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Black joy and jerk chicken: Shaina Shepherd pulls together a righteously indignant show in Jimi Hendrix Park

Shepherd was originally scheduled to headline the second Cleared for Takeoff show at the Museum of Flight, but the organizers cancelled the show due to concerns over rising COVID-19 cases and poor ticket sales.

Dan Ray April 28, 2021
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Black joy and jerk chicken: Shaina Shepherd pulls together a righteously indignant show in Jimi Hendrix Park April 28, 2021

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo by Danny Ngan

Pardon me for being Captain Obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said: Booking a show is hard. Booking a show was hard before the pandemic, and booking a show during the pandemic is damn near impossible. The logistics are crazy-making. Finding bands that make a cohesive bill is the easy part. There’s also figuring out load-in times, understanding everyone’s sound setup, and problem-solving the inevitable moment when soundcheck goes awry. Now, add in finding a (COVID-safe) location — and don’t forget promo. Most shows (pre-pandemic) are booked four to six months in advance solely because of promo. It takes work to get people at a show.

But, somehow, Shaina Shepherd managed to put together an entire production and raise over $4,000 for that production in (just under) three days.

Shepherd was originally scheduled to headline the second Cleared for Takeoff show at the Museum of Flight on Friday, April 23, but the organizers cancelled the show on Wednesday due to concerns over rising COVID-19 cases and poor ticket sales. Disappointed both that she wouldn’t be able to perform and that she was missing out on much-needed income after over a year of not playing shows, Shepherd decided to organize the show herself in Jimi Hendrix Park — as she put it, out of “righteous indignation.” Appropriately, she titled it The Artist’s Way (the fundraiser is still accepting donations). Beverly Crusher, who was originally scheduled to open at the Museum of Flight, headlined the show while Shepherd opened.

As a beacon of the music community for her confident and captivating stage presence, vocal support of other artists within the scene, and emphasis on Black art, Shepherd was able to pull together a host of community members to make this production happen. The show was streamed live by Converge Media and also featured Black-owned community merchants like Rooted23, visuals by Blazinspace, and an artist panel with Northwest Folklife Managing Director Reese Tanimura.

As Shepherd strutted onto the stage (the amphitheatre area outside of the Northwest African American Museum) wearing a blue and silver sparkly dress she had bought for the original show, a crowd of about 40 people sat rapt, watching her keenly. She opened the show to immediate cheers with a plea for people to keep wearing masks (including a slyly offhanded joke about staying “safe and sound”), a run down of the show, thanks to all of the community members who helped make the show happen, and a promise of a fun evening. 

Shepherd, who was known for fronting rock band Bear Axe before the pandemic, has been working on her solo music during quarantine. Her set ran the gamut from soulful singer songwriter tracks to funky, electronic bops — with one major theme: Black representation, joy, and empowerment. The most powerful moment of her set was a throaty, yet jubilant, rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Immediately prior, she had danced through her original “Suspicious,” a surprisingly upbeat, bass-heavy, trance jam with lyrics like, “They say I look suspicious with my ‘fro pushed back / and I can see you coming with your baseball bat.” The combination of the two was a beautiful moment of Black joy, a reminder that sometimes it’s okay to smile through pain, and that we can all only do what we can — and sometimes that’s singing a joyfully fed-up song about suspicion.

During intermission, I hosted an artist panel (am I allowed to write about events I’m a part of? Here I am, doing it) with Shepherd, her drummer Heather Thomas, Beverly Crusher frontman Cozell Wilson, Freakout Festival Founder Guy Keltner, and the aforementioned Reese Tanimura. Reflecting on the difficulty of booking shows from an artist perspective, Thomas compared the lack of opportunities to play in Seattle to other major cities. According to Thomas, in cities like Atlanta, a gigging musician can expect to play 5-6 shows a week through residencies at hotels, bars, and restaurants. In Seattle, by contrast, it’s difficult to play more than a couple of shows a month. She advocated for more residencies to be created in Seattle post-pandemic. 

Thomas also urged music fans to support musicians by sharing their music, buying merch, and coming to shows. Tanimura emphasized the discrepancy in how music is valued: During the pandemic, musicians have been tasked more than ever with bringing the community together, but that hasn’t translated into monetary aid. She urged audience members to write to their city council members and state officials about the importance of financially backing the arts.

By the time Beverly Crusher took the stage, the crowd had grown to about 60 people, and it was already past 9 p.m., which is when the show was supposed to end. The hard-driving, uptempo rock band (which takes its name from a Star Trek character) blew through their set, blasting intricate, high-pitched guitar solos along the way. The audience danced through every tune, and I was reminded of how out of shape I am after a year without shows when I got winded after three songs of jumping.

Fronted by Wilson, brothers Sam (drums) and Max (bass) Stiles fill out the group (although Evan Captain filled in for Max while he’s on paternity leave with his new son, Lev). I had never seen Bev live before, so I don’t know if they normally talk between songs — but they didn’t need to. The highlights of their set were every one of Wilson’s head-banging guitar riffs, an infectiously happy attitude and increasingly dance-able drum fills from Stiles, and a surprisingly steady flow from Captain (who had minimal practice time with the band).

Bev closed the night with one encore song (the only other song Captain knew), and Shepherd urged everyone to go buy jerk chicken from a guy named Andrew (another community member who came through to make this show happen in just under three days) who had set up a grill by the parking lot. Per Shepherd’s request, almost the entire audience lined up behind the spicy plume of smoke billowing into the night air to have a (socially distanced) meal together. It almost makes you think music and food go together, like it might make sense to have musicians play regularly at restaurants and bars. Go figure. (Call me righteously indignant, too.)

Check out our photo gallery below for all the best, feel-good moments. If you missed the show or just want to relive it, you can watch the full stream through Converge Media.

Shaina Shepherd welcomes the crowd to the concert at Jimi Hendrix Park just after 7:45 p.m.
Originally scheduled at the Museum of Flight, the show was cancelled due to concerns over rising COVID-19 numbers and low ticket sales. In its stead, Shepherd organized a free, last-minute show at Jimi Hendrix Park.
Prior to the pandemic, Shepherd was most well known for her work with her rock band, Bear Axe. Over the past year, she's been working on a solo project. Pictured here: drummer Heather Thomas.
Shepherd has been able to work on her solo music with the help of her band, who are also her housemates. Pictured here: guitarist Dr. Quinn of Dr. Quinn and the Medicine Woman.
Much of Shepherd's songwriting is about the experience of being a Black woman in Seattle in 2020 and beyond. Here, she raises her fist in solidarity with the George Floyd Protests and protestors of summer 2020.
Bassist Navid Eliot, also of Bodies on the Beach.
Nick Jessen runs sound for Shepherd's set.
Shepherd joyfully performs "Suspicious," a track about racism and how Black people are often deemed suspect in society solely due to the color of their skin. Her solo music runs the gamut from soulfully theatrical singer-songwriter tunes to funky, electronic bangers like "Suspicious."
The show features booths from several Black-owned community businesses. Here, members from children's book author Jeffrey Lee Cheatham II's booth dance.
Sans band, Shepherd performs a cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come."
Shepherd brings the band back to close her set.
Dan's Tunes Founder and CEO Dan Ray hosts an artist roundtable discussion during intermission. From left: Dan Ray, Beverly Crusher frontman Cozell Wilson, Heather Thomas, Shaina Shepherd, and Freakout Festival Founder Guy Keltner.
Shepherd says she put on this show out of "righteous indignation" about the state of the music industry over the course of the pandemic. She bought herself a new dress to play the originally scheduled show at the Museum of Flight, and she says she wanted a place to wear that dress and celebrate the musicians in her community.
According to Heather Thomas, Seattle's music industry varies from other major cities in the amount of chances to play. While other cities provide enough opportunities for bands to play several times a week — through regular residencies at hotels, restaurants, and bars — most Seattle bands are only able to book a few shows a month at designated venues.
As venues begin to book again and are looking for well-known bands to fill slot and sell tickets, Ray asks about how to maintain equitable booking to ensure up-and-coming bands are still able to play. In response, Keltner says he views helping smaller acts as a labor of love and aims to prioritize those acts in booking Freakout Festival.
Northwest Folklife Managing Director stresses the inequities in the value of music: During the pandemic, musicians have been leaned on more than ever to create community, but that hasn't translated into financial worth. To help, she suggests sending letters to city and state council members and officials to stress the importance of sending government funding to the arts.
Originally scheduled to open at the Museum of Flight, Beverly Crusher plays the second set at Jimi Hendrix Park.
Named after Beverly Crusher of the Star Trek series, the band makes hard-driving, fast-paced rock tunes. Pictured here: frontman Cozell Wilson.
Fronted by Wilson, the band is filled out by brothers Max Stiles (bass) and Sam Stiles (drums).
While bassist Max Stiles is on paternity leave, Evan Captain fills in on bass.
During a performance of the band's latest single, "Scared," from April of 2019, Wilson rips a guitar solo.
The event is streamed live by Converge Media, and local VJ Blazinspace runs visuals.
As night falls, several people get up to dance.
In the middle of Beverly Crusher's set, Andrew's Jerk Chicken lights up a grill to cook jerk chicken. After the show, audience members line up to buy the chicken.
As of show time, the fundraiser for the show has made just over $4,000 of its $5,000 goal.
After a fast-paced set, Beverly Crusher plays one encore song. Wilson says they can't play more than that because Captain doesn't know any more of their songs.

All photos by Danny Ngan.

To donate to The Artist’s Way fundraiser, click here.

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Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).