by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS There’s nothing quite as Pacific Northwestern as Olympia’s teen fiddle-and-folk band The REDS. Comprised of Eros and Dante Faulk and River and Sage Scheuerell, The REDS have been playing bluegrass and old-time music together for five years. This year, they’ll open the festival at the “Thursday Night Kick-Off Dance,” …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS (Featured ART: Maybelle Carter by Paula McHugh) As an art form, one of music’s most admirable traits is its ability to adapt: Trends come and go, and styles emerge in a sort of call-and-response pattern. New sounds blaze trails in response to old ones, lending us revelations like the …
Concert and Dance Schedule Thursday Night Kick-off Dance (2/16) 7pm – 10pm South Bay Grange Band: The REDS Caller: Carol Piening Saturday Family Dance (2/18) 2pm – 3pm First Christian Church Band: The Bow Weevils Caller: Caroline Oakley Friday Night Events (2/17) …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS For some bands, messiness can be a virtue. Not everyone thrives on the airtight compositions of Robert Fripp or other leaders of compositional tidiness. A band like The National draws its strength from disciplined arrangements and an almost drum-machine-esque rhythm section, but that focus can result in music devoid …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Music is part of the mission of St. John’s Episcopal Church, and the annual Service of Lessons and Carols is a shining example. The service is both a religious observance and a musical event that draws a community crowd far exceeding the regular congregation. “Last year, there were at …
Darkness Visible is presented as part of the first season of Emerald City Music, a new classical concert series in the Puget Sound region. Darkness Visible explores the boundaries between two nations historically and musically at odds: England and France. From Debussy and Ravel to Britten and Ades, this diverse, handcrafted performance is where two different …
by Christina Butcher for OLY ARTS Bluegrass artist Sierra Hull and accompanying double-bassist Ethan Jodziewicz will perform at Traditions Café and World Folk Art this Saturday night. The musicians are touring through Oregon and Washington this week, playing acoustic bluegrass music from Hull’s newest album, Weighted Mind, featuring Jodziewicz as bassist. Born and raised in …
by Adam McKinney for OLY ARTS Local music scenes like Olympia’s can’t always support bands built on classical influences. From a purely economic standpoint, not many struggling musicians can afford string or woodwind instruments like cellos or oboes, and audiences tend not to be as inclined to come out on a weekend to hear music …
by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS Ben Folds—he of the clever and oh-so-revealing lyrics and piano skill that’s earned the respect of Billy Joel and Elton John—will perform Oct. 26 in Olympia. And he’ll take requests. “People have been throwing paper airplanes with requests on them for the second half,” Nashville, Tennessee’s Folds said in …
Ben Folds is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation. He’s spent over a decade sharing the stage with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras–from Sydney, Australia to the Kennedy Center–performing his pop hits and his critically acclaimed concerto for piano and orchestra. For five seasons he was a …