Seattle Press on Line - Michael Shuler at the Sunset Tavern, December 5

Well, let me tell you...

Michael Shuler at the Sunset Tavern, December 5

By Unknown Writer #4

Dec 13, 2000 -- He was introduced to me nearly eight years ago at the old Backstage, where I spent most of my life. He said something about being a songwriter. He must have been very shy about telling me--maybe he thought I was someone important--because I didn't take much notice of this guy, though he seemed nice enough. Songwriters are a dime a dozen, and honestly, most are just a little boring.

For some reason, though, I actually took myself out to a different club--not the Backstage! --to see this guy. It was an off night, very few people in the audience, in the Crocodile Cafe's pseudo-tropical music room. He strolled out onstage, shyly. But I watched him. He aimed for the hotspot (that's theater talk for where the light is focused). And there he was, one guy, one guitar, and shining in the hotspot, he took a rocker's stance. It was nearly a complete transformation as he played an acoustic set from a punk point of view. I was blown away. I immediately gobbled all my jaded songwriter words and started looking for opportunities to book this musician. He opened for Sheryl Crow's first date in Seattle, and he opened for Guy Clark. Now he's played in Seattle's famous songwriter circles more times than anyone can remember. That musician's name is Michael Shuler.

Payne's picks:

Thursday & Friday, December 14 & 15
Tom Landa & The Paperboys, at the Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. NW, 789-3599

Saturday, December 16
The Squirrels' 11th Annual XXXMAS XXXTRAVAGANZA, with 4 Hour Ramona, at the Tractor Tavern

Tuesday, December 19
A Double Bill Benefit for the Northwest Newspaper Guild: Laura Love and Jo Miller & the Burly Roughnecks, at the Tractor Tavern

Friday & Saturday, December 22 & 23
Pete Yeates with Mikey Beglan, at Conor Byrne's, 5140 Ballard Avenue NW, 784-3640

Call venues for times and prices.

Clubs: Please e-mail schedules to cpollyc@aol.com or fax to (206) 324-5336.

So the other night, I thought it would be a fine idea to stop by the Sunset Tavern for Acoustic Tuesday. It was a Michael Shuler evening, and I hadn't seen him play in ages.

I will forever be mystified by fine songwriters, and horribly bored by bad ones--and Shuler is "Fine" with a capital F. Good songwriting is about mixing poetry and music and coming up with something accessible on all levels. The people in the back eating their burgers can hear the beat, the dancers can dance and the listeners--well, they're the lucky ones, because they get the whole picture.

Shuler was trying out a batch of new music, even had a music stand nearby for his hand-written lyrics. This is a man who knows how to turn a phrase--"flea market soul," for instance, or "you, with your sketchbook of fears." Though a lot of his material is dark, he also writes yearning love songs, and his stage patter shows off his sense of humor. A Michael Shuler song is a series of subtle snapshots that, like all great photographs, capture indelible images. And it's all set to a rockin' roots sound with great guitar licks.

Anybody can rhyme, but not everyone can turn rhyming into an art form. Michael Shuler is a pensive poet inside a rock-star sexy skin, and I can't think of a better combination.

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