Young songwriters gather in Sisters

Young songwriters from across Central Oregon gathered last weekend to hone their craft in the annual Sisters Folk Festival Song Academy for Youth. Some are already veteran performers, some were for the first time discovering their means of expressing themselves through music.

All gathered at Sisters Art Works for an intensive two-day study of the art and craft of songwriting under the tutelage of various instructors including Americana Project alum Laura Curtis and internationally recognized folk music performers Ellis and Davis Jacobs-Strain, both of whom were touring in the area and eagerly signed on to participate in the academy.

Travis Ehrenstrom, who grew up in Sisters and was an Americana Project student in his school years, was the director of the camp. Ehrenstrom is planning to return to Sisters after a stint in Seattle, where he played bass in the indie-rock band Noah Gundersen and The Courage.

Ehrenstrom recruited some Seattle musicians to come down to participate in "song camp."

"I love the community down here," Ehrenstrom told The Nugget. I'm actually moving back here in March just because I believe what happens here in the folk festival and the Americana Project are crucial to our community here. They're a microcosm for change."

Folk festival executive director Brad Tisdel has been assisted by Ehrenstrom in past years, and this year he tapped the young musician to run the show.

"Travis has the experience and the skill sets that are a perfect complement to the job," Tisdel said. "He came up with the program; he's been to every song camp - adult and youth - that we've done. He's the embodiment of what we do and he does a great job."

The instruction was divided into a series of breakout sessions, allowing students to pick from among several options. Master classes were taught by Ellis and Jacobs-Strain.

Students worked on music ranging from singer-songwriter folk to hip-hop and rock songs.

"The most important thing that happens here is the environment of vulnerability," said Ehrenstrom. "I think the diversity is really, really rewarded here. (Everyone recognizes that) everybody is on their own creative path; everybody has something worthwhile to teach and to give."

The centerpiece of the experience was a concert held Saturday evening at The Barn at Pine Meadow Ranch, where the young songwriters played new songs - and some of them took to the stage for the first

time.

"I was really nervous before, and actually I didn't think about performing this weekend," said Erica Lowry, a Sisters High School sophomore who performed publicly for the first time. "It gives me a lot more confidence. It's a whole new vulnerability being up there, but when you've done it, you feel so much better, so accomplished in

yourself."

Erica's friend Eliza van der Laan has been an Americana Project student since middle school and counts the program as her most important focus.

"It's become a family for me, a community that will always accept me and be there for me," she said.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

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.

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 5415499941