Starry Nights is a tribute to networking

With the curtain coming down on the 11th annual Starry Nights Concert Series after Saturday night's sterling performance by Keb' Mo', some $800,000 has been raised in net proceeds during the fund-raiser's 11-year history for the Sisters Schools Foundation.

The foundation finances programs that otherwise would not be funded in all three Sisters schools.

The concert series is the brainchild of local residents and moms Jeri Fouts and Susan Arends.

Although Starry Nights only happens two nights out of every year, its planning is continual.

"We have often likened it to a pregnancy: nine months of planning and the birth of the event being the pinnacle," said Arends.

Each August or early September Fouts and Arends start recruiting their artists for the forthcoming season, although much groundwork is done in advance.

"We plant the seeds with artists year-round," said Fouts. "We often have the opportunity to go to concerts and visit with artists and managers, and we do a lot of networking."

Because Starry Night artists perform on a gratis basis, the networking aspect of the project is very important.

"We do networking through band members who come to Sisters and then go on and play with the different artists. All of these band members have had an amazing time in Sisters, and they want to come back," said Arends. "They talk to the artists and encourage them to come."

Rodney Crowell, who was the headliner at this year's first concert on April 26, performed in Sisters because of such a circumstance. Crowell agreed to come to Sisters because of keyboarder Tim Lauer, a Starry Nights regular.

"He (Lauer) was also responsible for the first time we had Vince Gill and Amy Grant...," said Fouts. "He was the one who helped set that up. He's a very accomplished keyboardist and producer and songwriter in Nashville."

About this year's concert series, Fouts said: "He (Lauer) contacted us and said: 'You know who would be perfect for Starry Nights and who would love it there (in Sisters) and who puts on a great show and who is a great guy is Rodney Crowell.'"

Lauer did not want to miss out on the opportunity to experience the charm of Sisters once again, so he came along as a part of Crowell's band.

"This might be his fourth or fifth visit to Sisters in his supporting role," said Arends.

"He loves it. He is really one of the behind-the-scenes forces that has made this event succeed," said Fouts.

Fouts and Arends noted that artists of Starry Nights caliber are approached all the time to do benefit shows, so their decision to come to Sisters is a rare distinction.