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Frequency blog: Music news and reviews from Bend and Central Oregon, by Ben Salmon | The Bulletin

Sounds from Central Oregon and beyond

Posts Tagged ‘Sisters Folk Festival’

September 18 in GO! Magazine

Friday, September 18th, 2009

The quiet week in between the Sisters Folk Festival and the Bend Roots Revival isn’t so quiet after all. You’ve got several options for hearing great music over the next seven days, and here are some of them:

Gimme Indie Rock, Part I: These United States roll into the Silver Moon with a punched-up sound and a new album that reflects the mood of post-election America.

Gimme Indie Rock, Part II: Memorable country-rock songs seem to pour naturally from the pen of John McCauley, the twentysomething driving force behind Deer Tick.

Gimme Indie Rock, Part III: The Northwest churns out more interesting, experimental pop bands than anywhere else, and two of them — Finn Riggins from Idaho, and Church from Portland — are heading this way.

Here is my review of Todd Snider, Peter Rowan and Kelly Joe Phelps at the Sisters Folk Festival.

Also, the Domino Room hosts gangster rappers Mr. Capone-E and Mr. Criminal, Bend’s Erin Cole-Baker and Elliot are playing a back to school concert, Blue Turtle Seduction returns to town, The Autonomics invade JC’s, and some of Bend’s best rappers (Top Shelf, Mosley Wotta, Cloaked Characters) will throw a free show Thursday at Boondock’s.

One thing that didn’t get much ink in the print version of GO! Magazine: The Bend Roots Revival will kick off Thursday night with a meet-and-greet and open mic at Parrilla Grill at 6 p.m., followed by some Grateful Dead cover action from Back From the Dead (5:30-7 p.m.) and Rising Tide (7-9 p.m.) over at the Victorian Cafe. You should check that out, and then pick up next Friday’s GO! Magazine for full coverage of the rest of the fest.

And pick up today’s GO! for access to all the articles linked above, or subscribe online, otherwise you may run into the paywall.

Tags: Bend Roots Revival, Blue Turtle Seduction, Church, Deer Tick, Elliot, Erin Cole-Baker, Finn Riggins, Mr. Capone-E, Sisters Folk Festival, The Autonomics, These United States, Todd Snider
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Also tonight in Sisters: Todd Snider

Friday, September 11th, 2009

As I said earlier, I spilled a lot of ink on the Sisters Folk Festival this week, but probably could’ve written even more. One artist playing the festival that I really wish I could’ve done more on is Todd Snider, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who plays tonight on the Village Green main stage from 9 to 10 p.m.

I’ve been a fan of Todd’s since back in 1998, when I first heard the first track on his album “Viva Satellite.” It’s called “Rocket Fuel,” and I still think it’s one of the best pure, simple rock ‘n’ roll songs I own. I found a live version you can hear. Be sure to listen to the lyrics; I’m not sure they’d qualify for a poetry competition, but for me, they capture that whole young/carefree/immortal ethos that, as a 33-year-old working dude with bills to pay, seems so dumb and yet so appealing at the same time:

Todd Snider- Rocket Fuel

“Viva Satellite” is a pretty rockin’, full-band affair. And I haven’t been able to keep up with everything Snider has released since, so there may be some more rock-oriented albums among his more recent output, but for the most part, I think in the past few years he’s been focused on the folk-blues troubadour thing.

That format, of course, tends to shine a light on songwriting, and for Snider, that’s a good thing. The guy can spin a story and set it to a tune just about as well as anyone going these days. Click through the jump to watch three videos I found that showcase his skills. Bonus! Two of them have distinctly Northwest themes, and one is set in Oregon!

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Tags: Sisters Folk Festival, Todd Snider
Posted in songwriting, tonight | No Comments »

September 11 in GO! Magazine

Friday, September 11th, 2009

I’m going to level with you, Frequency readers: This week, I went a little nutso with the Sisters Folk Festival coverage. But there’s a good reason for that, and that reason is this: The 2009 Sisters Folk Festival’s lineup is its best yet (where “yet” = “in the four years I’ve been covering it”). I picked out three very different artists and wrote features on each of them, but if time and space were no object, I would’ve liked to have given the same treatment to another half-dozen folk fest performers.

But time and space does matter, and here’s what’s in GO! Magazine today:

SISTERS FOLK FESTIVAL
-Peter Rowan played extensively with both Bill Monroe and Jerry Garcia. Think about that. Pretty cool. I got a few stories out of him.

-Blind Pilot’s profile has risen fast over the past year, and I’d be willing to be they’re not done rising. Read up on them right here.

-Local gal Anastacia Beth Scott has a new album, a spot on the folk fest’s schedule, and a fast-maturing songwriting style. Life is good.

-Here’s the festival’s full schedule, as well as all the info you need on tickets.

And in case you missed it yesterday, I’ve compiled a mixtape of 17 songs by folk fest artists to help you make your decisions on who to see. You can download it for free by clicking here.

OTHER STUFF
-The Underground welcomes its first big out-of-town act when the rock/pop/hip-hop duo HardNox performs Saturday night.

-Blues fans should be licking their chops about Hill Country Revue coming to town. This North Mississippi Allstars side project does it down, dirty and Delta.

-This is crazy: Silver Moon Brewing is hosting acts from France, Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska this week. Read all about the road-weary rockers here.

In other news, we’ve got a review of reggae-hop dude (and former Bendite) Matisyahu’s new album, my colleague Patrick Cliff checked out the annual Dixieland festival in La Pine, and something or other happened with The Beatles, a band I’ve totally heard of.

All those Sisters Folk Festival articles should be free and available to anyone. The others might be for subscribers only. But whatever you’re interested in, you should grab a print copy of The Bulletin today to see the groovy rendering of Sisters by Greg Cross on the cover of GO! Magazine.

Tags: Anastacia Beth Scott, Blind Pilot, HardNox, Hill Country Revue, Matisyahu, Peter Rowan, Silver Moon, Sisters Folk Festival, The Beatles
Posted in news | No Comments »

Download a Sisters Folk Festival digital mixtape!

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

The Sisters Folk Festival kicks off Friday evening, and tomorrow’s GO! Magazine is going to have it covered from top to bottom. Pick up a copy of The Bulletin or check back here in the morning for feature stories on Peter Rowan, Blind Pilot and Anastacia Beth Scott, plus blurbs on a few other artists, the festival schedule, and just about everything else you need to know.

But that’s tomorrow. Today, it’s time to dive into the music. And guess what? You’re diving into the deep end. Just look at this schedule. All those boxes containing all those names; unless you’re the world’s biggest folk fan with all kinds of time on your hands, chances are you haven’t heard all — maybe even most — of those artists.

Frequency is here to help. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks checking out these acts, picking some of my favorites, and compiling a digital mixtape featuring artists who are playing the festival. It’s wide-ranging, stretching from the big names at the top of the poster to the small names at the bottom, and from straight folk to indie-pop-folk to Latin-flavored folk and back again. Artists include out-of-towners Alison Brown, Blind Pilot, The Belleville Outfit, Susan Werner, Kelly Joe Phelps, Joe Craven, Danny Schmidt, Antje Duvekot, Lincoln Crockett, Pancake Breakfast, Tremoloco, Ellis, Rick Shea and City Folk, plus locals Anastacia Beth Scott, Deb Yager and Bo Reynolds.

Click right here to get the mix. (It might take a couple minutes to download, so be patient.)

Once you have it, you’ll have all 17 MP3s, plus a document with a list of the tracks and links to the artists’ Web sites.

One note: The Blind Pilot song will only be available in this download for two weeks. After two weeks is over, I’ll keep the rest of the files in place, but the Blind Pilot song will come out. There’s your motivation to go ahead and snag this now.

And hey, after you take these tunes for a spin, come back here to Frequency and let me know in the comments if you’ve discovered a new fave.

Tags: festival, Sisters Folk Festival
Posted in mixtape, mp3 download | No Comments »

Day tickets for Sisters Folk Festival on sale now

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

An All Events Badge gets you access to all three days of the upcoming Sisters Folk Festival, happening Sept. 11-13, but if you can’t make it for the whole weekend, you now have the option of buying tickets for individual days. The festival has its schedule up on its Web site, so if you must, you can pick which days you want to see. Personally, I’m stoked for Blind Pilot, Todd Snider and the pancake breakfast. Oh wait … that’s a band called Pancake Breakfast. I thought I was gonna get some pancakes. I love pancakes.

Anyway, I’m too busy leaving messages for Dean Ween and watching funny cat videos on the Internet to re-write this for you, so here’s the press release in full:

Sisters Folk Festival Individual Tickets Available Now

Sisters, Oregon ~ Beginning August 15, the Sisters Folk Festival is selling a limited number of individual tickets for Friday, September 11, Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th. Prices are $30 for Saturday or Sunday until 5pm; $45 for Friday or Saturday night ticket, or $60 for a Saturday pass from 10am to close. The All Events Badges are a great deal at $85, giving festival-goers three days of amazing music on 6 stages. After Wednesday, Sept. 9th, all tickets will only be on sale at the Village Green Will Call on Friday beginning at 1pm.

Back by popular demand, the Festival will continue offering buttons with the 2009 poster image for the All Events Pass. “This year’s poster image has been very popular,” said Events Director, Katy Yoder. Local photographer, graphic designer and a member of the Anvil Blasters, Lynn Woodward was the model for this year’s poster. “Once again, local artist and musician, Dennis McGregor worked his magic creating an image that represents the Sisters Country’s role as a catalyst for the arts,” said Yoder.

Performers for this year’s Festival include: Peter Rowan, the Alison Brown Quartet, Todd Snider, Kelly Joe Phelps, Kevin Welch and Fats Kaplin, the Belleville Outfit and Portland’s popular indie-standout Blind Pilot. Returning artists include Susan Werner and last year’s Songwriting Contest winner, Rita Hosking. The Sisters Folk Festival website has links to all the musicians providing fans the opportunity to hear music by all performers.

To buy tickets go to: www.sistersfolkfestival.org and order them on-line. Or call the Sisters Folk Festival office at: 541-549-4979. Remote ticket locations include: Paulina Springs Books in Sisters and Redmond and Footzone of Bend.

Tags: festival, Sisters Folk Festival
Posted in news | No Comments »

A guide to upcoming music festivals (updated)

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

(Update: The look of this post did not turn out how I’d hoped. I think I’ve fixed that. More importantly, a colleague reminded me that Breedlove Guitar Co. is holding a festival later this summer, so I’ve added those details below.)

For music fans, summer means one thing: festivals, festivals, festivals. After a fall, winter and spring of crowding into dark, sweaty bars and clubs for live music, there’s something about crowding into bright, sweaty pastures for live music that just sounds so refreshing.

Central Oregon has its share of music festivals, though the number in 2009 will be smaller than in past years. More on that later. For now, let’s focus on the present.

Festival season kicks off this coming summer solstice weekend with the Coyote Festival, held at Summer Lake Hot Springs near Paisley. That’s not exactly in Central Oregon, true, but we’re going to count it because there are a whole lot of local bands playing there, and a whole bunch of people from the area are heading down for the party.

The lineup is headlined on Friday by Taarka and Larry and His Flask, on Saturday by Moon Mountain Ramblers and David Jacobs-Strain, and on Sunday by Coyo. There’ll be three stages, fire dancers, workshops, drum circles and, of course, dips in the hot springs. Kids are welcome, too, and there are activities planned for them.

Tickets to the Coyote Festival for the entire weekend cost $50 and are available at Music Makers, The Cosmic Depot, Bend’s Indoor Garden Station and Ranch Records in Bend. There are also discounted rates for kids and for single-day passes. You can find a ton of info at www.coyotemusicfestival.com, or by calling 541-943-3931.

The fun doesn’t stop this weekend, though. After the jump is a list of music festivals happening within an easy drive, along with all the details you need to know.

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Tags: 4 Peaks Music Festival, Bend Roots Revival, Breedlove Festival, Coyote Festival, festivals, Jade's Jazz Festival, Moon Mountain Music Festival, Outback Festival, Sisters Folk Festival
Posted in news | 1 Comment »

Local music news

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

I’m in Portland for a couple days, so please forgive me if the blog seems a bit quiet. I’ll make up for it when I get back to Bend. For now, a few local notes:

-If you were hoping to spend an “intimate acoustic evening” at the Tower Theatre with roots-pop singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile and you don’t already have your ticket, you’re out of luck; the show is sold out. Tickets sold out in less than two weeks, according to promoter Bret Grier, which around here is pretty fast.

-The Sisters Folk Festival is now accepting entries for its annual Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest. The winner will take home $750 and the five finalists will perform during the folk fest, set for Sept. 11-13 in Sisters. Entrants may submit up to three songs and must submit by July 31 through SonicBids. Click here to learn more about how to submit song files. (By the way, the folk fest’s lineup is already looking pretty sweet: Peter Rowan, Todd Snider, Alison Brown Quartet, Kelly Joe Phelps, Blind Pilot, The Belleville Outfit, Susan Werner … wow!)

-A new event called Jade’s Jazz Festival appears to be getting off the ground. It’s planned for July 11-12 in beautiful La Pine, and according to the Web site, performers include Nina Callaway, David Patrone, Ed Criss, Blues Quarter, Bellavia, Lino and Detour: Jazz. We’ll have more info in an upcoming GO! Magazine, of course.

-Finally, the acts playing at some of the summer events are starting to trickle in. Some of these are confirmed, some aren’t, but are probably safe bets: The Virginia pop band Carbon Leaf will headline The Bite of Bend June 21. The rest of the lineup is stocked with local acts and it looks like this. Folk legend Joan Baez will perform at the Athletic Club of Bend on Aug. 16 as part of the Clear Summer Nights concert series. Pollstar has fusion guitarist Fareed Haque slated for Munch & Music on July 9, and the Web site of the fine Malian singer Vieux Farka Toure has him playing Drake Park the following Thursday.

Tags: Brandi Carlile, Carbon Leaf, Clear Summer Nights, Fareed Haque, Jade's Jazz Festival, Joan Baez, Munch & Music, Sisters Folk Festival, Vieux Farka Toure
Posted in news | 1 Comment »