Bend Roots Music Festival

We had the great pleasure of attending the Bend Roots Music Festival this weekend. Three days of free live music performed by amazing local musicians. If you haven't heard these groups, I can't begin to tell you what you've missed. Well, I can begin. Here are a few quick notes.

The festival was put on by the charming Mark Ransom. He told me there were 37 acts over the three days of the festival on three stages at the two venues. That's a lot of music! One of the goals was to get children involved in music. Hats off to you Mark, it was amazing. To contribute or volunteer to the next festival, or to the projects to bring music to kids in school or anything else, be sure to contact him at magicturtle@bendbroadband.com

Saturday morning Connie and I attended the Drum Workshop of Dale Largent. He's a great teacher, an amazing drummer, and funny, too! He had Connie drumming on a djembe for the first time, and she did great. (Bruises? What bruises?) I've been playing for a year now, but his method improved my drumming, too. You can't beat Dale (just his drums).

We attended a performance by Katie Cavanaugh and Friends, consisting of four guitars and an accordion. Some of the folk and country tunes were a bit too mellow for my taste, but beautifully performed. They did some edgier pieces, including a blues number, that were outstanding. I especially liked singer/songwriter/guitarist Mike Biggers, of Sisters.

Following them were David Z and the Rockin' Folkers, doing rock and blues and rocking every piece they did with guitar, bass guitar and drums.

We caught the tail end of Shireen Amini playing guitar and singing with a beautiful voice.

The last act we caught Saturday was the outstanding David Bowers Colony playing folk, country, "ghetto grass", blues, you name it. The violinist, Julie Southwell, is amazing and adds a great sound to everybody she plays with. We've seen her in a variety of bands, and it's always awesome. Drummer Jaren Forqueran gave everything a driving beat that always had your foot tapping, and I dig the black fedora and the drumstick-spinning. Most of the bands we catch here play without keyboards, for some reason. DBC features Aaron Miller on keyboards for a fresh, rich sound that reminded me of Bruce Hornsby. It reminded what a great sound a keyboard brings to a band. The sultry vocals of Emily Lewis were great. I think that's everybody. Oh, wait. Did I mention, uh, David Bowers on guitar and vocals? A strong, bluesy voice and incredible guitar work. (And he's a nice guy, too.)

There was a gentleman in the audience who had perhaps imbibed too much. At one point he shouted out a request for "Louie, Louie", to which Southwell quipped, "We don't do Louie, Louie, but this tune has some of the same notes." heh

On the way home, we saw a sign that read, "Take good care of your body: where else can you live?"

I started today with Ubuntu, a hard-pounding group of drummers who perform African and Middle Eastern Rhythms. (I may join them as a student.) They were joined by the Equinox Belly Dancers, Heather and Seana. They don't follow a fixed routine, but rather improvise the dance by following each others' cues, to great effect.

The ubiquitous Julie Southwell appeared later with the lovely Anastacia Scott who sang country tunes while playing a rousing guitar. The combination of violin, vocals and guitar was top notch. These two should tour together. (But don't, I'd rather you stay here and play in Bend as much as possible.)

Following the dynamic duo of Scott and Southwell was a group billed as the Bend Marimba Trio, which did indeed feature three musicians, but no marimbas. They played bass guitar, drums and mbira. It was a cool sound, and they were amusing to boot.

I knew Felly Smith made Ashiko drums locally from his website, Handmade Rhythms, but I'd never seen him perform. I made sure to catch his act today. To my surprise, he wasn't playing drums, but did vocals and guitar with a beautiful voice. Now I definitely want to hear him on drums.

A local group that I've made a point to follow are the Moon Mountain Ramblers, who not only play outstanding bluegrass, folk, country, django and other genres, but are funny to boot. You can't beat the combination of violin, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica and Dale Largent percussion.

Finally, I can't comment on the Bend Roots Music Festival without mentioning the two wonderful venues. The Parrilla Grill makes mouth-watering wraps to order and are often host to music acts. Whenever our daughter comes to visit she wants to eat at the Parrilla Grill ("Sorry, We're Open"). Across the street, with two stages, was one of Bend's Best Breakfasts, the Victorian Cafe. Good eats.

One of the lovely waitresses at the Victorian Cafe had glossy black hair in a cute bob. It was just above shoulder length in front, and rose to a shorter length in back, coming down to the top of the neck. A party in front, and all business in the back. It's the anti-mullet!

Update: We were just watching the KTVZ news, and they showed a clip of the Bend Marimba Trio, with my black fedora in the foreground. Don't worry, I'll still remember you when I'm famous.


Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Reviews