Tom Russell caps winter concerts

Sisters Folk Festival welcomes back legendary Americana artist and songwriter Tom Russell on Wednesday, March 20, for a show that caps the festival's Winter Concert Series.

Tom Russell is a master storyteller. He recently released "Mesabi," his 26th album, a work that instantly grips the listener and holds on as vivid scenarios unfold from tune to tune.  He is an American original, writing out of "the wounded heart of America."

"It's rare indeed when a songwriter is so strong in his own unique voice and style that they redefine the music boundaries that are in place; this is Tom Russell," says Sisters Folk Festival Executive Director Brad Tisdel.

"Tom is a desert cowboy beat poet, a hardboiled prophet of L.A. noir, an heir to Dylan and Bukowski - and an ornery American original," says SFF board chair Jim Cornelius. "If you crave the real deal, a veteran road warrior who really delivers in a live show, this is it."

Pop Matters notes that "On his last three albums Love and Fear, Blood and Candle Smoke, and now Mesabi, Russell has come up with a late-career flurry that rivals what Dylan himself achieved with Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, and Modern Times. Like Dylan, Russell constructs his songs from the building blocks of classic American folk and blues traditions."

To purchase tickets for this show go to http://www.sistersfolkfestival.org or call the Festival office at 541-549-4979. Tickets are also available at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters and Redmond and FootZone in Bend.

The price for each show is $15/adult for advance tickets and $10/student, $20/adult at the door. The SFF 2013 Winter Concert Series concerts start at 7 p.m. at Sisters High School Auditorium; doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information visit www.sistersfolkfestival.org/wcs, or call 541-549-4979.