Festival brings song and story to Sisters

Sisters will host a weekend of song and story Friday and Saturday, September 26 and 27 as the third annual Sisters Folk Festival brings song and story to Sisters

Sisters will host a weekend of song and story Friday and Saturday, September 26 and 27 as the third annual Sisters Folk Festival rings in Indian Summer.

The festival features an array of regional and national acts in a variety of styles ranging from bluegrass to the blues. Workshops, a songwriting contest and after-show jam sessions will give participants a chance to stretch their musical horizons.

The festivities kick off with Friday night performances starting at 7 p.m. at the Sisters High School auditorium.

The Friday night show features acoustic blues ace Chris Smither. Smither's gravelly vocals, original songs and stellar guitar picking led Bonnie Raitt to call him "my Eric Clapton." Cowboy poet and humorist Gary McMaha, will also take the stage Friday night, and the evening will be capped with a bluegrass-flavored set from Kathy Kallick and the Little Big Band.

Kallick's folk-inspired lyrics backed by topnotch bluegrass pickers have earned her audience raves and critical acclaim as one of the top West Coast folk-bluegrass acts.

The high school is center stage again Saturday night starting at 7 p.m. with a set from Prairie Home Companion regular and national fingerpicking guitar champion Pat Donahue.

Songwriter Greg Barnhill will return to the Sisters stage after a performance here last winter, treating audiences to more of his compelling original songs, which have been recorded by many top recording artists, including Trisha Yearwood and Don Henley.

Legendary banjo picker and composer John McEuen, formerly of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, will perform Saturday night along with his son Jonathan and "Fiddlin' Phil" Salazar. McEuen dazzles audiences with a blend of instrumental virtuosity and showmanship.

Festival-goers will be treated to a full afternoon of entertainment at bargain prices with shows starting at noon Saturday at the Hotel Sisters and at the Village Green.

Songwriters will showcase their original material in a Saturday afternoon performance at the Hotel Sisters in downtown Sisters. Irish folk singer Peter Yeates will return to Sisters at the Hotel stage with a rousing show and award-winning Portland songwriters Dave Carter and Glen McPherson will also perform.

The show will also feature the finalists in this year's contest.

Music and stories will fill the Village Green on Saturday afternoon as well, as local Celtic musicians from A Scottish Heart join storyteller Will Hornyak, Kathy Kallick and Gary McMahan and others for a special family performance. Kallick is a special attraction at this event, performing material from her acclaimed children's record "Use a Napkin Not Your Mom."

Tickets for the Friday and Saturday evening performances at Sisters High School are $15; advance tickets are available at Paulina Springs Book Company and Ticket-master or Boomtown in Bend.

Tickets for the songwriters' showcase are $5 at the door; family stage $5 per family at the venue. An all events pass can be purchased for $30.

For more information call 549-4979.