Festival offers eclectic mix of roots music
“Eclectic.” That’s the word Dyno Whal uses to describe the 2004 Festival at Sandpoint music lineup. “That’s kind of the theme of our festival,” says the executive director of the 22-year-old event. Two other times she also uses the word. And it’s mentioned again in a recent festival press release: “eight nights of eclectic music under the stars, on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille.”
I might be assuming too much, but if you happen to be 35 or younger, I can’t help but think your slightly smirking. Lou Rawls, Jim Messina and Buddy Guy are eclectic?
Yes they are.
While the 2004 Festival at Sandpoint series isn’t really the same kind of eclectic that some have come to know with music showcases such as Lollapalooza, the Warped Tour or Bumbershoot – all of which are primarily rock-oriented formulas – this year’s Festival at Sandpoint doesn’t have a single so-called rock act on the bill. That right there is pretty darn eclectic.
Roots music – whether blues, country, jazz or folk – seems to be the theme of this year’s event. And with a curious mix of headliners, including multiple Grammy award winners, a female swamp blues twin bill, a poster boy for a “new” country music revolution, and an extravagant 140-person, fireworks-capped symphonic ode to the Olympics, this year’s event is shaping up to be an Inland Northwest-brewed Lollapalooza Light.
If the lineup doesn’t convince you to head to Sandpoint between Thursday and Aug. 15, perhaps the complimentary wine at the Grand Finale (Aug. 15) will. Don’t feel so bad. You wouldn’t be the only one.
“Every year, wine tasting at the festival seems to get bigger and bigger,” Whal says. “The first year, we had about 200 people and 10 wineries participating. Last year we went through 2,000 glasses.”
This year, Whal says the tasting will feature wines from about 35 Northwest wineries. “We just had to add our fifth wine-tasting tent,” Whal says. That’s good news for a lot of folks.
Lollapalooza Light has perhaps never tasted better.
Tickets for individual shows vary. The season passes, which went for $139, are sold out.
Lou Rawls, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. $26.95.
It’s been nearly 20 years since Lou Rawls last dented the pop and R&B charts. No worries. Rawls’ voice remains one of the most distinguished in American music – no matter the style. A rare vocal talent, Rawls once possessed a polished four-octave classical range and a soulful and fiery gospel-inspired delivery that could belt out standards from just about every non-rock genre of the past six decades with equal ease. Frank Sinatra thought Rawls was the cat’s meow, once calling Rawls’ pipes the “silkiest chops in the singing game.” Apparently, the three-time Grammy winner is pretty fond of Sinatra too: Rawls opens the festival with a tribute to Sinatra with a 14-piece ensemble in tow. Gates open at 6 p.m.
Jim Messina, Aug. 6, 7:30 p.m. $24.95.
Just barely into his 20s, Jim Messina was producing and engineering albums for The Doors and other influential ‘60s acts. Following work with the band Buffalo Springfield on its second album “Buffalo Springfield Again,” Messina found himself with the group’s bass duties.
When the group split in 1968, Messina and two of his Buffalo Springfield compatriots (Riche Furay and Rusty Young) continued the band Poco after co-founders Neil Young and Steven Stills split. As was the case with Buffalo Springfield, Poco combined rock and country styles and eventually helped create the genre known as country-rock.
In 1996, Messina released “Watching the River Run,” an album comprising mostly Buffalo Springfield and Poco covers. Expect roughly the same Aug. 6. Gates open at 6 p.m.
Super Country Saturday, Aug. 7, 4:30 p.m. $34.95.
This year’s Super Country Saturday bill pairs a rather unlikely twosome in Phoenix’s Dierks Bentley and Texas’ Delbert McClinton. A few years ago, Bentley looked like just another tight blue-jean-wearin’ Nashville wannabe. Frustrated, Bentley reportedly ditched his dream of becoming a country music legend until he wandered upon a bluegrass jam in a bar and rediscovered his passion. He still looks like just another tight-jean-wearin’ Nashville wannabe, but this time around he’s a potentially legitimate FM country music star. Young, good-looking, energetic and bluegrass-inspired, Bentley looks destined for stardom any second.
Instant stardom was never really McClinton’s thing. Instead, McClinton has made a career out of traversing blues, country, rock and even pop styles to slowly become something of a Texas – if not American – music icon. McClinton’s songs have been covered by Emmylou Harris, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Wynonna Judd and Martina McBride. But only McClinton has the live energy to make those originals really smoke. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.
Family Concert, Aug. 8, 4:30 p.m. $5.
This year’s Family Concert, “Music from Outer Space,” comes courtesy of the Spokane Youth Orchestra under the tutelage of Maestro Gary Sheldon and KPBX Music Director Verne Windham. Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony, Holst’s “The Planets” and George Lucas’ “Star Wars” scores are part of the fun-for-the-family music program. Pre-concert activities include the “Classical Instrument Petting Zoo,” an exhibit where kids can try various instruments, meet clowns, have their faces painted, play games, and receive special musical goody bags. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.
Bruce Cockburn, Aug. 12, 7:30 p.m., $24.95.
Among names such as Barenaked Ladies, Bryan Adams and Celine Dion, Bruce Cockburn is a sincere breath of fresh folk-rock air compared to his better known Canadian music counterparts. An Evening with Bruce Cockburn – an all-night, strictly Cockburn affair that spans the artist’s successful 30-year, 23-album recording career – kicks off week two of the festival. A complimentary microbrew precedes the Cockburn concert, beginning at 6 p.m. for ticket holders 21 and older. Gates open at 6 p.m.
Buddy Guy, Aug. 13, 7:30 p.m. $26.95.
In case you missed him on the main stage at last year’s Pig Out in the Park, consummate bluesman Buddy Guy returns to the Inland Northwest for a soulful and sweaty set of Louisiana-bred and Chicago-inspired blues. One of the great living guitarists and perhaps the elder American blues statesman, Guy is a true icon of his genre who has earned four Grammy Awards and nineteen W.C. Handy Blues Awards – more than any other blues artist – during his 45-year career. Gates open at 6 p.m.
Super Swampy Saturday, Aug. 14, 6 p.m. $29.95.
The second Super Saturday concert is a unique bill of southwestern Louisiana blues. Beau Soleil, widely regarded as the best Cajun band on the planet, is an energetic six-person outfit led by vocalist and fiddler Michael Doucet.
Marcia Ball was born and bred on East Texas blues, growing up in the so-called “Texas Triangle” that produced blues greats Janis Joplin, Johnny and Edgar Winter, and the undisputed “King of Zydeco,” Clifton Chenier. So what gives with the swamp-rock tag? Louisiana State University. Ball attended school there in the late ‘60s, played in a little-known psychedelic rock band called Gum, eventually developing a unique blend of blues piano heroics, part boogie woogie, part zydeco and part Louisiana swamp rock. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.
Grand Finale, Aug. 15, 6 p.m. $24.95/adults, $9.95/younger than 18.
This year’s Grand Finale features “An Olympic Salute,” courtesy of Maestro Gary Sheldon and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympics Games, the Grand Finale will open with selections from opening and closing Olympic ceremonies, John Williams’ “The Olympic Spirit” and Prokofiev’s “Finale” from Piano Concerto No. 3. Also, “Theme from Chariots of Fire,” Shostakovich’s “Finale” from Symphony No. 5, the premier of the 100-person Festival at Sandpoint Chorus, and an extensive fireworks finale is planned. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.