Traveling like cajun nomads

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Despite school being out for the summer, a rogue bus could be seen throughout in Port Townsend in August either parked wherever it could fit, or navigating its way through downtown streets looking for a space.

Unlike any formal canary-colored school bus, this one had its school district removed, and replaced with “St. Cinder,” the name of the band now occupying the bus.

Though they have been palling around Port Townsend for the past month, St Cinder's band members originate from all over the country, including New York, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. St. Cinder consists of Alex “Pappy” Jones on mandolin and clarinet; Anthony Sutton on guitars and vocals; Cody “Valentine” Meyocks on five-string banjo and vocals; Colton “Fox Paw” Ort on vocals, bones and harmonica; Dagan “The Giant” Bartholomew on percussion and vocals; and Jon “Olive Jalopy” Ratliff on vocals, guitar, clarinet, trumpet, banjo and vocals.

Formed in 2014, the group started as just three. On a corner in the southern Oregon town of Ashland, Bartholomew, Ort and Ratliff found each other by happenstance and hit off a friendship.

Both Bartholomew and Ort came from the eastern United States for their own reasons, Ratliff explained, either by hitchhiking or by riding freight trains.

Shortly after this initial contact, they met Jones, who would have attended college if he had not been roped in to perform with the growing band.

From there, they met Meyocks in Bisbee, Arizona.

“We're just a tight group, traveling together for four years,” Ratliff said. “It started out with what tunes we all knew, old traditional Americana stuff, while Colton and I were writing original music, like either he or I had written in the past. The instruments lent themselves to a cohesive style. Whatever kind of music we are playing, we can pull it off with what we have to work with and it's evolved from there.”

After spending three winters in New Orleans, they took on a cajun jazz style.

“We've been learning together for four years at the same rate, without any other jobs. Our only job is making music,” Ratliff said.

They have made Port Townsend their home base for the past month, after an extensive western United States tour. In the last couple years, northwestern Washington lent itself as a place for its tamer weather to busk and book shows.

The band has been busy booking shows, at the Uptown Pub, Sirens and Disco Bay Detour, as well as sitting in with friends at the Cellar Door.

Kris Nelson, owner of Sirens Pub, said her downtown establishment seeks all genres of music to appeal to a wide range of customers, which St. Cinder helps cater toward.

“The whole point of having different types of music is so that everyone can come to Sirens,” Nelson said. “With all sorts of different types of music, it can appeal to this group and that group, that’s the whole point of music and entertainment.”

Nelson added feedback about the band has been good, which has been the reason St. Cinder has been invited back this year. “They work well and get a lot of comments,” she said.

They could also be seen on streets, performing for spare change to fill their guitar case.

“Port Townsend was a great place for us to be,” Ratcliff said.

This past weekend started their “Homeward Bound Tour” starting in Port Townsend and Discovery Bay, heading to Seattle and Bellingham, as well as western Oregon and California, and stopping in Cottonwood, Arizona.

“Somehow the style we play reaches a wide audience,” Ratliff said. “Port Townsend has been kind and receptive to what we do.”

Their chosen vessel, the aforementioned school bus, is stocked with sleeping bunks, kitchenette, housing gear and their wide variety of instruments - even a stand-up bass. To fend for themselves, they would employ the small kitchen set to cook, but would mainly eat out in local restaurants, nearly exclusively.

“We make do and figure it out,” he said.

Before acquiring the bus through a Go Fund Me campaign, they lived out of backpacks, a truck and a short school bus, which they used to truck around.

“It might seem to people that it's a huge thing, but it's really not,” Ratliff said, adding the school bus is also safe enough for the crew.

With its nature, as a vehicle bound to stand out, comes the caveat that it draws attention from law enforcement.

“It's a common occurrence to be rousted in the middle of the night,” he said. “We ride a fine line between professional musicians in some people's eyes … and then the same kind of person who may call the police on us for being the homeless people in town.”

To be the best neighbors, the band is sure to learn whatever specific ordinances are in place, to help decrease any stigma of living in a vehicle day-by-day.

Ratcliff said each member is a dedicated full-time musician, traveling around the country to wherever they can be heard, whether a dimly-lit pub or a bright street corner.

“Playing on the street is a venue that we love as much as any other,” Ratliff said.

The band performs traditional music, early jazz and blues, with a strong flavor of New Orleans style.

“We are always learning and writing material,” Ratliff said.

St. Cinder can be found on YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, Bandcamp and Facebook for their music, videos and other news.

“7th Ward Blues” is the latest album of three in their discography, which also includes “Wayside” and “Vagabond Dreams.”