A Time For Tunes Saturday Tripleheader A First For The Festival At Sandpoint, Now In Its 18Th Season

Sun., July 30, 2000

By Heather Lalley heatherl@spokesman.com

This year marks the 18th for the Festival at Sandpoint, a musical celebration that brings thousands of people to the North Idaho resort town.

While the institution has had its financial ups and downs, the eclectic musical lineup keeps the crowds coming. This year’s festival features a fine mix of country, rock, jazz, blues and classical acts.

It will be the first time organizers have tried a “Super Saturday” concert, in which three groups play in one night. This year, it’s country star Dwight Yoakam, swing group Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley, and groove-rock band Calobo.

“I’m dipping my big toe in to see if people want to have longer festival days on weekends,” said Dyno Wahl, the festival’s executive director. “It’s really kind of a celebration of the festival itself, the diversity of music.

“It’s our job to not only book groups that are household names but also to turn people on to great artists they may have never heard before.”

Here’s the lineup for the festival’s popular music concerts, big names and unknowns alike:

* Diversity is what The Manhattan Transfer is all about. The vocal quartet, which got its start in the New York City club scene in the early ‘70s, has won Grammys (11 total) for both jazz and pop performances. And this year, they were nominated in the country category for a collaboration with Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel.

Their 20-plus albums have explored everything from lyrical versions of jazz instrumentals to Brazilian sounds to pop classics and swing-era standards - even children’s stories (“Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba”). Coming next: a tribute to Louis Armstrong.

By the way, the tasty guitar work in the Transfer’s touring band comes courtesy of Spokane native Wayne Johnson.

Opening the Thursday show is The Standards, five brothers from Butte - all Eagle Scouts - who were last year’s Northwest A Cappella Grand Champions.

Full-time country singer and part-time actor Dwight Yoakam headlines the Super Saturday bill.

Yoakam’s most recent release is “dwightyoakamacoustic.net,” a bare-bones, 25-song compilation of folk, country and bluegrass favorites. Fans always raved about Yoakam’s show-closing acoustic sets, so he decided to record an entire album of the tunes.

Yoakam recently made his directorial debut with the film “South of Heaven, West of Hell.” The movie has scored well at film festivals, but has yet to be widely released. He also has acted in several films, most notably 1996’s “Sling Blade.”

Yoakam is recording a new studio album, scheduled to be released this fall.

Seven-member acoustic rock band Calobo and West Coast swing group The Johnny Nocturne Band round out the Super Saturday lineup.

Calobo, a Portland-based group, uses acoustic guitar, piano and mandolin to craft its distinctive sound.

The Johnny Nocturne Band features singer Kim Nalley. Jump and swing are the specialties of this nine-piece group, which bills itself as a “little big band.”

“A Horse with No Name,” “I Need You,” “Sister Golden Hair.” Those ‘70s staples were the products of America, the folk-rock band created by Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley.

The pair won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1972, and eventually racked up a wall full of gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums. America continues to play some 100 shows a year.

Iowa singer-songwriter Larry Myer will open the Aug. 9 concert. Myer has won the Branson, Mo., songwriter’s competition and has recorded two albums.

Polyethnic Cajun slamgrass? No, it’s not some new chemical compound. It’s the original style of music played by Colorado’s Leftover Salmon.

Leftover Salmon has built a dedicated fan base through its near-constant tour schedule. The group blends banjo, mandolin, guitar, drums and bass to create bluegrass-infused music in many styles.

Local bluegrass performers Doug & Kim Bond, with Dennis Coats, will open the Aug. 10 show.

Also crossing the border of musical styles is Seattle-based singer-songwriter Laura Love. Love’s latest CD, “Fourteen Days,” contains several songs detailing her reaction to last year’s World Trade Organization riots.

An environmentalist, Love urges conservation in many of her songs. She calls her music Afro-Celtic, hip-alachian, but her latest release shows her range extends to folk, bluegrass, funk and jazz tunes.

Nine-piece Brazilian jazz band Desafinado, from Spokane, is the opening act Aug. 11.

“Tuff Enough” was the 1986 breakthrough release for The Fabulous Thunderbirds. With an energetic blend of blues, R&B and rock ‘n roll, the T-birds went from performing in blues bars to playing for much larger audiences.

The band was formed in the mid-‘70s by guitarist Jimmie Vaughan and singer and harmonica player Kim Wilson. Vaughan is no longer with the group; the lineup includes Wilson, guitarist Kid Ramos, bassist Willy Campbell, drummer Richard Innes and keyboard player Gene Taylor.

Sandpoint funk band Slo-Motion Walter will open the Aug. 12 show.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

MUSIC

The Sandpoint skinny

Here’s the schedule for the 18th annual Festival at Sandpoint:

THURSDAY

The Manhattan Transfer, 7:30 p.m., $20.50.

FRIDAY

Mostly Mozart, with Gary Sheldon and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., $18.50 for adults, $8.50 for kids up to 18. Pre-show wine tasting starts at 5 p.m., $12 for unlimited tasting and commemorative wine glass.

SATURDAY

Calobo at 5 p.m., Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley at 7 p.m., Dwight Yoakam at 9 p.m., $29.

SUNDAY

“Where in the World of Music is Carmen Sandiego?” a family concert with Gary Sheldon and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, 4:30 p.m., $5.

AUG. 9

America, 7:30 p.m., $20.50.

AUG. 10

Leftover Salmon, 7:30 p.m., $18.50.

AUG. 11

Laura Love, 7:30 p.m., $18.50. Pre-show microbrew tasting starts at 6 p.m.

AUG. 12

The Fabulous Thunderbirds, 7:30 p.m., $24.50.

AUG.13

Salute to Copland and Ellington, with Gary Sheldon and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., $18.50 for adults and $8.50 for kids up to 18.

If you go

All shows take place in Sandpoint at Memorial Field.

Food and beverages are available at the festival, but picnics and coolers also are allowed.

Blankets and low-slung lawn chairs are allowed.

The box office at the gate opens at 5:30, and gates open at 6 p.m., except for Super Saturday and the family concert, when gates open at 4:30 p.m.

Call (888) 265-4554 for tickets. Season passes for all nine shows are available for $119.

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