Burien native Dan Satterberg will prosecute play live at our Launch Party!

We’re proud to announce another addition to our upcoming Launch Party for SoKing Internet Radio – there will be a second live performance from a Burien native – King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and his band the ‘Treehouse Dreamers‘!

Satterberg and his bandmate Rusty Fallis will perform two songs live after opening act Jordan Biggs plays, sometime between 6:20 – 6:45 p.m. in the theater. Be sure to get there early though (5/5:30 p.m.-ish) as we’re certain the joint will be packed. The event is FREE and open to the public; the Tin Theater is located at 923 SW 152nd in Olde Burien.

If you can’t attend though don’t fret – just bookmark sokinginternetradio.com and click on the “Listen Now” button around 6 p.m. Wed. Feb. 15th; if the stream is silent don’t worry, be patient and keep listening – we’re planning on pushing magical buttons and broadcasting live as close to 6 p.m. as we can!

The Prosecutor/Rocker was born and raised in the Burien/Normandy Park area, went to Highline High School in the 70s, then graduated from the UW before going on to become King County Prosecutor. On the side Dan is involved with two bands – Treehouse Dreamers, with all original music, and a cover band called The Approximations.

Satterberg will be the second local musician playing at our party, which we believe is a fitting way to launch! SoKing Internet Radio will be (far as we know) the first Internet Radio Station tied into a network of local blogs in the Northwest (perhaps the entire US), with a mission of promoting and showcasing local music from the region, with heavy emphasis on tracks from the South King County area. We plan on playing a lot of Treehouse Dreamers, along with many other local bands, musicians and songwriters from many different genres. If you’ve got some music you’d like us to consider, please email music@sokinginternetradio.com!

Here’s a video of Dan playing bass and singing “Played Before” with his band at Mick Kelly’s in 2008:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Highline Community Symphonic Band’s BAND FEST is coming to the Highline Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27.

BAND FEST will include performances by the Mt. Rainier High School Wind Ensemble, Kennedy High School Band, and Highline Community Symphonic Band.

The Mt. Rainier High School Wind Ensemble is their top performing ensemble. It is an audition group and plays challenging music for high school. Kennedy High School Band has won numerous accolades for their marching, jazz, and concert bands.

Highline Community Symphonic Band (HCSB), celebrating its 40th concert season, is dedicated to providing classical band music for the enjoyment and cultural enrichment of communities in and around the Highline area of South King County. HCSB performs quality concerts in a traditional venue without cost to the general public, while nurturing individual talents and continuously improving the skills of all HCSB members.

Established in 1971, HCSB provides a venue for local amateur musicians, post high school to senior citizens, to continue or return to the enjoyment and challenge of playing a wide range of concert band music. The band also provides an opportunity for selected high school instrumental students to expand their musical education by participating in a quality community symphonic band.

Highline Community Symphonic Band is supported, in part, by donations from the City of Burien Arts Commission, 4Culture, and Tukwila Parks Commission. More info at www.highlineband.org.

The Highline Performing Arts Center is located at 401 S. 152nd Street, next to Highline High School.

Here’s a video of the HCSB performing “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” in 2011 :

Click here to view the embedded video.

B-Town Blog reporter Bart Bryan called in to the newsroom minutes ago with the following phone report:

“Brian Partridge and Janie Kelly are playing at Advertiser The Barrel Tavern in north Burien tomorrow night, Saturday, February 11, starting at 9.

No cover, but lots of fun.

“They rock the gamut from Lady Gaga to Zeppelin to Fleetwood Mac to Aretha.

“Brian masters the keyboards and provides well-timed backup vocals. The light show is phenomenally 70s and 80s!”

Bart adds “I vouch for ‘em! You won’t be disappointed. Put on your dancing shoes!

“And lead singer Janie with a pitch-perfect voice and just the right touch of showmanship sings leads.

“She knocked them out through two rounds of American Idol tryouts last year in Portland, Oregon. And you many see her go even further sometime soon.

“See you there. The Barrel is located at 11051 1st Avenue South in Burien.”

Click image to see larger version. Photo by Amanda Zancanella.

We’re proud to announce an exciting new feature to our upcoming Launch Party for SoKing Internet Radio (to be held at the Tin Theater from 5:30-7pm Wed., Feb. 15) – a special live performance from Burien native Jordan Biggs and his band!

Biggs will perform the first songs officially aired on our innovative new radio station live, just after 6 p.m. in the theater, so be sure to get there before then (it’s FREE and open to all but we think it could get packed so show up early, say around 5-5:30 p.m.!).

Born at Highline Hospital and raised in the Burien area, Biggs has been playing music and singing since he could walk and talk. He attended Seahurst Elementary School, Sylvester Middle School, and graduated from Highline High School.

The first 100 people to show up at our Launch Party will receive this groovy SoKing Internet Radio oval car sticker!

We think it’s only fitting to kick off our innovative new locally-driven station with a local talent like Biggs, who writes all his own songs, and recently recorded several with a well-known Producer named Lewis Richards, at 17th Street Records in Costa Mesa, CA.

“I’m big into family, friends, and enjoying life,” Biggs said. “My daughter is the light in the darkness that I call my world. My music speaks for itself. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoy making it.”

To give you a taste of what kind of music to expect at our party, here’s a video of Biggs doing “Once Again” featuring Kat Nestel (learn more about Biggs here):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Washington’s only Reptile Man will slither into Des Moines on Saturday, Feb. 18, for a show at the Des Moines Activity Center.

The Reptile Man, aka Scott Petersen, has performed for more than 800 schools in the Northwest. Corporations such as Microsoft, Boeing, and Eddie Bauer have found this program to be exciting for all ages. He has been seen on Bill Nye The Science Guy, Evening Magazine, Northwest Afternoon, Town Meeting, Q13 Kids Club, and Watch This.

Scott is fully insured and has teaching credentials. He has a teachers State Patrol Certification on file with the State Superintendent of Public Education. This program will create an interest in the natural sciences and teach students about the importance of all animals in the balance of nature.

The program starts at 10:30 a.m. The Des Moines Activity Center is at 2045 S. 216th St., Des Moines.

Tickets are $3 in advance and $5 at the door, or $10 and $15 for families.

Advance tickets are available through the Des Moines Parks & Recreation Department at 206-870-6527.

For more information on The Reptile Man, visit www.reptileman.com/home.html.

Upcoming shows include:

• Harmonica Pocket Get Loose with Seuss, March 17, also at 10:30 a.m.

For more information on the Des Moines Arts Commission, visit www.desmoinesartscommission.com.

Here are some videos of the Reptile Man in action:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

REMINDER: Our big Launch Party that will officially kick off our latest locally-grown indie media venture – SoKing Internet Radio – will be one week from tonight, on Wednesday, Feb. 15th from 5:30 – 7 p.m. at the Tin Theater.

The radio station will “go live” on the air in the theater at 6 p.m. sharp, so please arrive before then for the best seats – we’ll all gather around a computer, say a few words, perhaps do some weird chanting, then click a button and the station will magically come alive.

And we’re proud to announce that we’ll be featuring a local musician that you’ll hear on the station as our first “live” show – details to come so stay tuned!

All Readers and Advertisers are invited to this free event, which should be fun as well as historic, seeing that (far as we know), we’ll be the first local blog in the entire northwest (perhaps the US) to have its own radio station.

If you’re a local band/musician and want to be featured on our new station, please email music@sokinginternetradio.com. Attach any MP3s, or include a link to any online (we’ll also accept CDs – see our station’s Contact page for our snailmail address), with metadata on your songs, bio info, artwork and anything else you think we can use to help promote you.

And as we get closer to launching we’ll post clear instructions on how you can listen to this new station, which will feature local music, news, events and more!

Feeling lucky? Well, here’s an easy way to enter to win Two FREE Tickets to the 8th Annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival, coming to the Landmark Event Center March 2 – 4!

Simply text message the word ‘dmrotary‘ to 90210 and you’ll automatically be entered into the drawing.

The Des Moines Rotary Club is presenting this annual fun fundraiser, and guests will enjoy live music and great food while tasting wines from 20 Northwest wineries.

The festival kicks off on Friday, March 2 at 5:00 p.m. The fun continues on Saturday and Sunday, with more wine tasting, food, and live music.

Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at Corky Cellars in Des Moines (206-824-9462) or at www.dmrotary.org.

All proceeds fund the service projects of the Des Moines Rotary Club, including college scholarships, grants to local schools, safety and recreation programs for children, yard projects for elderly residents, support for the local food bank and the homeless, and projects to assist needy people as far away as South Africa and the Philippines.

HOURS:

• Friday: 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
• Saturday: 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM
• ?Sunday: 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM

MUSIC:

• Uncle Ernie – Friday, 6:30-9:30
• All Stars No Stripes – Saturday, 3:30-6:30
• Ambience – Sunday, noon-2:00
• Stephanie Porter – Sunday, 2:30-4:30

For more information, please visit www.dmrotary.org.

Click image to print Coupon.

The Tag Zone has moved to a huge new warehouse-sized location at 605 South 223rd Street in Des Moines, just west of the downtown district at 6th and 223rd (map below), and will be holding its Grand Opening celebration beginning at 6 p.m. this Friday night, Jan. 27th!

Open Fridays and Saturdays, this new warehouse-sized arena erupts into a safe, Nerf-filled fun zone for kids of all ages with two battlefields:

• A 2,300 square foot inflatable bunker zone
• A 1,900 s.f. “Army Field”

The Tag Zone was created by Johnny Basco, former U.S. Army 2d Ranger at Ft. Lewis, who says:

“This is my calling – to host a safe, entertaining, affordable and FUN place for your little or big ones to play, and always wanting to come back for more.”

Former Army Ranger Johnny Basco is ready for you.

At The Tag Zone, participants play an assortment of organized games with safety always on the minds of the supervisors, who oversee every game with rules constantly being reinforced.

“We strongly encourage team work in order to play as many games as possible,” Basco adds. “This is also an exciting way to develop tricks and tactics, as well as controlling emotions and stress.”

Cost is just $7 per hour (the same price as last year), and according to Basco one of their more popular functions is to allow for a ‘Parent’s Night Out’:

“Fridays and Saturdays between the hours of 6-10pm we offer you the opportunity to drop your kids off and you have the option to stay or have a few hours to yourselves while we keep them busy playing a wide variety of controlled and refereed games. While they are here we divide teams equally as participants arrive and depart. We make every attempt to keep your kids and possibly their friends together on the same team however on occasion adjustments have to be made in order to keep the teams competitively equal. Score is not kept but the competition level can still be pretty intense. We do not allow participants to argue with each other and definitely towards any of our referees or loss of one game will occur.”

The Tag Zone's arms cache awaits.

Here’s more from their website about the kinds of games played:

Open Play Sessions at The Tag Zone: Friday and Saturday nights, 6:00-10:00 pm

Squad vs squad
Objective:

• Eliminate opposing squad.

Game:

• Each team begins from its home base. At the signal, the players must find and tag the entire opposing team before being itself eliminated.

Protect the leader
Objective:

• To seek and tag the opposing team’s leader.

Game:

• Each team must protect its leader from getting tagged.
• Volunteer players will attempt to eliminate the opposing team’s leader.

Capture the Flag
Objective:

• To end the game with both team’s flag in its possession, in its home base.

Game:

• Each team begins with their own flag, located at their home base.
• The players must retrieve the opposing team’s flag.

The Prison
Objective:

• The players are to be tagged and placed in the opposing team’s prison.

Game:

• The teams begin in their own home base. When a player is tagged, he must head for the other team’s prison. The prisoner (s) are to be rescued by a teammate so that he (they) may continue the game. The prisoner is rescued from prison when his own teammate hand tags him out. The game is terminated when an entire team is imprisoned.

Look closely and you'll see Johnny's face in the middle of this bunker.

Here’s one more quote from Basco, posted on their Facebook Page (“Like” them here):

“What an amazing journey this has been and one I continue to look forward to. It’s still hard to believe I was doing hair two years ago! This would have never happened had it not been for my wife Anne and Karuna Arts Yoga. I love you Anne, especially for putting up with me during the build out. Thank you to all the kids who have supported The Tag Zone and to the future ones. This is one of the happiest and proudest days of my life. Dreams really do come true guys!”

The Tag Zone
605 South 223rd Street
Des Moines WA 98198

For questions regarding pricing and availability please e-mail thetagzone@gmail.com, text or call 206-719-4632.

View Larger Map

Burien Arts’ Fourth Annual Classic Jazz Festival will be held on Saturday, March 10th from 3 p.m. – 10 p.m., and will offer a Big Program at its new location, The Landmark Event Center in Des Moines.

There will be more music with 11 bands participating in two music venues, and more styles of music including Straight Ahead Jazz classics, early and mid-20th century jazz styles, from Dixieland, Gypsy Jazz and Western Swing to Big Band Swing.

This great jazz experience will include Concerts, Dancing, Food and Drink, as well as Jam Sessions!

The bands include:

• Del Rey & Matt Weiner
• Echoes of Harlem Orchestra
• Gail Pettis
• Glenn Crytzer & His Syncopators
• Holotradband
• The Jangles
• Jennifer Scott Trio
• Mount Rainier High School Jazz Band
• Pearl Django
• Susan Pascal with Greta Matassa
• Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band

The two music venues allow for more concerts. Comfortable close-up seating in the Auditorium will keep these concerts intimate. There will be dancing in the Banquet Hall, and the elegant living room will be the site for jam sessions.

A full dinner will be provided by EJ’s Catering and there will be a no-host bar.

“Jazz lovers will have a lot to like about the new and improved festival,” said Festival Director Lance Haslund.

Tickets are $35 for adults, $30 for seniors and military, and FREE for youth 18 and under.

Tickets are available online at Brown Paper Tickets or by calling Burien Arts at 206-244-7808. They will also be available at the Highline Jazz Festival Booth at the annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival, sponsored by the Des Moines Rotary and held in the Landmark Event Center March 2-4, 2012 and at the door the day of the event.

Reduced admission is offered with the donation of a band instrument to Music4Life, a community service activity of Highline Rotary clubs providing musical instruments and other resources needed to expand elementary school music programs.

For $100.00 individual sponsors will receive two adult tickets, reserved seating and reserved or valet parking, two drink tickets, access to the band hospitality room, and more.

The fourth annual Festival is presented by Burien Arts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing affordable access to visual and performing arts in the Burien/Highline area, and by Landmark Event Center, a 1926 historic building overlooking Puget Sound.  It is sponsored by Cedarbrook Lodge & Copperleaf Restaurant, 4Culture, SoKing Internet Radio, Alaska Airlines, and the City of Burien, Parks, Recreation and Culture.

The Landmark Event Center is located at 23660 Marine View Drive South, Des Moines, WA 98198.