Jason Webley

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Jason Webley in 2006
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Jason Webley in 2006

Jason Webley is a famous busker from Seattle who has traveled all across the world. His music is a combination of folk, gypsy, and punk.

Traditionally, he theatrically dies every Halloween only to be born in the spring on May Day, although at the 2005 Halloween show he stated that he no longer wanted to live and die with the seasons. He did not die that year, and is expected to continue not dying at future halloweens.

He has released four albums on Springman Records. On his albums he plays guitar, accordion, piano, even xylophone, but when he tours he only brings his guitar, an accordion, and a vodka bottle filled with coins from around the world.

Some of Webley's most famous songs are: the apocalyptic [1] "Dance While the Sky Crashes Down" (which appears on his album Against the Night), and his most common show finale, "The Drinking Song" (which appears on Counterpoint). During ([2]) "The Drinking Song" the audience is asked to sing in a drunken stupor:

If the glass is full
drink up, drink up
this may be the last time we see this cup.
If God wanted us sober
he'd knock the glass over
so while it is full
we drink up.

His late 1990s model Toyota Corrolla has been converted into a giant tomato. It is painted red, with a green fiberglass stem attached to the roof of the car. Instead of saying Toyota on the hood, it says tomato, and the Toyota logo was broken and reshaped into a circle with a stem. Webley announced in a post on his website's forums that the fiberglass stem was stolen from atop his car on July 13th, 2006, during one of his frequent concert tours (see [3]) Jason Webley's Tomato Toyota

Webley also performs annually at several festivals including Burning Man, Whole Earth Festival, Glastonbury Festival, and the Oregon Country Fair. His sound is most often compared to Tom Waits or Vladimir Vysotsky but also Leonard Cohen, Shel Silverstein, Bob Dylan, Neutral Milk Hotel, No Means No and the Dead Kennedys.

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[edit] Camp Tomato

On April 30, 2005, he ran an event called Camp Tomato where he created an organization called the Tomato Scouts, a light-hearted reply to claims that he is a dangerous cult leader. It starts with a day in the park of fun, games, and antics, followed up by a performance by Webley in the evening-on into the night. The camp featured activities such as a "Tomato Pageant", "Tomato Race", and the highlight, the "Tomato Raid". Webley hopes to turn Camp Tomato into an annual event.

[edit] Controversy

Jason Webley has been known to perform outside of 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, CA while other bands are performing their sets inside the club.

[edit] Discography

  • Viaje (1998)
  • Against the Night (1999)
  • Counterpoint (2002)
  • Only Just Beginning (2004)
  • Eleven Saints (2006)
  • How Big is Tacoma (2006)

[edit] External links

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