Songs about tangoing Martians and colonoscopies

Seattle singer/songwriter Deb Seymour writes tunes about hitchhiking chickens in electric cars, tango dancing with Martians and the absurd indignities of undergoing a colonoscopy.

“Life is so difficult you can’t take it seriously sometimes,” Seymour said in an interview with the Journal from her home in Ballard.

The performer one fan described as a combination of Joni Mitchell and Lucille Ball brings her original tunes, a few covers and comic banter to a concert at 4 p.m. Saturday at St. Germain’s Episcopal Church, 600 N. Lake Cushman Road, Hoodsport. Admission to the Tall Timbers concert is the suggested donation of $15-$20, but organizers say no one will be turned away because they can’t pay.

Growing up in San Francisco, the 60-year-old Seymour took piano lessons at 3 and picked up the guitar at 10. She wrote her first song that year, “The Land,” a message song to her parents about running away. Her songs are inspired by the show tunes and George Gershwin songs her parents played at home, she said.

Seymour said her parents weren’t initially thrilled with her decision to pursue a musical career. They were amazed when she released her first CD at age 28; now her mother carries copies of her CDs in her purse.

In 1994, Seymour moved from Colorado to Seattle after becoming enamored of the area while attending an annual guitar workshop on the Kitsap Peninsula. “It felt like it was home,” she said.

You can check out Seymour’s songs on YouTube. “Colonoscopy” was inspired while waiting in a bathroom preparing for the procedure that is “so undignified — someone had to make fun of it.” The lyrics to “The Martian Tango Love Song” came following a breakup. “I thought, ‘Who or what would be the most ridiculous thing to be in love with?’ ”

In July, Seymour will release her fifth album, “Sometimes You Gotta Wear Boots.” At the Hoodsport concert, she’ll be selling digital USB drives of the album. Seymour said the songs were written during the pandemic. A theme that runs through the songs on the album is “getting stuck and being unstuck,” she said.

Seymour tours the country three to five months each year, and recently performed in Colorado, Arizona, Florida and California; she’ll play in Maine this fall. Every Sunday, she broadcasts her livestream “Brunch W/Deb” on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.

Seymour said she hopes her songs lighten the mood of listeners and “offers relief from the day to day.”

She said she’ll perform some cover tunes, perhaps some songs by the Eagles. “They should expect to sing along.”

The Tall Timbers concerts continue with Hank Cramer at 4 p.m. May 5, Ted Vigil and his tribute to John Denver at 6 p.m. June 16, Humbletown Band at 3 p.m. Aug. 11, and the Oly Mountain Boys at 3 p.m. Aug. 18. For more information, call 360-877-5862.

IF YOU GO:

WHO: Seattle singer/songwriter Deb Seymour

WHEN: 4 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: St. Germain’s Episcopal Church, 600 N. Lake Cushman Road, Hoodsport

ADMISSION: Suggested donation of $15-$20, no one turned away

INFORMATION: 360-877-5862