Troubadour sings for his supper

In medieval times troubadours would travel from castle to castle to keep singing tales of love, the doomed and destined, in exchange for shelter and sustenance.

Times have changed some - but the gig still works.

Jonathan Byrd, who dazzled the audience at the Sisters Folk Festival last fall, stopped in Sisters and sang for his supper - to the spin class at Sisters Athletic Club. The exercisers got a unique bit of entertainment to keep their minds off their heaving lungs and burning legs, and Byrd earned himself a dinner at Pleiades.

"It's the first time I've ever done that," drawled the lanky guitar slinger. "I wouldn't be surprised if its the last time I do that."

The impromptu gig was the brainchild of Sisters songwriter and artist Dennis McGregor, who thought it would be a fun way to remind people about the folk festival, which will roll around again this September.

Byrd made such a strong impression in 2007 that he was asked to return as the festival's encore performer this year. He will also be a featured instructor at the festival's Americana Songwriting Academy at Caldera.

Byrd's stop in Sisters was part of a circuit in Oregon.

"I played in Richmond, Oregon, which is kind of a ghost town, but they've created this community center in an old church that was built in 1895, I think," he told The Nugget.

Byrd played in Eugene, then came to Sisters to write with McGregor.

For more information about the Sisters Folk Festival, visit http://www.sisterfolkfestival.org or call 549-4979.