Stephanie LaTorre at Stagelights Music Showcase
Monday, February 28th, 2011
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Archive for February, 2011
Tony LaTorre (as Elvis) at Stagelights Music Showcase
Monday, February 28th, 2011
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David Stephenson at Stagelights Music Showcase
Monday, February 28th, 2011
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SnapShot at Stagelights Music Showcase
Sunday, February 27th, 2011
Matt Harrison at Staglights Music Showcase
Sunday, February 27th, 2011
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Spectrum Sounds at Stagelights Music Showcase
Sunday, February 27th, 2011
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Willow Owings at Stagelights Music Showcase
Sunday, February 27th, 2011
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Community Music Showcase No. 3!
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011
A variety of rock and roll, including the music of Elvis, will be featured during Stagelights Community Music Showcase from 7 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Harbor Performing Arts Theater in the Brookings-Harbor Shopping Center.
The live music show will spotlight the talent of local musicians and bands playing a variety of music styles.
“We’re going to feature nearly three hours of great live music,” said organizer Gordon Later.
Tickets are $5 per person and proceeds will help fund scholarships for Stagelight’s youth music lessons program. Proceeds from consession sales will benefit the Brookings Harbor Community Theater’s programs for children.
The music line up includes:
•Spectrum Sound: A classic rock band featuring John Marshall (guitar), Rick Weaver (bass), Esque Wingate (vocals/sax), Valerie Wingate (vocals) and Scott Graves (drums/percussion).
•Willow Owings: acoustic rock/folk.
•David Stephenson: alternative rock.
•SnapShot: original and covers of soft pop/rock favorites performed by Michael George, Woody Cross, Gordon and Chele Later.
•Matt Harrison: originals and covers of acoustic rock.
•Tony LaTorre: an authentic portrayal of Elvis and his music.
Each band will play a 20- to 25-minute set of music with a brief break between acts, Later said.
“It’s always a great show, no two shows are ever the same,” he said. “Come and enjoy the very talented musicians we have right here in our community.”
Later said the goal of the showcase is to bring together many different combinations of musicians, of different ages, to demonstrate the talent and versatility that exists in the community.
“All the musicians are those who are very active in the local music scene,” Later said.
The first showcase, held at the Harbor Performing Arts Center in April, 2010, was standing room only, with more than 100 people attending.
Spotlighting local musicians is only one goal of Stagelights Musical Arts Community. The non-profit’s mission is to provide education and outreach opportunities to students of all ages who are interested in the musical arts, regardless of their ability to pay.
Stagelights recently opened a studio in downtown Brookings for its music lessons program. Previous activities include community concerts and youth and adult music workshops.
For information about Stagelights, its programs and sponsorships or to make a donation, call 541-251-3952, search Facebook or visit http://www.stagelights.us.
New: Live Music Discoveries!
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011Welcome to Coastal Grooves’ new feature called “Live Music Discoveries,” a podcast that spotlights recordings of some of the best live concerts. Each episode will feature quality, cherry-picked songs from a particular concert. If you like what you hear, you can listen to the full concert by using the link provide at the end of each posting. There will also be links to the band’s website and perhaps a youtube video or two.
The first Live Music Discovery episode features the up-and-coming band Dangermuffin, from South Carolina. This trio, featuring two guitarists and a drummer, offers an eclectic mix of American roots music that includes a jammy mix of reggae, country, rock and folk.
Full concert at: www.archive.org/details/dangermuffin2010-06-18.matrix.flac16
Dangermuffin website: http://dangermuffinmusic.com
Podcast : Here are six songs from a concert they performed on June 18, 2010, at the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon.
Track listing:
1. Moonscape
2. No Redemption
3. Angry Ocean
4. Top of the World
5. Martyr Song
6. Scarlet Begonias
Podcast: Download
Drifter rocks the house!
Monday, February 21st, 2011
Brookings newest rock band Drifter played to a packed house Sunday at the Harbor Performing Arts Center. (Hear five songs from the concert below)See videos here:
The two-hour afternoon concert raised about $450 for the Brookings-Harbor Community Theater’s youth drama programs.
“We had over 100 people there. Thank you Drifter for the wonderful show,” said theater president Dori Blodgett.
Drifter is comprised of musicians Gene Gurney, Rob Itzen, Sonny Riner, Kelly Itzen and Mariah Leanne Gurney. Harp player Jef Hatch accompanied the band on several blues songs.
The band’s selection of upbeat blues and straight-ahead rock songs had audience members tapping their feet and swaying in the seats. The band’s closing number,
a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “If the House is a Rockin’,” resulted in a 
standing ovation.
standing ovation.
Podcast: Download
Drifter plays rock and blues fundraiser for local theater Feb. 20
Monday, February 14th, 2011
The rock and blues band Drifter, a Brookings-based group of well know musicians, will play a benefit concert at 3 p.m. Feb. 20 at Harbor’s historic Performing Arts Center, on Shopping Center Ave.Tickets are $5 at the door. Snacks will be available in the theater snack bar. Proceeds of the performance will go to the Brookings Harbor Community Theater’s youth drama programs.
Drifter is comprised of musicians Gene Gurney, Rob Itzen, Sonny Riner, Kelly Itzen and Mariah Leanne Gurney. A selection of local musicians will join the band as the concert takes on new sounds and artists throughout the afternoon.
Theater president Dori Blodgett said she is grateful for the support of the local performers. “I am very excited to spend a Sunday afternoon surrounded by the musical talents of Drifter, and hear some good, old, rock and blues,” she said. “Drifter is making a statement of support in our community, not only for children’s theater but also for live blues and rock in a family friendly environment. Come and spend and enjoyable afternoon with your friends and loved ones.”
For more information and directions to the theater, call 541-469-4700.
Monday, February 14th, 2011
The Del Norte Association for Cultural Awareness (DNACA), a nonprofit local arts agency, presents its fourth performance of the season – Chris Smither, playing blues-influenced folk music – at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 in Crescent Elk Auditorium, 994 G Street in Crescent City.
Tickets for Chris Smither cost $18 for general admission, $12 for students and seniors 65 years and older, and are available at Del Norte Office Supply in Crescent City, Words and Pictures in Brookings, and at the door beginning at 6:45 p.m. the evening of the show. For more information, contact DNACA at (707) 464-1336.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Smither has been living the life of a troubadour for more than four decades, ever since leaving Tulane University in New Orleans, the town where he was raised. In 1965, he received some advice from of one of his top two musical heroes, Eric von Schmidt (the other is Mississippi John Hurt, who Smither first saw perform in 1964. You can hear that bluesman’s influence in Smither’s guitar work and songs.)
Von Schmidt, who was in Forida at the time, said, “If you want to play, no one down here is going to listen to you. You should go up to Boston and Cambridge and places like that.” So Smither, with a friend, a few clothes and his guitar, traveled north to where there were thriving folk scenes in the coffeehouses and clubs. Several weeks later, he arrived at the now infamous Club 47. Who should be playing that night but Von Schmidt, who invited Smither onstage perform three songs.
“It was my first night in Cambridge and I was playing Club 47! It felt right to me,” recounted Smither in “Baby Let Me Follow You Down,” the seminal book about that era written by von Schmidt and Jim Rooney (University of Massachusetts Press, 1979; second edition 1994). “I found a place to crash that night,” he continued, “and never left . . .Since then I have managed to support myself by singing.”
Smither is primarily a performer – his intricate guitar work, gravely, light and tuneful voice, and stomping foot in performance are all legendary – but he also writes songs and has 13 CDs to his credit, one of them unreleased and two of them live. “Back in the old days,” he mused recently, “writing new songs and making new albums were just chores. My priority was, and still is performing live. I guess I still write the songs and make the record so I can go out and play -- except now I actually enjoy it. I’ve learned how to do it….”
If you are to believe the critics, he does it all well. “Smither delivers one of the most riveting live show you’re ever likely to see, ” wrote Rollingstone.com. “The masterful combination of pure folk songwriting and intricate guitar blues are tangible signs of the singer-songwriter’s vigorous genius” lauded WIRED magazine, “A megawatt solo performer.” “His deep understanding of folk blues, storytelling finesse, rhythmic foot-tapping and warm guitar tones make him one of the finest of the genre,” noted the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “My Eric Clapton,” said Bonnie Raitt about his influence on her.
Smither’s songs have been covered by other musicians; notably Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Diana Krall, and used in an independent film called “The Ride.” Each of his albums contain mostly original songs, but also include two to three carefully chosen covers which can arguably pack more punch more than their original recordings. There is a rousing version of “Dust My Broom” by Robert Johnson on “Live as I’ll Ever Be” (HighTone, 2000), an upbeat take on “Crocodile Man” by Dave Carter on “Train Home” (HighTone, 2003), and a soulful rendering of “Madame Geneva’s” by Mark Knopfler on Smither’s most recent CD, “Time Stands Still” (Signature Sounds Recordings, 2009). For more information on the artist and his music, go to www.smither.com online.
Something new! The first “Covercast!”
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
Coastal Grooves proudly presents the first ever Covercast, a 40-minute long podcast featuring nothing but live cover songs performed by an eclectic mix of bands.The line up:
Stray Cats: “I Fought the Law” (Bobby Fuller)
Phish: “Walk Away” (Joe Walsh).
U-Melt: “Crazy” (Seal).
String Cheese Incident: “Rocking the Casbah” (The Clash).
Boombox: “Shakedown Street” (Grateful Dead).
Phish: “2001” (movie theme).
Railroad Earth: “Roadhouse Blues (The Doors).
Bruce Hornsby: “Comfortably Numb” (Pink Floyd).
Rudy Spence, of Brookings: “The Cat Came Back/Hit the Road Jack” (Traditional/Ray Charles.) Recorded live at the Harbor Performing Arts Theater in December, 2010.
Enjoy! And check back often for future “Covercasts!”
Podcast: Download