubran // The Secret Sea // Temple Canyon // March to May // Lana McMullen // Shades of Static // The Winterlings // Gabriel Wolfchild // Lonely Mountain Lovers // Angie Lynn // Jess Lambert // Willow and the Wolf // Anna Gordon // Spencer Glenn // Kim Archer // Emily Donohue // // Arthur James // Katie Kuffel // Danny Newcomb // Faint Peter // Brenda Xu // Amandala // Shelita Burke // Paul Jenkins // Kristina Valencia // Brendan Regan // Spencer Carlson // Ian Jones // David Johnson // Aaron Joshua Shay // Raven Zoe // Wonder // Debbie Miller // // Kelsey Sprague // Maxwell Williams // Bear the Weather // Sea Star // Jim Marcotte and the Breakthrough // Cooper Stoulil // Dante and the Mirrors // Kristin Chambers and the Steady Waters // Fysah Sands // Jake Nannery // Devin Sinha // Paula Boggs Band // Tekla Waterfield // Champagne Sunday // Allison Preisinger // Sue Quigley // Beasley // Marjorie Nelch // Matt Dalton // Harris Face // Paul Mauer // Champagne Honeybee // Jaspar Lepak // Clint McCune // Honey Mustard // Nathaniel Talbot // Luke Stanton // Jeff Greer // Patrick Galactic // Tiny Messengers // Animals of Grace // Wes Sp8 & the Apollo Proxy // Aaron English // OurDead Fathers
Tickets are available via Brown Paper Tickets at pay what you can pricing — suggested donation is $10 per day.
Dhawan, who also will be performing with his Tobias the Owl project, says you can use any money you don’t spend on tickets buying music or band t-shirts.
“This is a musician-run thing. Very DIY. We didn’t want anyone to feel turned away.”
All Pilgrims generous support of the returning event also helps make the festival possible, Dhawan said. The old church’s fantastic acoustics are also a major benefit. “All Pilgrims is a big part of. It’s just such a nice space,” he said.
