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Spokane’s Street Music Week closes the show with $27,375 in donations and a look to the future

Dalyn Harper and Max Malone perform on Main Street during the last day of Street Music Week. The 21st annual event raised money for Second Harvest food bank. For the noon hour, Harper and Malone performed an eclectic mix of country rock and top 10, with some Bee Gees and Tina Turner in the mix. (COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
Dalyn Harper and Max Malone perform on Main Street during the last day of Street Music Week. The 21st annual event raised money for Second Harvest food bank. For the noon hour, Harper and Malone performed an eclectic mix of country rock and top 10, with some Bee Gees and Tina Turner in the mix. (COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)Buy a print of this photo
By Ignacio Cowles The Spokesman-Review

The 21st Street Music Week wrapped up on Friday as buskers got in one last performance in Downtown Spokane.

More than 20 musicians lined Main Street with a menagerie of instruments to raise funds for Second Harvest food bank, performing for those strolling past the banners for Hoopfest and Pan-African flags in honor of Juneteenth this coming Monday. This year’s event raised $27,375, organizers said.

On the prime real estate outside River Park Square, event founder Doug Clark and guitarist Joe Brasch had a public jam session, performing a wide range of music and even some of Clark’s original songs. Opposite, Dalyn Harper with Max Malone performed a duet of “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” a tribute to the recently passed Tina Turner.

As they transitioned to the next song, Malone remarked, “She’s the better singer, but whenever we play, she keeps saying ‘Oh, you sing, you sing.’ “

Harper responded: “I like doing harmonies.”

Moving east along Main, the sound changes, with slower acoustic notes and more solo ballads. Even farther, and the sound changes again, taking on a brass quality.

The 8-person Spokane Horn Club, a longtime returning group of French horn players, performed old time band tunes near Howard, prompting slightly confused but intrigued glances from onlookers. This is their 15th year at the event.

Clark, who led the event since its inception until passing the torch to Carey Eyer this year, has some ideas for the future of the event. “Not so many people are carrying cash; a lot of it is virtual now,” he said, theorizing ways to make donating more convenient for passersby. He also suggested reaching out to younger musicians to revitalize the event’s numbers, which have spread out from the original downtown location to Garland and Coeur d’Alene.

The event, which has run every year since 2002, has raised over $315,000 over its history before Friday.

The Ella Fitzgerald Foundation will match every dollar up to $5,000 this year.