News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Dennis McGregor will premier his new CD titled "Behind the Beat, Below the Note" at a house concert at Harmony House on Saturday night, June 26.
The dean of Sisters singer-songwriters put together the collection of 10 new songs this spring in Santa Cruz using the musicians from the band of Sisters Folk Festival perennial Keith Greeninger, including multi-instrumentalist Dayan Kai.
"I've always wanted to record with stand-up bass and I've always wanted to record with clarinet," McGregor said. "And I've done that. I like those sounds a lot. I really enjoyed working with those guys. A talented bunch of people."
The songs offer an eclectic mix of folk, country, jazz and blues sounds in service of McGregor's trademark wordplay and sharp observation of the human condition as seen from the juniper woods east of Sisters.
McGregor, a Sisters Folk Festival Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest winner and an instructor at the festival's songwriting academy, has kept up a steady flow of songs over the past decade. However, he's reluctant to say that he's been prolific.
"I'm glad it seems that way," he said. "I haven't written anything in a while. When you're recording it's hard to keep writing because all your attention is wrapped up in shepherding your songs through that process."
McGregor doesn't really have ambitions for his recordings beyond recording with folks who like his music.
"I have no goal or fantasy of everybody liking it," he said. "I just want to find the people who do like it and (get) it to them."
McGregor, a visual artist by trade, painted the cover for his own CD.
The CD can be purchased at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters or through http://www.dennismcgregor.com or at the concert.
Harmony House is located at 17505 Kent Rd. (off Cloverdale Road). Doors open at 7 p.m. There is a suggested donation of $10.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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