A Tribute to Sisters Folk Festival PRESENTED BY
Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce City of Sisters The Nugget Newspaper & Participating Advertisers
PHOTO BY ROB KERR
A word from Sisters Folk Festival Executive Director Crista Munro...
“Resilience”
PHOTO BY ROB KERR
PHOTO BY ROB KERR
PHOTO BY ROB KERR
It’s only September, but if I had to choose a Word of the Year for 2020, it would be “Resilience.” How could it be anything else? Webster’s Dictionary defines resilience as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change,” and change we’ve had in spades this year. It would be all too easy to completely write off 2020 and the upheaval it has brought into our lives. But life is full of contradictions, and our current tribulations — while tragic — have also served a positive purpose by bringing the things that are the most important to us into wickedsharp focus. Before March of 2020, could any of us have imagined a spring without concerts or a summer without festivals? I know I couldn’t. But as the world learned more about COVID-19, including how it spreads and the havoc it can wreak on the human body, we sat and watched in utter shock as the plug was pulled one by one on so many of the things that bring us together in celebration of our shared humanity: sporting events; graduation and wedding ceremonies; live theater; and concerts of all sizes. These things we once took for granted became distant, fond memories seemingly overnight, even as we found ourselves needing them more than ever before to help ease our feelings of isolation. It’s been six months since the effects of COVID-19 began to be felt on our collective psyche, and, as humans will, we find ourselves venturing out of our shelters a little more in search of safe and innovative ways to experience these events that are so important, once again. We are looking for ways to feel connected to one another in real life and real time, and not just through the miracles of modern technology. With that in mind, the Sisters Folk
Festival staff and board are thrilled to present Close To Home 2, with four daily sets of live music from eight performers and groups from around our state and region at the Sisters Art Works outdoor venue Friday-Sunday, September 11-13. Sisters Folk Festival has been building a strong community through powerful shared experiences since 1995. This weekend would have been our 24th annual folk festival, but — like every other large gathering in Oregon — the event was postponed to 2021. Instead, this weekend we are bringing fewer artists and audience members together in our own backyard for a physically-distanced “mini-festival” that follows all of the protocols recommended by the Oregon Health Authority and Center for Disease Control. Each day’s attendance will be strictly capped at 250 people, including all event personnel and audience members. You won’t see people greeting their festival family with big bear hugs like they do in “normal” years. But inside the seating pods, there will be lots of toe-tapping and plenty of ear-to-ear grins in response to the sheer joy of being in the presence of live music after such an unimaginably long hiatus. We thank you for your continued support as the Sisters Folk Festival organization learns how to navigate as safely as possible in this new COVID reality, bringing audiences together to see, hear and feel the power of live music. We are reimagining what a live concert can be during this time, and finding ways to capture the energy of a live audience while broadcasting these performances to the world via the power of the Internet. We are evolving. We are surviving. We are resilient.
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Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Sisters Folk Festival has deep roots By Jodi Schneider Correspondent
An Indian poet once said, “The greatness of a culture can be found in its festivals,” and here in Sisters you don’t have to look far to find that greatness. Birthed 25 years ago, Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) had humble origins as a oneday music event with just a few hundred people attending at the Sisters MiddleHigh School (now the middle school). In 1995 the seed for the festival was planted when two local musicians, Dick Sandvik, then owner of Paulina Springs Books, and Jim Cornelius, then an employee at the bookstore, started kicking around ideas of how to figure out a way to extend the shoulder season by having an event that would bring people to town. Cornelius said, “There wasn’t a lot happening in Sisters after Labor Day and the tourist traffic dried up. The idea was to enhance economic vitality by bringing people to town later in the season. Originally the first couple of folk festivals were held at the end of September.”
Cornelius and Sandvik found common ground in their taste for music. “Jim and I discovered we liked the same kind of music,” explained Sandvik. “And we were not finding that kind of music anywhere here. You’d have to go to Portland to find it. It was what they call Americana now, but it was a blend of folk music and country and bluegrass and gospel. We played guitar together quite a bit and decided that we wanted to come up with a music event that served as a cultural purpose too. We thought a modest folk festival might have a chance to succeed.” Cornelius added, “We both really believed strongly in the power of music to bring people together.” They ran SFF out of the office of Paulinas Springs Books with Sandvik’s wife Diane Campbell at the helm behind the scenes. “We probably would have never succeeded, but for her,” Sandvik said. Sandvik said, “We purposely started very small because in part we didn’t know much, and we didn’t have a huge budget. We couldn’t bring in much
Sisters Folk Festival co-founders Dick Sandvik and Jim Cornelius. talent of national or even regional claim. So, we settled on a handful of artists.” Cornelius noted, “It was a one-day deal, and it was all regional artists.” The Sisters Sound Check Band, which inc luded Cornelius and Sandvik, along with Doug and Phyllis Sokol, opened the first event and Peter Yates, an Irish balladeer from Vancouver, Washington, was the headliner and closed the festival. Sandvik said, “We muddled along trying to get
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sponsors and talked to Ed Fitzjerral of Metabolic Maintenance — he still owns Metabolic Maintenance — and he said he would give us a thousand-dollar sponsorship for our festival if it would be used for a songwriting contest.” SFF incorporated a songwriting contest, publicized it and sent 200 flyers to music
PHOTO BY LYNN WOODWARD
stores throughout the region. The festival received over 40 entries. Brad Tisdel, now the creative director for SFF, was one of the top-10 finalists. Sandvik said, “After the first festival, I got together with some friends, and they said ‘It was so simple, small and intimate, don’t change a thing.’ So, Jim and I changed everything the next year.” See DEEP ROOTS on page 13
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
DEEP ROOTS
Dave Carter won the 1995 Sisters Folk Festival Songwriting Contest with his song “Gun-Metal Eyes.” The Festival helped launch Carter into a significant career in folk music before his untimely death in 2002.
Continued from page 12
Cornelius added, “The second year we each booked one of our music heroes. We booked in Ian Tyson and Guy Clark. We took a big jump into nationally recognized artists. It wasn’t a regional festival anymore, which is a bold step.” Tisdel submitted the same song again the second year and became a finalist again. “I think that year I lost to a guy named Daryl Purpose,” Tisdel said, chuckling. He added, “In the mid to late ’90s, I was pursuing music pretty hard professionally, as a songwriter and a performer, and I was playing to make my living. I was living in Seattle and Portland kind of in between and doing gigs at Black Butte Ranch in the summertime where my folks had a place since we were kids.” Tisdel loved working with kids and had a consulting business, Creative Educational Resources. He attended SFF in 1997 and in 1998 he moved to Central Oregon. “I had already started working in the Sisters schools since I had lived part of that time in Black Butte Ranch in the mid ’90s,” he said. “I connected with Debbie Newport, former SFF board member, and we created an eighth-grade leadership retreat. Then I got involved with the sixth-grade outdoor school.” In 1999 the SFF organization took the year off after a financial loss. Cornelius noted, “I think both Dick and I realized
that we needed some people with expertise in developing a program and bringing in sponsorships.” Sandvik added, “We really needed to somehow tie the festival to the community. And it turns out the best way to do that is through education.” The organizers of SFF did some restructuring and Kathy Deggendorfer came on board. Cornelius noted, “Kathy was key in making things fly.” “The festival was on rocky ground,” Deggendorfer said. “I didn’t want to see it go away and decided to help with sponsorships after they had pretty much decided to shut the festival down.” Tisdel was approached by Deggendorfer and Sandvik with the idea of connecting the festival to the Sisters School District. He said, “They came up with the name of Americana Project and Dick’s hope was, and I think it was probably Jim’s influence too, a historical cultural perspective of roots music and what that means to society today.” In 2000 the first SFF poster image by Dennis McGregor was created, titled “Hands.” McGregor said, “That first poster featured a guitar with several hands on the neck. The neck was of Breedlove Guitars, newly sponsoring the festival. The body was an old Martin, belonging to Dick Sandvik, co-founder. The past and the future were symbolized, hopefully giving identity to
Storyteller Susan Strauss enthralled the audience at the first Sisters Folk Festival.
PHOTO COURTESY SFF
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PHOTO COURTESY SISTERS FOLK FESTIVAL
the musical style the festival was featuring. The hands belonged to local friends, including Jim Cornelius and Valorie Wells Kennedy. The hands went from old to young, also symbolic of the music to be presented.” In 2002 Painted Strings was created, which was the genesis of My Own Two Hands (MOTH). Tisdel explained, “I was working with Kathy and we were trying to develop our ideas in the organization the best way possible. Painted Strings was a bunch of unplayable guitars that I had found at a place in Redmond, in a pawn shop. I bought them with the thought of fixing them up to let the students play. Kathy had just gotten back from the Albuquerque balloon festival and said, what if we took these and made them into art pieces and had kids as well as professional artists make them and then we’ll sell them.” The Festival has evolved with the expansion of many outreach programs. The local nonprofit supports The Americana Project, The Americana Song Academy, the Sisters Americana Community Luthier program, MOTH (a regional celebration of the arts and one of SFF’s largest fundraisers), The Song Academy for Youth and The Winter Concert Series. The SFF brings attention to the rich mix of arts and culture that can be found in Sisters throughout the entire year. Crista Munro, SFF executive director, told The Nugget, “One of the things that drew me to come to work for Sisters Folk Festival is the
amazing history of the organization — a 25-year history that was built over the years by a dedicated community of music lovers under the vision of a few key dedicated folks. “I love to stand in front of the wall in our building
where every festival poster is hung — 24 years’ worth of them. Seeing how the event has grown and evolved since 1995 provides the inspiration to forge a path forward that builds on and honors the festival’s history.”
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Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SFF programs shape lives in Sisters By Ceili Cornelius Correspondent
“Thanks to Sisters Folk Festival and the Americana Project I am an artist and a songwriter — but also a person of passion and purpose,” said SHS alum and artist, Laura Curtis. That is the impact the Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) has created for more than 25 years of its presence in the community, through influential and innovative programs, particularly within the Sisters schools. One of the most influential creations in the schools has been the Americana Project, an innovative music and arts education program with broad community outreach. The Americana Project works in collaboration with the Sisters School District to make the program available to all students of all ages. The program started in 2000 when Brad Tisdel, now creative director of SFF, who was working as an independent contractor with Creative Education Resources, LLC, collaborated with SFF and the Sisters School District to create and develop the program, bringing creativity into school environments. SFF board members Kathy Deggendorfer and Dick Sandvik wanted to create a program for the Sisters youth that ensconced them in music and culture in the school environment, connected to the Sisters Folk Festival. That became the Americana Project. Sandvik explained, “We wanted to somehow connect the community to the festival and we figured out that the way to do that was through education.” “We decided we wanted to focus on the youth and get them interested in
songwriting and teach that folk music can be contemporary,” said Deggendorfer. They worked with the schools superintendent at the time, Steve Swisher, to implement the curriculum in the Sisters schools. “Swisher was instrumental in allowing outside groups to come in and teach about folk music and songwriting and now it is taught in K-12,” Deggendorfer said. “One of the most influential things I’ve seen from it was a video testimonial from a student that said he would’ve dropped out of school if it hadn’t been for the Americana class,” said Sandvik. The festival hired Brad Tisdel to teach the class alongside Dennis McGregor who first taught guitar lessons. They both worked alongside Jody Henderson, the band instructor at the time, who came up with the curriculum and implemented it directly into the classroom. Sisters High School choir director and performer Rick Johnson — a singersongwriter himself — now teaches the Americana Project class. “The Americana Project and the Folk Festival was a perfect combo to allow us to be innovative and creative in how the school and the arts and the community can come together in a powerful way,” said Tisdel. The Americana Project attracted grant and foundation money to support the programs and the festival over the years. “It was a really great synergy linking the education with culture in the community,” said Sandvik. The Americana Project over the years has also created a song camp and a song academy for youth. Tisdel had seen the success of offering a master class outside of the
PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
The program serves as an umbrella of being engaged and to provide a home there for students.” — Brad Tisdel school environment through his experience working with the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival’s Song School. In 2002, the team created the Americana Song Academy. The song academy became a series of master classes for all ages, with classes taught by musicians from the community and artists coming for the Sisters Folk Festival. In 2004, Tisdel saw the need for a camp that was specifically for the youth — a way to come together and share music outside of the school. “It was really based on being able to come together and collaborate and not compete, but support one another,” said Tisdel. “It has also been beneficial to have the schools have a deep connection with a community nonprofit over the years. It is a really efficient way to access the musical community that has been curated in Sisters.” The Americana Project has been a powerful influence on a number of young musicians who are still pursuing music as a career. Madison Slicker, now known by her artist name Amava says: “I was a part of the Americana Project and Sisters Folk Festival from fifth grade up until my senior year… Being 23 now, living in Nashville, Tennessee, and still in the music industry, I truthfully cannot imagine where I would be now had it not been for the importance of music in the Sisters community. I definitely would not have pursued music and felt the passion I have for staying in
PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
the songwriting world.” There are many ways to be involved in the Americana Project that are not just focused on singer-songwriter performance. “Students can be involved in the tech aspect or create art for My Own Two Hands (the festival’s major fundraiser) and the program serves as an umbrella of being engaged and to
provide a home there for students,” said Tisdel. The Sisters Folk Festival strives year-round to bring connection to the arts and music in the schools and beyond. This year, the festival is especially trying to keep that message alive as people cannot gather together due to the coronavirus pandemic. As stated by their website: “SFF enriches lives through innovative music and arts education, programming and events that serve an inclusive, multi-generational community.”
Keep The Music Coming
Sisters Folk Festival! 541-904-0778 | 103 E. Hood Ave.
We miss the crowds and the music too, Sisters! Join the festival online and show your support for the Sisters Folk Festival. Visit the saloon to show your support for Sisters’ businesses. We appreciate our community and look forward to having our stages filled once again!
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Full Menu Available At SistersSaloon.net • 190 E. Cascade Ave.
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
PHOTO BY ROB KERR
PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
PHOTO BY LYNN WOODWARD
Over more than two decades, the Sisters Folk Festival has evolved from a small regional festival to an internationally-recognized celebration of the community-building power of music.
PHOTO BY PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
PHOTO BY PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Sisters Folk Festival s
Kristen Grainger &True North
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Sisters Folk Festival’s physically-distan will feature performances by West Coast artists... st
Thunderstorm Artis
PHOTO PROVIDED
Jenner Fox Band
PHOTO BY NIKKI A. RAE
Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms
PHOTO PROVIDED
PHOTO PROVIDED
Multi-instrumentalist, Grammy-awardwinning vocalist and songwriter Judith Hill has garnered much praise for her live performances as opener for the likes of her former collaborator and mentor, the late great Prince, and soul man John Legend, among many others. (See related story, page 20). John Craigie, considered a humorous storyteller, an accomplished lyricist, and yet a serious songwriter, will return to Sisters following up his acclaimed 2020 release “Asterisk the Universe.” (See related story, page 21.) Thunderstorm Artis became a household name in 2020 performing on season 18 of “The Voice,” earning top three honors and national recognition. Thunderstorm is a singer/songwriter born on the North Shore of Oahu and learned at a very young age to play piano, guitar, harp and percussion from his father, Ron Artis, and mother, Victoria. Ron was a Motown session player who played keyboards on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Victoria was also a member of the Motown family, touring as a vocalist with Lena Horne, and many other Motown greats. Thunderstorm’s music crosses many genres including folk, rock, soul and country. No matter what Thunderstorm sings or writes, he does it from his heart. Thunderstorm does not consider his music as notes on a page but rather a window into his heart. He believes that through his music he can make our world a better place by lifting the hearts of others. Thunderstorm Artis performed at the 2019 Sisters Folk Festival. AJ Lee and Blue Summit, a bluegrass band led by singer, songwriter, and mandolinist, AJ Lee, has been the darling of the North Bay, California bluegrass scene since their first appearance in Santa Cruz. Drawing from influences such as swing, folk, blues, jazz, country, soul, and rock, their undeniable talent and insatiable passion for bluegrass hearkens back to traditional classics while remaining uniquely modern. They’ve accrued many devout followers and distinctions including the Freshgrass 2019 Band Contest Winner, IBMA 2019 Momentum Vocalist of the Year, second place at the 2019 Winfield Guitar Competition, and numerous awards in northern California. In 2019, AJ Lee and Blue Summit came out with their debut album, “Like I Used To,” which consists entirely of AJ’s original songs. Bluegrass-leaning Americana quartet Kristen Grainger & True North is a powerhouse of award-winning original songs, lush vocals, and crazy-good instrumentalists, Dan Wetzel (guitar), Josh Adkins (bass) and Martin Stevens (fiddle, mandolin, octave mandolin). On stage, the band delivers Grainger’s storied songwriting with mindblowing vocal harmonies and mad instrument skills of a band deeply rooted in folk and bluegrass genres. Kristen Grainger’s songs have won or been a finalist at some of the nation’s most prestigious songwriting contests such as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Merlefest, Kerrville Folk Festival and Wildflower! Art & Music Festival. The band’s 2018 release, “Open Road, Broken Heart,” debuted at No. 1 on the national folk charts and “Elsebound,” released in 2014, spent 25 weeks in the top 10,
FRIDAY,
5-6 6:15-7:15
7:30-8:30 8:45-10
SATURD
5-6 6:15-7:15 7:30-8:30 8:45-10
SUNDAY
12-1 1:15-2:15 2:30-3:30 3:45-5:00
including a week at No When Caleb Klaude their honest incantation of magical sparkle sm and we can spin off into and smiling. Caleb K dynamic mandolin play unwavering rhythm a beautiful fabric aro proves joyous, timeles Waterville, Washington Reeb comes from a sa ing family with a roug ciation of simplicity an and quiet poise that cu Caleb comes from Salish Sea in northwe the windblown tall tr burnished Klauder’s v breaking patina. The a duo, and can also b with the Foghorn Strin Klauder Country Band Portland music scene a their music around the
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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stays ‘Close to Home’
SEPTEMBER 11
6 p.m. The Parnells 5 p.m. AJ Lee and Blue Summit 0 p.m. Thunderstorm Artis 0 p.m. Judith Hill
The Parnells
nced concert set for September 11-13 noted Pacific Northwest and ticking close to home.
PHOTO PROVIDED
DAY, SEPTEMBER 12
6 p.m. Kristen Grainger & True North 5 p.m. Thunderstorm Artis 0 p.m. John Craigie 0 p.m. Judith Hill
1 p.m. Jenner Fox Band 5 p.m. Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms 0 p.m. AJ Lee and Blue Summit 0 p.m. John Craigie The Parnells are an Americana/Country band from Bend, bringing a sexy, indie flare to the classic country sound. Powerful vocals, tight harmonies, and solid guitar playing drive their rootsy sound. They will perform as an acoustic duo with Corey and Whitney Parnell. Their compelling set is nostalgic and emotional. Jenner Fox comes from a family of river guides. He followed the family trade and released his first record (self titled) in 2015 to sell to rafting clients. Four records later, Fox calls Sisters home, travels from show to show on a cargo bike whenever possible, guides whitewater rivers all over the world, teaches music camps and searches for songs. “Jenner is a storyteller. His music is full of love, compassion, and curiosity,” said Lawson White of Good Child Records. “The characters are relatable because they’re real folks. His stories are sincere and draw you in because they’re your stories. His songs make it clear that he is a true listener and observer of the world around him, and will have you laughing one minute and crying the next, engaged with wide eyes and bated breath...start to finish.”
Judith Hill
PHOTO BY BRADLEY COX
PHOTO PROVIDED
AJ Lee and Blue Summit
o. 1. er & Reeb Willms sing, ns leave a swirling cloud oke ’round our hearts, o the night, spellbound Klauder’s rowdy and ying, and Reeb Willms’ guitar sound weave ound their songs that ss, and resilient. From n, and the high desert, alt-of-the-earth farmgh-and-tumble apprend sings with a strong uts straight to the heart. m Orcas Island, in the est Washington, where rees, and salt sea have oice to a dusty hearttwo play and tour as be found performing ngband and the Caleb d. They are pillars of the and carry the torch of world.
John Craigie
Y, SEPTEMBER 13
PHOTO PROVIDED
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Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Art is hands-on in festival programs By Ceili Cornelius Correspondent
The Luthier Program at Sisters High School is an offshoot of Sisters Folk Festival’s Americana Project. A luthier is a craftsperson who builds and repairs string instruments. It’s become a favorite class at Sisters High School. “Building my own guitar was so memorable. The process was so much fun from start to finish and it was so rewarding to see the finished product,” said student guitar builder Rylee Funk. In 2005, woods teacher Tony Cosby wanted to create a class where students would have the opportunity to build an instrument. After the first year of the class, the Americana Project and Sisters Folk Festival provided some funding to keep the class going. The grant and foundation funding helped to buy supplies to build the instruments. The pre-requisite for the class is the Woodworking I class where students first learn to build an Adirondack chair. They can then move on to the next term of the class, Woodworking II.
In Woodworking II, students work throughout the whole trimester constructing guitars or ukuleles. Working with the help of one of the best luthiers in the Northwest, Jayson Bowerman (Breedlove Guitars), they have been able to produce 30 guitars per year. An additional class has been building ukuleles for the past 11 years, until the passing of Bill MacDonald, who was the primary instructor on building the ukuleles. Bill, who was hired by SFF, and his students also worked with David Perkins and Marcy Edwards on building ukuleles, but with changes in their lives, the class primarily builds guitars now. “There is something about starting with just a pile of lumber and then constructing something that plays music for these students I see as very transformative. It is almost like birthing a child — you work so hard to create something beautiful,” said Cosby. “I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to do something so special that will stay with me forever,” said Funk. Adult volunteers come in and give their time every
PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
day during the class to assist students with the construction of their guitars. Those volunteers include Kerry Bott, Gabrielle Franke, Bob Lawton, Jim Naibert, Betsy Forrest Robb, and Ed Fitz. At the end of the class every year, the students hold a Luthier showcase where they learn a song together led by Brad Tisdel, Creative Director of the Sisters Folk Festival. It is a place where the students can show off their creation of the year to their classmates and parents. Some years, a student creates a guitar for the community arts fundraiser event,
My Own Two Hands. The fundraiser is vital to the continuation of the festival’s work. The Luthier Program and Americana Project are all made possible by community support of the arts in education. “We get to see firsthand the difference a music, visual arts, or dance education opportunity can make in a child’s life. These opportunities are no longer available in most public schools,” said Steven Remington, SFF development director. Every year, artists from around the community donate items for the auction
fundraiser that is usually a party event at Ponderosa Forge. This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the auction went virtual, where patrons could bid on the donated art online. SFF also put on a livestream concert event on the Saturday of the fundraiser weekend featuring performances from David Jacobs-Strain and Beth Wood, and never-before-seen videos of musicians from the festival filmed in the past year. The event proved to be a success, helping to keep programs going in the schools and throughout the community.
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Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Judith Hill to make Sisters debut at Close to Home 2 By Ceili Cornelius Correspondent
Judith Hill is known for her soulful lyrics and powerhouse voice. She has been praised by Rolling Stone for her “stellar powerhouse vocals.” “In addition to penning and performing her own material, Judith — who wrote her first song at age 4 — has backed such artists as Stevie Wonder and the late Michael Jackson,” her website notes. Hill was originally going to be a part of the 2020 lineup of the Sisters Folk Festival but will now be featured in the smaller sociallydistanced festival concert event, Close to Home 2. Judith Hill grew up surrounded by music. She was born into a musical family: Both her parents were musicians. Hill grew up listening to a lot of soul and R&Bstyle music whose influence can be heard in her music. Hill attended Biola University in California and got a degree in composition. “After college I went around gigging with my
own music and singing and worked with other musicians on the road,” she said. Before his death, she worked on Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” tour as his duet performer and sang during his memorial service. Hill’s passion is bringing music to people as well as writing music that inspires. For Hill, that inspiration comes from having an emotional experience and moment that can only be described in a song. “It is the ultimate high when a song perfectly describes an emotion or a feeling that nothing else can,” she said. Hill writes story songs and enjoys finding a good groove. “It is exciting when you find a good groove on the piano and guitar and then I write the music from there,” she said. “The range of my musical influence goes from soul, to classic rock, to funk flavoring here and there, but it all sounds pretty soulful.” A few years back, Hill was a contestant on the hit
competition show “ The Voice.” For Hill, the experience was really enjoyable and, she said, “just fun.” “I made a lot of cool fr iends and the show sort of feels like a summer camp with everyone always together working on songs and music with their coaches,” she said. Hill was a part of Adam Levine’s team and was eliminated before the finale of the show but still counts it as a valuable and fun experience. “It was really cool to see how you are perceived by others on a competition show like this and it helped me to grow,” she said. During the coronavirus pandemic, Hill has been keeping busy with studio projects and writing a wide variety of songs over the past few months. “I have been in the studio a lot and working on new music,” she said. Hill has done a few virtual shows, but they aren’t the same for her as she is used to interacting with the audience. “The Zoom concert is not
PHOTO BY JOE LEMKE
like a stage, at all. It is more intimate in a way, but it is different,” she said. Hill is planning on coming out with new music in the near future including singles and a new full-length album that is in the works. Her European and U.S. tour dates were either postponed or canceled for the foreseeable future until at least 2021. Hill was slotted to play the festival this year, but is now a part of the modified, socially-distanced folk festival event, Close to Home 2. She has played Portland
before, but has never been to Central Oregon. “I love Oregon and I am very happy to be able to connect with people and share music together again for this event,” she said. Tickets to the live event are sold out, but SFF will be broadcasting a high-quality livestream. Access is $30, and money raised will help support the nonprofit during COVID-19. Sociallydistanced watch parties encouraged! To sign up for access, go to https://cth2 livestream.eventbrite.com.
September 30. Purchasers will get an email with instructions on how to access the show, each buyer will have a unique, unshareable code to enter to access the stream. Each day, viewers will log in to the livestream with the unique code to view the performances for that evening. It will be a private, embedded Vimeo-hosted video that they can maximize to their screen, share to smart TVs, etc. “This time around, we’re really excited to have the support of the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce to help deliver this programming to the SFF community, wherever they may be,” said Munro. The Sisters Chamber is a presenting sponsor for the
livestream, and some of their television commercial spots about Sisters will be running during set breaks throughout the weekend furthering Sisters’ exposure beyond the community itself. “Livestreaming is something we never thought we’d get into, but feel it’s currently a useful technology to serve our faithful fans as well as grow our audience for the future,” said Ehle. The livestream event will begin the first day of the festivities, Friday, September 11, and run through the entire weekend. Watch live or anytime before September 30. Access to the livestream is just $30 for all three days. For information, a broadcast schedule, or to purchase access, visit https://cth2 livestream.eventbrite.com.
Livestreaming Close to Home 2 By Ceili Cornelius Correspondent
Viewers around the world will get a taste of roots music from Sisters this weekend. SFF is putting on a live concert event — and a livestream of the event — on the weekend of the original 2020 festival dates, September 11-13. The concert is called Close to Home 2. Close to Home 2 will be a socially-distanced outdoor concert at the Sisters Artworks venue. Performers on the bill for the weekend include: Judith Hill; John Craigie; Thunderstorm Artis; AJ Lee & Blue Summit; Kristen Grainger & True North; Jenner Fox Band; Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms; and Central Oregon’s own, The Parnells. Each day will be a different variation of these artists. (See daily lineup on page 16.) “The Close to Home concerts are meant to be that, attracting fans from the area as well as music artists that don’t need to fly or travel real far,” said SFF Operations Manager Dave Ehle.
Not only is the festival putting on a live concert event in person, they are also providing a high-quality livestream for the event. Working with Keith Banning from Grange Recorders on the sound engineering, viewers can expect to hear every note of every artist’s song. Brian Cash of Alpine Internet will provide highquality video resolution with different camera angles to enable viewers to feel as if they are at the event. “Both Close to Home concerts that we’ve done this year sold out very quickly, so we know there’s a pentup demand for live music right now,” said Executive Director Crista Munro. “We also know that there are a lot of people who feel very connected to the Sisters Folk Festival all over the country — and world — that can’t be here in person, and it was important to us that we create an opportunity to include them, too.” “ With COVID, we’re not wanting to encourage travel from outside the area, and attendance numbers are limited,” said Ehle. “Given
that, providing a livestream gives our wider Folk Festival audience an opportunity to participate in addition to expanding our audience to wide-reaching places so folks can see what we do, as well as support the artists through greater exposure as their livelihoods have been seriously impacted.” The Festival has had significant success providing livestream events. “We proved with our first two live streamed events — My Own Two Hands in May and the first Close to Home concert on August 1 — that we have the brain trust right here in Sisters to be able to put out a professionallyproduced broadcast to the world,” said Munro. “We’re proud of what we’ve reimagined for live concerts, given the state requirements and health considerations, and think we’re doing it in an innovative and safe way,” said Ehle. Patrons can purchase the livestream access for $30, which gives access to the whole weekend’s worth of performances. It will be available for viewing until
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Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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John Craigie makes return to Sisters By Ceili Cornelius Correspondent
Portland-based artist, John Craigie, is returning to the Sisters stage for the Sisters Folk Festival Close to Home 2 event — on the weekend that the festival would normally have been held. The second weekend in September, SFF is offering a second small concert event, after the first Close to Home socially-distanced concert event on August 1 proved a success. John Craigie was most recently on the Sisters stage for the 2019 Winter Concert Series. “I have always loved that part of Oregon and I am excited to be back again,” said Craigie. Craigie played the Sisters Folk Festival once before in 2014 when he was first making an impact on the music scene. Craigie grew up in Los Angeles and got his first guitar when he was young but didn’t start seriously playing until he was in college at UC Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California. “While I was at college I was playing small open mics and really beginning to write and perform,” he said. Craigie was studying math on a path to become a math teacher, but that proved to not be his forte. “I graduated with that degree but after an unsuccessful teaching job, I decided to go out on the road and truly pursue music,” he said. At the time, he was based north of the San Francisco Bay and was doing small tours in the area, playing anywhere that would take him — coffee shops, house shows — and over time, he built up a following. S ince then, Craigie moved up to the Portland area and has released many albums and EPs over the years. Craigie has been described as a “modernday troubadour” in the style of Woody Guthrie and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. His music and performance style has been compared to John Prine, and Mitch Hedberg, with influences of Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie. Craigie’s inspiration for his songs comes from life experiences. “I write a lot about human interactions and life
events and stories I hear out on the road touring,” he said. Craigie is very much into camping and adventures, but has never thought of himself as being a songwriter about nature and the world around him. “I never thought of myself as a John Denvertype writing a song about a waterfall, it would have to be about a person with this waterfall,” he said. Out on the road is where Craigie gets the most inspiration for his songs, but during these times of musical performances being on hold, he has had to adapt. During the pandemic, with touring not happening, Craigie has taken a more relaxed approach to his writing and “recording in a relaxed way without any pressure, when normally this is a really hectic time, I am able to slow down,” he said. Craigie has also been taking this time to connect with fans and respond to the many messages he has gotten and never been able to respond to. “ I ’ve been chec king those neglected inboxes and reaching out to my fans and responding back,” he said. Craigie has done a few livestream shows from his home in Portland, but it is not his preferred medium of performance. “It is not my favorite because I am such a storyteller songwriter that interacts with the audience, so I’ve really been trying to focus on the writing,” he said. This summer Craigie has also been able to get out and camp a lot more than he usually can during the summer touring months. In June of this year, Craigie released his most recent record, “Asterisk the Universe.” The record was named after the title of his math graduate thesis. “It was about infinity and about the notion that has to do with modern faith in the fact that we do believe in infinity but it is a concept that is broad so there is an asterisk on our idea of the universe as a whole,” he said. Craigie recorded the album with a full band to enhance the listening experience, but he usually tours and plays solo to emphasize the storytelling aspect. Craigie is looking forward to performing some of these new songs during his
sets at the Close to Home 2 event. “I am just excited to perform in general; this will be the first regular type of performance with an audience and other musicians in five months,” he said. “I am thankful to Sisters for putting this together safely and to have the opportunity to perform again.” For more information, visit the Sisters Folk Festival on Instagram and Facebook as well as their website at www.sistersfolkfestival.org.
“I am thankful to Sisters for putting this together safely and to have the opportunity to perform again.” — John Craigie
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Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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The Sisters Folk Festival is moving into a future defined by its community roots and a love for the many branches of the tree of American music.
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