TUESDAY, OCT. 7 2014 >>>

1. The man who gave us A Christmas Carol - not to mention an adjective used for describing everything from working conditions to an episode of The Wire - receives a big toast in Tacoma's Stadium District every holiday season. This year marks the 10th edition of the Dickens Festival. The man who gives us the yearly Lumins Festivus illuminated parade - not to mention tacomasoutsidersguide.com, an alternative guide to Tacoma - will illuminate this year's Dickens Festival at Stadium. Adam Martin will hang luminaria stars throughout the district this season. From 6-9 p.m. he's holding the first luminaria star-making workshop at Gibson's Frozen Yogurt in the Stadium District. You'll need to remember two things. First, Martin is a deep thinker so the stars will have alternative meaning. Second, keep it together if you run into an illuminated Tiny Tim.

2. The last time we heard a car story, it was a rare Pixar dud and turned out to be the end of the road, more or less, for both Paul Newman and George Carlin. We're due for another car story. Each first Tuesday of the month, a staff member from LeMay - America's Car Museum picks a car and offers a fascinating peek into its history. The discussion at 11:30 a.m. will be "Cars as Metal Art Part 1: Automotive Body Sculpting," with Scot Keller, ACM chief curator. This program is part of Tacoma Arts Month's Metal Urge series.

3. The One I Love marks Mark Duplass' most high-profile film in two years, and he's joined by Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss. Together the pair portray a husband and wife on the outs who head to the countryside to reconnect at the behest of their marriage counselor (Ted Danson). There, they find a guest cabin that ... well, we're not going to spoil what's in that cabin. Catch the film at 2:15, 6:55 and 9:10 at The Grand Cinema.

4. Sherilyn Lightner runs the bar at Dillingers Cocktails and Kitchen, the Prohibition-era speakeasy in downtown Olympia. She has been bar mistress at Dillingers since it opened Jan. 28 of this year. You already know this as you read Lightner's Q&A yesterday. She joins Dillingers Chef Denise Alsonso for a night or Roaring '20s food and drink at Bayview School of Cooking, beginning at 6 p.m. It's $55 a person; RSVP here.

5. "Now Wally, I want you to go in the living room and pick up those orange peels that you left on the coffee table. If your father comes home and sees them he'll be in a terrible mood all through dinner and won't let you and The Beaves rock the Red Wind Casino at 6:30 p.m." - June Cleaver

LINK: Tuesday, Oct. 7 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

MONDAY, OCT. 6 2014 >>>

1. University of Puget Sound Associate Professor of Painting Elise Richman teaches painting, drawing, and 2-dimensional design courses as well as the 2-D senior seminar every other year. Her innovative, process-based paintings explore elements of the material world and states of flux. Janet Marcavage, also an Associate Professor of Art at UPS, specializes in printmaking. She teaches studio courses incorporating a range of print media such as lithography, etching, relief, and intaglio, plus experimental, photomechanical and digitally-augmented methods. Today, the two professors open a shared show, "Ripple and Unfold," at the Kittredge Gallery on campus. Check it out from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2. Oktoberfest is dead. Halloween is dead. The Day of the Dead is dead. Even Thanksgiving is dead. Well, at least to the Northwest Repertory Singers. The Tacoma-based organization has just nudged out the department stores in the race toward Christmas. The choral group is currently rehearsing for its annual December concerts, and like every year, opens the singing sessions to the public. So exchange your pumpkin sweater with that candy cane ditty in the back of your closet, because the sugarplums are rockin, and there's no need for any knocking, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Mason United Methodist Church.

3. Jazz and blues band Maia Santell & House Blend will perform at 8 p.m. inside The Swiss.

4. Bay Area clarinetist and saxophonist Harvey Wainapel has been making yearly musical pilgrimages to Brazil since 2000, and has no plans to stop. The variety of musical traditions across cultures and regions is practically inexhaustible, he says, with perhaps only a single common thread: "they all swing like hell." Naturally, that irrepressible, infectious rhythmicality will be on display as Wainapel hosts a CD release party for his new CD, Amigos Brasileiros Vol. 2, at 8 p.m. in Rhythm and Rye. Pianist and frequent collaborator Jovino Santos Neto will join him.

5. While there have been a few bars that have tried hosting karaoke nights with live bands, Jazzbones' Rockaraoke live band karaoke is one of the ones that's lasted. It can be fun as hell singing along with a live band. Expect $2 PBR drafts, $3 Sinfire shots and $4 Smirnoff flavor vodka bombs beginning at 9 p.m.

LINK: Monday, Oct. 6 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SUNDAY, OCT. 5 2014 >>>

1. Midday Veil takes cues from krautrock without explicitly copying it. There's experimental improvisation and rigid beats, but the '70s were a long time ago. What remains with Midday Veil is an exploratory way of approaching an inscrutable subgenre dipping into different cultural influences to provide an mélange of textures and atmosphere. Catch the band with Swahili, Total Life and Lost Integrity in 8 p.m. at Northern.

2. The town of Steilacoom will host their annual cider squeeze from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. offering to press apples for folks, or having jugs of fresh squeezed cider available. And if the cider isn't reason enough to go, then go to sample fresh baked apple pies, cider floats, apple fritters, pony rides and music by Barleywine Revue and Steve and Kristi Nebel.

3. Matika Wilbur's "Project 562" is an ambitious and fascinating photographic study of Native American culture and an equally ambitious artistic project of which Tacoma Art Museum is fortunate to be able to present to the world the inaugural exhibition. Today is the last day to see the exhibit. Read Alec Clayton's full review of Matika Wilbur's Project 562" in the Music & Culture section., then see the show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

4. Shakespeare can be a bit inaccessible for the average Joe and many a community theater company has butchered it so badly as to make the audience loathe ever catching another production of The Bard's works. So leave it to director Suzy Wilhoft and Tacoma Little Theatre to stage something that could go so, so wrong. Fortunately it doesn't and the audience is presented a modest start and a whiz-bang finish in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which closes today at 2 p.m. Read Joann Varnell's full review of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Music & Culture section.

5. Fans of Comedy Bang! Bang! rejoice! James Adomian will be at the Tacoma Comedy Club at 7 p.m. You've no doubt heard his voice on the podcast, doing spot-on impressions of Jesse Ventura, Tom Leykis, Dov Charney, Alan Rickman and Paul Giamatti, among others. While Adomian is nominally an impressionist, what makes his characters so special is that he takes them and spins them into surreal and inspired territory. It's a crime that he hasn't been cast on Saturday Night Live, where he is destined to become a post-modern Darrell Hammond. He's only appearing for one night, so consider this a can't-miss.

LINK: Sunday, Oct. 5 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SATURDAY, OCT. 4 2014 >>>

1. If you like your bluegrass complex, melodic and focused on weighty matters such as the hard life of Washington state living in the early 20th century, have we found something you're going to love. Olympia bluegrass outfit The Oly Mountain Boys has released their new, epic concept album, White Horse, for your consideration. Comprised of Menser (banjo, piano, lead vocals), Derek McSwain (mandolin, vocals), Chris Rutledge (guitar, vocals), Phil Post (bass, dobro, pedal steel, vocals) and Josh Grice (fiddle), The Oly Mountain Boys dwell in the musical (and conceptual) neighborhood inhabited by outfits such as the Who, Tool, Queensryche and the more operatic rock groups. Join the Boys for a CD release party with The Hollerbodies and The Warren G. Hardings at 9 p.m. in Rhythm and Rye.

2. Wood-fired pizza and goats: Do you need any more reason to drive to Orting? At Terra Organic's annual Harvest Fest, you can also pick the perfect pumpkin to carve. The crisp air of the fall in the country and the sunchoke maze are pretty good reasons for getting in a little farm-browsing, too. If it's warm, leave the jackets at home and dig into the flavors from Ice Cream Social; if it's cool, dance up a gig in front of the Pine Hearts, Dysfunction Junction, Squirrel Butter and Roosevelt Road. Shop the market area. Take a hay ride. Modern farm-to-table take on Mediterranean food ... Primo Grill is there, too! Join in from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tahoma Farms.

3. More than 15 breweries, three wineries and a couple cideries will stretch along the esplanade from the Museum of Glass to the entry of the Foss Harbor Marina for Yachtoberfest, running 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. German food will be served from The Social Bar and Grill, Paesan Kitchen and Bar, Fleischkuechle food truck, Hess Bavarian Deli and Choripan By Asado. Moorage will be available at Delin Docks, Dock Street Marina, Foss Harbor Marina and the Foss Waterway Seaport. Tickets are $20 at the gate. Beverage tickets will be five for $10. Each ticket is worth a 5-ounce beer pour; two tickets will put a 12-ounce pour. Limited edition commemorative beer steins and apparel will be available for purchase. Read Pappi Swarner's full story on Yachtoberfest in the New Beer Column.

4. The New York-based Heritage Blues Orchestra plays traditional blues backed by a classic jazz horn section. Young vocalist Chaney Sims has been compared to jazz/blues legend Nina Simone. The band's 2012 debut album, And Still I Rise, which included covers of Son House and Muddy Waters classics alongside traditional material, was Grammy-nominated. Catch the band at 7:30 p.m. in the Rialto Theater.

5. Zeahorse is a band that does not stumble blood-crusted out of the outback. They're from Sydney, which, one imagines, could not be without at least a couple air-conditioned fast food restaurants. The prospect of losing one's mind in the wasteland of the desert would likely be far from the minds of the members of Zeahorse. Still, the legacy of groundbreaking Australian acts is a heavy load to carry. Zeahorse, being a band that trades in heavy psych-rock, must be particularly aware of how they enter into the conversation of heavy bands that come from down under. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Zeahorse in the Music & Culture section, then catch the band with Sok and the Faggots, Blanco Bronco and MILK at 8 p.m. in Half Pint Pizza Pub in Tacoma.

LINK: Saturday, Oct. 4 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

FRIDAY, OCT. 3 2014 >>>

1. Largely because of its abundance of offerings, the Olympia Arts Walk is a bit of a cross between a scavenger hunt and a grab bag. Local businesses - 96 of them this weekend - become galleries for the weekend, week or month, showing paintings, sculptures, photographs and more. Some serve as performance spaces, too. The streets are filled with people and the occasional juggler. But where to go? What to see? There's the fun. Read Molly Gilmore's full feature on Olympia Arts Walk XLIX in the Music & Culture section, then hit downtown Olympia from 5-10 p.m. and have the time of your life.

2. Born and raised in Tacoma, Noah Struthers is a unique product of this "blue collar" environment. His particular mechanic-laborer experiences were tainted early on by artistic explorations, resulting in a unique hybrid of outsider-illustrator art. His work addresses themes of local identity, mechanical structures, nature, and wildlife, which can be seen at the Fulcrum Gallery. Struthers will hang at Fulcrum from noon to 6 p.m. to discuss his art, or the Second Cycle Community Bicycle Shop, which he co-founded.

3. The three-day Oktoberfest Northwest Bavarian celebration at the Washington State Fair and Events Center officially kicks off at 6:15 p.m. with the taping of the Firkin, although the gates open at noon. In its 10th year, this Oktoberfest celebration includes a Munich-inspired Festhalle Biergarten, authentic entertainment, traditional German food, Hammerschlagen Tournament of Champions, the always-popular Weiner Dog Race, and the Sunday morning Oktoberfest Northwest Stein Dash 5K. Manuela Horn, the 6 foot 2 "Australian Amazon" and the Oktoburlesques will headline authentic German entertainment featuring performers crooning everything from Edelweiss to polka versions of popular rock songs.

4. Mudhoney, while beating its fellow flannel-powered pedigree to the punch - Sub Pop released vinyl anthem "Touch Me, I'm Sick" and Superfuzz Bigmuff 12 months before Nirvana's Bleach and three years before Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten - has never had a chart topper, but the group has a following more loyal than a mob family. A 6:30 p.m. screening of I'm Now: the Story of Mudhoney film in the Capitol Theater should get folks chatting up Mudhoney again. Full of the same nasal yowls and shag-carpet riffs that made the band a Northwest favorite during the grunge daze, the film will screen with one of the greatest cult flicks of all time - 1979's Rock & Roll High School featuring The Ramones in their prime. Mudhoney guitarist Steve Turner and I'm Now director Ryan Short will hang for a post-film Q&A.

5. Strangely Alright's power pop awesomeness will invade The Swiss Restaurant and Pub for the first time, with Brian James opening at 8:15 p.m. and a celebration of Shannon Kristine Rachel Briggs' birthday all night long. If you haven't seen Strangely Alright, expect ringing, triumphant chords and lyrics that allude to conquered tribulations. Frontman Regan Lane's charismatic presence and ability to get asses out of their seats and the underlying lyrical message of hope, empathy, and love rightly live up to the title of the band's album, Forever Is Right Now, a tireless and persistent group of catchy, edgy rock songs that are sugar coated with the band's love of all things rock.

LINK: Friday, Oct. 3 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

THURSDAY, OCT. 2 2014 >>>

1. Have you heard? Tacoma's gargantuan feast of literary, visual and performing arts has moved from November to October. That's right; October is Tacoma Arts Month (formerly Art at Work Month), but the festivities actually start Oct. 2 with an opening party and the AMOCAT Arts Awards presentation at the Tacoma Post Office Building. The annual kick-off party goes gargantuan too with the most "arts" in its 13th year history. The free event offers appetizers, dessert and a no-host bar while Speed Queen and Okinawa Taiko Drums perform, exhibits of work by Jessica Spring and The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation's Foundation of Art Award honorees hangs, exhibits of work by Beautiful Angle, Jeremy Gregory, Isaac Olsen, Alice Di Certo, Kristin Giordano, The C.L.A.W., and Poly Rev "pop up," Tintype photo booth by Kyle Dillehay opens and closes, Working Class Theater performs, Abby Kok, Alana Tamminga and Katlyn Hubner create art live, Tacoma Poet Laureate Lucas Smiraldo recites, Kat Ogden, Nick Butler, Kris Crews and The Grand Cinema screen films and trash fashion hits the runway. Mayor Stickland's presentation of the 2014 AMOCAT Arts Awards and recognition of the 2014 funding recipients begins at 7:45 p.m. Now that's art at work. Read Kristin Kendle's full feature on Tacoma Arts Month in the Music & Culture section.

2. The South Puget Sound Chapter of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild will be hosting October's Green Drinks outing at 6 p.m. in The Forum in Tacoma. Steve Abercrombie, the South Sound Chapter president, will be providing updates on the new Vision to Action Symposiums and anything and everything that empowers people through education to transform the built environment for long-term sustainability. This could be a three drink night.

3. Tonight's Olympia People's Mic will feature Garfield Hilson, a Washington State University grad who reclaims his "stolen language" and does it well. He is the 2014 Seattle Poetry Individual Word Poetry Champion. Hilson joins the open mic at 7 p.m. in Café Love in downtown Olympia.

4. One of our most notable musical offerings this time around is a movie ... sort of. Y'know how a company called Fathom Events beams one-night-only screenings to movie theaters? In addition to RiffTrax commentaries and Metropolitan Opera productions, that service also transmits the occasional show from London's West End. This week, the play is a musical adaptation of From Here to Eternity - not the movie starring Burt Lancaster macking total PDA on Deborah Kerr, mind you, but the 1951 novel by James Jones. Jones's original draft had its soldiers swearing and talking about gay prostitution. Such content was struck prior to publication, of course, and it wasn't restored till a 2011 rerelease. When composer Stuart Brayson read that new edition, he recommended it to lyricist Tim Rice, and the result was an October 2013 musical extravaganza. So what? Well, Rice had a hand in some of our all-time favorite shows, including Evita, Chess, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. And you can see his new show from a better-than-front-row vantage point at 7 p.m. in the Century Olympia, all for cheap and with nary a passport. Brilliant!

5. Zeahorse is a band that does not stumble blood-crusted out of the outback. They're from Sydney which, one imagines, could not be without at least a couple air-conditioned fast food restaurants. The prospect of losing one's mind in the wasteland of the desert would likely be far from the minds of the members of Zeahorse. Still, the legacy of groundbreaking Australian acts is a heavy load to carry. Zeahorse, being a band that trades in heavy psych-rock, must be particularly aware of how they enter into the conversation of heavy bands that come from down under. Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on Zeahorse in the Music & Culture section, then catch the band with Ex-Gods and Magnetic Rose at 8 p.m. in Northern.

LINK: Thursday, Oct. 2 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

It's a story most South Sounders know well: on the afternoon of March 16, 2003, Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old Olympian peace activist, planted herself in front of an armored Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza strip city of Rafah. She was in Rafah to aid the International Solidarity Movement, a nonviolent pro-Palestinian organization, and that confrontation resulted in her untimely passing. Yet a death sometimes brings new things to life, and so it was with Corrie: her activism and determination inspired the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, a grassroots effort that seeks peace in the Middle East and around the world. The group's mission includes "foster(ing) connections between people, that build understanding, respect, and appreciation for differences." In that spirit, then, the Corrie Foundation (along with numerous cosponsors and individual donors) presents Shuruq II, otherwise known as Olympia's second Arab Festival.

Shuruq is the Arabic word for sunrise. As used here, it evokes a new day in international relations and intercultural understanding. According to Masjid al-Nur, the Islamic Center of Olympia, the capital community boasts Islamic people of more than 25 different ethnicities, yet even in this liberal bastion Muslim culture seems poorly understood. The Corrie Foundation's Arab Festival proceeds from the belief that deeper understanding and appreciation puts many concerns to rest and engenders a sense of intercultural responsibility which, in turn, inspires greater activism.

Having said that, the festival is really about fun over anything else. The festival staff welcomes visitors at 11 a.m., followed quickly by a presentation of Gulf and Saidi (upper Egyptian) dancing by the Shahrazad Dance Ensemble of Seattle. House of Tarab, the band performing at noon, is a well-regarded septet of Egyptian-style magicians; the tarab in their name refers to the joy of being transported by the evocative power of music. The one-o'clock hour is devoted to Arab fashion. Belly dancer Sabura takes the stage at 3:15, followed by the Levantine folk dancers of Jafra Dabke at 4:45. The festival finishes huge when Al Andalus, an internationally recognized ensemble fronted by oudist Tarik Banzi, plays from 5:30 to 6:30. The Olympia Center will also host a half-dozen side presentations, including lessons in Arabic for people from kindergarteners to adults at 11 a.m.

Just don't get so wrapped up in the day's entertainment that you miss out on the food! The intersection of State and Capital Way is the site of the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural. This weekend it'll also host the "Mural Café and Hookah Lounge," a center of (as the Golden Arches once had it) food, folks and fun including more music and dancing. Here's hoping the café's menu includes harissa-spiced merguez sausage, a standout of north African Islamic cuisine, as it is just ridiculously tasty. And yes, there will be hookahs, so smoke 'em if you got 'em.

This Saturday marks the eve of Eid al-Adha ("Festival of the Sacrifice"), an Islamic holiday which honors Ibrahim's (Abraham's) obedience to the will of Allah. Eid al-Adha is a day of sacrifice, devout prayer, and charitable acts - but hey, there's nothing that says we can't get our party on the evening before.

OLYMPIA ARAB FESTIVAL-SHURUQ II, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. NW, Olympia, free admission, 360.754.3998

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 1 2014 >>>

1. Her friends and family may call her Chan Marshall, but the music-loving world knows her better as singer-songwriter (and actor and model) Cat Power. She opened for Liz Phair in the mid-'90s, then crushed on her 2003 album You Are Free. She made an excursion into Memphis soul, starting with a wonderful album of original material, The Greatest. Perhaps her fascination with Delta blues gave way to more personal, vital, even humorous material on Sun, her latest collection. It'd be hard to imagine a more bracing anthem, for example, than "Human Being," which insists, "You got a right to scream when they don't want you to speak." Well, get ready to scream, Oly Sun-worshipers! Cat Power has returned from the blues for an 8 p.m. show at the Capitol Theater.

2. "Metal-Urge" is a massive celebration of all things metal-art forged by 80 artists holding firm in 20 venues all around Tacoma through the month of October and November. Tacoma Arts Administrator Amy McBride created the event, her first large-scale project for the cultural tourism program, nearly 15 years ago. "Metal-Urge" is a citywide celebration of the metal arts that includes both traditional and non-traditional gallery venues exhibiting the metal work of talented artists and includes jewelry, sculptures, vessels, home décor, enamel and artifacts. "Metal-Urge" kicks off today in the LeMay Car Museum's Family Zone offering hood ornament design fun. Museum staff will pick the most creative idea for the month of October and November, offering a special prize for the winners.

3. Tacoma Arts Commission's Tacoma Arts Month kicks off today. Tacoma Arts Month is a rebranded incarnation of Art at Work and is now in its 13th year. The new name is intended to capture the all-encompassing artsy nature of arts in the community - which is exactly what Tacoma Arts Month is all about. Arts Month is an umbrella that arches over more than 300 individual events, workshops, classes et al - music, theater and dance performances; films; literary and cultural events; workshops and classes; and more, all happening in the city in October. Read Kristin Kendle's feature story on Tacoma Arts Month, then learn about the exciting work of artist Marita Dingus as she discusses finding artistic inspiration in her African American heritage and using found materials in her art at 11 a.m. in the Tacoma Art Museum.

4. Fresh hopped brews, also called wet brews, are Pacific Northwest-centric because we live in one of the largest hop growing regions in the world.  Hops are harvested in late summer/early fall and are usually dried to use in beer recipes throughout the year. But because our location has great quantities of hops, many are brewed within hours of coming off the hopbine (the climbing stem of the hop). And no brewery tackles this concept with quite the zeal than Hood River Brewery Double Mountain. Their two fresh hop beers, the big apple/pine punch Killer Red and herbal-esque Killer Green, are often used as currency along the Columbia River. Pint Defiance has scored some of the first kegs of Killer Red Fresh Hop IRA and Killer Green Fresh Hop IPA in the area and will tap those suckers from 5-7 p.m. in what it calls the Double Mountain Fresh Hop Fest.As an added bonus, the beer store/taproom will be Randalling a fresh keg of Vaporizer Pale through locally harvested fresh hops. You're not going to work tomorrow.

5. Grammy-winning saxophonist Paul Sawtelle, who just finished recording a new album, Virtual Insanity, will bring his all-star band to Jazzbones for an all-ages, 8 p.m. show. Power trio pianist Brooke Lizotte, drummer Greg Gilmore and bassist Jon Bayless will open.

LINK: Wednesday, Oct. 1 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

House concerts - those intimate shows where people open their homes to musicians, friends and strangers for an intimate show like no other - are a regular occurrence these days.

The trend got its start in 1997, when singer-songwriters Elizabeth Hummel and Cindy Lee Berryhill embarked on the Living Room Tour. (Rolling Stone magazine even interviewed Berryhill about the groundbreaking tour.)

"It was originally my mom's idea," says Hummel of Olympia, embarks Saturday on a mini tour of house concerts.

>>> Singer-songwriters Elizabeth Hummel and Cindy Lee Berryhill brought their 1997 Living Room Tour to Alan Bershaw's house in Cape Cod. "I have no idea what I am doing in the pic, probably was singing harmonies on one of her songs," says Hummel.  "We learned a lot of each others material so we could back each other up."

Her mom, Betty Hummel, says she was just thinking about Elizabeth's own musical roots.

"My husband was a psychiatrist, but all his life from childhood they had played music in their home, piano and guitar and banjo and fiddle," Betty Hummel says. "She grew up with him playing music all the time in our living room. I just commented that maybe you should do living-room shows and she picked up on it."

"It's the way music was originally shared," Elizabeth Hummel adds.

The idea was practical, not just sentimental. Hummel lacked a booking agent, and the tour was easily booked through a network of folk fans who kept in touch on the Internet.

"We would stay with people most of the time," she says. "They treated us like queens. We'd walk into these living rooms, and we'd feel like rock stars because people were so enthusiastic and supportive.

"We made money," she adds. "That's another thing that was different. If you worked a show at a club, you might make next to nothing. At the living-room concerts, there'd be a suggested donation. If you'd get 20 people, there'd be 200 bucks, as well as CD sales."

The tour sparked a trend, but Hummel - who released her latest album, It's About Time, in July - didn't continue to tour living rooms. The tour beginning Saturday at the home of a neighbor is her first living-room tour since 1997.

"This is the first house-concert tour that I've done since that first one," Hummel said. "I like doing them, but it only works if the hosts are people who almost have a sacred calling to use their space in a way that fosters community and brings music to people."

"My husband and I both love music," said Mary Meyer, who's hosting the Olympia concert. "We have like 1,200 old vinyl albums from the '60s and on up.

"We wanted Elizabeth to have the opportunity in our neighborhood to sing and share her voice and get the music out and bring the neighbors together."

It sounds like a homey gathering indeed. "There will be chocolate-chip cookies," Hummel says.

And though she hasn't done that many, house concerts have continued to be part of Elizabeth Hummel's life.

Betty Hummel recently moved from her longtime Olympia home to a nearby retirement community.

"Before I left the house, Elizabeth decided we needed to have a living-room show there for some special friends," Betty Hummel says. "The house was partially empty but we brought in chairs and had a little living-room show to say goodbye to the house.

"I had lived there for 43 years, so a lot of music had been played in that living room."

ELIZABETH HUMMEL, 8 p.m. Saturday, Carlyon Beach, Olympia, $10-$20 donation suggested, elizabethhummel.com or elizabeth@elizabethhummel.com

Other shows at 8 p.m. Oct. 11 in Oakland, California, and 8 p.m. Oct. 12 in Occidental, California, $10-$20 donation suggested, elizabethhummel.com or elizabeth@elizabethhummel.com

TUESDAY, SEPT. 30 2014 >>>

1. Patagonia, a manufacturer of high-end outdoor apparel and the official outfitter of Portland, Oregon, produced DamNation, a quick, smart documentary about the havoc one country can create in its native fish populations by building 75,000 dams over an 80- or 90-year span. Inaccurately billed as "green energy," hydropower deprives shorelines and riparian zones of the vital silt washed downriver, while preventing salmon from reaching spawning zones and flooding low-lying wilderness areas. Throw on a Patagonia Nano Air Jacket and catch DamNation at 2 and 7 p.m. at The Grand Cinema.

2. One of the greatest challenges facing the bicycle and pedestrian field is the lack of documentation on usage and demand. Without accurate and consistent demand and usage figures, it is difficult to measure the positive benefits of investments in these modes, especially when compared to the other transportation modes such as the private automobile. An answer to this need for data is the National Bicycle & Pedestrian Documentation Project. This nationwide effort provides consistent model of data collection and ongoing data for use by planners, governments, and bicycle and pedestrian professionals. The Washington State Department of Transportation and the Cascade Bicycle Club will be enlisting the support of volunteers to benchmark the numbers of people bicycling and walking on trails, bike lanes, sidewalks and other facilities across the state today through Oct. 2. Be sure to wave.

3. Everyone knows at least one annoyingly perfect woman who not only bakes her own cakes and blends her own icing from scratch, but also decorates desserts like a trained professional. Well, the Martha Stewart reign of terror is officially over: Bayview School of Cooking's Hands-On Cake Decorating 101 class is at 6 p.m. Caroline Willard will teach you the key fundamentals of cake decorating - flowers, borders, figure piping and sugar molding. Because if you can pipe, mold and frost like Betty Crocker herself, no one will care that the sweet stuff came from a Duncan Hines box.

4. Join Wildside Wine for their Yalumba Winemaker Dinner with Jane Ferrari at 6 p.m. Ferrari, winemaker at Australia's oldest winery, will be presenting some of her fine product paired with small bites - think Aussie meat pie and pavlova for dessert - and wow with her abundant vino knowledge and "down to earth wit and charm." Tickets are $45 and reservations are required at 253.565.0811.

5. The Doors tribute band The American Night hits the Red Wind Casino's stage at 8 p.m. Strange days have found us.

LINK: Tuesday, Sept. 30 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area