“Awesome” Featuring Sari Breznau and the Singing in the Rain Family Choir

Long ago in a Hall not far away, a select gathering took part in the First Ceremony. Ancient garments were donned. Mysterious rites were observed. Songs of questionable origin echoed through the Hall. Certain doors, once opened, refused to close. We may have lost our security deposit. The acoustical work remains unfinished; this time, “Awesome” shall not undertake the work alone; Sari Breznau and the Singing in the Rain Family Choir have been summoned to add their voices to the Great Hall vibrations. Old songs will be made new again. Spirits will be lifted, moved, and gently replaced. Participants may experience harmony, revelation, synchronized clapping, mild existential uncertainty, and odd whiffs of optimism.

“Awesome” sprang up from the Seattle underground theater and comedy scene in 2004. The seven-member ensemble has created full-length theatrical music performances for On The Boards, the old ACT Theater, and the Portland TBA Festival; toured productions to Montana, Oregon and Calgary; and played countless shows across the Pacific Northwest in storied venues and uncommon spaces: the Crocodile, Neumos, Showbox, the Gorge Amphitheater, the uppermost balcony at the Moore, and the backstage dressing rooms of Town Hall’s Great Hall (Dempster Diving, Earshot Jazz Fest, 2006). They were also commissioned to create original music for the Stranger-produced literary events with Miranda July, Jonathan Safran Foer, Dan Savage, and Neal Pollack. They have released eight albums, including the recent Live From the Aforementioned Place, some of which was recorded live at Town Hall.

John Ackermann – mandolin, keys and vocals
Kirk Anderson – drums and vocals
Basil Harris – bass and vocals
Evan Mosher – trumpet, electronics and vocals
David Nixon – banjo and vocals
John Osebold – guitar and vocals
Rob Witmer – accordion and reeds

Sari Breznau is a creative wizard, using her powers in the service of silliness, connection, and community. She plays bazillions of instruments, writes suspiciously catchy ditties, music directs, makes costumes and props, and loves to help people shed their musical inhibitions and belt it out. Formerly of Circus Contraption, Sari can now be seen in Bellingham’s Up Up Up Inc. Crane Truck Circus, Flotsam River Circus, directing the Singing in the Rain Family Choir in Seattle, or touring with her self-help sing-along disco cult, Mantraband.