Folk festival takes Sisters by song

The 2000 Sisters Folk Festival was such a big success that latecomers had to be turned away on Saturday night, September 9, for want of room.

The fire marshal closed the gate to last-minute arrivals when an overflow crowd of more than 700 folk music fans packed the mainstage tent on The Village Green.

From the moment that Chuck McCabe opened the festival on Friday afternoon until headliner Guy Clark closed it down before a raucous crowd late Saturday night, Sisters swayed to the beat of some of the best folk music in the country.

With simultaneous daytime performances at the Village Green and the Sisters Smokehouse Corral, spectators shuttled back and forth between the two sites to see their favorite performers.

Workshops were conducted at various venues around town, and the Royal Thai Cafe was the site of evening jam sessions.

Everyone knew they liked what they were heard, but not everyone agreed on what to call it. Some of the varied descriptions included Appalachian-acoustic, porch-pickin', or folk-country.

Kurt Downs of Eugene stated flatly, "This is Americana music."

Quite a few people from out of town came to see what is fast becoming a well-known music event in Sisters.

Julie Devilbiss traveled all the way from Carbondale, Colorado. She described herself as a songwriter of folk-harmonic music.

Mollie Hart and Earl Weston came from Vancouver, Washington, and attended every event possible, but were sometimes torn between conflicting venues. They perform as "Mollie and Earl" at the Salmon Creek Brewery and Pub.

One of Sisters' big draws for musicians is the high caliber of competition in the annual contest for performing songwriters. Not only must the artists perform their work, but a minimum of three original pieces must be included in the performance.

The Sisters Folk Festival is considered to have one of the bigger prizes on the circuit.

This year's top songwriter turned out to be T.R. Ritchie of Moab, Utah. Ritchie held off some stiff competition to claim top honors.

The song that may have been the clincher told the tale of a son whose life could have been imagined only in "My Father's Wildest Dreams."

The Moab performer took home a purse of $500 and a guaranteed invitation to the next Festival

Former winners who returned to perform last week included Dave Carter and Chuck McCabe. Both also served as judges for this year's contest.

Another returning musician was local artist Brad Tisdel, who has also performed at the Sisters Starry Nights Concert. He was accompanied by Ted Brainerd, and was joined by one other special guest. Sisters High School student Kristen Lamoreaux stepped up to the stage to sing "See The Light" with Tisdel.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band alumni, John McEuen and Jim Ibbotson closed out Friday night's show; and Robin and Linda Williams, frequent performers on "Prairie Home Companion" really got the crowd's attention with a song about an "unnecessary" traffic light.

I hate that traffic light, the lyrics proclaimed. I run it every chance I get.

And who wouldn't, with a '65 GTO "389."

One of the more unusual acts was that of Czech mandolin player, 1992 U.S. National Mandolin Champion, Radim Zenkl. He attracted a surprisingly large mid-afternoon crowd, whose favorite piece was clearly a vocal performed entirely in the Czech language.

Zenkl explained that translation of the title, alone, would be enough to appreciate the vehement strains of the ballad. Roughly translated, the title went something like "We're Not Even Married Yet, and She's Beating Me Already."

Some of the visitors to Sisters were drawn not only by the impressive array of artists, but by the presence of their personal favorites.

Lou and Walt Hayes of Eugene journey to "see Misty River every chance we get." They've seen the all-female quartet perform six to eight times in just the last 18 months.

Misty River creates flowing blends of harmony and seems to have a lot of fun doing it.

Other performers included Eileen Hemphill-Haley, the Bobby Sims Trio and the Casey Neil Trio, whose blend of Celtic and Bluegrass was very well received by an appreciative crowd.

Saturday night, while turned-away music fans loitered on the grass and peered in from outside the tent, the gravelly tones of Guy Clark brought the event to a close.

Clark's seasoned voice commanded the crowd's attention as he rolled out a red carpet of song.

One selection, "The Cape" is Clark's musical tale of a boy who dons a makeshift cape in the belief that he can fly off a garage roof.

As the boy grows up, he continues to believe in his ability to accomplish great things.

Another crowd favorite was a sing-along celebrating "true love and home-grown tomatoes."