Description

Join Village Books and the North Cascades Institute for an evening of music, stories, and fun with writer, editor, producer, and fisherman Steve Duda! 

Doors open and music begins at 6:30pm.

Interviewer and Musical Guest: Andy Bunn

Spaces are limited and REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED to secure your spot so don't delay. 

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT

River Songs is rich with bracing, authentic, generous stories--writing that revels in language and spirit.

Avoiding most of fly fishing's clichés--the romantic elegies, the Moby-Dick-like conquests, the play-by-play detailing a "victory" over a fish--Steve Duda instead offers pieces that breathe lived experience, reveal vulnerabilities, and convey a broad perspective of what it means to have "a long run with a tight crew." Duda is interested in what has been learned out there on the river: what is it about this "ridiculous activity" that connects us to this planet, makes us human, gives us hope?

River Songs focuses on the in-between moments and the unexpected revelations--awe, fear, frustration, doubt, joy--that are as much a part of fishing as tying knots and chucking flies. Readers ride along with Duda in battered pickup trucks, fish "between jobs," look longingly at unfished famous rivers while touring with a country-punk band, and wonder how a fishing trip led to getting a tooth pulled while being surrounded by trash-talking friends. They will find beauty, discovery, heartbreak, good dogs, and the wonder of nature within the expanse of Northwest landscapes and beyond.

Steve Duda is a writer, editor, and producer whose work in film, magazines, books, and live appearances has shaped the voice of fly fishing for over three decades. He is the former editor of The Flyfish Journal and a founding editor at Boise Weekly. Steve's cultural writing has been featured in Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, Seattle Weekly, MTV, San Francisco Bay Guardian, The Fretboard Journal, and many others. Currently, Steve is Head of Fish Tales at Patagonia, guiding the brand's fly fish activism and storytelling through film, video, web, social media, and more. He lives in Seattle with his partner and a semi-feral feline/raccoon hybrid.

Andy Bunn  is a songwriter living in Bellingham WA who writes character-focused songs. Some stick mostly to the facts and some are tall tales. They feel real to him and that’s enough. Andy co-hosts the Neighborhood Songwriter Showcase and plays in the High Mountain String Band. Find his stuff on Bandcamp here!

The Chuckanut Radio Hour, a recipient of Bellingham's prestigious Mayor's Arts Award, is a radio variety show that began in January 2007. Each Chuckanut Radio Hour includes guest authors, musicians, performance poet Kevin Murphy, and episodes of "As the Ham Turns" serial radio comedy performed by the Chuckanut Radio Players Les Campbell, Tonja Meyers, Lisa Colburn, Dee Robinson, Sarah Hawley, and Robert Muzzy. Not to mention groaner jokes by hosts Paul Hanson, Kelly Evert, and announcer Rich Donnelly. The Chuckanut Radio Hour's first guest was Erik Larson and has since included, Tom Robbins, Maria Semple, Christopher McDougall, Erica Bauermeister, and Garrison Keillor, among many others. Tickets for the Chuckanut Radio Hour are $5 and are available on Eventbrite.The Radio Hour airs Sundays at 7pm on Community Powered KMRE at 88.3FM and kmre.org. Co-sponsored by 12th Street Shoes.

*Online registration closes two hours prior to the event. Tickets may be available at the door.