Starry Nights welcomes Keb' Mo' to Sisters

Three-time Grammy winner and acclaimed contemporary blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Keb' Mo' will close the 2008 Sisters Starry Nights season with a solo performance on Saturday, May 10 at the Sisters High School Auditorium.

The sold-out concert is a benefit for the Sisters Schools Foundation and raises funds for classroom and co-curricular programs and activities in the Sisters School District.

Keb' Mo's distinctive sound embraces multiple eras and genres, including pop, rock, folk and jazz. His style owes as much to contemporary music's singer-songwriter movement, encompassing his longtime friends and collaborators Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, as to the spirit of blues godfather Robert Johnson that dwells in his work.

For Keb' Mo', the common bond between these influences is the underlying storytelling ethic, the power of song to convey human experience and emotional weight.

In 1994 his debut release Keb' Mo' was embraced by the critics and public alike and named one of the five best blues albums of the 1990s by Rolling Stone. Subsequent albums have demonstrated the depth and breadth of Keb' Mo's artistry.

In 2006, Keb' Mo'released Suitcase, his critically-acclaimed eighth album. That year, he also produced "Behind The Levee" for New Orleans-based funk-rock jam band the subdudes.

Opening the Starry Nights Show will be a special collaborative set featuring student performers from the Sisters High School Jazz program and the Sisters Americana Project, senior vocalists Niesje Schilperoort and Christina Holler.

The award-winning Sisters High School Jazz Combo features six students, some of whom have played together as a group for six years: Senior trumpeter Tyson Edmunson and saxophonist Riley Gilmore; with Junior guitarist Jacob French, pianist Wesley Ford, bassist Jared Henderson, and drummer Sam Orwig.

Niesje Schilperoort has been performing as a vocalist since the fourth grade.  An outstanding student in the Americana Project and in theater arts, she played a leading role in the SHS winter play, Cradle Song.  Niesje also helped in the graphic design for the brand new Sisters Americana Project CD, "Root Rhythm," on which her original song, "One Blush" appears.

Christina Holler has appeared on stage in lead roles for the SHS drama productions The Crucible and Cradle Song.  She continues to perform for many Americana Project events, including My Own Two Hands and the upcoming CD Release concert, May 16 at the SHS Auditorium.  

A highlight of the concert will be the performance of five singers from Sisters Middle School as part of a special selection with Keb' Mo' under the direction of SMS music teacher Tara MacSween. The singers are eighth graders Ciara Affatati, Noel Chen, Elizabeth Eckstine, Victoria Thatch and Felicia Zandonatti.

Sisters High School Seniors Ryan Burbank and Jena Rickards will serve as masters of ceremonies for the evening. The lobby doors open at 5:30 p.m. and guests can enjoy light dinner fare, a silent auction and raffle and entertainment by the Sisters Varsity Jazz Band under the direction of band teacher Jody Henderson. Theater doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m.

Since its inception in 1997, Sisters Starry Nights has raised more than $750,000 in net proceeds for the Sisters Schools Foundation. Sisters Starry Nights performers donate their time to support Sisters schools. The event is organized by a volunteer planning committee comprised of parents, students, school staff members and other community members.

For more information, contact Starry Nights and the Sisters Schools Foundation at 549-8521 ext. 4007.