News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Jena Rickards opens the sold-out Starry Nights concert with musical partners from Nashville.
Jena Rickards' life was changed one night on the stage at Sisters High School (SHS) Auditorium. Now she's come full-circle, to open for Keb' Mo' in the sold-out 2013 Starry Nights concert on Saturday, May 18.
Rickards was a junior at SHS that night back in 2007, an Americana Project student who had developed a passion for songwriting. She was part of a student performance opening for country music superstar Vince Gill.
At the time, her ambition was to become a physical therapist.
Gill was so struck by Rickards' voice and songwriting that he encouraged her to pursue music as a vocation.
"That changed my whole path," she told The Nugget last week.
Gill became a mentor to Rickards. He encouraged her to consider studying at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she studied the business of music. She also performed and recorded her music, releasing the EP "Unearthed" in 2010 and "Lioness" in 2012. At Belmont, she was honored with the prestigious Cecil Scaife Visionary Scholarship for effectively combining her music and business skills.
Rickards, who has returned to Sisters with husband Franco Casiean, is bringing to Sisters the core musicians from her Nashville creative team.
Cody Fry's talents as a performer and creator of music have gained him acclaim and exposure at the highest levels of the music industry. The Grammy Foundation discovered his capabilities while he was still in high school and put him on stage to sing and play piano and guitar alongside Earth, Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock, Michael McDonald, Jeff Beck, Kanye West, John Legend, James Moody, and Gloria Estefan at special foundation benefit concerts honoring Quincy Jones and George Martin.
Disney tapped him to participate in their "Next Big Thing" national singer- songwriter competition, which led to interviews on nationally syndicated radio programs and feature stories in the Chicago Tribune. Tribune rock critic Mark Caro described Fry's voice and music as "a rich slice of blue-eyed soul."
Niko Xidas is an independent musician and producer living in Nashville. Performing/touring with artists of varying genres and musical intensities such as Eden's Edge, Jena Rickards, Rob Blackledge, Cody Fry, Joey Hyde, Russell Dickerson and many others has helped him make a name for himself in Nashville's eclectic music scene.
The group is excited about their 30-minute opening gig with Keb' Mo'.
"They know Keb' Mo', and they're totally honored, as am I," Jena said.
"We're going to focus on the sound that we developed in Nashville," Jena explained. "We really want to give people a taste of what we've been producing and working on for the past four years. It's going to be a really beautiful meld of Sisters and Nashville."
The trio will also offer a more extended performance the evening before Starry Nights, from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, May 17, in the courtyard at The Open Door on the corner of Hood Avenue and Oak Street. Tickets are available in advance at The Open Door; tickets will also be available at the door on the evening of the concert.
Rickards is grateful for the chance to perform again for the community that nurtured her artistic journey.
"I would like to thank (Starry Nights founder Jeri Fouts) for giving me the opportunity to do this and to play for the community in a new light," she said. "It's just a big blessing of a performance."
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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