Black Butte Ranch to host concert series

Building on the success of last year's "Live at the Ranch" summer concert series, Black Butte Ranch announces the line-up for the 2011 series. This summer's three concerts will kick off with the roots music of South Carolina's Dangermuffin on Sunday, July 24 at 5 p.m., followed by shows on Sunday, August 21, and Sunday, September 4.

The second concert will feature the big band sounds of Portland's own Shanghai Woolies an eight-piece band formed by Pink Martini's trumpeter Gavin Bondy. The final concert in the series will be a twin bill with Seattle's soul and Motown-inspired Soul Jelly, and from Salem, Oregon, young blues sensation, the Ty Curtis Band.

Concert coordinator Katie Williams said, "The series last year was so well received, that we are very excited to be able to bring top-notch talent to the Ranch again this year."

Sisters Folk Festival has received 100 tickets from Black Butte Ranch to sell for the summer show with Dangermuffin. All proceeds from the tickets sold by SFF will benefit the Americana Project.

Dangermuffin is based out of Folly Beach, South Carolina, and brings a style of music reminiscent of bands such as the Grateful Dead; as Bert Holman, manager of the Allman Brothers Band, put it: "When I first heard Dangermuffin, it brought me back to the first time I heard the Grateful Dead, with the same free-spirited, jamming blues intensity."

The band exploded onto the national scene with the release of their latest album, "Moonscapes," in 2010.

Since 2010, SiriusXM radio has been spinning tracks from "Moonscapes" on their Jam On and Outlaw Country shows.

The second concert features the Shanghai Woolies, who delight audiences with the romantic sounds of Duke Ellington and the "hot music" of the 1920s and 1930s jazz and pop from Chicago and New York City.

"After hearing the Woolies at last year's My Own Two Hands Auction, I fell in love with their happy music and invited them to perform at the Ranch," Williams commented.

The final concert will feature a doubleheader of soul and blues. Opening is Seattle band Soul Jelly, who bring their Philly-Motown soul and funk sound to the Ranch. Closing the show is the Ty Curtis Band from Salem. These guys won second place in 2009 (among 2,000 contestants) at the prestigious International Blues Contest in Memphis, and in 2010 won the Cascade Blues Foundation's Muddy Award for best contemporary blues act. They performed in 2009 at the Sisters Folk Festival.

Tickets may purchased online at http://www.BendTicket.com as well as the Welcome Center at Black Butte Ranch. For more information call Katie Williams at 541-595-1510.