Sisters Folk announces the 2016 Winter Concert Series. This year’s series will include three outstanding shows, demonstrating the wide range of American roots music.
On Thursday, January 28, The Wood Brothers will perform their brand of masterful and soulful folk, with hints of blues, Americana, and acoustic soul. Steeped in a songwriting tradition, they are celebrating their fifth studio album, Paradise, and have quickly become one of the best live acts touring the country.
The Wood Brothers released their debut studio album, Ways Not To Lose, on Blue Note Records in 2006. Chris Wood already had legions of devoted fans for his incomparable work as one-third of Medeski Martin & Wood, while his brother Oliver toured with Tinsley Ellis before releasing a half-dozen albums with his band King Johnson.
Almost a decade later and with drummer and multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix added as a permanent third member, it’s become quite clear that The Wood Brothers is indeed the main act.
On Saturday, February 27, the second show in the series will feature Bumper Jacksons, from Washington, D.C. Folding sounds of jazz, early blues, old-time music, and country swing into an exhilarating repertoire of modern American roots music, the DC-based band has brought a hard-driving party energy to countless dance floors. With three recent Washington Area Music Awards and many dozens of jubilant live shows under their collective belt, they’ve produced their second album, “Too Big World,” a sweetly balanced collection of hot swing numbers, heartbreak ballads, and late-night moonshine foot-stompers.
Front-woman and Florida native Jess Eliot Myhre (clarinet, vocals, washboard) honed her musical chops in jam sessions in the streets and clubs of New Orleans, immersed in the music that fuels the city’s humid, carnivalesque all-night parties. In 2012, she met Maryland-born fellow song-crafter Chris Ousley (guitar, vocals) and the two joined forces to form the Bumper Jacksons’ core.
Concluding the series is Massachusetts-based quartet Darlingside on Thursday, March 10. . The members of Darlingside (Sam Kapala, Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji, Harris Paseltiner and David Senft) met at Williams College in western Massachusetts. “Auyon and I were paired as freshman-year roommates,” Dave recalls. “We fought often, but we spent so much time together that we very quickly became like brothers.” They joined a singing group with Don, and Harris joined the same group two years later. From there, they bonded over a shared interest in songwriting, despite a diversity of musical backgrounds and performance styles including chamber music, choral singing, Celtic session-playing, and street-busking.
After six years of playing together and a decade-plus of knowing each other, the band’s collaborative process has evolved side by side with their friendships. “
“The band has been described many ways; but what stands out is that their music feels urgent, fresh and new — yet has a comfortable familiarity that leaves you wanting more. It’s an intangible musical collaboration that is unique, and has intelligence and integrity … our audience has embraced them wholly, like many audiences ‘discovering’ them across the country. It’s an intangible musical collaboration that is unique and has intelligence and integrity … our audience has embraced them wholly, like many audiences ‘discovering’ them throughout the country,” says SFF’s creative director, Brad Tisdel.
Tickets go on sale at 9am on November 2 at www.sistersfolkfestival.org/tickets or 541-549-4979.
Series passes are $60 for adults and $40 for youth 18 and under. Advance prices for individual tickets are $25 for The Wood Brothers, and $20 for Bumper Jacksons or Darlingside. If available, individual show tickets are $5 more at the door. All shows are at the Sisters High School auditorium, and start at 7pm.