Community Calendar

Guitar virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer, educator and activist are just a few titles used to describe the musical powerhouse known as Isaiah Sharkey. Hailing from a musical family in Chicago, he picked up his first guitar when he was just 3 years old. Creating music came naturally to him and it wasn’t long before his family realized he had an irrefutable gift. By the age of 14, Sharkey was performing in clubs in Chicago and a few short years later he had piqued the interest of music industry giants like The Isley Brothers, D’Angelo, for whom he won his first Grammy Award, John Mayer, Patti LaBelle and many others. Blending his background in rock, gospel, jazz, R&B, blues, and funk, Sharkey has created his own original sound with an unmistakable dose of soul. His highly anticipated debut album Love.Life.Live. was released in September of 2017 and earned him the iHeart Radio "Artist of the Month" Award in November for his single “It’s a Shame” featuring DJ Jazzy Jeff. His sophomore album Love is the Key: The Cancerian Theme was released in June of 2019. During the Covid 19 pandemic, Sharkey wrote and recorded with a few of his colleagues including Cory Henry and Common. Sharkey is also recording new music for his latest release and gearing up for his U.S. and European tour this summer.

Guitar virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer, educator and activist are just a few titles used to describe the musical powerhouse known as Isaiah Sharkey. Hailing from a musical family in Chicago, he picked up his first guitar when he was just 3 years old. Creating music came naturally to him and it wasn’t long before his family realized he had an irrefutable gift. By the age of 14, Sharkey was performing in clubs in Chicago and a few short years later he had piqued the interest of music industry giants like The Isley Brothers, D’Angelo, for whom he won his first Grammy Award, John Mayer, Patti LaBelle and many others. Blending his background in rock, gospel, jazz, R&B, blues, and funk, Sharkey has created his own original sound with an unmistakable dose of soul. His highly anticipated debut album Love.Life.Live. was released in September of 2017 and earned him the iHeart Radio "Artist of the Month" Award in November for his single “It’s a Shame” featuring DJ Jazzy Jeff. His sophomore album Love is the Key: The Cancerian Theme was released in June of 2019. During the Covid 19 pandemic, Sharkey wrote and recorded with a few of his colleagues including Cory Henry and Common. Sharkey is also recording new music for his latest release and gearing up for his U.S. and European tour this summer.

In partnership with the Washington Blues Society, the Downtown Issaquah Association is excited to announce Thursday night Gas Station Blues series July 7 – August 25. Gas Station Blues will feature talented blues artists every Thursday night from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Historic Shell Station located at 232 Front Street North. Come early and picnic on the grass or enjoy one of the fantastic art galleries or restaurants along Front Street before the show. Bring a chair and/or blanket and enjoy the summers night blues. This is a free, all ages event open to the public. Historic Downtown Issaquah has a vibrant and lively scene and Gas Station Blues enhances that scene even further.

More information:

In partnership with the Washington Blues Society, the Downtown Issaquah Association is excited to announce Thursday night Gas Station Blues series July 7 – August 25. Gas Station Blues will feature talented blues artists every Thursday night from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Historic Shell Station located at 232 Front Street North. Come early and picnic on the grass or enjoy one of the fantastic art galleries or restaurants along Front Street before the show. Bring a chair and/or blanket and enjoy the summers night blues. This is a free, all ages event open to the public. Historic Downtown Issaquah has a vibrant and lively scene and Gas Station Blues enhances that scene even further.

More information:

Rolling across America on a sizzling summer run, Tedeschi Trucks Band’s “Wheels of Soul” tour brings the Grammy-winning, 11-piece blues-rock dynamo together with soul sensation Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and acclaimed guitarist Doyle Bramhall II. Delivering over 4 hours of music each night, the artists will perform at some of the finest outdoor venues in the country. Perhaps not since the days of Joe Cocker’s supersized Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour of the early ’70s has this much talented rock and soul hit the road together and already has critics raving. “Epic!” “Jaw-dropping!” “Easily one of the best nights of live music!” “Musical Magic.!”

Formed in 2010 with a spirit of adventure that saw Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks shelve their equally successful solo careers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, an 11-piece tour-de-force, has quickly become the vanguard of modern roots music. Driven by Trucks, #16 of the top 100 Guitarists of All Time (Rolling Stone), and Tedeschi’s impassioned, blues-soaked vocals, the Jacksonville-based group earned a Grammy for its debut, Revelator, followed with a dynamic live double disc, Everybody’s Talkin,’ and most recent album Made Up Mind. With Derek Trucks having wrapped up his 15-year tenure with The Allman Brothers Band, TTB has fully dedicated itself to expanding its legendary live performances with an increasing repertoire of soulful neo-classics.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have been hailed as one of the leading forces in the revival of classic soul and funk. They have traveled the world for more than a decade, blowing minds with their electrifying live performances and raw, handcrafted studio recordings. The Brooklyn based 11-piece group delivers sharp, danceable funk grooves, impassioned singing and sweet soul hooks. Touring behind its sixth album on the Daptone label, 2014’s Give the People What They Want, which received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album, the prolific powerhouse and survivor that she is, Sharon Jones has fully recovered from a 2013 cancer diagnosis and bounced back with one of the biggest years of her career.

Doyle Bramhall II was just 18 when he was recruited by Jimmie Vaughan to play with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, two years later Doyle co-founded the Arc Angels with Charlie Sexton and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rhythm section: Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon. Eric Clapton then invited Bramhall to join Clapton’s group full-time and their association flourished. Collaborations with such as artists as Sheryl Crow, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Elton John, Gary Clark Jr., Erykah Badu, and Gregg Allman have kept Doyle highly in-demand. He is now completing his fourth solo album, launching the next chapter of his musical journey.

Presented by KNKX. With a recording career that began in 1998 at age 18, award-winning vocalist Shemekia Copeland has grown to become one of the most talented and passionately candid artists on today’s roots music scene. Her riveting new album, Uncivil War, builds on the musically and lyrically adventurous territory she’s been exploring for over a decade, blending blues, R&B and Americana into a sound that is now hers alone. The soulful and uncompromising Uncivil War tackles the problems of contemporary American life head on, with nuance, understanding, and a demand for change. It also brings Copeland’s fiercely independent, sultry R&B fire to songs more personal than political. NPR Music calls Shemekia “authoritative” and “confrontational” with “punchy defiance and potent conviction. It’s hard to imagine anyone staking a more convincing claim to the territory she’s staked out—a true hybrid of simmering, real-talking spirit and emphatic, folkie- and soul-style statement-making.”

Uncivil War, her ninth album (Oct. 2020), recorded in Nashville with award-winning producer and musician Will Kimbrough at the helm—is a career-defining album for three-time Grammy nominee Copeland. With songs addressing gun violence (Apple Pie And A .45), civil rights (the Staple Singers-esque message song, Walk Until I Ride), lost friends (the Dr. John tribute Dirty Saint), bad love (Junior Parker’s In The Dark) as well as good (Love Song, by her father, legendary bluesman Johnny Clyde Copeland), Uncivil War is far-reaching, soul-searching and timeless. Guests on Uncivil Wa include Americana superstar Jason Isbell, legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, rising guitar star Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, rocker Webb Wilder, rock icon Duane Eddy, mandolin wizard Sam Bush, dobro master Jerry Douglas, and The Orphan Brigade providing background vocals.

Presented by KNKX. With a recording career that began in 1998 at age 18, award-winning vocalist Shemekia Copeland has grown to become one of the most talented and passionately candid artists on today’s roots music scene. Her riveting new album, Uncivil War, builds on the musically and lyrically adventurous territory she’s been exploring for over a decade, blending blues, R&B and Americana into a sound that is now hers alone. The soulful and uncompromising Uncivil War tackles the problems of contemporary American life head on, with nuance, understanding, and a demand for change. It also brings Copeland’s fiercely independent, sultry R&B fire to songs more personal than political. NPR Music calls Shemekia “authoritative” and “confrontational” with “punchy defiance and potent conviction. It’s hard to imagine anyone staking a more convincing claim to the territory she’s staked out—a true hybrid of simmering, real-talking spirit and emphatic, folkie- and soul-style statement-making.”

Uncivil War, her ninth album (Oct. 2020), recorded in Nashville with award-winning producer and musician Will Kimbrough at the helm—is a career-defining album for three-time Grammy nominee Copeland. With songs addressing gun violence (Apple Pie And A .45), civil rights (the Staple Singers-esque message song, Walk Until I Ride), lost friends (the Dr. John tribute Dirty Saint), bad love (Junior Parker’s In The Dark) as well as good (Love Song, by her father, legendary bluesman Johnny Clyde Copeland), Uncivil War is far-reaching, soul-searching and timeless. Guests on Uncivil Wa include Americana superstar Jason Isbell, legendary guitarist Steve Cropper, rising guitar star Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, rocker Webb Wilder, rock icon Duane Eddy, mandolin wizard Sam Bush, dobro master Jerry Douglas, and The Orphan Brigade providing background vocals.