Live entertainment is still a no-no, so he takes to Facebook

Caleb Kallander was scheduled to put on a show at Looking Glass Coffee in Snohomish on Friday, but the coronavirus put a stop to that.

Looking Glass Coffee had booked nine local acts to perform in July at the coffee shop on First Street. But then Gov. Jay Inslee this week clarified that live entertainment is prohibited until Phase 4 of his four-phase reopening plan.

“We are going to have to cancel all our shows,” said Laura Page, who owns Looking Glass Coffee. “We are so bummed and feel really bad for our musicians.”

You can still catch a live show by Kallander. The folk-rock singer-songwriter from Des Moines, south of Seattle, will perform a live-stream show via his Caleb Kallander Facebook page.

Kallander, 24, will play a mix of folk and rock covers — his favorites include James Taylor, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Carole King — and original songs from his solo album “To Be in Good Company,” which was released in 2019.

“Booking coffee shops and wine bars are really awesome opportunities to play more of that folky stripped-down stuff that I do,” Kallander said, adding that he also plays at the Gravity Lounge & Wine Bar in Edmonds. “It’s a fun excuse to play those covers from the ’60s and ’70s.”

His music career spans eight years and an eclectic range of projects — his latest was the psychedelic-pop-meets-rock ‘n’ roll band Dire Fire. But throughout that time, he’s also been writing songs and performing shows on his own.

Kallander, a delivery driver who has worked as a commercial fisherman, was inspired by Dire Fire’s progressive sound to perform indie, psychedelic pop and folktronica under the moniker Sugar Nap.

His influences include Bon Iver, Tame Impala, Glass Animals, Pink Floyd, Alice in Chains, Joy Division, Pearl Jam and The Doors.

“I had a really clear vision for where I wanted to go,” Kallander said. “It was the direction I was pulling Dire Fire in, and so after we broke up, I started my own studio.

He produced both the Caleb Kallander “To Be in Good Company” album and a Sugar Nap single, “Going Nowhere”, in his home studio. He said a debut Sugar Nap album is in the works.

Humble Jungle Studio in Des Moines is outfitted with instruments, plants and color-changing lights. In the studio, he plays the guitar, piano, drums, bass, synthesizer, dulcimer and harmonica.

“I describe ‘To Be in Good Company’ as songs from the road that needed to be getting on tape,” Kallander said. “That’s kind of been the B side to my career, if that makes sense.

“Sugar Nap is my main thing. That’s where my heart’s been at for the last couple of years. That’s what I want to be doing.”

Kallander said he’ll perform an acoustic version of “Going Nowhere” on Friday’s live-stream show.

“It’s fun how it kind of tips a hat at COVID and that we’re all kind of going nowhere right now — or we’re not supposed to anyway,” he said.

The debut single and music video for Sugar Nap’s “Going Nowhere” is set to release July 24.

“I feel like everything I’ve done in my career thus far has led to this,” Kallander said of his Sugar Nap debut. “I’m just so psyched about it, I sound like a broken record.”

Looking Glass Coffee isn’t the only Snohomish County establishment to have misinterpreted the governor’s orders. For example, Oxford Saloon in Snohomish and Soundbite Cider in Everett have also hosted live music in Phase 2.

A lot of the confusion seems to stem from the definition of “nightclub.” Nightclub is another term for a restaurant or bar that offers live entertainment, like music and stand-up comedy. Which means, in Phases 2 and 3, restaurants and bars are allowed to reopen for table service only.

Page told The Daily Herald that she called the state coronavirus hotline for clarification on Phase 2. She got the OK to host live music.

“I think they were confused about it, too,” Page said. “The woman I spoke to had to go ask her supervisor.”

Sara Bruestle: 425-339-3046; sbruestle@heraldnet.com; @sarabruestle.

If you stream

Caleb Kallander will perform a show 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday in a live stream on his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/caleb.kallander. Visit www.officialsugarnap.com for more information on his Sugar Nap project.