"Chris Chandler is the best performance poet I have ever seen." ~ Utah Phillips

Last week, I ran into performance artist Chris Chandler at the Oregon Country Fair. He leaned over my shoulder and whispered sheepishly "might you be up for a house concert with a few friends on July 19th?" I enthusiastically replied, "HELL YES!" 

At one time in human history bards roamed outside the castle wall carrying tales from village to village. Today, gritty road warriors do the same - outside the castle walls of corporate America. Between the frequencies of Clear Channel, still exists the forgotten art form of storytelling. Chris Chandler is one of the best ever.  (And he's coming to Vashon with outstanding musical accompaniment by composer John Elliott.)

So you are one of my "few friends" and a friend of the Backbone Campaign. AND I hope you will invite your friends, so that there are more than a few of us and voilà... we will make this an amazing sunset performance viewing Mt Rainier AND support an excellent cause!  All with a little quick organizing, word of mouth and an egalitarian pay-what-you-can ticket price.

This lawn concert is a casual seat-of-our-pants event involving very little (near zero) production.  It is great art - a collage of spoken word, live musical accompaniment, storytelling, travel journal through the American psyche.  

SO PLEASE - be sure to bring your own lawn chair, blanket, bug spray, and refreshments. And seriously, Mt. Rainier IS viewable from the O Space lawn.

RSVP BELOW so we can plan for you (a little).  We are VERY grateful to Open Space for providing their lawn for this last-minute Too-Good-To-Say-No live performance opportunity. Their facility is closed for renovation, but they are graciously allowing us to use their South lawn with its Mt. Rainier view.  

"What's the good cause?" you ask.  ALL proceeds (after humble stipend to the artists) go to Backbone Campaign's change agent scholarship fund for Backbone's upcoming 9th Annual Localize This! Action Camp. You can Pitch in HERE even if you can't attend the concert.  

We'll be passing the hat at the event, so no paper tickets are necessary, though all donations online or in person are deeply appreciated.  Please allow time to park at either Open Space or Sheffield.  

AND Please, help spread and invite your friends.  Neither you nor they will be disappointed.  Chris Chandler is a bard in the truest sense. Speaking to our hearts in a ways that are at once specific to this political moment and simultaneously timeless.

Hope to see you at 8pm THIS Wednesday night July 19!

Bill Moyer

PS -  Please Pitch-in HERE so that we can continue our tradition of never ever turning anyone away for lack of ability to pay.  Backbone can't produce trainings, organize and support actions on the causes you care about without YOU.