Black Belt Eagle Scout

October 23 | 7:30 pm | $35 advance / $40 day of show*

Experience soaring indie rock with Black Belt Eagle Scout, the acclaimed Swinomish/Iñupiaq songwriter and guitarist Katherine Paul. With richly textured guitar work and evocative vocals, Black Belt Eagle Scout creates music that is a love letter to indigenous strength and healing.

Blending indie rock, dream pop, shoegaze, and Pacific Northwest grunge with deeply personal songwriting and Indigenous musical influences, Black Belt Eagle Scout is known for dynamic live performances that travel from hushed moments of reflection to immersive waves of cathartic release.

Praised by Pitchfork, NPR Music, and Rolling Stone for powerful albums, including The Land, The Water, The Sky, Paul’s music carries the spirit of the Pacific Northwest, of her ancestral lands. Drawing from themes of identity, community, resilience, and connection to place, she crafts a space where grief, joy, love, and resilience converge, celebrating and honoring all the ancestors who walked these lands before her. Whether you’re a longtime fan or a first–time listener, don’t miss this rare chance to witness one of indie rock’s most compelling voices live. 

This project is supported in part by Creative West which receives support in part from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

More About Black Belt Eagle Scout

Black Belt Eagle Scout is the musical project of Katherine Paul, a Swinomish/Iñupiaq songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist whose work blends intimate storytelling with expansive indie rock textures. Her music reflects a commitment to storytelling rooted in ancestry, place, and emotional honesty. 

The land runs through Katherine Paul’s blood. And it called to her when she found herself far from her ancestral lands during a time of collective trauma, when the world was wounded and in need of healing. In 2020, she made the journey from Portland back to the Skagit River, back to the cedar trees that stand tall and shrouded in fog, back to the tide flats and the mountains, back to Swinomish. There she found joy and a fierce blissfulness that comes with walking the trails along the river, feeling the sand and the stones beneath her feet, along with the pride and the certainty that comes with knowing her ancestors walked along the same land, dipped their hands into the water, and ran their fingertips along the same bark of cedar trees.

Since the release of her acclaimed debut album Mother of My Children (2018), Black Belt Eagle Scout has become a distinctive voice in contemporary indie music. Her later albums, including At the Party With My Brown Friends and The Land, The Water, The Sky, further developed her atmospheric sound while centering Indigenous joy, queer love, and community connection. She’s toured internationally, performed at festivals such as Pitchfork Music Festival and Newport Folk Festival, and shared stages with artists like Sleater-Kinney and Mount Eerie. In addition to her music, KP is known for her visual collaborations and community-centered approach to performance, amplifying Indigenous voices through art, storytelling, and activism.

* Please Note: Day of show tickets based on availability. If this performance is sold out online, there will be no tickets available at the door.

Arts For All

$5 Arts for All tickets are available for individuals enrolled in the Oregon Trail Card or SNAP program. Individuals can purchase a maximum of 2 tickets per show. Tickets are limited per show. Contact the Walters Box Office at 503-615-3485 or [email protected] to purchase. Present your SNAP or Oregon Trail Card at the box office when picking up your tickets.

College Students

$5 tickets are also available for college students. Individuals can purchase 1 ticket per show. Tickets are limited per show. Contact the Walters Box Office at 503-615-3485 or [email protected] to purchase. Present your college ID at the box office when picking up your tickets.