Live music returns to Di Luna’s

Portland folk artist Tony Furtado will play local cafe’s first live show in three years

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

Tony Furtado isn’t one to write a setlist. When the banjo-slaying singer-songwriter looks forward to his live performances, he knows there’s an essential element he can’t yet consider: the audience.

“There’s two loves I have with the playing and creation of music. One is recording, which is fun, but in a way, it is very solitary,” Furtado told the Reader. “But when you get on stage and perform that music, there’s a two-way interaction you have with the audience and yourself. … It’s very social. It provides the opportunity to be very generous with the art. You’re feeling what you’re putting out, and I really thrive on that.”

In return, Furtado said, he feels what the audience gives back — hence, no setlist.

“I’m inspired, a lot of times, by what I’m feeling back from the people who are there listening,” he said.

The result is a conversation, spoken entirely through the medium of song.

March 9, as the eatery hosts its first live music in three years. Tickets, which are nearly sold out, cost $75 and include both dinner and entertainment. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner slated to be served a half hour later. Furtado will take the stage at 7:30 p.m., rounding out an evening sure to satisfy all of the senses.

Furtado, who has played the Di Luna’s stage in the past, told the Reader he is inspired to return thanks to the venue’s reputation as a true listening room, and lauded the restaurant for its commitment to showcasing high-caliber folk musicians.

“It’s just such a nice environment to play music that people actually listen to,” he said. “People that come there know that they’re coming to see a show and listen to the music.”

Tony Furtado @ Di Luna’s Cafe

Thursday, March 9; doors at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m., music at 7:30 p.m.; $75, includes dinner and the show. Di Luna’s Cafe, 207 Cedar St., 208263-0846, dilunas.com. Call for tickets and reservations. Listen at tonyfurtado.com.

Furtado looks forward to having such a musical conversation at Di Luna’s Cafe on Thursday,

Furtado can certainly be counted among the high-caliber talent known to play Di Luna’s. Inspired at age 12 by the Beverly Hillbillies and a grade-school music report, the artist — originally of Pleasanton, Calif., and now of Portland, Ore. — took up the banjo and proved himself rather adept at the instrument, earning top prize at the 1987 National Banjo Championship in

Kansas. What followed has been a lifetime of musicianship, including record deals, several critically acclaimed albums and artistic partnerships with well-known musicians across genres.

Furtado said that while the various stages of his career have taken on different flavors, he tends to describe his work as Americana folk, casting a wide net to best capture the bluegrass-meets-bluesmeets-folk sound accomplished with banjo, slide guitar and more.

For the Di Luna’s show, Furtado will be joined by four-time national fiddle champion Luke Price, adding another instrumental and vocal layer to Furtado’s sound. The pair has been touring together off and on for more than a decade.

“He’s just such a solid musician and a really great harmony singer,” Furtado said of Price. “We have a lot of fun going back and forth with the instrumental stuff, too.”

A snapshot of notable live music coming up in Sandpoint

Kerry Leigh, Connie’s Lounge, March 3 Ron Kieper Trio, Eichardt’s, March 3

Local music lovers are invited to “March into Connie’s” for a live set Friday, March 3 featuring folk/Americana/country/ blues performer Kerry Leigh.

A Sandpointian with a musical pedigree extending back to Northern California, Leigh’s style is as expertly crafted as it is infused with an easygoing, melodic delivery.

Leigh’s originals can be happy-go-lucky, winsome and wistful, country-tinged with a sly side of blues and even a little rebellious. No matter what, they’re always 100% Kerry Leigh.

— Zach Hagadone

7-9 p.m., FREE, 21+. Connie’s Lounge, 323 Cedar St., 208-255-2227, conniescafe.com. Listen at kerryleigh.bandcamp. com or reverbnation.com/kerryleighdiminyatz.

One of Sandpoint’s favorite live music acts, the Ron Kieper Trio, is bringing its impeccable jazz stylings to Eichardt’s Pub for a Friday night set March 3. Eponymous band leader Ron Kieper is a lifetime resident of Coeur d’Alene but among the most highly respected performers in the Inland Empire.

An alto saxophonist by trade, Kieper is a consummate performer, touring throughout the region in groups both big and small —

This week’s RLW by Lyndsie Kiebert-Careu

including with the Bob Curnow Big Band. It’s with his trio, which includes a rotating lineup of some of the best jazz artists around, that Sandpointians know him best, and one of the best places to get to know him is in the low-lit comfort of Eichardt’s.

— Zach Hagadone

7 p.m., FREE. Eichardt’s Pub, 212 Cedar St., 208-263-4005, eichardtspub.com. Listen at ronkieperjazz.com.

I recently read Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree for the first time since childhood. This time, I read it to a class of first-graders. What I remembered as a sweet story about the relationship between an apple tree and a boy who grows into an old man over the course of the book was actually deeply sad — but the lesson that can be derived remains powerful and potentially uplifting. After reading, I asked my students if they saw themselves more as the boy or the tree. Their answers were surprising.

Read Listen

I always love when I stumble across a song and it leads me to a treasure trove of music. It happened recently when I came upon “Archie” by Dublin-born singer-songwriter Sorchia Richardson. The song doesn’t even register among the artist’s top 10 most-listened-to tracks, which bodes well for the rest of her collection. “Archie” starts as an understated indie rock retelling of a teenage encounter and grows into a sprawling, guitar-wailing track that’s equal parts melancholia and composure.

Watch

Director Taylor Sheridan propelled to stardom in recent years with the popular Paramount series Yellowstone and has continued that momentum with a couple of limited prequel series about the Dutton family — the main characters of the Yellowstone universe. The first of those series, 1883, is the story of the Duttons’ journey West on the Oregon Trail. Starring big names like Sam Elliot, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, 1883 leans into the brutality of the era. Still, the transformative beauty of the journey is captured by the narration of teenage Elsa Dutton, portrayed incredibly by Isabel May. Warning: grab the tissues.

High Explosive Endangers Lives In Mysterious Fire

A mysterious fire and accompanying explosion of either black powder or dynamite occurred at 7:30 o’clock Sunday morning in rear of the Himes photograph gallery and the Idaho Furniture company’s store on First street. The explosion resulted in the scattering of the fire and thus saved a bad fire loss and a few minutes’ delay on the part of the fire department no doubt saved the lives of several men. The explosion was heard throughout the city and broke panes of glass a block away.

The family of R.B. Himes living in the Teape house facing on Second street and with its rear directly back of the Himes gallery were awakened from slumber by the crackling of flames in the woodshed of their home. When they got out it was to find their kitchen in flames. Mrs. Himes had presence of mind sufficient to turn in a fire alarm by the telephone and the firemen got to the fire a few minutes later. However, there was a delay, the driver getting the alarm as “Second street” and, thinking he might have a long run, stopping to hitch onto the sleighs instead of the wagon. When the coupling was made, there was a kink in the hose and the firemen went back to the hydrant to get a new start, and while in that act the explosion occurred.

The fire destroyed the kitchen of the Himes home and the woodshed, as well as a shed in the rear of the furniture store. The loss of the Himes home amounted to about $200 and was covered by insurance. The Idaho Furniture company’s loss amounted to about $60. There was also shattered glass in many adjoining stores.