Sisters Folk Festival continues its tradition of brightening up cold winter nights with a range of music from an old-timey band to an innovative guitarist. The series kicks off February 6 with The Foghorn Stringband.
Friday, February 6, The Foghorn Stringband
From their origins in Portland Oregon’s underground roots music scene, the core duo of Caleb Klauder, whose wistful, keening vocals and rapid-fire mandolin picking have always been the heart of the band, and Stephen “Sammy” Lind, perhaps the best old-time fiddler of his generation, have spread the old-time string-band gospel all over the world. Along the way, they’ve brought in influences and inspiration from their many travels and fellow bandmates. Vintage country songs became a part of Foghorn Stringband thanks to Klauder’s intense passion for the music; and frequent visits to Louisiana have inspired the group to bring Cajun songs into the repertoire.
Portland’s Foghorn String Band stands at the top of today’s vibrant old-time music revival and a fine example of what an unending revival it is. Each album finds them deeper into the tradition, more familiar with the rich resources of roots music, and more focused, but still propelled by that undercurrent of punk energy. —Art Menius, WMMT
Sisters’ favorite and long-time Folk Festival artist Beth Wood will open the show. Beth Wood’s exceptional musicianship, crafty songwriting, and commanding stage presence have been winning over American audiences for 16 years. Beth’s music is a soulful, organic, intelligent, barefoot, high-energy communication of joy.
Friday, February 13, The Stray Birds, and returning favorites Cahalen Morrison & Eli West
The second installation in the series will include the co-billing of The Stray Birds, and returning favorites Cahalen Morrison and Eli West to bring their brand of high-lonesome music to Sisters.
The Stray Birds, made up of Maya de Vitry, Oliver Craven and Charles Muench, formed in Lancaster, PA, and the classically trained and roots music-raised trio has spent the last several years honing their sound and touring extensively, including live performances on NPR’s Mountain Stage, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. The band, whose playing is gorgeous, the harmonies exquisite, made their Yep Roc Records label debut October 21 with the release of their second full-length studio album, Best Medicine.
Following the band’s 2012 self-titled release, which NPR Music named Top 10 Folk/Americana album and proclaimed, “clearly these are players with chops, songwriters with a fierce command of their craft.” They will be joined this evening with the duo of Cahalen Morrison and Eli West, from Seattle WA, who are, simply put, two of the most innovative and subtle roots musicians today. Their music draws from old folk sources, and it sounds vibrantly alive. “After a very successful Festival appearance in 2014, we are happy to bring them back and expose their virtuosity to a broader audience,” says Sisters Folk Festival’s Creative Director, Brad Tisdel.
Friday, February 27 An Evening with Willy Porter
To conclude the series, the incomparable Willy Porter will bring his inventive guitar playing, passionate songwriting and entertaining stage-show back to Sisters. Porter’s songwriting is both lyrically rich and musically adventurous, and he is an accomplished finger-style guitarist. Porter’s music moves easily from guitar-driven rock to the open-tuned wonderland of the new acoustic frontier. His live shows combine his guitar-playing, songwriting and on-stage improvisational skills as a storyteller and performance artist. This show pushes the new acoustic music frontier forward, and is not to be missed.
The Sisters Folk Festival Winter Concert Series package is $50 for all three shows for adults, $25 for students. Individual tickets are $20 adv./$25 door/$10 student. All shows are at the Sisters High School Auditorium, 1700 West McKinney Butte Road, Sisters OR 97759 and start at 7pm.
www.sistersfolkfestival.org
www.bendticket.com
541-549-4979
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