Trombone Shorty is headed to Sisters

Sisters Folk Festival's Winter Concert Series wraps up on March 16 with Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.

The band will appear at Sisters High School Auditorium; the show starts at 7 p.m.

In 2010, 24-year-old New Orleans singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and all-around musical powerhouse, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, signed with Verve Forecast Records and performed on Good Morning America and ESPN's Sports Center in the run-up to the Super Bowl.

He has seen recordings to which he contributed earning a Grammy award (Buckwheat Zydeco's "Lay Your Burden Down") and an Oscar nomination (Dr. John's "Down In New Orleans" from the hit Disney film "The Princess and the Frog").

He has taped two appearances - as himself - for the upcoming HBO series "Treme" from "The Wire" creator David Simon, and played with his band Orleans Avenue as honored guests on Saints' owner Tom Benson's float in a victorious post-Super Bowl Mardi Gras parade.

He's just getting started.

On April 20, Verve Forecast will release Trombone Shorty's new album "Backatown," an explosive, homegrown combination of funk, rock, R&B and hip-hop he calls "Supafunkrock." The album was produced by fellow New Orleanian Ben Ellman of Galactic, and features 14 songs, all but one of them written or co-written by Andrews. Guests on the album include Lenny Kravitz, Marc Broussard and Allen Toussaint, who contributes piano to a take on his own composition "On Your Way Down," the album's lone cover.

"Backatown" is a local term for an area of New Orleans that includes the historic Treme neighborhood - or 6th Ward - from which Trombone Shorty hails.

Home to Congo Square, birthplace of Louis Armstrong, it has been called "the most musical neighborhood in America's most musical city."

A virtuoso prodigy trombonist, brilliant trumpet player, and soulful, charismatic singer, Shorty has been performing with some members of Orleans Avenue - which includes Dwayne "Big D" Williams (percussion), Mike Ballard (bass), Joey Peebles (drums), Pete Murano (guitar) and Dan Oestreicher (baritone sax) - since childhood.

Though 2010 promises to be Trombone Shorty's breakout year, he's no stranger to the spotlight. In 2005, at age 19, he toured the world as a member of Lenny Kravitz's band.

"Shorty's a genius," says Kravitz, "he plays his ass off and he's a beautiful human being."

In 2006, he joined U2 and Green Day for a rousing performance to reopen the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina.

"We were just mesmerized by him," U2's The Edge said after an earlier encounter with Andrews' live show.

And in 2008, he performed at the NBA All-Star Game with Harry Connick Jr., Kermit Ruffins and Branford Marsalis.

From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on March 16, Cork Cellars is hosting an open house featuring Sisters Folk Festival's own "Americana Red," a harmonious blend of Oregon pinot noir and tempranillo, produced by Lange Winery. The wine will be available by the glass or bottle. Light appetizers will be on hand as well.

Paulina Springs Books has tickets for sale. Tickets can also be purchased through the folk festival Web site and at the door. For more information e-mail [email protected]