Friday, May 17, 2024
Regular diners around town know their favorite restaurants host regular live music events. Salish Sea Boathouse Taproom and Engel’s Pub are two of the bigger venues.
Smaller locales are getting into the act, too. Kelnero has hosted local musicians for a while, and Musicology Co. – the new record store on Fifth – is a regular stop for local acts.
This week, Vinbero – owned by Kris and Kali Kelnero – and Musicology will go beyond local with the Edmonds debut of singer-songrwriter Roman Ark, originally from Spokane but now living in Salt Lake City.
Musicology’s small-stage-in-a-small-store vibe seems suited for Ark.
“I’m very excited about his tour,” said Musicology owner Rachel Garnder. “I have known him for a long time. We have crossed paths many times throughout our careers, as he is a very accomplished creative director.
“In fact, I hired him to design the Musicology Co. logo. I used to watch his shows when he lived locally and have followed his musical career since that time. I enjoy his Americana style of music, and he is an amazing lyricist. I think people will really enjoy this show.”
Ark lived and worked in Seattle for 15 years and even took to some crabbing in Edmonds off the fishing pier.
“I’ve never performed in Edmonds proper,” he said, “but I’ve spent some time checking things out in the cute downtown area.”
His musical influences include established singer-songwriters and newer acts finding large audiences.
“Someone told me (my music) was ‘indie folk’ last year. I had never heard the term, but I liked it. I grew up listening to a lot of singer-songwriters, rock music, plus alternative and folk music like Ani Difranco. And these days I’m still inspired by that stuff, plus new artists like Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan, and Lizzy McAlpine. Put that all into a blender and I’m not sure what to call it.”
Ark’s stage name is a “sub-anagram” of his given name, Mark Romney. The pandemic had something to do with that.
“It helped me get some perspective more than anything. Coming out of that time, I remembered just how important writing and performing music was to me. Music helps me connect to the world and myself. Writing a new song still feels like magic and is my favorite thing to do.”
After he decided to perform in public again, he tried using his given name as he had in his younger years. But he didn’t like what he felt.
“My last name, Romney, creates a gate for the art I’m making. It comes with expectations and assumptions that I felt got in the way of my ability to connect. So I used letters from my given name and created a sub-anagram: Roman Ark.
“Along with the benefits of erasing those expectations, something I didn’t expect was this sense of freedom to get even more personal and reveal more about my life. It has helped me write music I feel connects with people better.”
One of Ark’s newer songs is “I’m Coming Home.”
“This was a really personal song I wrote after a big realization,” he said.
“The background is that during the pandemic I began exploring many different paths, and from that I left the faith and church I grew up with. My partner chose to stay in it, though. So for a long time, I had these projections of what I wanted her to do and it made me question if we could truly continue as partners.
“The song is about the realization that she’s on their path and I am on mine and we can still be partners even with our differences. And that after I found what was a better path for me, ‘I’m Coming Home’ because I figured out I still love them and want to be with them, and so I’m asking them to allow that reunion.”
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