October is my favorite month on the mountain.
The fog sits lower now. The deciduous trees are turning — patches of yellow and rust against the fir and cedar. The air has that cold-morning weight to it where your breath shows at rehearsal and the guitar strings feel different under your fingers. It's the kind of atmosphere that makes everything feel more serious and more alive at the same time.
A few weeks ago I was out on Orcas Island for Imagine Music & Arts Festival at Doe Bay Resort — three days of music, movement, and people making things with their hands right in front of each other. There was a drum circle that went past midnight, fire on the beach, the kind of collective energy that you can't manufacture and can't replicate online. I came home with sore legs and a full heart.
What Imagine does, what Si Sessions does, what a good tablao show does — they're all versions of the same thing. Humans in a room. The real thing. In a year when generated everything keeps getting better and more ubiquitous, I keep coming back to this: the unrepeatable moment is the whole point.
October is full. Details below. Go to something this month.
— Kyle
Coming in December
Dec 4 — Flamenco Jam · Cafe Paloma · Free | Dec 18 — Flamenco Festero · Harissa · $25–35
Got shows coming up? Hit reply and I'll add them to the next issue.
Si Session 21 — Tommy Wiggins & Steve Haack. Two musicians who've been doing this long enough that the music just spills out of them, easy and unhurried. Six songs recorded on the mountain, roots folk and Americana at their most natural.
A classic reworked — warmth and weight in equal measure.
Quiet and green. The mountain in the background does exactly what you want it to.
A promise put to song. Easy groove, real feeling.
The title alone. This one lands.
Honest and unhurried. October morning music.
The one that makes people laugh before it makes them feel something. Watch it.
Coming soon: Si Session 22 with Jonathan Sherrill.
Watch All 21 Si SessionsResidencies are underrated.
Tommy Wiggins has been playing Buckshot Honey every few weeks all year. No ticket sales, no promoter, no algorithm. Just showing up. And something has been building — a growing regulars crowd, people bringing friends, a room that now expects him. That's how you build an audience: consistent presence in a specific place over time. It's boring to describe and it actually works.
Intimate tablao-style shows are having a moment.
30–50 person capacity. Tickets at $25–$35. Deliberate programming, communal seating, a room where people can actually see the musicians. We've been running Oleaje shows in this format for several months now and the vibe is consistently good — audiences are engaged in a way that larger, louder rooms don't produce. It's not a trend so much as a format that works when it's done with intention.
Americana is the fastest-growing format in roots music.
Three years of Americana Music Association data show consistent audience growth in the 25–45 demographic — a cohort that actually buys tickets, merch, and records. Country pop has the numbers but Americana has the loyalty. The crossover potential is real for artists who can straddle folk, blues, and roots traditions without losing their identity in the process.