by Jas Keimig
Last weekend's warm weather and surprising visit from the northern lights bodes well for the Seattle summer to come.
As does the arrival of Columbia City Beatwalk, which will officially kick off in June as it celebrates 30 years of existence in the South Seattle neighborhood. Every second Sunday of the month from June through September, local musicians, bands, DJs, and artists will set up shop for the evening in the Columbia City streets and businesses, bringing music and family-friendly fun to the neighborhood. And for its milestone anniversary year, organizers still revel in the magic of each Beatwalk.
"The community comes out, supporting Beatwalk, supporting the neighborhood, supporting the restaurants and all the venues — it's fun," said Tish Gallow, Beatwalk producer. "It's a lot of work, especially June is going to be crazy, but it's not hard. I do it for my heart, and I love it."
Just like last year, Beatwalk will kick off with a two-weekend start. Though the event is normally held on every second Sunday during the summer months, the first Sunday in June — June 1 — is a special one-off Pride-themed Beatwalk on Rainier Avenue South and South Ferdinand Street.
Following the lead of Manny Apostol Jr., who organized Columbia City Pride in 2021, the Beatwalk organizers wanted to celebrate this important month for the LGBTQIA+ community. This year's Beatwalk Pride edition will be hosted by Converge Media's Deaunte Damper with beloved DJ Riz Rollins, performer Cherubim tha Multitude, musician Flourish Maxzeal, singer-songwriter Ariyah Jan, rapper IaMcHaMeL , and drag queen Diamond St. James on deck to perform.
For the first official second Saturday Beatwalk on June 9, musicians will play and celebrate American Roots music, whether that be blues, jazz, bluegrass, or folk. Resident DJ G. Prez and Tracey Wong will DJ the block party, with singer-songwriter Shaina Shepherd and guitarist Michael Powers. True Loves' Jimmy James and Bryant Moore are confirmed to headline. The Royal Esquire Club will also put on its Sunday Funday night — a community stage and open mic with a live band event — hosted by vocalist Lizzie SunChine that evening as well.
Beatwalk traces its roots all the way back to 1994, amid an effort to "revitalize" the neighborhood. Darryl Smith, a real estate agent and chairman of the Columbia City Revitalization Committee at the time, started Beatwalk as means to bring more foot traffic through the neighborhood to support local businesses. What started out as a periodic Friday event along Rainier Avenue South blossomed into the regular summer event series we know today, a staple in the summer calendar for many across the neighborhood and beyond.
It was around 12 years ago when longtime attendee Tish Gallow of Mizz Tish Productions took over organizing Beatwalk as producer after Beau Mason of Lottie's Lounge became too busy to continue putting on the event.
Over the past several years, Gallow has brought on operations manager Kate Bond and permit specialist Jardea Kane to co-organize Beatwalk with her, coming up with different themes every month to diversify the music being played. She also expanded the event outside summer, hosting a Mardi Gras-themed Beatwalk in late winter for the past couple of years. Another important change for both Gallow and Bond was to increase their artist payments in the past two years to account for pandemic hardship.
"We just felt like they deserved it," said Bond. "A lot of musicians weren't able to play anywhere."
As for the future, both Gallow and Bond want to keep Beatwalk beatwalkin' for years to come. They're hoping for more financial stability and more space to make that happen.
"My goal is to eventually be able to do something year-round," said Gallow.
The themes for 2024 Columbia City Beatwalk are as follows:
For more information on themes and times for the 2024 Beatwalk series, head to its Facebook page.
Jas Keimig is a writer and critic based in Seattle. They previously worked on staff at The Stranger, covering visual art, film, music, and stickers. Their work has also appeared in Crosscut, South Seattle Emerald, i-D, Netflix, and The Ticket. They also co-write Unstreamable for Scarecrow Video, a column and screening series highlighting films you can't find on streaming services. They won a game show once.
Featured Image: Jardea Kane (left) and Tish Gallow are two organizers behind Columbia City Beatwalk, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. (Photo courtesy of Columbia City Beatwalk.)
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