Parke Ave Celebrates its First Birthday during Saturday Extravaganza

Have you ever walked into a party and can instantly tell that that everyone in the room is on some good vibrations? On Saturday the 26th of January, in a lofty event space in Seattle’s Sodo neighborhood, just such a party went down, and it was one for the books. The sold-out room was beaming with smiling faces who had come to party with the community that Parke Ave, a networking platform, has provided them; as well as to celebrate the success the platform has enjoyed in its first year. Parke went all out for this event, and on top of magical lighting and gold decorations, the space boasted a glammed-out selfie wall, an onsite hairstylist offering free hair-dos, tasty drink specials, free giveaways and of course live music by some of the PNW’s rising artists.

Even if I hadn’t known that the attendees consisted primarily of music artists and other creatives, I would have known something was different about the energy in the room; the collective creativity was palpable. I’m used to being surrounded by people dying to conform, but this crowd was eager to showcase their unique individuality, especially when it came to their music—something they took turns doing throughout the night. An eclectic mix of artists like Booboolala, Lonely Together, La Fonda, and Gypsy Temple (to name a few) lit up the room with their performances, and the crowd was so there for it.

In between sets, the room broke out into enthusiastic conversations and I could hear several introductions being made. Parke Ave is a networking platform after all, but this scene was nothing like most of the stuffy networking events I’ve attended. Judging by the shoutouts that every single one of the performers gave to the apps founder, Scarlet Parke, during their sets, being a part of Park Ave has facilitated the exchange of friendship, stories, advice, connections, resources—providing all the necessary ingredients for an open music community. The concept to form Parke Ave was inspired from Scarlet Parke’s own experience as she was carving her way onto the music scene; like many artists know, the music industry doesn’t always welcome new talent with open arms. Fortunately, Scarlet found her way in regardless, and after garnering her own success she decided to create the sense of community she felt was missing in Seattle’s music industry— a decision which is influencing music culture for the better.

Scarlet Parke is also blessing the music scene with some dope new pop music, and we can hardly wait for her next album to be released. She closed out the night with a sneak peak into that album, singing unreleased single “La Luna,” which had us all swaying to its sultry beat. While onstage, Scarlet emceed the first (but not last!) Parke Ave. Awards, which were a lot of fun. Awards ranged from Breakout Year (ParisAlexa) to Best Drunk Performance (Marshall Hugh). She also hooked up raffle contestants with Matthew Wolk, who had shown up to offer free track mastering to the lucky winners. Lastly, Scarlet Parke announced that she would be moving to LA and splitting her time between there and Seattle from now on. Thankfully, she plans to be back regularly to throw Parke parties, because, like music itself, Park Ave is here to bring people together.

This event was sponsored by:

Crater Lake Spirits (www.craterlakespirits.com)

Seattle Cider (https://www.seattlecidercompany.com)

Ballard Vox (www.ballardvox.com)

Essentia Water (www.essentiawater.com)

For more info about Matthew Wolk Mastering, please visit http://www.matthewwolkmastering.com/

To view a full photo gallery of the event, please visit: www.