Illustration by Stevie Shao.

Pier Sounds 2022

Pier 62 | Free
Saturday August 20, 2022, 6–9 pm
Saturday September 3, 2022, 6–9 pm
This event has passed

Friends of Waterfront Seattle presents Pier Sounds: an annual free concert series on the waterfront. 2022 features sensational local artists including the Black Constellation Collective, Porter Ray, Ya Tseen, Shaina Shepherd, Fly Moon Royalty, Breaks and Swells, and NighTraiN at Pier 62!

All ages welcome

Time: 6pm-9pm, doors open at 5pm

Cost: Free

Come see sensational regional bands and artists including the Black Constellation Collective, Shaina Shepherd, Ya Tseen, Porter Ray, Fly Moon Royalty, Breaks and Swells, and NighTraiN at Pier 62!  Enjoy live music, local food trucks, a beer garden, and all the sights and sounds of Seattle’s waterfront.

After more than a decade, live concerts are back at Pier 62!

Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Pier 62 was home to one of the most iconic and popular music events in the city, Summer Nights at the Pier. These unforgettable concerts helped to solidify Seattle’s status as a crucible for music and culture, and forged a lasting relationship between live music and the city’s waterfront. The Pier Sounds concert series forges this memory with new energy and music on a revitalized Pier 62 to reignite the sense of celebration and community in the place where it all began.

Concert poster art by Stevie Shao.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Shaina Shepherd

Shaina Shepherd

SEPT 3
Shaina Shepherd

Shaina Shepherd is a singer, songwriter, vocal teacher, and community organizer in Seattle, WA. Known for her pervasive style as frontwoman to soul-grunge band BEARAXE, her notable vocal stylings have brought her into various creative spaces — from collaborating with Duff McKagan, Chong The Nomad and Acid Tongue, to sharing stages with rock stars like Dave Matthews and Thunderpussy, to being a soloist with classical ensembles around the country. Inspired by the parallels between gospel and garbage metal, Shaina Shepherd is not your average vocalist. Living in the city where both Soundgarden and Quincy Jones cut their teeth, Shaina lends her soulful voice to projects of all genres.

Fly Moon Royalty

Fly Moon Royalty

SEPT 3
Fly Moon Royalty

Fly Moon Royalty’s music is everlasting! With the team of vocalist Adra Boo & producer and emcee Mike Illvester, you literally can’t go wrong. Mike’s production is smooth and solid, textured, and alive with electricity, and Adra steps to the music with a vocal prowess like no other, holding you and shaking you in equal succession. Although the two have been moving as solo artists for the last few years, what is evident is that when they come together, you are reminded of why the two are heavy-hitting, or for the grown folx, forming like Voltron! Whether they are performing as a two-piece, or joined by vocalist, Taryn “Hot Legs” Dorsey and Xaviera Vandermay’s 3rd Shift Dance crew, you just can’t deny it- FMR is here to put that good good into the atmosphere.

NighTraiN

NighTraiN

SEPT 3
NighTraiN

NighTraiN (NTN) offers a fresh take on the garage, punk, and rock genres, and are constantly discovering their ever-changing voice. The fluctuating ages of the group and their individual experiences genuinely affect the outcome of their music. Exposed to varying viewpoints, they stick to their own truths; therefore, NTN’s music is never stagnant or stuck within one genre due to their non-traditional approach. NighTraiN’s sound is a heavy engine hum formed by the blunt bass rhythms of Selena “No Pick” Whitaker-Paquiet. It is a heartbeat held steady by the percussive stylings of Taryn “Hot Legs” Dorsey. It is dark heat strummed from the guitar of Nicole “Jaja Juicy” Peoples and accompanied by the steam whistle wail of Rachael F.

NTN has toured prominent clubs in major cities up and down the West Coast, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southwest, including Texas.  They have opened for legendary heavyweights like Fishbone and the Coup, and have shared the bill with amazing, nationally known acts such as Brent Amaker and the Rodeo, Witchburn, and Tacocat to name a very few. NTN produces a music festival in Seattle called “Hoodstock,” which celebrated its 13th anniversary July 2022.

Breaks and Swells

Breaks and Swells

SEPT 3
Breaks and Swells

Genre: Funk & Soul

Seattle’s Breaks and Swells have steadily gained notoriety as one of the premier live acts in the city. Featuring funk and soul grooves that recall early 70’s Stevie Wonder, Thundercat, and D’Angelo, the band perfectly compliments the frenetic passion of vocalist Marquetta Miller (Knife Knights). The power and energy of their performances have convinced even hardened Northwest crowds to dance. In the wake of their first self-titled EP and several follow-up singles, the band have given feature performances at Capitol Hill Block Party and Seattle’s venerable Hoodstock. Breaks and Swells released their first full-length record “We Will Not Despair” (produced by Erik Blood) in July of 2018 to positive reviews from KEXP and Artist Home. The band plans to release their next album “Entomology” in 2022.

JusMoni

Stas THEE Boss

Porter Ray

Porter Ray

AUG 20
Black Constellation Collective

KEXP’s “Fresh Off the Spaceship” podcast presents the Black Constellation Collective featuring Ya Tseen, Porter RayStas THEE Boss, JusMoni, and special guests. Hosted by Larry Mizell Jr.

Ya Tseen

Ya Tseen

AUG 20
Ya Tseen

Nicholas Galanin is one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. Born in Sheet’ka (Sitka, Alaska), Galanin is Tlingit and Unangax̂; he creates from his perspective as an Indigenous man. His work calls for an accounting of the damages done to land and life by unfettered capitalism while envisioning and advocating alternate possibilities. For the 2020 Biennale of Sydney, he excavated the shape of the shadow cast by the monumental statue of Captain James Cook, a call for the burial of monuments to violent histories, which ArtNEWS and Artsy called a defining work of 2020. Land Swipe—a painted deer hide that depicts the NYC subway map, marked with selected sites of police violence against Black youth—was called one of “the most important art moments in 2020” by The New York Times. His work spans sculpture, video, installation, photography, jewelry and music; advocating Indigenous sovereignty, racial, social, and environmental justice, for present, and future generations. For Pier Sounds, Ya Tseen’s band will be flying down direct from Tlingit/Alaska!

Porter Ray

Porter Ray

AUG 20
Porter Ray

From the same wet blocks that spawned Quincy, Jimi and Ishmael, comes Porter Ray. Having previously penned six projects showcasing dexterous wordplay, unflinching honesty and vulnerability, tempered with equal degrees of braggadocio and charm; Porter is an old soul, a story teller par excellence, a griot possessing insight beyond his years.

Stas THEE Boss

Stas THEE Boss

AUG 20
Stas THEE Boss

Born on Hilltop in Tacoma, but raised in the south end of Seattle, Stasia represents her home through and through. After learning all the lyrics to Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” at the age of eight, she realized that a career in Hip-Hop was her destiny. She is formerly one half of the Psychedelic-Space-Rap-Jazz duo THEESatisfaction with whom she produced, wrote and performed. She signed with Sub Pop Records in 2011, and released two albums. She was able to spread her love of music to many countries like France, the UK, Australia, China, Portugal and Iceland. She is a member of the Black Constellation, along with Shabazz Palaces, Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes, Nicholas Galanin, Nep Sidhu and Erik Blood.

She currently resides in Seattle and continues performing music as a solo artist, DJing at Havana Social Club and local parties.

JusMoni

JusMoni

AUG 20
JusMoni

JusMoni is the alias of Seattle-based singer-songwriter Moni Tep. Since emerging on the music scene in 2010, she’s released three solo albums while working closely with some of the brightest lights in Seattle’s R&B and hip-hop scenes, including THEESatisfaction, Porter Ray, OCnotes, Chimurenga Renaissance, Tay Sean, and WD4D. She’s one-half of Sway & Swoon with Stas THEE Boss, and a member of world-renowned Black Constellation. With deep roots in the Black church as well as in the traditional music and practices of her motherland Cambodia, her music constantly explores the boundaries of R&B and soul music with songs that touch upon themes of of motherhood, spiritual transformation, the blood’s memory, and family tradition. Just ahead of releasing her new project Sweet To Me, JusMoni shares an exclusive guest DJ mix for Midnight in a Perfect World and it’s an intoxicating journey through R&B, hip-hop, and soul jams that includes local cuts, new anthems, and old favorites.

The Black Tones at Pier Sounds 2021. Photo by Tosin Arasi

Dvonne Lewis and Friends. Pier Sounds 2021, photo by Susan Fried.

Tiffany Wilson at Pier Sounds 2021. Photo by Sunny Martini.

Lady A at Pier Sounds 2021. Photo by Sunny Martini.

Pier Sounds 2021. Photo by Adam Lu.

Partners

Hosted by Friends of Waterfront Seattle

Dedicated to creating and sustaining a waterfront park for all.

Friends of Waterfront Seattle is the City of Seattle’s nonprofit partner helping to build Waterfront Park and ensure its lasting success. Following the public-benefit partnership model, we educate the public about the park and its benefits, raise philanthropic funds to build the park, and will partner with the City to steward, fund, and program the park long term. Our goal is to make the central waterfront a vibrant public mixing ground where all communities can share cultural, recreational, and civic experiences in a beautiful environment.

With Thanks to Our Sponsors