PORT TOWNSEND — Guitarist Clay Bartlett will play his original music during Trinity United Methodist’s Candlelight Concerts series.
The in-person and online concert will be tonight at 7 p.m. for one set with no intermission.
The performance, at 609 Taylor St., Port Townsend, will also be streamed live at https://trinityumcpt.org/concerts and simulcast on KPTZ FM 91.9.
Admission is free with a suggested donation of $15 per person.
A donation link can be found on the church’s website.
Half of the proceeds will be donated to Olympic Angels, whose mission is to walk alongside children, youth and families in the foster care community by offering consistent support through intentional giving, relationship building and mentorship.
Bartlett writes “heart worn” songs: some fact, some fiction, some shards of poetry that make a mosaic, event organizers said.
Sometimes the sound of a saddle, sometimes the slam of the door, a lover’s moan, sometimes an empty hallway, with a melody and an acoustic guitar.
There’s a mixture of country, post punk, blues, rock and roll, folk and other random bits.
Bartlett considers himself a lucky guy who was in the right place at the right time.
He started playing bass in bands in Seattle in the late 1980s with such bands as Dead Flowers, The Cheap Ones, England’s Newest Hitmakers, Gerald Collier, The Supersuckers and Port Townsend’s Solvents.
Bartlett has also opened for artists as diverse as Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, X, Jerry Lee Lewis and more.
As a solo artist, he has released two albums: Fixin’ To Break Down, available on CD and download, and Born Bored, available only as a download from https://claybartlett.bandcamp.com/album/fixin-to-break-down.
With his ragged voice and sad songs, he’s opened for both Grammy winner Dave Alvin and nominee Iris Dement.
Like any good songwriter, he doesn’t mind stealing bits from here and there to make his own patchwork quilt.
The key, he said, is to not tell anyone.
