Here’s a recipe for one wild evening: Blend together beloved local troubadour Jason Webley, avante-garde rock star and author Amanda Palmer and other musicians, tail-wagging dogs, and a chance to help the Everett Animal Shelter.
What do you get? A show called “Shakaroo.”
The fundraising concert is scheduled for Feb. 13 at the Everett Performing Arts Center. Money raised at the fifth-annual event will pay for specialized veterinary care and other needs, said Glynis Frederiksen, Everett Animal Shelter manager.
Dogs and puppies appearing onstage that night will bring more than comic relief. They’re destined to become concertgoers’ companions. The pooches — 17 puppies and 19 dogs at last count — will be available for adoption the next morning at the shelter.
Webley will headline the show. A singer-songwriter who has called his music gypsy-punk, he has taken his engaging style and his accordion all over the world. Now living in Everett, the Mariner High School graduate has played packed shows here.
In 2014, Webley worked with collaborators to create “Margaret,” a wondrous concert and CD based on a discarded photo album. The subject of each song was a chapter in the life of the late Margaret Rucker, who was born in 1907 to one of Everett’s founding families. After the debut concert at the Everett Historic Theatre, Webley took “Margaret” on tour.
With his full band, Webley was back at the Everett Historic Theatre in 2015 for the Fisherman’s Village Music Festival.
“It’s going to be a really great night,” Webley said recently. “A few of my favorite performer friends are going to be in town and have agreed to play a few songs.”
What friends he has. Webley is bringing to Everett the star power of Palmer, who was half of The Dresden Dolls rock band. Webley and Palmer met 16 years ago when both were street performers in Australia. They collaborated, performing as Evelyn Evelyn and on other projects. Webley introduced Palmer to her husband, writer Neil Gaiman.
“She’s a weird kind of famous,” Webley said Thursday. “If you know who she is, she’s really famous.”
The New York Times has described Palmer as “one of music’s most productive users of social media.” She raised a record-setting $1.2 million on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter to make her 2012 album “Theatre Is Evil” with The Grand Theft Orchestra. Her musical style has been called dark cabaret.
Webley said Thursday her appearance here is because of a “chain of coincidences.” Palmer will be in the area before attending this month’s TED2016, a conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Palmer’s TED talk about her Kickstarter campaign and her approach to art has been viewed more than 7 million times. Her 2014 book “The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help” debuted on The New York Times best-seller list.
Also performing at the fundraiser will be Everett singer-songwriter Sarah Schmidt of the band Mts. and Tunnels, Michigan-based banjo picker Andru Bemis and Steven Parris, who played at previous Shakaroo shows with his band Nigel Mustafa.
Frederiksen said the animal shelter’s maintenance and operations budget comes from the city. “Then we have a fund for the animals,” she said. The concert will support that fund, which pays for specialized veterinary services, surgeries and other needs “above and beyond things not budgeted through the city,” she said. The 2015 show raised about $9,000.
“This will be my first Shakaroo,” said Frederiksen, who was hired as shelter manager last fall. Following Webley’s opening set, event sponsors will lead the dogs onstage in a “pooch parade,” she said. At intermission, there will be more chances to check out potential pets. The other performers will take the stage in the show’s second half.
That’s after intermission — “whine and wine,” Frederiksen said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
‘Shakaroo’ show
Local musician Jason Webley will headline the Everett Animal Shelter fundraising concert “Shakaroo” on Feb. 13 at the Everett Performing Arts Center. Special guest Amanda Palmer is also on the bill. Other performers include banjo player Andru Bemis, Sarah Schmidt of the band Mts. and Tunnels, and Steven Parris.
Doors open 6 p.m. Feb. 13, with seating starting at 6:30. The Everett Performing Arts Center is at 2710 Wetmore Ave.
Tickets are $25, or $100 for VIP package that includes up-front seating and pre-event meet and greet: http://shakaroo2016.brownpapertickets.com.
Dogs appearing at the event will be available for adoption at 10 a.m. Feb. 14 at the Everett Animal Shelter, 333 Smith Island Road, Everett.
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