(Photos | Courtesy of Sisters Folk Festival)
Sisters Folk Festival will produce the last two shows of the summer series with long-anticipated performances on August 13 and 14. Thus far, the newly remodeled venue has provided an exceptional music experience for artists and fans alike. With beautiful aesthetics and outstanding sound and lights, the overall experience has been very well received by concert attendees. The new venue was made possible in part by the craftmanship from Tight Knot Construction and the generous donation of building materials from Wilsonville, Oregon-based OrePac Building Products.
On Friday, August 13, the last weekend of the Sisters Summer of Festival concert series will bring the award-winning artist Kristen Grainger & True North to perform. With a bluegrass-leaning folk powerhouse ensemble that includes Dan Wetzel, Martin Stevens and Josh Adkins, the band’s live performances resonate with audiences listening for well-crafted songs, tasteful instrumentation and beautiful vocals. Sharing the stage that evening will be San Juan Island, Washington-based Sway Wild, an internationally acclaimed indie folk-rock duo composed of pioneering electric guitarist Mandy Fer and guitarist and singer Dave McGraw. Both acts are well known on the folk circuit and this date will mark the official debut of Kristen Grainger and True North to Sisters Folk Festival audiences.
The Sisters Summer of Festival will wrap up on Saturday, August 14 with the Kansas City-based Latinx band, Making Movies, along with Los Angeles singer-songwriter, Raye Zaragoza. Making Movies, known for their innovative approach to music inspired by American and Latin cultures, are “breaking down walls in the U.S.” (Rolling Stone). From their Panamanian and Mexican heritage to their fusion of international sounds and genres, Making Movies melds reinterpretations of cumbia, mambo, son and salsa with blues and rock ’n’ roll, as well as traditional Mexican and Panamanian folclór, while singing in Spanish and English.
Raye Zaragoza, a first-generation Japanese-American on her mother’s side, indigenous on her father’s side and raised in New York City, delivers powerful messages about embracing one’s own identity and discovering the power behind it, all across brisk, emotive, compelling folk melodies.
Both artists are active in social justice causes and make it a priority when visiting new towns to connect with the community through free workshops. Making Movies will offer a workshop at 1:30pm on Saturday, August 14, showing how experiencing music can reveal the underlying connection between us all. From huapango to the blues, from son cubano to jazz, the band demonstrates that there is a link between all the rhythmic genres in the Americas. The workshop uses audience participation to demonstrate how the clave informs all rhythmic music in the west.
Tickets are on sale for the final two Sisters Summer of Festival shows. The workshop with Making Movies is free to the public. All of the weekend’s events will be held in the backyard venue at Sisters Art Works, 204 W. Adams Avenue in Sisters.
For tickets and additional information, including tickets for the upcoming 24th annual Sisters Folk Festival October 1-3, 2021, please visit sistersfolkfestival.org or call 541-549-4979.