Meet the incredibly talented Jeff Barlow, a creative director at Boeing who has found his true passion in live music sketching.

Jeff’s unique artistry involves attending live music shows and sketching the bands as they perform, capturing the energy and essence of their music in his drawings. His art is created in the time the band performs one song. With an impressive portfolio that includes notable musicians and encounters with bands like X and Mike McCready,

Jeff shares his experiences and insights into the local music scene. Join us as we dive into the world of live music sketching and discover the interconnectedness of art, music, and the vibrant Washington State community.

Grab your headphones and get ready to explore the fascinating world of Jeff Barlow on ‘Exploring Washington State’!

Jeff Barlow Episode Transcript

Hello friends, and welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington state. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. We’re gonna get started. I’m sitting here with Jeff Barlow.

Scott Cowan [00:00:28]:

Jeff, I’m gonna remind you of how I first met you and why I asked you out on the show. And I think and I was always worried the way I described it to you on the phone. I might have offended you because I described you as this this odd guy who was standing at the stage with a sketchbook, and he was just standing there. And I was, like, I was with my wife and my good friend, And we’re sitting there and by the way, everyone, this is Slim’s Last Chance in in South Seattle, which is this tiny little dive bar. It’s a great little dive bar, But I don’t know Jeff. You know, didn’t know who he was. He’s standing there minding his own business. I mean, it’s not like, Jeff, you were being Disruptive, but you were just standing there at the corner of the stage.

Scott Cowan [00:01:09]:

I’m like, what’s he doing? What’s he doing? And all night long, it was, what’s he doing? Well, in the next day, Facebook blew up with all the pictures from that event because it was Christy McWilson, and Dave Alvin came to town, and and Dave Dave Alvin was playing guitar. And, yeah, I think it was a a loosely held secret that Dave Alvin was gonna be at at Slim. So the place was packed. The the the there was electricity in the air. I mean, there really was. It was it was amazing show. Right? And so, Jeff, who’s

Jeff Barlow [00:01:43]:

In the Kitchen Kitchen Radio Reunion, if I remember.

Scott Cowan [00:01:45]:

Kitchen Radio Reunion. That’s correct. We left partway through that because they were so loud. I couldn’t I couldn’t take it anymore. They were just too loud for the room. They sounded I I think I liked their music. It was just it was physically painful for me. So Jeff’s standing there.

Scott Cowan [00:02:01]:

He’s got this book out. I’m like, what’s he doing? Well, it turns out that, Jeff, you do drawings of bands, but you the the the the shtick, which is really cool, is that you draw in the time of just 1 song, and you’re you release the effort to the wild, if you will. If it’s great, it’s great. If it’s If it’s not, you’re you’re you’re okay with that. Mhmm. So I saw one of your drawings on Facebook, and I really liked it, And I reached out to you. I wanna buy one of those. I also wanna have you on the podcast.

Scott Cowan [00:02:35]:

Well, so far, I haven’t bought 1, and we’re recording a podcast. So we’re getting there.

Jeff Barlow [00:02:39]:

But then way there.

Scott Cowan [00:02:40]:

But then for quirk we twist of fate number 2, as I’m doing my research today before you we get on here, I I see that you have a day job as a creative director for a small company that no one’s ever heard of called Boeing.

Jeff Barlow [00:02:58]:

That’s right.

Scott Cowan [00:02:59]:

So my first question to you is I’m not even gonna let you introduce yourself because I’m just gonna tease the questions out of you guys. What does the create by the way, the The tagline up I’m looking on the browser right now. It’s Jeff Barlow, creative director at Boeing. This is from linkedin.com. I’m reading. This is publicly accessible. Jeff is one of the nicest people in the business. He’s a teacher through and through and always inspires his team to create work that solves a business, and then it goes okay.

Scott Cowan [00:03:25]:

What does the creative director do at Boeing?

Jeff Barlow [00:03:30]:

Well, first of all, it’s not the creative director. It’s a creative director. Right? There’s there’s multiples of us.

Scott Cowan [00:03:36]:

Sorry. How many how many let me interrupt you. How many creative directors do you think Boeing has?

Jeff Barlow [00:03:45]:

That I know about right now, there’s 2 of us. Okay. And since I’ve since I’ve been there, it’s been as many as 7.

Scott Cowan [00:03:50]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:03:51]:

In the past, it had been even more than that. But, the the idea of what we do has narrowed significantly because, We don’t do a lot of the smaller stuff anymore because it can get handled other ways.

Scott Cowan [00:04:06]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:04:06]:

So, my job is to work with Somebody in one of the businesses that has a a goal they wanna achieve. For example, I worked with, communications to do all the graphics for the Paris Air Show.

Scott Cowan [00:04:19]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:04:20]:

We have a big presence over there. It has walls. We put the stuff on the walls. It has screens. We put video on the screens. There’s an Internet connection to it. We build the website for it. Gotcha.

Jeff Barlow [00:04:31]:

All that kind of stuff. But my job is to work with them to figure out what the strategy is, what do we need to accomplish k. And then to work with the design team to say, alright. Here’s the Strategy. Now go design it and bring it back to me. I I

Scott Cowan [00:04:42]:

So you can’t help me with my quest to make the bathrooms on a Boeing airplane Comfortable for a man who’s 6 foot 4.

Jeff Barlow [00:04:50]:

Alright. I cannot, unfortunately. I’m I’m all about Communications.

Scott Cowan [00:04:55]:

Alright. Well, I had you know, hey. I thought thought maybe I had a shot. Okay. And how long have you how long have you been at Boeing?

Jeff Barlow [00:05:02]:

7 coming up on 7 years.

Scott Cowan [00:05:04]:

Okay. And so you do so you kind of it’s project work then. Like, the Paris Air Show is a project. Mhmm. Maybe another group wants you to do something in all of this. Alright. Yeah. I also saw then on LinkedIn that you Have sketched, like, an I think it was a b 17.

Jeff Barlow [00:05:25]:

Uh-huh.

Scott Cowan [00:05:26]:

And and that was pretty cool.

Jeff Barlow [00:05:28]:

No. No. What was that? It was a b 25.

Scott Cowan [00:05:32]:

25?

Jeff Barlow [00:05:33]:

The b 25 was in town. No. Maybe no. It was a b 25. I haven’t drawn the b 17 yet. It’s on my list, But it was a b 25 called Grumpy that was in town for some sort of celebration. So I ran over there and guessed it.

Scott Cowan [00:05:47]:

Don’t you think it’s a little odd that Grumpy was in town for a celebration? Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:05:52]:

I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you’re right. So

Scott Cowan [00:05:57]:

But what I want you on and so the Boeing piece is very interesting to me. I mean, that’s a very cool because it ties into Washington state. It’s it’s very, you know, it’s very near and dear to our to our state. What got you started doing live music?

Jeff Barlow [00:06:17]:

Well, have you heard the term urban sketching?

Scott Cowan [00:06:23]:

I have, but I’m gonna ask you to explain it.

Jeff Barlow [00:06:26]:

Okay. The the 1st place I ran into it, there’s a a gentleman named Gabby Campanario who was the Seattle sketcher for the, the The Seattle PI. Mhmm. And he’d go out once or twice a week, and he would find a scene in Seattle, and he would sketch it. And his idea was find a place that you care about, that you like, that you love, and sit and sketch it, and it becomes a part of you. Right? And it will become more a part of your soul Drawing for 30 minutes or an hour than if you took 200 pictures of this place. Right? And he gave a workshop at a design conference I was at, and I I did it, and it was like I started it. Get excited about it.

Scott Cowan [00:07:06]:

Jeff Barlow [00:07:06]:

This urban sketching thing, go someplace you love and sketch it. So much so that that I was getting ready to do a backpacking trip to Yosemite, and I thought, instead of bringing a camera, I’m gonna bring a sketchbook. And I got 12 sketches over a week instead of 400 photos. And I gotta tell you, those sketches, I open up that book and look at the sketch of the lake, and, wow, I it takes me right there. I can smell the trees. I can feel the breeze. I can feel the the heat of the sun, everything. So fast forward, I’ve been doing this for a while.

Jeff Barlow [00:07:40]:

A friend of mine who’s a musician invites me to his band gig. And I show up, and I thought, well, I’m gonna urban sketch this band. Well, it was terrible. They won’t hold still. They’re all over the place. And I was starting to get frustrated, and I was like, fine. If you’re gonna just be a mess, then I’m gonna be a mess. The next song, And this is all a conversation I’m having with myself in my head.

Jeff Barlow [00:08:02]:

I wasn’t talking to the band. Right. I was just sitting in the back of my sketchbook. I was like, alright. Next song they do, when they start, I’m gonna start, And I’m gonna draw the whole band in 1 song and see what happens. And they struck up, and I and they finished. And I pulled the pencil out, and I was like, That’s kinda cool. So I tried it again.

Jeff Barlow [00:08:24]:

And now I go to 1 show a week and get between 15 and 25 drawings a week. I just finished my 48 sketchbook. I just passed 3,000 or so drawings.

Scott Cowan [00:08:34]:

Wow.

Jeff Barlow [00:08:35]:

And I’m the guy who draws the band in 1 song.

Scott Cowan [00:08:40]:

I have a lot of questions about this. I really do. And but but I

Jeff Barlow [00:08:44]:

hope I can answer that.

Scott Cowan [00:08:45]:

But one thing’s that you you the the whole Yosemite thing. Mhmm. I’ve read many times that if you’re Taking notes that the act of putting pen or something to paper. Right? The writing it out is You you retain more of that than you do if you if you type.

Jeff Barlow [00:09:05]:

Absolutely.

Scott Cowan [00:09:05]:

And I I think that’s true. The problem for me is that if I try to read my writing, then I never understood what I wrote. Luckily, my memory is better, so I can remember it. But I can’t read it. But I do think that’s interesting, but I’ve never drawn the connection to, drawing versus photography. So that’s kind of that’s kinda cool.

Jeff Barlow [00:09:30]:

I actually ran into another guy who Sketch’s band. He doesn’t do it in 1 song. He just shows up and does sketches. And, he says, you know, some people will say, well, You’re not paying attention to the music. How do you get that? And he says, what they don’t understand is that you and I know those bands better than anyone that was in that audience.

Scott Cowan [00:09:49]:

Well, we’re gonna go there too. Alright. So Okay. Where so your friend that invited you out to the first so that was your Introduction to this.

Jeff Barlow [00:09:59]:

Yep. Do

Scott Cowan [00:10:00]:

you remember the 1st band that you went to of your own Free will, if you will, to go to and do this.

Jeff Barlow [00:10:10]:

It might have been hang on. I’ll tell you.

Scott Cowan [00:10:13]:

Yeah. I guess if you got if you got the sketchbook.

Jeff Barlow [00:10:15]:

Sketchbook right here. So let’s find The first the first book was not dedicated to bands. It was dedicated to all my urban sketching. So if I can find him, I will find the next band, and then we’ll be set. So okay. Here we go. There it is. That’s the first one right there.

Jeff Barlow [00:10:40]:

Not that you can see it in a podcast. Right. But I

Scott Cowan [00:10:42]:

can see it, folks.

Jeff Barlow [00:10:43]:

Yep. So we turn the page. The band was called quarter past 8, and they did, like, classic rock stuff. They’re They’re still playing together.

Scott Cowan [00:10:51]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:10:52]:

And the 1st band after that is there’s a drive in Wisconsin. There’s a penguin. Sorry. I thought this was gonna be faster than

Scott Cowan [00:11:05]:

it was. This is cool.

Jeff Barlow [00:11:10]:

Okay. It was Jeremy DeBards, who now I believe goes by I can’t remember what he goes by, but he’s a he’s a 1 man musician that plays a guitar, holds a drumstick, and sits behind a drum kit, and sings and plays, and See, talk,

Scott Cowan [00:11:27]:

paint, Jack. Everett?

Jeff Barlow [00:11:29]:

I think so. Kind of a hard rock

Scott Cowan [00:11:31]:

sound.

Jeff Barlow [00:11:32]:

Uh-huh.

Scott Cowan [00:11:32]:

I think he’s on tour with Tool right now.

Jeff Barlow [00:11:35]:

You might be.

Scott Cowan [00:11:36]:

And he goes by something there I saw him and I saw him online, and I thought, oh, this would be kinda cool to talk to him on the show. And Yeah. And and kind does he dress up in costumes kind of a little? This guy’s kind of Flamboyant

Jeff Barlow [00:11:53]:

like Oh, yeah. He’s very energetic. Yeah. Like Kinda like Last time

Scott Cowan [00:11:56]:

I saw

Jeff Barlow [00:11:56]:

him, he was wearing a fizz.

Scott Cowan [00:11:58]:

I saw him. I saw some picture. I wish I could think of it who his name or what he goes by now, but he was backstage somewhere. He looked like he was, And I mean this nicely. I don’t mean it well, I’m being sarcastic, but I don’t mean it.

Jeff Barlow [00:12:12]:

But

Scott Cowan [00:12:12]:

it looked like it was, like, Kiss meets John Travolta meets a clown from the Wrigley Brothers Circus. It was bright, colorful. It was kind of For a performer, it was cool.

Jeff Barlow [00:12:26]:

Let’s just put our Performer is a perfect way to put it. But he was opening for a band called Chris Mess.

Scott Cowan [00:12:34]:

Okay. Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [00:12:35]:

And, at, Tim’s Tavern in the old location, Tim’s Tavern. So that was the first one I went to on my own, and I was just like, I’m gonna go Check these guys out and bring my book.

Scott Cowan [00:12:45]:

Okay. So what you said the first time you you’re in the back of the room.

Jeff Barlow [00:12:52]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:12:52]:

Is that where you started out doing this? That you started sitting? Or when did you start? Because it’s pretty bold to stand up front all night long. I mean I mean that complimentary. Like, you you gotta carve your space out. People people might not like. That’s prime real estate sometimes. So did you start in the back of the room? And as you got more comfortable, Well, you moved your way up, or

Jeff Barlow [00:13:13]:

what’s the process? It was it was pretty quick. I realized that the way I need to capture detail, I needed to not have anybody in my way.

Scott Cowan [00:13:21]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:13:22]:

So it was pretty quick that I worked my way up to the front, at bigger shows. At smaller shows, there isn’t really an issue because you go I I deliberately go to smaller venues where there’s 12 people in the audience, and 8 of them are the other 2 bands who were playing that night.

Scott Cowan [00:13:40]:

So you see my friends play. Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:13:43]:

Probably. But, so I could kinda sit in there with those, but then I started just Working my way up to the front, and I try to go over to the side. I don’t wanna block anybody’s view. And the other thing that is, I I get there very early, and I grab a spot So that there’s no question about where I’m gonna be. I don’t move around

Scott Cowan [00:14:01]:

Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [00:14:01]:

So that I’m not you know, I’ve seen photographers, who are really, really good about staying low profile and whatever. And then I’ve seen photographers who really ruined the show for the audiences because all of a sudden, they’re just standing right in front of people.

Scott Cowan [00:14:14]:

We had a little of both at at the Christy McQuilson Show. I mean, there was a there was 1 guy who was really good. Yep. He was really he stayed low, and the stage is low there. So

Jeff Barlow [00:14:24]:

Yep. Mike Mitchell. That guy is a photo ninja.

Scott Cowan [00:14:27]:

And then there was another person who, You know, they weren’t Yep. They weren’t awful, but they weren’t it in fact, honestly, I probably wouldn’t have even paid him any attention other than The other guy was so discreet that Yeah. This other guy looks so annoying versus the but alright.

Jeff Barlow [00:14:49]:

He’s a that guy is actually a really good friend of mine, and he told me once, he says, when I first started doing this, I had somebody tap me on the shoulder and say, you know, you ruined the show for a lot of people, and he said that was just a big wake up call. And he’s like, I can’t do that anymore. So I get there early, try to find a spot in the corner. I try to get a spot where I can step back in into the shadows a little bit because I don’t want the band to be affected by what I’m doing. I don’t want me to look down like, what is this What what’s going on?

Scott Cowan [00:15:15]:

Right.

Jeff Barlow [00:15:15]:

Although, I did have a guy. Sometimes, when I show them this stuff at the end, they’ll say, I wondered what you were doing over there. So I draw the band in 1 song. Oh, that’s so cool. And one one time, I had a guy, like, right in the middle of of his show. Like, he finishes a song and walks over the edge of the stage and looks at me. He’s like, dude, What the hell are you doing? I just held up my book. I said, I draw the band in 1 song.

Jeff Barlow [00:15:43]:

He’s like, oh, that’s cool. And then he 1234, off we go. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:15:47]:

Exactly. Oh my gosh. Okay. So You said earlier you go to 1 show a week?

Jeff Barlow [00:15:56]:

Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:15:57]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:15:58]:

Unless there’s Two bands playing that I really, really wanna see, then I’ll double it up. But

Scott Cowan [00:16:03]:

Alright.

Jeff Barlow [00:16:03]:

I I just don’t have the energy. I’m an old man.

Scott Cowan [00:16:06]:

I understand. It took it out of me to because we’re based in Wenatchee. So we came over. We stayed overnight. Yep. It’s it’s a lot of, It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work on to see live music. It wasn’t when I was in my twenties.

Scott Cowan [00:16:21]:

It was something I did all the time. How far do you go? So you said earlier, you said you live north of Seattle. So how far do you go? What’s kind of the radius that you like to go?

Jeff Barlow [00:16:36]:

A good show in Tacoma will bring me out.

Scott Cowan [00:16:38]:

Jeff Barlow [00:16:39]:

I’ve been to Tony v’s in Everett and, Black Lab Gallery in Everett. Those are 2 really good places that have draw a pretty good crowd. Mhmm. My Favorite low, from distance wise is Daryl’s Tavern is about 6 blocks from my house. So I always love going to Daryl’s. And, somehow, they Shoreline Washington on Aurora Avenue, there’s no reason they should draw out the people, but, Boy, they get good acts there. Lot of really good people love to play Daryl’s, so it’s always a good show there.

Scott Cowan [00:17:12]:

Been one of those places that I’ve always kinda like You know, it’s like slims. I mean, honestly, slims slims no offense to slims, But that stage is pretty small. It’s not it’s not it’s not a great room.

Jeff Barlow [00:17:28]:

Well, you gotta go there.

Scott Cowan [00:17:30]:

Yeah.

Jeff Barlow [00:17:31]:

You gotta go there in the summer too because, they open up the doors, and the stage is an old flatbed truck out in the back.

Scott Cowan [00:17:38]:

And that’s where it was supposed to be that night, but then the rains came in and, you know, it just, it got to be you know, it was what it was. So you like Daryl’s where else where else have you, gone? What oh, let me I I wanna treat like you I’m gonna treat you like a musician. So

Jeff Barlow [00:17:59]:

Please do.

Scott Cowan [00:18:00]:

When where’s your favorite venue to sketch bands at? Look.

Jeff Barlow [00:18:06]:

I have different favorites for different reasons. I really like doing the skylark Because they have a table right next to the stage, and I could sit and draw. And, sometimes I’ll set up my phone camera And do a time lapse right across my sketchbook

Scott Cowan [00:18:24]:

Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [00:18:24]:

So you can see the band moving and see the see the drawing come to life in, you know, 30 seconds. I like to do that because people there’s a band, and I’m not gonna mention who they are because I don’t wanna I love them, but I’ve been drawing them for years, and I was having a conversation with 1 of them recently where I told them, oh, yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:18:49]:

You know, I get

Jeff Barlow [00:18:49]:

a lot of drawings because they’re all 1 song. He’s like, You do this in 1 song. I was like, dude, I’ve been drawing your band for 5 years, and you’re just getting that. And It’s not that he’s not paying attention. It’s what I do, I think, is such a weird, hard to wrap your head around kind of thing, And I get that question a lot. It’s like, wow. This is really cool. That’s awesome.

Jeff Barlow [00:19:10]:

I love what you’re doing. How long do these take you? And I was like Mhmm. 1 song. And there it kinda blows their mind. It’s like they can’t wrap their head around it. But and I I gotta admit, sometimes I go to, And sometimes my rule is if they haven’t started the next song, it’s still 1 song. Right? Like, the time it takes them to tune and

Scott Cowan [00:19:34]:

to rock

Jeff Barlow [00:19:34]:

with the audience and kinda suck because I’m, like, because I also I really like going to bands I’ve never heard before because there’s a certain energy about not knowing when the song is gonna end.

Scott Cowan [00:19:46]:

Well, that’s act okay. That’s really interesting because I was thinking, like, you know, if you went to a Ramones type band where they play 3 minute pop songs, You’re you’re you’re you’re now I don’t wanna say scribbling, but you’re working real fast versus if you’re going to some, you know, Pink Floyd, Frog rock band that’s gonna or a dead band. They’re gonna noodle their way through 12 minutes. You’ve you’ve got, you know, you’ve got a lot of time. What type of music do you tend to gravitate towards?

Jeff Barlow [00:20:18]:

My music taste is pretty wide Pretty wide open. My, I I grew up on KISS and The Beatles. So

Scott Cowan [00:20:26]:

Yeah. That’s pretty pretty. For our for our we look at we I think we’re similar similar

Jeff Barlow [00:20:33]:

age range.

Scott Cowan [00:20:33]:

That’s pretty common.

Jeff Barlow [00:20:35]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:20:35]:

That’s freaking

Jeff Barlow [00:20:36]:

But I my rules for music are it has to be original.

Scott Cowan [00:20:40]:

Jeff Barlow [00:20:42]:

And it has to have an edge to it. Right. It’s gotta have some teeth in it.

Scott Cowan [00:20:47]:

Jeff Barlow [00:20:47]:

So I enjoy punk rock. I enjoy, you know, garage rock. I enjoy a Johnny Cash esque country music. I I think Christy McWilson, I I love I love seeing her play. Just you know, it’s it’s definitely not punk rock at all, but it’s got a it’s got a certain edge to it. But I have I have done jazz. I’ve done I drew big bad voodoo daddy a while back at the Triple Door.

Scott Cowan [00:21:15]:

Oh. And

Jeff Barlow [00:21:15]:

there’s 9 people in that band, so I was drawn pretty fast there.

Scott Cowan [00:21:19]:

Uh-huh.

Jeff Barlow [00:21:20]:

I’ve drawn, single artist sitting on a barstool. I was on a a business trip in Boston and just googled live music in Boston and found a little Absolutely. I mean, you think Slims? You think Daryl’s is a dive? Uh-uh. This place, I’m pretty sure there were bullet holes in the walls.

Scott Cowan [00:21:37]:

Now I say dive with a with a Grin and a smile because

Jeff Barlow [00:21:42]:

yeah. Absolutely. The dives are the best. Right. That’s where you’re gonna find the real stuff. I don’t wanna come find some place that was, you know, Funded by a, you know, a stock options millionaire and made super fancy. It’s like, that’s not punk rock.

Scott Cowan [00:21:58]:

You need to come over to Wenatchee and go to Wally’s House of Booze.

Jeff Barlow [00:22:02]:

See, now I love the sound of that already. So I don’t even drink.

Scott Cowan [00:22:05]:

Well, no. The at WALL E’s House of Booze, and it’s a punk rock, bar in Wenatchee, Washington. The first time My wife and I were, we lived in the Tacoma area. We’re thinking about moving. And, do you know Steve Pearson? So Steve was, he was in, the band out in well, in the late seventies, early eighties called the Heats. And, Steve had moved over here to the Wenatchee area, and, we’d we’d go see them play in other bands. Anyway, 1 night, we’re in Cali Ellum, and we’re we’re talking about where we’re gonna move and because I’m tired of the traffic on the West Side and all the stuff. And Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:22:48]:

So, anyway, we go to Steve’s band. They’re playing. My wife starts talking to somebody, and they said, you should move to Wenatchee. Wenatchee is beautiful, blah blah blah blah blah. And I’m like, Wenatchee? I wanted to move to Ellensburg because I went to college there. Anyway, we come to Wenatchee. I hadn’t been to Wenatchee maybe ever, but I think I was there one time before. We’re driving down the main drag when it’s called Wenatchee Avenue.

Scott Cowan [00:23:07]:

And there’s this old sign, neon sign, Wally’s House of Booze. And I go, this is the place for me. I I’m not a big drinker, but what a cool name. Mhmm. And it is a dive bar. And have you seen a band from Tacoma called the Twang Junkies?

Jeff Barlow [00:23:28]:

Mm-mm.

Scott Cowan [00:23:29]:

You you should probably go see them. You’d like you’d

Jeff Barlow [00:23:31]:

like them too.

Scott Cowan [00:23:32]:

Yeah. They’re they’re they’re pretty cool. They play Slims fairly often, by the way.

Jeff Barlow [00:23:35]:

So Okay. I’ll keep my eyes open for them.

Scott Cowan [00:23:37]:

The Twang Junkies. Anyway, I I know the guys in the band, and they have this running gag. That’s where they wanna play. It’s Wally’s House of Booze. And, I finally got a hold of the booking agent. Left him a message actually today to see if I can get the twang junkies to come to Wenatchee to play Wally’s House of Booze. It’s just fun to say.

Jeff Barlow [00:23:56]:

It is.

Scott Cowan [00:23:57]:

It’s just a fun name. Anyway, it’s a great time bar. So you like music with an edge? Mhmm. And I like that you take a little bit of liberty with tuning and, you know, and all of that. That’s that’s that’s that’s a creative loophole in your in your in your own process. I like that.

Jeff Barlow [00:24:16]:

Well, the way I pick you know, talking about picking with an edge, the way I pick the bands is I’ve got a this is kinda nerdy, but I’ve got a spreadsheet of my favorite, Probably 22 venues or so that all that has the URLs of the of the calendars of all of them. And usually on Thursday, Wednesday or Thursday, Usually Thursday, sometimes Friday morning, I just go through and click them and see who’s playing, and I hit play. And if they capture my attention in 15 seconds, I go see him. So that’s that’s the news for bands out there. If you want the guy in who draws the band in 1 song to be out there, make sure your songs that are really interesting in the first 15 seconds Are the ones that show up in Google?

Scott Cowan [00:24:59]:

Boy, you know, the the media is full of we’ve lost our attention span. You know? And here you are creating art in 1 song, and now you’re telling us that you have to be interested in 15 seconds to go create the art.

Jeff Barlow [00:25:12]:

Well, that’s kind of a rule about any good music. I mean, if you’re 30 seconds in and nothing’s happened yet, move on.

Scott Cowan [00:25:18]:

No. No. That’s that’s awesome.

Jeff Barlow [00:25:20]:

Although, I love Dark Side of the Moon, and that doesn’t nothing happens in that for the 1st minute, and it’s fantastic. So there are exceptions to every rule.

Scott Cowan [00:25:28]:

Right. Well and, you know, he grew up on The Beatles and the and Kiss. So, you know, like, here’s here’s an interesting fact. I don’t know where I saw this. Was it in the I don’t think it was in the South Times.

Jeff Barlow [00:25:40]:

K. So

Scott Cowan [00:25:40]:

you’re familiar with the band Steely Dan? Of course. You remember the song Ricky Don’t Lose That Number? Uh-huh. The woman that inspired that song lives in Port Townsend.

Jeff Barlow [00:25:50]:

Is that right?

Scott Cowan [00:25:51]:

Yes. She, I read the article, and I’m I’m I’ve reached out to her. I wanted to be because she’s a she’s a an author and an artist, which was she’s a creative. She’s 80 years old now. Oh, wow. And while you think about that, song came out, like, 72.

Jeff Barlow [00:26:07]:

Yeah. That makes sense.

Scott Cowan [00:26:08]:

You know, it’s 50 years ago. Yeah. So she Was at a party at Bard College, which is where Donald Fagan went to college. Well, both of both the guys went to college at Bard. And, she was pregnant. She was married and pregnant. And, Donald Fagan gave her his phone number saying, please call me. And and she never did, and that inspired the song.

Jeff Barlow [00:26:30]:

There you go.

Scott Cowan [00:26:30]:

So, you know, you you music inspiration, you you never know where you’re gonna get it from. Mhmm. What type of band? And when I’m type, I’m not talking musically, but performance style do you like? What what works well with this whole, Song in a minute.

Jeff Barlow [00:26:49]:

Well, they’re all different. And the This isn’t quite an answer, but it’s a roundabout answer. K. And that is if if you watch how I work, you’ll notice that that I don’t draw the 1st song. I show up. I sit down. I wait for the band to start. And the 1st song, I’m watching the musicians

Scott Cowan [00:27:11]:

Jeff Barlow [00:27:11]:

Because every musician has their thing.

Scott Cowan [00:27:15]:

K? I don’t wanna play poker against you because you’re gonna find out what my tell is too.

Jeff Barlow [00:27:18]:

Maybe. Yeah. It take I I don’t always catch it. But, like, I mean, you go to an ACDC show, you You know you’re gonna get one of these. Right? I mean, this is every musician has their thing, the way they stand, the way they hold guitar. Are they a high strapper or a low strapper? Right? They move around a lot. There’s 1 musician, Tim DeGiulio, probably one of the best guitarists in Seattle right now, and it took me Several shows to get a good drawing of him because his energy is fantastic, and he’s all over the place. And I couldn’t figure out what thing was because he would never stay any place long enough to have a thing.

Scott Cowan [00:27:52]:

Jeff Barlow [00:27:53]:

But so I show up. I look for their thing. And once I know what their thing is, I can I can get them?

Scott Cowan [00:27:59]:

Jeff Barlow [00:27:59]:

And it might be completely different with some bands than it is with others.

Scott Cowan [00:28:03]:

Jeff Barlow [00:28:05]:

So certain type, Not really, but the 1st song, it that’s how I determine how I’m gonna draw them.

Scott Cowan [00:28:12]:

Jeff Barlow [00:28:15]:

You got straight up drummers. You got lean over drummers.

Scott Cowan [00:28:18]:

Right. Right. No. That’s interesting that you I mean, I agree with everything you’re saying. I just haven’t really Process that, you know, consciously.

Jeff Barlow [00:28:29]:

Next time you go see a band, watch

Scott Cowan [00:28:32]:

Now I’m gonna wanna sketch, and I I can’t draw stick figures. It’s gonna be, you know, it’s gonna be awful. Your your your your shtick is not gonna be, Now I will not be competition for you. I could not draw a band in a in a year, much less 1 song. Okay. What? Okay. One of the things and I’m gonna I’m gonna bounce over to your website because I wanna read what you say. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:28:55]:

If I’m gonna, you know, if I’m gonna Talk about you. I wanna say it accurately. Right?

Jeff Barlow [00:29:01]:

Sure.

Scott Cowan [00:29:03]:

Okay. Here are the rules I follow. No pressure. It’s perfectly okay if the drawing is terrible. Pencil doesn’t hit paper until the song starts. When the song ends, the drawing ends, And you allow yourself to add watercolor and hand letter if so inspired, but no altering the original pencil lines. Yep. So I have questions about each of these lines, but I’m gonna start with the the watercolor and hand lettering.

Scott Cowan [00:29:26]:

You do that after the show. You’re not doing that at the show. Correct?

Jeff Barlow [00:29:31]:

I I used to bring my watercolors to the show, but I don’t anymore. This it’s just it’s too much Too much. Going on. So But I do hand letter at the show Quite often, actually.

Scott Cowan [00:29:42]:

Okay. So you do handle. Alright. We already know that when the song ends, if they’re tuning, that’s your loophole.

Jeff Barlow [00:29:49]:

That’s That’s right.

Scott Cowan [00:29:50]:

Pencil doesn’t hit paper till the song starts. That seems pretty self explanatory as well. Sure. What happens with a band every now and then, a band will do this. They’ll start, and they’ll go, oh, we’re in the wrong key or something, and they’ll stop. Do you is that drawing

Jeff Barlow [00:30:03]:

I just keep going.

Scott Cowan [00:30:04]:

Okay. So no pressure. It’s perfectly okay if the drawing is terrible. Mhmm. How often are they terrible?

Jeff Barlow [00:30:15]:

Not at liberty to say.

Scott Cowan [00:30:17]:

Okay. I mean, is it because I would think and, once again, I can’t draw a stick figure, but I would think that this is not a 100% success rate.

Jeff Barlow [00:30:30]:

No. Definitely no.

Scott Cowan [00:30:31]:

And I’ve seen lots of your work, so I know it’s do you’ve got a a success rate here. But is it Is it Let me ask. Is it more often successful or less often successful?

Jeff Barlow [00:30:49]:

You know, it’s interesting. When I first started doing this, I was always really, really, excited and Proud about it and wanted to go up and show the bands. They were always really nice about it and stuff like that. And I look back at the books when I first started doing that. In fact, Just today, I had taken one that I was really proud of. I had added some watercolor to it later, and I’ve had I printed it on a canvas, and I had it on my wall here, and I actually threw it away today.

Scott Cowan [00:31:14]:

Oh, no.

Jeff Barlow [00:31:16]:

That thing is terrible. Why would I ever show that piece of crap to anybody? It’s in my garbage can.

Scott Cowan [00:31:21]:

I I believe you. I I do believe

Jeff Barlow [00:31:24]:

But, so now I go to a show. If there’s 3 or there’s usually 3 or 4 bands.

Scott Cowan [00:31:30]:

Mhmm. And

Jeff Barlow [00:31:31]:

I come away from every show with 15 to 25 drawings depending on how many they put in the set

Scott Cowan [00:31:38]:

list.

Jeff Barlow [00:31:38]:

Okay. And I scan them all in Except for ones that are really, really bad.

Scott Cowan [00:31:43]:

Jeff Barlow [00:31:44]:

And I probably like 2 thirds of them.

Scott Cowan [00:31:49]:

Okay. That’s that’s a really good number. That’s I mean, that’s I mean, think about that. You’re you’re drawing these in 3 to 5 minutes. Right? You you know, ish. And if 60 to 75% of them are I’ll say acceptable or better. How’s that?

Jeff Barlow [00:32:06]:

We’ll just call them to post them and show them other people. So

Scott Cowan [00:32:10]:

pretty that’s a pretty high success rate.

Jeff Barlow [00:32:13]:

Well, part of the Part of the reason I like them, and I think part of the reasons the bands like them, and part of the reason this is successful is because they’re not Trying to capture this is not trying to be a picture of the band. Mhmm. And the band doesn’t see it as a picture of the band, but they they have said this to me. There’s, like, You’ve really caught our energy. So you’re not looking at a a picture. You’re not looking at, What’s the word I’m I’m looking for? A facsimile. You’re looking for a mood, and it’s Easy for that to feel right.

Scott Cowan [00:32:52]:

Very interesting because after the Kristen McWilson show, you posted a couple, and I reached out to you and said, hey. I wanna buy one I mean and that was and the reason was is because it was there was an energy. It wasn’t I couldn’t had I not been there, I wouldn’t have known that that’s, you know, Jackson or that’s Christy or that was Dave. Right? I wouldn’t have known. But you caught there in, dare I say, the aura of them. The the you know, it was it wasn’t it wasn’t A representation of energy. That’s a a really inter that’s what caught me.

Jeff Barlow [00:33:28]:

Well, I’ve had the band say to me before, You tow that’s totally me, and I look at it, and I look at them, and I look at them, and I’m like, alright, I guess.

Scott Cowan [00:33:40]:

Well well but I it you you caught you you captured, you captured something. And and I think I think your brain or our brains fill in the other detail. I mean, You know, you were saying earlier about you, somebody, you could smell the pine and all that and all that. What obviously, you can’t unless you were using scented pencils that you were sketching with. You know, I mean, unless you, you know, put an air fresheners, I don’t care. But, you know, your your brain fills in the the the blanks for us, I I think is pretty interesting.

Jeff Barlow [00:34:13]:

Well, the other thing that happens is if I video if I pull out my phone and I shoot a video of The band playing the song. Mhmm. I’ve got the band playing the song. If it’s a 4 minute song, I got a 4 minute video. Right? So I can capture that song in 4 minutes. If I take a picture, I have 1 millisecond of that band.

Scott Cowan [00:34:38]:

Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [00:34:39]:

But I believe, and this might be a little woo woo, my drawing has the whole song, but you can look at it in that second Because it’s got the guitar solo in it. It’s got the chorus. It’s got the verse. Everything that’s happening in that song happens on that piece of paper. It’s like a little time lapse.

Scott Cowan [00:35:01]:

Interesting. I’m asking this next question tongue in cheek

Jeff Barlow [00:35:06]:

Please

Scott Cowan [00:35:06]:

Because I’m asking the question of myself at the same time. But are you a frustrated musician? Absolutely. I asked because I can’t well, you know, I told you earlier, I can’t draw. Well, I can’t sing or play an instrument either. I love music. I I have and I I have since I was A a a young child in in I I grew up, but I spent a lot of money on music, as a Preteen and teen in my twenties, and I have Sure. I have a ridiculously large collection of 1 particular band. And I I I couldn’t stand up on stage and do that.

Scott Cowan [00:35:49]:

And so I’m a frustrated musician too. So I was just curious because here you are, you’re describing this, and and you and you call it woo woo. I don’t think so. I think it’s just a I think it’s a way to somehow, a still image that if you’re thinking like a camera, you’re The pencil’s exposing the image over the course of the song. It’s an exposure, and it’s just that it’s drawn with a with a with a pencil, Not not a piece of film or, you know Yeah. A bunch of ones and zeros in the form of, you know, bits and bytes. What’s next for you? What do you wanna do? Like, is there a band that you want? Like, who’s the who’s the who’s the holy

Jeff Barlow [00:36:34]:

grail? So easy. I need Dave Grohl to know When he comes to town, I want him to call me or have his guy call me and say, we need you down here to draw Foo Fighters. That’s the goal.

Scott Cowan [00:36:49]:

That’s the goal.

Jeff Barlow [00:36:49]:

So anybody you know who knows Dave or any of the other guys in Foo Fighters, you let them know. Hey. I I just I’m not asking for any favors here. Right? I I just love people to be who know Dave to be like, did you know that draw the band in 1 song guy is in Seattle? You gotta You you should have him up there. And I’ve I’ve gotten in, I drew Mike McCready, when he was playing with the Rock and, you know, they they see my book, and they let me inside the barrier instead of outside the barrier so that the the audience isn’t pounding into me.

Scott Cowan [00:37:20]:

And and Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:37:21]:

I’ve drawn x. X, I don’t know if you’re into the the LA punk scene.

Scott Cowan [00:37:26]:

I’ve seen him a few times. Seen him a few times.

Jeff Barlow [00:37:28]:

So I drew x at the crocodile. Another place I love to draw because their stage is exactly art table height.

Scott Cowan [00:37:35]:

Mhmm. So I can

Jeff Barlow [00:37:35]:

put my stuff right there, and it’s perfect. So I draw x. They finished their show. They run off the stage, and the there’s, like, a curtain thing there. And it as the curtain goes down, as soon as they disappear and it comes back up and a guy comes out from backstage and walks Right up to me. I’m right up front of the stage and points right in my face and says, you, don’t go anywhere. I’m like, what? He’s like, The band wants to know what you were doing. Can you hang out? I’m like, are you kidding? So I just sort of like, as the Proud, dispersed, and I met x.

Jeff Barlow [00:38:08]:

They all signed my drawing. They were super, super nice, Had a great time. And the next time they were in town, they played at the showbox. And I came up, and I saw John Doe walking on the stage. Like, hey. Remember me? I drove the band in 1 song. He looked at me.

Scott Cowan [00:38:22]:

He’s like, Kinda. So

Jeff Barlow [00:38:25]:

John Doe kinda remembers me.

Scott Cowan [00:38:28]:

So was that the Showbox show that Squeeze was the opening act?

Jeff Barlow [00:38:32]:

No. It Was That was a weird

Scott Cowan [00:38:34]:

that was a weird twin bill.

Jeff Barlow [00:38:35]:

That is a weird twin bill.

Scott Cowan [00:38:36]:

That was a weird twin bill.

Jeff Barlow [00:38:37]:

It was, Lowe’s straight jackets and

Scott Cowan [00:38:43]:

Who is it?

Jeff Barlow [00:38:44]:

Skating Pauley. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:38:46]:

Yeah. Who I

Jeff Barlow [00:38:47]:

recently drew at the, South Sound black block party. They’re a lot of fun.

Scott Cowan [00:38:51]:

The the last time I saw x was at the showbox with Squeeze.

Jeff Barlow [00:38:54]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:38:55]:

And I like Squeeze. I did not care for them live. I was really, Just they had a so you know what, you know, Squeeze is the biggest pop, you know, songwriter. They had a drummer that, to me, Wanted to be in, like, Jeff Leppard or Iron Maiden. It was just this concert. Hold his sticks up, and, you know, he was just And I was like, this drummer just doesn’t fit. Yeah. Right? But after the show, I find out he’s been their drummer for, like, 20 years.

Scott Cowan [00:39:25]:

Yeah. He just has this you know, he’s got this whole, you know, stadium rock persona, you know, and Anyway, black coffee and bag. You know, but Billy Zoom was his health is, you know, Deteriorating. And so he sat most of the show on a

Jeff Barlow [00:39:44]:

stool. Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:39:45]:

But they were, were great. I saw the knitters at the Tractor Tavern, which is, you know tractor. And that was on election night when Obama was elected president, and Eddie Vedder comes out on stage, and we’re in I’m at the, Well, you’ve been to the tractor. I’m at the stage. I’m you know? And I’m I’m 64. Nobody likes the big the big fat guy in the front. But, yeah, guess what, folks? You could just stare at my back I don’t have a camera, so it’s okay. I can block the view and run the show.

Scott Cowan [00:40:12]:

That’s right.

Jeff Barlow [00:40:12]:

If you’re not a photographer, it’s fine.

Scott Cowan [00:40:14]:

I’m not a photographer. It’s okay. No. And I try to be very conscious So that but, you know, anyway but we got to the my my buddy and I, we got we worked our way up to the front, and Eddie Vedder comes out on stage. And, you know, I’ve I’ve seen Andy Vedder before and all that, but it was it was still kind of a surreal moment. Do you like do you like drawing at the tractor?

Jeff Barlow [00:40:33]:

I do. I like drawing at the tractor. There’s a spot on the left side of the stage where there’s a big cabinet right there, and I can get right in the side. I really love that spot because straight on the band is 4 things that are all the same size. If you get over to the side, you’ve got a big one, A medium one and a small one, and it creates a really good depth to the drawing. I was there working on the right near the base cabinet watching Acid tongue, and their bass player came up in a frenzy and literally stepped right in the middle of my art. Bam. So at first, I was kinda mad.

Jeff Barlow [00:41:07]:

I was like, what? You stupid. And I was like, no. No. I’m in his turf. He gets to do what he wants. I’m aside. He’s the musician. Whatever.

Jeff Barlow [00:41:16]:

Then once I realized that, I was like, I gotta get a picture of this. So I got a picture of their bass player’s acid tense bass player’s foot right on the middle of my drawing. It’s fantastic.

Scott Cowan [00:41:24]:

That’s awesome. Alright. So Dave Grohl. Dave Grohl. That’s the that’s the that’s the pinnacle for you. How about local act? I mean, I Dave I I Can’t call Dave local. What you know, he he just he wasn’t local in Nirvana. I mean, he wasn’t.

Scott Cowan [00:41:41]:

He wasn’t. He owned a house in Shoreline. I mean, Yep. Blah blah blah. We can make all those excuses, but I don’t think of Dave Grohl as a Seattle guy. No. But how about of local bands that you haven’t seen? Is there is there 1 or 2 that are out there that you’re like, I kinda wanna check this out.

Jeff Barlow [00:41:56]:

Well, when I drew the Rockfords with, Mike McCready, I got a chance to my, Again, my sketchbook gets me in a lot of places.

Scott Cowan [00:42:04]:

Uh-huh.

Jeff Barlow [00:42:05]:

But, I got a chance to meet him and show him the artwork and stuff like that, and and I said, Mike, I had a great time sketching your band here tonight. And if you have any other musical endeavors, I would be happy to sketch that as well. He’s like, what are you getting at? I was like, I know. It’s shameless. And he’s like, call that guy right over there. And I I, talked to him, and I have not heard back yet. So we’ll see what happens.

Scott Cowan [00:42:29]:

Man, maybe they’ll take you to Italy or something like that. You know, you can stand on the side of the stage in in Europe or something from

Jeff Barlow [00:42:34]:

more than willing to be the touring draw the band in 1 song guy for Any big bands?

Scott Cowan [00:42:39]:

Kind of a cool thing.

Jeff Barlow [00:42:40]:

Alright. I honestly, all of the bands that I love to draw, Many people haven’t heard of and I haven’t heard of yet because I like going to small places where I can walk up and talk to them.

Scott Cowan [00:42:55]:

Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [00:42:56]:

And, you know, show them the drawings and just talk to them about music, talk to them about art. You know? And the the tragic flaw in that is it means that none of my drawings are worth anything because nobody knows who the bands are. But if one of these bands makes it big, I’m gonna have sketchbook gold.

Scott Cowan [00:43:17]:

That’s like collecting baseball cards and buying rookie cards of football players. If if if he ever makes it big, I’m I’m gonna be a Yeah. I’m gonna be a wealthy person. Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:43:24]:

Exactly right. But it’s not about it’s not It’s like, yeah. I sell them if people wanna buy them, but it’s to me, it’s I love the experience of Being by the side of a stage with feeling the the boom at the base and drawing, and it’s just, it’s It’s a great feeling, and I love it.

Scott Cowan [00:43:46]:

Earlier, you mentioned you go down as far south as Tacoma if it’s a good band. Mhmm. What rooms in Tacoma have you drawn in?

Jeff Barlow [00:43:56]:

Jazzbones, Alma, which I saw just closed.

Scott Cowan [00:44:00]:

Yep.

Jeff Barlow [00:44:03]:

I think that’s only well, I drew Iron Maiden at the Tacoma Dome, but I’m not sure that counts. I was 200 yards away.

Scott Cowan [00:44:11]:

Yeah. There’s nothing in the because coming home is just not a great venue for live music. It’s just I’ve seen a lot of bands there, and I just There’s some it’s yeah. Anyway okay. Have you ever done, The Spanish Ballroom by Ed McManaman? Yes.

Jeff Barlow [00:44:27]:

Of course. Spanish Ballroom. I saw death. My of course, my favorite show I’ve ever gone to was a band called Death. You know them?

Scott Cowan [00:44:34]:

No. I do not.

Jeff Barlow [00:44:36]:

So I’ll Now

Scott Cowan [00:44:37]:

I don’t wanna meet them for a long time.

Jeff Barlow [00:44:39]:

Just just just Yeah. Exactly. Well, I’ll I’ll make this story as short as possible. In the early seventies, there were 3, 3 kids. They were brothers, 3 black kids in Detroit. And when everything Detroit was Motown

Scott Cowan [00:44:55]:

Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [00:44:56]:

And they were listening to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple and that kind of stuff, So they wanted to rock. And they had recently lost their dad to cancer, and, their lead guitarist, David, You know, their brothers said you know, they were spiritual. They said our dad isn’t gone. He’s just in a better place. He has transcended. He’s gone on to a deeper thing. Death is not something to be afraid of. It’s a it’s a stepping stone.

Jeff Barlow [00:45:25]:

Let’s call our band Death. Great. So they’re doing their stuff. They’re going. They’ve recorded a record. They’re ready to make the deal. They’re ready to get distribution, and the record label says, great. All we gotta do is change your name because nobody’s gonna buy music from a band called Death.

Jeff Barlow [00:45:39]:

And they’re like, this is a tribute to our father. We’re not changing anything, And they lost the deal. And the only thing they had, the recordings, they had a single with a b side, and they had 50 of those. And so when they lost their deal, they tried to get those 50 out there to radio stations to see if they could get some more traction and got rid of about 28 of them. And 30 years later, there’s a kid from Detroit living in San Francisco, goes to an underground music party. Here’s this song called Politicians in my eyes by the band called Death, and he listens to it. And he call goes home and calls his dad. He says, dad? You’re no.

Jeff Barlow [00:46:24]:

He hears the song. He says, that sounds like my uncle David. So he goes home. He calls his dad. He says, dad, Was uncle David in a band called Death? And the dad starts laughing. He’s like, he sure was. He’s like, why didn’t you tell me? These guys are amazing. And a documentary film guy somehow got a hold of this conversation and started interviewing people and made a documentary called A Band Called Death.

Jeff Barlow [00:46:47]:

And because of that, they got some notoriety. They published the record, and they went on tour. They rocked our faces off at the Spanish ballroom, and they’re 70.

Scott Cowan [00:46:56]:

What a cool story.

Jeff Barlow [00:46:58]:

Best band, best show I’ve been to so far. It was awesome.

Scott Cowan [00:47:04]:

Did did you draw there, or did you just go back when you drew

Jeff Barlow [00:47:06]:

that record? I drew, and I drew.

Scott Cowan [00:47:07]:

Do you draw at every show? Do you draw at every show you go to, or do you ever go just to listen?

Jeff Barlow [00:47:11]:

In fact, I was I was feeling a little needed to to relax 1 night and went to Daryl’s to a show and thought, I’m not even gonna take my stuff. I’m just gonna sit back and enjoy the music. And 2 songs in the 1st into the 1st band, I was like, no. I can’t. And I ran next door to Fred Meyer and bought a sketchbook And a couple of flare felt tip pads that came back and drew the rest of the show.

Scott Cowan [00:47:33]:

Oh my gosh.

Jeff Barlow [00:47:34]:

I can’t not draw now.

Scott Cowan [00:47:36]:

Okay. Have you done McMenamins, the Anderson School up in Bothell? Mhmm. Up to that venue? Mhmm. They, Yeah. The I I still think the Spanish ballroom’s, the Spanish ballroom’s a great venue. Yeah. Let’s see. Where else would I think you should Where where is good music? So you said you had a spreadsheet of bands.

Jeff Barlow [00:48:00]:

Mhmm. Of venues.

Scott Cowan [00:48:02]:

Of venues. So share with me some of Those venues, like, what’s what’s on the rotation of those? You know, you got a spreadsheet.

Jeff Barlow [00:48:08]:

Nectar. I really like Nectar because they draw a younger audience. And since I’m social media. I get a lot more followers when I go to Nektar. I can’t help it. Look at me. Look at me. See? I did this.

Jeff Barlow [00:48:28]:

I love nectar. I love the high dive. I I love, I I think I’ve already brought up the skylark in West Seattle. In fact, the skylark was really nice to me during the pandemic when, King 5 did that story. Mhmm. They were gonna just do it outside somewhere, and every place was closed because of the plague. And I actually I called the The guy who runs the Skylark, and I said, nobody’s using your stage. Can I sit on your stage for an interview? And then he’s like, absolutely.

Jeff Barlow [00:48:54]:

Come on down. So Skylark let me do my interview on their stage at the black velvet curtains and red velvet curtains, and so they have a special spot in my heart.

Scott Cowan [00:49:02]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:49:04]:

We’re out of Slims.

Scott Cowan [00:49:09]:

Done

Jeff Barlow [00:49:09]:

the fun house a couple of times. It’s really hard to draw out the fun house. Okay. But I’ve gotten some good stuff there. Hang on. Got my list right here. Connor Byrne, like going there. Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:49:26]:

I’m at Tacoma. I can take that one off the list. Barbosa Barbosa usually has late shows, which means they also have early shows. So for a guy like me to be able to finish a show and go out in the sun still hasn’t gone down yet, that’s always nice. Central Saloon. Love drawing in Central Saloon. Done chop suey a couple of times. I drew, Cracker and camper van Beethoven

Scott Cowan [00:49:52]:

Jeff Barlow [00:49:53]:

Chalk 3. That was a lot of fun. Clock Out Lounge is a good one. I told you to talk about the crocodile, L. Corozone, high dive, jazz bones, Madame Lou’s. Madame Lou’s. K? Madam Louis, if I can throw a piece of advice out to madam Louis, they’ve got a lot lot of lights behind their stage, and you get a lot of silhouettes of the musicians Instead of the full musicians and it was hard to get my eyes to adjust to the band and then to the to the sketcher. So for the single person who Needs eye adjustments.

Jeff Barlow [00:50:24]:

Put some lights in front of the stage. Nectar, Have not drawn at the Neptune yet, but they’re on my list. X is coming to the Neptune on December 11th, and I’m trying to decide if I wanna do that.

Scott Cowan [00:50:38]:

Oh, I see. Why didn’t I see that?

Jeff Barlow [00:50:41]:

It’s their Xmas tour.

Scott Cowan [00:50:43]:

Oh, I think I did see that night. Said I’m not gonna come over the pass.

Jeff Barlow [00:50:47]:

Rabbitbox, they do they’re a newer newer venue, and they’re they’re a nice spot. They also have tables by the stage, so that’s a good thing. Southgate Roller Rink. It’s hard to be it’s hard to be discreet at Southgate Roller Rink because The audience is roller skating around you, and if you you’re the one who guy who’s standing still holding a sketchbook. Hi, Chester. I’m babysitting my I’m dog sitting my grand dog.

Scott Cowan [00:51:12]:

Your grand dog?

Jeff Barlow [00:51:13]:

And he’s Pop, pop, pop. He’s like, is it time to play now? It’s not. No, Chester. Go.

Scott Cowan [00:51:19]:

What what type of dog is Chester?

Jeff Barlow [00:51:21]:

Golden retriever.

Scott Cowan [00:51:22]:

Okay. So low energy.

Jeff Barlow [00:51:25]:

He he has high energy. Tell you tell him no, then he’ll just lay down at your feet And just wait till it’s time to play. He’s he’s the best dog I’ve ever seen. Anyway

Scott Cowan [00:51:35]:

I’m I’m on your site, and I have questions.

Jeff Barlow [00:51:38]:

Tim’s? That’s a good one. Okay. Go ahead. Bring them bring them the questions.

Scott Cowan [00:51:41]:

So I’m looking I’m looking at, I clicked on skyline style.

Jeff Barlow [00:51:47]:

Yes.

Scott Cowan [00:51:48]:

And And it says the quote says well, not a sorry quote, but it says, a friend of mine a friend saw one of my images and said he liked the skyline of the band. That comment inspired a new technique where I draw the skyline as a single line, then add details. Alright. Help me out here.

Jeff Barlow [00:52:08]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:52:09]:

Because I am looking at an image. It’s dirty revival at Nectar, the drawing that inspired it all. So I’m looking at the 1

Jeff Barlow [00:52:16]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:52:16]:

Where is this single line that I

Jeff Barlow [00:52:18]:

That one is not a single line. That’s the one where he looked at it, and They were sort of, like, lined up at like a skyline, like a

Scott Cowan [00:52:26]:

Right.

Jeff Barlow [00:52:26]:

You know, landscape almost, if you will. And he he just said that, oh, that’s I like the skyline you captured in the band. It’s like, Skyline, I’m gonna try that. So the rest of them, you’ll see, I start in the lower left, and I draw around and then fill in the details. Right.

Scott Cowan [00:52:41]:

So I’m looking at First Saint Street playing at the Blue Moon. Mhmm. And I see this this, rust colored line that goes, okay. Now I see it. Mhmm. Alright. Okay. Alright.

Jeff Barlow [00:52:54]:

Yeah. That’s kind of a fun one.

Scott Cowan [00:52:55]:

So I’m looking at these, and My question is, you’re drawing these on a notebook. Right? So Mhmm. Cream colored paper, basically, off white, maybe super white. I don’t know.

Jeff Barlow [00:53:04]:

I’ve got a white and a brown and a black That I take to every show.

Scott Cowan [00:53:09]:

Okay. So that’s the question I have as I’m looking through, and some of these don’t have names on them. Up. Radke playing at the the Clock Out Lounge. So that’s primarily green and white on a black background. Yeah. That’s not you not you that’s not you manipulating it in Photoshop to a black background. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:53:30]:

So then I’m looking

Jeff Barlow [00:53:32]:

I don’t do Digital. You don’t do digital? It’s all real.

Scott Cowan [00:53:37]:

So then the the coat hangers

Jeff Barlow [00:53:39]:

Uh-huh.

Scott Cowan [00:53:41]:

Is on a A tan, a beige piece of paper.

Jeff Barlow [00:53:44]:

Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:53:44]:

I really like the art when it’s on the the the brown paper. I think the the texture of the paper gives it an interesting element. That’s I don’t know why I say that.

Jeff Barlow [00:53:55]:

The other thing I like about working on the the kraft color paper is I can work in both shadow and highlight.

Scott Cowan [00:54:02]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:54:03]:

Make the dark areas go dark, make the the highlight stand out, and it it creates a depth You can’t get just on this, you know, white sheet.

Scott Cowan [00:54:13]:

Right. And these are these are really cool, and we’ll put a link in the show notes to them. They’re they’re very cool. Has has a band ever not liked what you’ve done? Like, did you they show it to you and they go, oh, why didn’t you know, did anybody ever No.

Jeff Barlow [00:54:29]:

They always

Scott Cowan [00:54:30]:

That’s when they smash one of their guitars or something and say, well, I didn’t like listening to you either. You know?

Jeff Barlow [00:54:34]:

They have always been if they didn’t like it, they didn’t tell me. They have always been super gracious, super friendly. There’s a a a solo artist named Star Anna, and sometimes she plays with other people. And I went and drew her, and, you know, I just show up at these venues and I draw. And then after their gig’s over, after their set is over, I’ve got these business cards. Did I give you one of my cards?

Scott Cowan [00:54:59]:

You did not. Because we didn’t talk we did not talk it, though.

Jeff Barlow [00:55:01]:

Oh, that’s right. So my cards, big type. I draw the band in 1 song. Right? Because these places are noisy. There’s a lot going on. All I have to do is hold up the book and point at that, and they know what I’m doing. Right? Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:55:14]:

Mhmm. So I

Jeff Barlow [00:55:15]:

was very deliberate about that. And then I

Scott Cowan [00:55:16]:

draw back?

Jeff Barlow [00:55:18]:

I draw I draw the gear on the back. Let’s see if I’ve got one. Yeah. Well, Well, this isn’t the gear, but this is a velvet painting on the wall at Daryl’s.

Scott Cowan [00:55:28]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:55:28]:

But I usually draw the band’s gear on there so that they can look look at it and go, oh, that’s my guitar. Because the cards the cards are just blank.

Scott Cowan [00:55:39]:

Okay. Gotcha.

Jeff Barlow [00:55:40]:

Okay. Anyway, I’m so She finishes her set. I walk up to her. I show her the card. She looks at me, and she goes, She’s like, I’ve been hoping you draw I’ve fallen you for a long time. I’ve been hoping you’d show up and draw me sometime.

Scott Cowan [00:55:58]:

That’s cool.

Jeff Barlow [00:55:59]:

And that was really That was that was a good moment for me.

Scott Cowan [00:56:02]:

That’s very cool.

Jeff Barlow [00:56:04]:

Scott Cowan [00:56:05]:

I I think you’re gonna get groll. I do.

Jeff Barlow [00:56:09]:

I think you could

Scott Cowan [00:56:10]:

I think you’re gonna get Groll because here’s the thing. You you’ve talked to Mike McCready. Yeah. You’ve tar you’ve talked to star, Anna, and she plays with Mark Pickerel and other people, and they all Those circles overlap. Yes.

Jeff Barlow [00:56:27]:

Okay. Those the the Venn diagram is very small in Seattle.

Scott Cowan [00:56:32]:

The Venn diagram of Dave Grohl being in the center is you’re you’re pretty close to that. In fact In fact, you’ve heard of the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon. Right? Have you ever figured out how many degrees from Kevin Bacon you are by chance?

Jeff Barlow [00:56:49]:

Well, Kevin Bacon. I’m 2 degrees in 2 different directions, actually.

Scott Cowan [00:56:53]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:56:53]:

So there’s gotta be a couple of degrees to Dave Grohl. Right?

Scott Cowan [00:56:57]:

Exactly. It it there’s gotta be a couple of degrees to

Jeff Barlow [00:57:00]:

I’ve heard he’s pretty well connected with Mike, Mark Pickerel. I’ve heard they’re pretty good friends. In fact, somebody told me that when Dave went off the stage in Sweden and broke his leg, the one of the first texts he sent was to Mark Pickerel. That’s what I heard. That’s a rumor. But if that’s true, Mark pickerel really likes me. I’ve drawn him a couple of times. And,

Scott Cowan [00:57:23]:

Mark’s a really nice guy.

Jeff Barlow [00:57:25]:

So I have this I have this crazy strategy. I have written 20 different ways to say, Hey. Is the guy from who draws the band in 1 song gonna be at your show, Dave? And I’m gonna give it to a they just announced their show a couple weeks ago, but I’m gonna give it to a whole bunch of my local Seattle friends and say, Seattle bands who know me and who I think like me and say, would you be willing to post this on the girl Stories on the Foo Fighters site just say, hey.

Scott Cowan [00:57:53]:

If if the draw

Jeff Barlow [00:57:54]:

the band in 1 song guy comes to your show, I want one of the drawings. Whatever. I don’t want to say, Dave, can Dave can Jeff come back to your stage? I’m not asking somebody to call in a favor. I just want people to know, I I just wanted to know, Dave, have you seen this guy? Did you know he’s here? And then let Dave make the decision because

Scott Cowan [00:58:13]:

I I gotta think that this is in the realm of possibilities. I don’t and I would honestly tell you if I thought you were, you know,

Jeff Barlow [00:58:21]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:58:21]:

Not. I I think that there’s this is in the realm of possibilities. I think it’s he’s done so many quirky things with people, you know, bringing kids up on stage and and and he’s just been he just seems like have you read his book?

Jeff Barlow [00:58:37]:

Yes. And his mom’s book.

Scott Cowan [00:58:39]:

I haven’t read his mom’s book.

Jeff Barlow [00:58:40]:

Okay. They’re both fantastic.

Scott Cowan [00:58:42]:

I just you know, he just seems like what He’s one of the few celebrities that I think would be and and I’m very cautious about celebrities because We we we tend to overlay our opinions on them. Right? Sure.

Jeff Barlow [00:58:59]:

It’s

Scott Cowan [00:58:59]:

not necessary. But Grool seems like somebody who would be fun to spend a few minutes talking to. Like, he’d be kind of cool. Would you remember me the next time? I know he’d probably give me the look like John Doe gave you. I think so. But, you know, I don’t care. I don’t care. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:59:13]:

I have some questions.

Jeff Barlow [00:59:15]:

Bring it, Bob.

Scott Cowan [00:59:16]:

As we get ready to wrap this up, And my browser froze, and now it’s doing weird things. What’s wrong with the Internet?

Jeff Barlow [00:59:25]:

While you’re looking up, There’s something that you won’t see on my site because I haven’t updated it to that, but I think it’s important to talk about, and that is my jelly print drawings.

Scott Cowan [00:59:35]:

Jelly prints.

Jeff Barlow [00:59:36]:

Yeah. My wife does these, and I I can show them to you, but my wife does these things called jelly prints, You can look it up on the Internet. It’s a it’s a crafty kinda thing, right, where she prints this stuff on paper and just then she, like, snap Stamps letters out of it makes thank you cards and, you know

Scott Cowan [00:59:55]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [00:59:56]:

Who knows what she she does little collage things with them and stuff like that. So I’m on my way to a gig one day, and she has a bunch of these on her desk. And I was like, can I take a couple of those? And she said, sure.

Scott Cowan [01:00:07]:

And then I draw

Jeff Barlow [01:00:08]:

the bands on them, and they have such. She has kicked my stuff up to another level.

Scott Cowan [01:00:15]:

Well, that looks like an album cover.

Jeff Barlow [01:00:17]:

Well and by coincidence, it is 12 by 12, which is the same size as an album cover. So I’m like, Oh, look. This is the same size of an album album cover in case that gives you any ideas.

Scott Cowan [01:00:28]:

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Okay. So does your wife okay. So we this episode’s about you, but you mentioned your wife, so I feel like she’s fair game to ask a couple questions about. Does she go with you to these?

Jeff Barlow [01:00:40]:

She doesn’t really enjoy live music.

Scott Cowan [01:00:43]:

Okay. So this is your thing?

Jeff Barlow [01:00:45]:

Yep. You okay. That’s one of the reasons I do 1 show a week because I look at the shows that are coming on Friday and on Saturday. And one of those nights is date night, and the other night is show night.

Scott Cowan [01:00:55]:

K. And I’ve been What happens if there’s a conflict? What happens if the Foo Fighters are in town on date night?

Jeff Barlow [01:01:02]:

She’d be fine if I went if I didn’t go. I mean, that’s not

Scott Cowan [01:01:06]:

She’d be fine if you did go to Foo Fighters?

Jeff Barlow [01:01:10]:

No. No. No. No. She would not be fine with that. She’s like, if you if you pass up the Foo Fighters, you’re an idiot. But Okay.

Scott Cowan [01:01:16]:

Alright. She sounds okay.

Jeff Barlow [01:01:19]:

We’ve been married 33 years And very happy, and I think one of the reasons is we do date night once a week. And if Thursday and Friday are both shows, that’s fine. You know, we miss date night a week or whatever. And sometimes there’s no shows, and we’ll go do 2 things on Friday Saturday. So

Scott Cowan [01:01:35]:

Uh-huh.

Jeff Barlow [01:01:36]:

It’s flexible. But the the the guideline is I try to, She gets 1 night, and I get 1 night. And, she frankly, she uses a lot of her Friday nights when I’m out to do to do stuff like this, and she she loves that stuff. So

Scott Cowan [01:01:54]:

One of the questions I ask every single one of my guests so I have questions I ask my guest. We’re gonna we’re gonna ramp into that segment now. And I think I prompted you with 2 out of 3. I told I don’t think I told you the 3rd one because I don’t like to tell the 3rd one. So I have there’s 4 things we’re gonna ask you tonight. So number 1, we’ll go this one all the way first. What didn’t I ask you? What should we have talked about that we didn’t?

Jeff Barlow [01:02:16]:

My favorite story to tell about drawing the band in 1 song.

Scott Cowan [01:02:20]:

Alright. Let’s hear it. I was

Jeff Barlow [01:02:23]:

at a place, and I’m not gonna say where it is because I don’t want people to be scared to go to this place. But I was at a place where the bar and the stage are fairly close together, probably 5 feet away, and I had a spot Right on the corner of the bar where I was drawing, it was a 4 band night where halfway through the 1st band, And there’s a lady out there in the audience really getting into it. Clearly had had many drinks And we’re halfway through the 1st band, but she was gone. And it was also pretty clear that She was there by herself. She kept trying to work her way into different social groups, and I felt a little bad for her because nobody should not be included. Right? But she was not being included, and I think her, her her state Mhmm. Was not helping. And in that state, she wound up going to the bathroom a bunch of times.

Jeff Barlow [01:03:28]:

And every time she went, she basically climbed over me to get to the bathroom room and then over me to get back. In fact, to the point where she climbs over me once on the way back from the bathroom, and I leaned over to the next guy to me. I was like, hashtag me too. He’s like, dude, don’t look her in the eye. So We’re now we’re fast forward. We’re in the last in the last set of the of the last band.

Scott Cowan [01:03:58]:

Oh,

Jeff Barlow [01:03:59]:

okay. Still facing the stage. Sometimes when the last band goes on at 12, get close to 1, the crowd is not as big as it was at the beginning.

Scott Cowan [01:04:08]:

Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [01:04:08]:

And so it’s starting to die down a little bit, so the barstool next to me is empty. She comes over. She gets on the barstool next to me Facing the bar. I’m facing the stage. She’s facing the bar. She’s I don’t know if she’s trying to cash out, try to get another drink, whatever. She’s leaning over towards the bartender. All of a sudden, she starts to lean.

Jeff Barlow [01:04:29]:

And she’s like, lean more, Waiting more. Waiting more. And then she gets past the point of balance and drops it. I feel teeth go into my shoulder. She bit me on the shoulder. Not she didn’t drop blood or anything, but I felt her teeth. And I pushed her back, and I pointed at her, and I said, enough, And she went away. So I go home, and I’m like, Kim, I have a confession to make.

Jeff Barlow [01:04:58]:

I’ve been bitten by another woman. So that is that’s The the biggest adventure I have had. It’s not quite, a broken leg off the edge of the stage, but that’s the best story I’ve got so far from my drawing experiences.

Scott Cowan [01:05:15]:

Oh my gosh. Alright. Okay.

Jeff Barlow [01:05:19]:

So that’s

Scott Cowan [01:05:19]:

Like, okay. I I I I think Everything here from here is downhill now, but that was awesome. Alright. So you’re a I’m gonna call you a Seattle guy, North Seattle.

Jeff Barlow [01:05:31]:

Sure.

Scott Cowan [01:05:32]:

I love coffee.

Jeff Barlow [01:05:34]:

Scott Cowan [01:05:34]:

Where’s a great place for me to go get a cup of coffee?

Jeff Barlow [01:05:38]:

You wanna hear something funny? Before I was at Boeing, I was at Starbucks for 6 years in their promo department.

Scott Cowan [01:05:46]:

I was in their IT department.

Jeff Barlow [01:05:48]:

Were you? There you go. We We might have been there at the same time.

Scott Cowan [01:05:51]:

No. I was there before you. Anyway at least according to LinkedIn.

Jeff Barlow [01:05:55]:

I don’t drink coffee. People say, how can you work at Starbucks and not drink coffee? I was like, well, I’m kinda like the fat guy that works at Nike. Anyway, so, I So

Scott Cowan [01:06:09]:

the question’s all about me, though. Where could I go get good coffee? Coffee.

Jeff Barlow [01:06:12]:

Let’s see. VIDA? I think Cafe VIDA gets pretty good reports. And Rick Friel, the bass player of Jodie Watts band and of Chris Friel, I’m sorry. Danny Rockman, the sugar makers. Rockford’s, I think he works at VIDA. So why would I say

Scott Cowan [01:06:34]:

follow him on Twitter? Yeah. He posts a lot of coffees.

Jeff Barlow [01:06:38]:

He is the sweetest, nicest guy I’ve ever met. We became friends over a Kiss t shirt at the Tractor Tavern 1 night, and I’ve just loved him ever since.

Scott Cowan [01:06:46]:

So he is somebody I’ve wanted to have on the show, and he has held me off because I don’t like to be interviewed. And I I I Rick, if you hear this, I don’t believe you. I I I’d like I’d like Rick to be on because I there’s a lot of he’s had a lot of Experiences in the Seattle music scene. Let’s just put it that way. Okay. Alright. So caffee vita is a good solid choice for for by the way, that’s a good one for a non coffee I think that’s a safe one. That’s a good answer.

Scott Cowan [01:07:16]:

Alright. I’m now getting into the silence around lunchtime, so I’m always looking because I am the I’m the admin that works at Nike. Where’s a great place for lunch?

Jeff Barlow [01:07:29]:

This is over simple, but I love a bowl of pho at 10 Brothers.

Scott Cowan [01:07:34]:

Jeff Barlow [01:07:34]:

In fact, I don’t know what they put in it. About every 4 days, I’m like, I need I need some more of that. Alright. Where else? I’m not really a foodie either.

Scott Cowan [01:07:49]:

No. It’s okay. I mean

Jeff Barlow [01:07:50]:

My favorite food is the food I didn’t have to fix.

Scott Cowan [01:07:54]:

I have mine too.

Jeff Barlow [01:07:55]:

I love,

Scott Cowan [01:07:58]:

Jeff Barlow [01:07:58]:

love You Need A Burger. You Need A Burger is fantastic. Or Burger Master, The bacon master, you can’t go wrong with with that, and you get to eat it in your car.

Scott Cowan [01:08:11]:

Okay. So I’m gonna disagree with you there.

Jeff Barlow [01:08:13]:

Okay.

Scott Cowan [01:08:13]:

And and here’s why. I I I when I eat in my car, it’s always for a matter of, I’m in a rush. Sure. Right? And so I don’t care about the food. I just need to not be hungry. Mhmm. We have a burger place in Wenatchee called Mission Burger. They’re great.

Scott Cowan [01:08:37]:

It’s it’s a grape. This so, not I don’t wanna say he’s classically trained chef, but he’s a he’s a trained chef. He, you know, he was in fine dining for a number of years. He decided to go into Into burgers, and they’re great. A burger and a shake and fries is $25. It’s a you know, it’s not a cheap meal, but it’s it’s really good food. But you have

Jeff Barlow [01:08:58]:

to eat in your car. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [01:09:00]:

And so I’ve I so good food in the car. Burgermaster’s great.

Jeff Barlow [01:09:05]:

Yeah.

Scott Cowan [01:09:05]:

And I’ve I’ve eaten in my car burger restaurant.

Jeff Barlow [01:09:07]:

It’s car level food. It’s like the best car level food. I I wouldn’t want to I wouldn’t wanna eat a Unita Burger in my car.

Scott Cowan [01:09:15]:

Okay. Yeah. That’s that’s that’s where my disagreement is. Okay. So my last question of you. This is very important. You have to answer it. You have to You can’t not answer this question.

Scott Cowan [01:09:25]:

Alright? I hope

Jeff Barlow [01:09:25]:

I have a

Scott Cowan [01:09:26]:

Every guest gets this question. Cake or pie, and why?

Jeff Barlow [01:09:34]:

Funny you should ask that because tonight is actually pie night for me. I’ve got a whole group of guys, and we go out on Thursday nights, and we get pie.

Scott Cowan [01:09:44]:

Are you kidding me?

Jeff Barlow [01:09:44]:

I’m not kidding.

Scott Cowan [01:09:46]:

Okay.

Jeff Barlow [01:09:46]:

I love pie. Okay. I think it’s the cake is all sweet. Pie is a combination of the tangy and the No. You know, the crust isn’t very neutral, which I like.

Scott Cowan [01:10:02]:

Okay. What pie Do you what what what what’s your where where where do you run-in the Pai family?

Jeff Barlow [01:10:09]:

I’m probably 90% of the time, I go between 2 pies, the Oregon Marionberry with a scoop of ice cream or the chocolate cream

Scott Cowan [01:10:24]:

Interesting.

Jeff Barlow [01:10:25]:

And, the other the rest of the time, if the right season, a good peach pie, That’s a very narrow window.

Scott Cowan [01:10:32]:

Very narrow.

Jeff Barlow [01:10:35]:

But that Marionberry, that’s that’s a home run every time.

Scott Cowan [01:10:39]:

Okay. Jeff, do you have anything else to add? Because I don’t wanna keep you from pie.

Jeff Barlow [01:10:45]:

Just Thank you so much for letting me talk about what I do. I love drawing the band in 1 song. I love Hearing live music, I love the energy that happens when live music is playing. And, the fact that you’re letting me tell it to other people is I’m blown away. I’m I’m honored. I’m thrilled, and thank you.

Scott Cowan [01:11:07]:

Well, you made an impression at Slims. I mean, you did. I mean, I I I mean, My wife and my friend, Renee, and I, we kept, like, we kept looking at you, and and we kept looking at each other. What’s he doing? You know? You know, what’s he doing? And and and I and I I we got there early, and we got one of the few tables. And so I wasn’t Gonna give that I was gonna cling to that like a life raft. I was not giving up that table. So I wasn’t had I had to had more choices. I might’ve gone over and said, hey.

Scott Cowan [01:11:38]:

What are you doing? Because that’s the and I would introduce myself. Like, hey. What are you doing? But I thought that was really cool, and it was such a great night. And then to see the artwork come out the next day, You know, that was that show, unlike a lot of shows that I’ve been to in Seattle, the buzz after the show was Really significant. It’s Kristine. Of you.

Jeff Barlow [01:12:00]:

Well, and Dave Alvin. They’ve got deep roots In this scene so

Scott Cowan [01:12:05]:

Have you ever seen had you ever seen Dave Alvin before? No. I had not. Oh.

Jeff Barlow [01:12:10]:

In fact Okay. I didn’t Didn’t know anything about him. Everybody’s like, Dave Alvid’s gonna be here. I was like, cool. Who’s that? Yeah. I keep thinking I know everything about music. And every Saturday when I go, how is it possible that I know the whole music scene, but there are 20 venues that all have bands I’ve never heard of?

Scott Cowan [01:12:31]:

Or how do you go and go, last week was the greatest guitar player I’ve ever seen, and this week is the greatest guitar player I’ve ever seen. Mhmm. And, oh my God, this person can play that yeah. It’s really interesting. The music scene is very, very interesting. We Seattle’s got a great scene, And, Washington State’s got great bands across the whole state as let’s be fair, so does everywhere else. But, you know, Dave Alvin is just

Jeff Barlow [01:12:56]:

He was so good. That was I as soon as as soon as he started to play, I was like, I know I know what everybody’s talking about. It was every once in a while, a musician sort of Kicks it up to another level. And usually, usually, for me, it’s a guitarist. Once in a while, it’s a drummer. There was a band that came through here. They were actually from Sacramento called Horse Neck. And as soon as they struck up and started playing and I saw the drummer, I was like, Woah.

Jeff Barlow [01:13:24]:

That drummer is something else. And my buddy who is with me, he’s like, man, she’s beating on those drums like they owe her money. Or I

Scott Cowan [01:13:35]:

love it.

Jeff Barlow [01:13:35]:

A bass player, Mary of Bibliotheca.

Scott Cowan [01:13:39]:

Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [01:13:40]:

I mean, you walk in, and they start to play. And you’re like, oh, there’s rock star DNA in that person right there.

Scott Cowan [01:13:47]:

Yeah. It’s every now and then you you use you get a musician. You’re just like,

Jeff Barlow [01:13:53]:

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, can I tell you one more good story?

Scott Cowan [01:13:56]:

You you may.

Jeff Barlow [01:13:57]:

So this happens to me once in a while, which is really kind of fun, and that is, again, the the musicians in Seattle are very interchangeable. Different people play with different things. I I know a guy who’s a fantastic drummer in 1 band and is a lead guitarist in another band. They move around. Right? And, Because of that, maybe I know the members of the man, and maybe I don’t. Maybe I’ve seen them before, But it has happened to me on more than one occasion. Remember me talking about how the musicians have their thing. Right?

Scott Cowan [01:14:29]:

Mhmm.

Jeff Barlow [01:14:30]:

Mhmm. So I go to a show. I start drawing. I get halfway through the drawing, and I’m like, I’ve drawn her before. And I go through the books, and I realized she was a different musician in a different band at a different venue. But because of her thing and I because I started drawing it, I knew who it

Scott Cowan [01:14:51]:

was. Interesting.

Jeff Barlow [01:14:52]:

And, that’s kind of a fun experience. Her name is Sarah, and she was in, I used to remember all of the bands, but on 3,000 drawings, I just I just can’t anymore. But, Intrinsic. She was in a band called Intrinsic.

Scott Cowan [01:15:13]:

Jeff Barlow [01:15:14]:

And she was playing at the Southgate roller rink, and I got all the way through the thing, and then I was like, I know her. And I looked back, and sure enough, I had drawn she’s the one I drew at the blue moon, One of the 1st skyline drawings. Okay. Same thing. The bass player from General Mojo’s, he was in a different band. I had drawn him a long time ago. Get there. Start drawing again.

Jeff Barlow [01:15:32]:

It’s like, oh, I’ve drawn him before.

Scott Cowan [01:15:34]:

Interesting.

Jeff Barlow [01:15:35]:

Anyway, if is that an interesting story that’ll probably wind up on the cutting room floor, I just No.

Scott Cowan [01:15:39]:

No. We don’t. We we the only thing that’ll get cut out is, the break where I had to go let the dog out. We we leave it we leave this in, warts and all. Unless, for a small fee, you’d like something removed, and then we’re we’re willing to we’re willing to remove things.

Jeff Barlow [01:15:52]:

No way, man. This is fun. Well,

Scott Cowan [01:15:54]:

Well, Jeff, thanks so much. This is this is a blast. I’m glad you were, able to make some time and be on the show.

Jeff Barlow [01:15:59]:

Again, I’m honored and thrilled that you that you asked me to do this. Thank you.

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The Exploring Washington State Podcast is your go-to source for discovering the diverse wonders of the Evergreen State. Whether you’re seeking inspiration for your next adventure, looking to savor local cuisine, or eager to learn about the businesses and artists that call Washington home, this podcast has something for everyone. Join us as we showcase the splendor of Washington State, reminding you that “there is always more to explore!”

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