News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Leslie Satcher shared music with kindergartners on Friday, January 17. Photo by Jim Cornelius
Ace Nashville songwriter Leslie Satcher enjoyed a busman's holiday in Sisters over the past two weeks.
Satcher, who performed last year at Sisters Starry Nights, returned to Sisters for a vacation. But for songwriters, the work is what they are, not just what they do and Satcher spent much of her time sharing her craft with Sisters residents.
"I've played for every school kid in Sisters just about," said Satcher.
The Texas native joined music classes at all three Sisters schools and met with students in the high school's Americana Project.
She capped the week on Saturday night, January 18, with a free performance at Sisters Elementary School.
Americana Project performers Lauren Shultz and Kerani Mitchell opened the show with solo performances and a duet.
The full-house crowd was offered the opportunity to make donations to the Sisters Schools foundation and they came across in a big way, filling a guitar case with more than $3,000.
Satcher donated proceeds from sales of her CD, bringing the total to about $4,000.
The songwriter joined local musicians after the show for an informal jam session.
Satcher first came to Sisters to open a Sisters Starry Nights performance for Vince Gill and Amy Grant. Satcher and Gill are close friends and musical collaborators.
As is often the case, Satcher became friends with the organizers of the concert series and fell in love with the Sisters country.
"Jeri (Fouts) and Susan (Arends) are good friends now, so I decided to just come out for a visit, for some down time," Satcher said.
She surely needs a little rest. She's hard at work on a follow-up to her debut CD "Love Letters" and has been churning out songs that have been cut by artists ranging from LeeAnne Womack to Willie Nelson.
She had a major hit with "When God Fearing Women Get the Blues," recorded by Martina McBride.
Satcher is one of a number of women songwriters who have scored repeated successes in Nashville in the past decade.
She attributes their success to the personal nature of their songwriting -- a quality that comes through when an artist sings the song.
"Women are not afraid to write a song just like they're going to sing it themselves," she said.
Appropriately enough for a writer who spent a week entertaining and encouraging students, Satcher reflected on an often-overlooked aspect of great songwriting: reading.
She noted that many of the great songs have the obvious imprint of highly literate, widely read people.
"Great songs that transcend time," she said," are written by (songwriters) who read."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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