The Angle Lake light-rail station in SeaTac is no stranger to public art. Since opening in 2016, it has welcomed visitors with colorful floating discs, an undulating colonnade of blue aluminum planks, and a vortex of boomerang shapes escorting riders to the parking garage. And now riders will hear guitar strums, drumbeats, and vocal flourishes coming from a new performance space.
The Roadhouse, which opened Oct. 29, is an all-ages, live music venue at the station. Look for it near the parking garage, under a forthcoming neon sign. In addition to producing music shows, the venue (occupancy 145) will be rentable for special events, rehearsals, workshops and classes. It’s part of STart, Sound Transit’s public art program (funded by 1 percent of construction budgets for the regional mass-transit agency).

The venue will be managed by musician and arts educator Eduardo Mendonça, owner of Show Brazil Productions, an educational arts organization based in Kent, where he lives. After one year, stakeholders will determine whether The Roadhouse experiment is worth continuing.

“The Roadhouse will fill a gap of opportunities,” said Mendonça, who has performed guitar and percussion for luminaries from Nelson Mandela to former Brazil president Joao Baptista Figueiredo. “People need to go to Seattle to do things that are related to music and culture. We do have events and opportunities that happen in south King County, but The Roadhouse for sure will be a very good addition in a different way to having our community here.” 

Mendonça said his production company is planning approximately 20 events in the space over the next year, all free to the public. They include a series called “The Sounds of Roadhouse,” aimed at adults and teens and featuring local performers of anything from pop to Latin music.

The venue will also be open to community organizations to host their own events and increase their visibility. 

Source: Crosscut.com, a Pacific Northwest, non-profit news site that’s part of Cascade Public Media.