Max Blue will perform poetry at KALA on Friday, March 20.

ASTORIA — KALA welcomes northern California-based poet Max Blue, on a Northwest tour with his project, Boy Blue, for a performance Friday, March 20. Opening the evening is Astoria’s Last Tuesday poetry host Ric Vrana and Naselle, Washington-based poet John Cimenello. Doors open at 7 p.m.; the show follows at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5, and all ages welcome.

Blue began writing, and subsequently started his spoken word project, Boy Blue, in 2010. The work in this project focuses on hardship and hope, and features the musical accompaniment of several artists. As a spoken-word artist, Blue is influenced by traditional slam and beat-style poetry as well as free-style hip-hop, having grown up in the Bay Area open mic circuit. Blue is also a visual artists who works in analogue photography and paint, but he says he writes to stay alive, choosing to primarily paint with words upon the mind’s eye.

Blue was the resident poet at Cafe Gratitude Santa Cruz’s monthly Grateful Gatherings event and is a featured artist and member of the San Francisco-based grass-roots production group BlueBack Collective. Boy Blue will play a few northern California shows to support his recent debut EP as well as headline the event at KALA, which will also feature fellow Bay Area singer-songwriter act Andrew Boylan.

Titled “Demo,” Boy Blue’s debut was self-recorded in San Francisco in early February and features the multi-instrumentation of Aaron Stevens. “Demo” is a collection of poems written within the last two years that emphasize the tribulation and passion of youth, love and personal experience through a subtle, overarching narrative.

Blue is currently working on a separate, self-titled project in co-operation with BlueBack Collective.

Ric Vrana moved to Astoria from Portland, where he wrote and performed poetry. Before that, he came from New York and northeast Ohio, landing in Seattle in his 20s where he and others began a regular poetry series at the Pike Place Market called the Red Sky Poetry Theater. His work has appeared in Ghost Town, Broken Word –the Alberta Street Anthology, Blown Out: Portland’s Indy Poets, Venetian Blind Drunk, several on-line zines such as Work, and Elohi Gadugi and other print and online zines and blogs and radio broadcasts. These days he maps for the city of Warrenton and runs a monthly Poetry Open Mic at the Port of Call Bistro and Bar in downtown Astoria.

Originally from New Bedford, Massachusetts, John Ciminello has appeared in various publications including The Sun, Portland Mens Mentor Magazine, North Coast Squid, Columbia River Reader and RAIN magazine. He is the author of “Shrine Above High Tide” (2009).

KALA is located at 1017 Marine Drive. For more information, call 503-338-4878.