Folk festival announces winter concert series lineup

Sisters Folk Festival will host three performances in its annual Winter Concert Series.

This year's lineup is a diverse mix of genre-bending artists that are on the rise in each of their respective music styles.

The 2010 series begins with the groundbreaking music of the "newgrass" phenomenon Bearfoot, on tour from Alaska, on February 6. Next in the series is an engaging and immensely talented young Pacific Northwest songwriter, Noah Gundersen and his band The Courage on February 27. The series concludes with the exciting "supafunkrock" sounds of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, straight from the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, on March 16.

All performances will be held at the Sisters High School Auditorium, 7 p.m. show time.

Bearfoot will start the series with their brand of compelling songs and melodies that stretch the definition of bluegrass in a contemporary and adventurous direction. Their most recent record, "Doors and Windows," produced by Compass Records' Garry West, is made up of 11 songs steeped in the bluegrass tradition but unafraid to befriend other genres.

Hailing from Seattle, Noah Gundersen and The Courage recently played a sold-out show at the famed Triple Door in Seattle and are presently on many people's "band-to-watch" list. The band also features Sisters native Travis Ehrenstrom on bass.

Talented young artists of the Sisters Americana Project will perform an opening set as the program moves into its 10th year through the Sisters Folk Festival.

On Tuesday, March 16, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue will bring their native New Orleans sound to Sisters in a dance funk party. At 23, Trombone Shorty has grown into a performer who commands the stage while emanating an elegance and class gleaned from his successful studies at the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. As a graduate, he joined the ranks of alums like Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., and Nicholas Payton.

"Troy possesses the rarest combination of talent, technical capability and down home soul. I'm his biggest fan," says jazz legend Wynton Marsalis.

To purchase tickets visit http://www.sistersfolkfestival.org or call the festival office at 541-549-4979. Tickets will also be available at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters and Redmond, and FootZone in Bend.

The shows are all $15 adult/$10 student. A series pass can be purchased for $40 adult/$30 student. Shows start at 7 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m. Visit the Sisters Country Web site at http://www.sisterscountry.com for lodging packages in Sisters on the evening of these concerts.