_{Colin Lake playing slide-guitar at Conor Byrne Pub}

On summer evenings, Ballard seems to come alive with music drifting out of every doorway and open window. It doesn’t wind up being a cacophony of different musical styles, though- the music in that neighborhood tends to drift towards alt-country and bluegrass, with a little blues thrown in for good measure.

Tucked away beyond the Tractor Tavern throngs is the smaller, sweeter Conor Byrne Pub. Tonight, it swelled with soulful blues as Colin Lake took the small stage. Colin is the winner of the 2007 Telluride Blues Competition and a Northwest native (Portland to be precise) who developed his unusual style of playing lap-slide guitar over the last several years. His throaty vocals are a good match for the tone of his instrument- at times they seem to harmonize perfectly. And Lake has also developed a percussion style that I’d never seen done before- tapping out a rhythm on his guitar while playing.

His opening act, Alex Weed of Anchorage, Alaska, also has a good blues sound. My table disagreed as to whether he sounded more like Ray LaMontagne or John Mayer, so I guess you’ll just have to imagine what a cross between the two might sound like. Weed’s stage presence seemed a little off tonight, but that likely had to do with a series of technical issues that would have thrown even the most seasoned performer off his game. Once all the mikes were up to speed, he cut into his guitar with some excellent riffs, and even managed to get a bit of audience participation out of a pretty tough crowd.

_{Alex Weed opening for Colin Lake at Conor Byrne Pub}

Related posts:

1. Hillstomp at Conor Byrne
2. Notable shows: Mark Kozelek, Colin Meloy, Laura Veirs, The Earlies
3. conor oberst and the mystic valley band played last week, have an album coming out tomorrow
4. wednesday agenda: conor vs. spencer
5. Fireworks over Lake Union around 9:45