Grammy-nominated Wanda Jackson , “The First Lady of Rock”, talks about how her career in Rock-n-Roll started, plays one of the first songs she learned and explains how her pink guitar was designed with woman in mind.
Tonight---Tuesday, August 5, 2008. at 8pm--Wanda will perform with Roots of Rock workshop faculty members in a Rockabilly Dance. Tickets are $15 (18 & under; free.
Vocalist, teacher, lyricist, Grammy-nominated arranger, and Grammy Award-winning ensemble singer...try and fit a ball of positive energy into a category and you will break the box!
Kim Nazarian, who will be teaching voice at the 2008 Jazz Port Townsend workshop, is the soprano of the New York Voices, the only vocal group to win two Grammys for live concert recordings (including one of Brazilian music with Paquito D'Rivera, who will also be in residence in Port Townsend this summer.)
Always passionate about Latin music, Nazarian performs and records with the Boston-based band El Eco, whose CD "Two Worlds" was recently featured on NPR's JazzSet. Other collaborations include her work performing and recording with Mark Shilansky. Her vocals are featured extensively on his most recent recording: "Join The Club". She also is featured on Bobby McFerrin's upcoming 2009 release.
Nazarian has worked with and conducted choirs around the world, including the New York State Vocal Jazz Ensemble and the Arizona All-State Jazz Choir. She is known as one of the most popular voice teachers in the nation, and is eagerly anticipated at this year's Festival.
"People ask me what my hobby is, and I tell them, well, I like to cook and hang out at home or read history, but really it's music," says Tim O'Brien with a smile.
So what if that's what he's done for a living for going on three decades? And what if he became regarded as a pre-eminent Americana and bluegrass musician by doing so? "It's my hobby. And everything the hobby does feeds the repertoire," O'Brien, who will be at this year's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, says.
At this point in his career, nearly thirty years after moving to Colorado where he would form his landmark band Hot Rize, repertoire is a major part of the Tim O'Brien story. For in addition to his own prolific and successful songwriting, this child of West Virginia and the WWVA Jamboree has never stopped mining the American music canon for great material. He's a song sponge.
Songs collect and abide in Tim O'Brien's world as comfortably as family heirlooms. They come from around the world, particularly the American South and Ireland. They morph into new ideas and new songs that update old truths about the human condition. They find expression in O'Brien's clear-as-ice voice on stages, in recording studios and at home with circles of gifted musical friends. O'Brien's relationship with songs embodies the very essence of the folk music tradition, always aware that the branches of the musical tree need sap from the roots.
O'Brien was so full of songs when he approached his latest phase of recording that they overwhelmed one album and became two. And yet with Fiddler's Green and Cornbread Nation, his original intent has remained intact.
Registration has opened for Centrum's 2008 workshops. Follow the links in the top right column to learn more, or bookmark http://www.centrum.org/admin/register.html, which is our new launch page for registrations.
New in 2008, we've upgraded the software we use to handle registrations, which will give you more information, more quickly than ever before. As always, your feedback will help us improve how we serve you.
New Food
Also new in 2008, we are excited to announce a new food partner at Fort
Worden. Bon Appétit Management Company is bringing their passion for
great food inspired by a deep commitment to sustainability and locally
grown and produced fare. They share our own belief that food serves a
much larger purpose for the community. Breaking bread together helps
create a sense of community and comfort. We can't wait for you to come
to Fort Worden to experience a new era in excellent cuisine. Learn more
at http://www.cafebonappetit.com/fortworden/.
We look forward to seeing you at Fort Worden in 2008.
[Old-time singer Tim Eriksen playing "Every Sound Below"]
Tim Eriksen, along with Riley Baugus and Fiddle Tunes Artistic Director Dirk Powell, leads a full-immersion workshop in the songs of the southern Appalachian mountains November 16-18. For workshop registration, follow this link to our secure online server or call 360.385.3102, x114.
For tickets to the November 17 concert and dance in Fort Worden's USO building, visit our secure online server or call us at 360.385.3102, x117.
[Tim Eriksen in onstage performance]
Tim Eriksen, along with Riley Baugus and Fiddle Tunes Artistic Director Dirk Powell (on banjo, in this video) will lead a full-immersion workshop in the songs of the Southern Appalachian mountains the weekend of November 16-18. For workshop registration, follow this link to our secure online server or call 360.385.3102, x114. For tickets to the November 17 concert and dance in Fort Worden's USO building, visit our secure online server or call us at 360.385.3102, x117.
Recently, we asked Tim Eriksen to introduce shape note singing. He will be teaching the tradition at our upcoming Southern Mountain Traditions gathering with Riley Baugus and Dirk Powell in November (limited space still available). Here is his intro:
Soul stirring, rafter rattling "shape note music" is one of America's deepest community music traditions, and it's alive and kicking. Shape note's flagship tunebook "the Sacred Harp" has been in print in the American southland for over 160 years, longer than any book but the Bible.
In this venerable tradition early American gospel hymns meet Scots-Irish ballad melodies, old pop songs, jigs and reels, all heavily dosed with early New England folk harmony and 1800's frontier abandon. The tradition's vibrant social singing style and unique notation system make it possible for absolutely anyone to sing, and an experience singing this music is a must for anyone interested in American traditional and old-time music.
Want to learn more? A comprehensive resource is the www.fasola.org website, which is run by the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you should definitely check out the Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Singers website. Here is a nice NPR feature on a shape note gathering, with audio.
In the mountains of Southern Appalachia, old-time dance music and shape-note singing were two expressions of the same worldview, one which focused on small local farms, close families, and an impassioned zeal for life. While these styles have been separated in today's compartmentalized world, they fit together in the same way that differing emotions exist within one person.
Come and celebrate the way in which these traditions inspire each other. Participants can study vocals with Tim or old-time banjo/fiddle with Dirk and Riley, then get together for group events that revel in the social aspect of the music. The setting is intimate and the feeling will be like that of a mountain family reunion of years gone by. We'll all be together in one house and it will literally be like a wonderful reunion.
We will all get together for an ancient rite called a "party." I know most people haven't heard of such things, but we'll show them. We'll do focused workshops, then we'll sing together, we'll dance together, we'll eat good food and drink good wine. Inhibitions and "lack of separation" anxiety will be attacked full on.
Hope you can join us! Register today.
One of the highlights each year of the Port Townsend Country Blues
Festival is the gospel-singing workshop. Participants include full
workshop students, as well as folks from the community who come just
for this workshop all week. The choir sessions meet daily from 3:30-5pm. We'd love to see (and hear) you, and there is plenty of
space. For registration information, read our earlier post on the gospel workshop.
We've just begun taking registrations for Southern Mountain Traditions: String Band Tunes, Country Songs, and Shape Notes. This weekend workshop in November will focus
on the traditional songs of the southern mountain region, and be led by
Tim Eriksen, Riley Baugus, and Centrum’s Artistic Director for Fiddle
Tunes, Dirk Powell. The three came together as a trio while working on
the music for the film Cold Mountain. Together they play and share old-time Appalachian music with a heavy emphasis on vocals. Visit our Fiddle Tunes site for complete information.
The Port Townsend Country Blues Festival's "Gospel Singing" option gives gospel singing tools to participants who want to learn how to sing with joy and passion.
Led by Shirley Smith, the minister of music at the Potter's House Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville, Florida, the workshop meets daily (M-F July 30 - August 3) at 3:30 pm. Cost is only $100 and includes free admission to the Saturday afternoon blues mainstage show on August 4, at 1:30 pm.
Shirley Smith has shared the stage with many of gospel music's most prolific artists, including Cece and Vicki Winans, Yolanda Adams, Mark Kibble, Bruce Allen, and Fred Hammond. She is renowned for her teaching ability and her authentic connection to the roots of the music.
To register for this workshop, follow this link.
On June 9, at 2 pm in Building 205, Centrum presents Mary Sherhart in a Balkan Singing workshop, celebrating the music of the Balkan region (Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia). No pre-
registration is required for the free workshop.
The Balkan region holds a rich tapestry of cultures and religions. It's a place where east meets west, where daily lives are embroidered with seasonal rituals, where people live close to the land and women sing throughout the day to lighten their work load. The songs created over the centuries embody unparalleled melodies, harmonies, rhythms, text, poetry, history, and humor.
During this 90-minute workshop, Sherhart will teach songs from several regions of the Balkans. She will cover voice placement, pronunciation, ornamentation, and cultural context. And participants will share in the joy of raising their voice together with others. The Balkan Cabaret Band will also be at the workshop, accompanying the songs.
The workshop is an Artist Trust "Meet the Artist" event. Artist Trust's "Meet the Artist" program is an integral component of the annual Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship Award. "Meet the Artist" events bridge our artistic community with the diverse communities in Washington state, increasing awareness about the vital roles art and artists play in our culture. Find out more at www.artisttrust.org.
For information on Voiceworks: A Week of Singing, click on the information to the right. However, if you're here specifically for jazz singing, please visit www.centrum.org/jazz. We have fantastic jazz singing 
workshops and performances lined up for you, including a mainstage performance by Italian jazz sensation Roberta Gambarini. During the workshop week, two Jazz Port Townsend favorites, Dee Daniels (pictured) and Nancy King (whom Herb Ellis has called "the greatest living jazz singer"), will continue their legacy as they lead workshops the week of July 22-29. See you at the Fort!
[Laurie Lewis singing "I'm Gonna Be the Wind" onstage]
Grammy Award winner Laurie Lewis will be teaching and performing at VoiceWorks: A Week of Singing, June 24 - July 1, at Fort Worden State Park. She will give a mainstage performance at McCurdy Pavilion on Saturday, June 30, at 7:30 pm.
Our June 24-July July 1 Voiceworks workshop is 100% devoted to the craft of singing. If your focus is blues singing, however, you may want to head over to our Blues site. Our Country Blues workshop in August features tracks for gospel singing with Shirley Smith, as well as blues singing with Gaye Adegbalola. Plus, most of the guitar faculty also deals with singing in one form or another during the week.
[Wylie Gustafson onstage with his band, Wylie and the Wild West]
If you've ever wanted to yodel—or tried to yodel in the shower, or while driving in your car during rush hour—you won't want to miss Wylie Gustafson, the Yahoo! yodeler, who will be teaching and performing at VoiceWorks: A Week of Singing, June 24 - June 30.
First Sunday
Monday-Friday class sessions
10:00am, 1:30am, 3:30pm
plus evening events & dancing
Saturday
Public concerts
Meals
Last Sunday
Checkout by 11am
A CAPELLA GOSPEL QUARTET SINGING
The Birmingham Sunlights are joyous keepers of a deep American tradition, the art of unaccompanied four-part gospel harmony singing. This tradition has an especially brilliant heritage in their home place of Jefferson County, Alabama. Organized by music director and lead tenor James Alex Taylor, this delightful quintet includes James’ brothers Steve and Everett Taylor switching off singing baritone, big brother Barry who sings bass, Reginald Speights (baritone), and Bill Graves singing lead.
Jefferson County is the heartland of African-American a cappella gospel quartet singing, and is home to one of the richest regional traditions in America. Local quartet activity began in the period immediately following World War 1, and had its incubation in the steel mills, mines, and related industries that provided jobs for a large percentage of the area’s black residents. By 1930, Jefferson County had earned a reputation as one of the nation’s great centers of gospel quartet singing.
With deep respect for their musical heritage, the Sunlights sought out and received priceless musical instruction from older local quartet masters, repositories of decades of accumulated wisdom in vocal arrangement, quartet technique, and traditional repertoire. However, they also bring fresh ideas to the quartet format, and have developed a repertoire of impressive original gospel compositions to augment their traditional songbook. This will be a rare opportunity for workshop participants to study the four-part a cappella gospel style.
BLUEGRASS SINGING FOR WOMEN; DUETS
Laurie Lewis, with Tom Rozum, will teach bluegrass singing for women. Laurie Lewis’s stage shows are renowned for their musical virtuosity and front-porch friendliness. She has released over a dozen CDs, won a Grammy for True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe, and twice been named Female Vocalist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Rozum mixes traditional bluegrass and old-timey music with Western swing. Rozum was born in New England and lived in Arizona for a time before moving to California; in San Diego, he played with a swing band called the Rhythm Rascals, and upon moving to Berkeley, he worked with the traditional-music outfits Summerdog and Flying South. In 1996, Lewis and Rozum released a duet album The Oak and the Laurel, which was nominated for a Grammy. more about Laurie more about Tom
YODELING AND COWBOY SONGS
Wylie Gustafson’s wild blend of western swing, classic country, cowboy, and folk music is infused with integrity. Despite his successful career as one of America’s most popular traditional entertainers, he still gets up everyday and tends to his livestock. It grounds him, and is the backbone of his art. Although his home base is near Dusty, Washington (population 11), he has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry more than 50 times, and also performs at such prestigious venues as the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the National Folk Festival, Merlefest, A Prairie Home Companion, and The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. He has recorded 12 albums with his band “Wylie & the Wild West,” and was recently honored by the Academy of Western Artists and the Western Music Association with the Yodeler of the Year, and the Best Western Swing Album. And, in case you didn’t know, that’s Wylie’s voice echoing in millions of homes as the ever-familiar Ya-hoo-ooo! in the Yahoo.com advertising campaign.
CAJUN REPERTOIRE
Christine Balfa Powell is the youngest of the four daughters of Dewey Balfa, one of the finest fiddlers of any style to ever draw a bow. She grew up playing triangle with her father and absorbed music and language from the thriving culture around Basile, Louisiana. She plays guitar and is the primary vocalist in Balfa Toujours, a brilliant young band from Louisiana that has been making a name for itself not only in the Cajun music scene of Southwestern Louisiana, but also in the larger realm of all traditional music Her guitar style is very close to that of her uncle, Rodney Balfa, who was famous for his driving rhythm. Her singing is full of the raw emotion that enables the best Cajun singers to communicate powerful feelings directly to their listeners whether or not they can understand the French lyrics. She collaborates on many of the group’s heartfelt original songs and is the founder and director of Louisiana Folk Roots, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Louisiana traditions.
EARLY COUNTRY SONGS; HARMONY SINGING
Mary Lucey will teach a class called "Overcoming Fears with Singing." Her main goal, simply, is to get people singing. She says “Singing can bring such great joy, yet so many folks are afraid to sing outside of their cars or showers. Some of these fears can be overcome by becoming aware of our bodies while we sing and learning how to breathe and relax as much as possible. We will work on relaxing, singing with correct pitch, exploring tone, and singing in time. We will expand repertoire, learning some bluegrass, old time and classic country songs. We will work on expressing individual style while singing and explore how different keys affect your ability to sing. We will also spend time every day singing harmony, because it sounds and feels great!”
Mary Lucey is a singer, songwriter, and the bass player for the original mountain music group The Biscuit Burners. The Biscuit Burners have been in high demand on the festival circuit the last few years, after their debut CD was voted in the Top 10 Bluegrass Albums of the Year by the Chicago Tribune and their follow up album was voted as the Indie Acoustic Project of the Year. She is a popular studio musician for her unique and distinctive harmony singing. Mary teaches private lessons on the bass, and taught bass as well as singing workshops at the California Bluegrass Association Camp last summer. She has also designed an Appalachian cultural music program for The Biscuit Burners which they perform at schools throughout the country.
ANGLO-CELTIC TRADITION
Jon Wilcox (Marley’s Ghost) will teach the repertoire and style of the music from the Anglo-Celtic tradition, including ballads and how to accompany them. He'll also lead some sessions on "parts"singing, such as how to find a high harmony, or how to find a bass part.
In addition to his records with Marley’s Ghost, Jon has solo recordings on the Folk-Legacy, Sierra-Briar and
Sage Arts labels and has toured internationally as a singer-songwriter and interpreter of traditional American and British Isles music. He’s also intimately familiar with the groves of academe, having graduated from Stanford Law School and taught high school history. Jon has been heavily influenced by the tenor vocal styles of Ralph Stanley and Sam Cooke, the songwriting of Van Morrison and Jesse Winchester and the gospel genius of Sweet Honey in the Rock. Jon's solo CDs on the Sage Arts label are "Song Traveler" and "Still Life."
SIMPLE MUSIC THEORY FOR SINGERS
Jerry Fletcher (Marley’s Ghost) will teach basic music theory specifically as it applies to singing. His sessions will include pitch-matching skills, basic sight-singing, hearing the I, IV, and V chords, recognizing and singing intervals, finding harmony parts, and ear training. At the music academy that he founded he is renowned for his ability to put his students at ease.
Jerry sings and plays drums, percussion, and keyboards. He’s been in the music business for over 30 years performing, touring, and recording, working with John Denver, Steve Martin, Jimmy Rodgers and the Dirt band to name a few. He has a B.A. from the California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks Ca. with a major in voice and a minor in piano. After many years working as a musician and teacher he started his own branch of Junior Music Academy (which is a music school for young children) In Kalispell MT. His solo CD is entitled We're Here To Love.
The entire Marley’s Ghost band will be in residence, with some members teaching at Voiceworks, some at the Slide and Steel workshop, and some at both.
SONGS OF THE CARTER FAMILY
Linda Lay began singing in church and on stages when she was six years old. She’s from Bristol, Virginia, a city at the center of one of the nation’s richest breeding grounds for traditional musicians, the place where the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers were first recorded in 1927. She grew up in a family string band, often hearing local tradition-keeper Ralph Stanley, and one of her favorite people on earth is Jeanette Carter - the sole surviving member of the original Carter Family. Linda’s wonderous vocal power and incredibly timed bass playing made her a local favorite while she was still in her early teens. Linda has performed on many famous stages and in well-known halls, but her favorite place to play remains the Carter Family Fold, a performance place at Hiltons, Virginia, west of Bristol, and operated with strict discipline and good humor by Jeanette. "I have a Bristol sound," Linda says. "I’m proud of the music that was given to me."
Linda sang lead and played bass with Appalachian Trail, one of the most respected bluegrass bands to come out of this bluegrass heartland, and currently sings with the Stony Point Quartet and Springfield Exit.
David Lay plays guitar and sings the low harmony part in the Springfield Exit. He grew up in the coalfields of Virginia and in the little towns of the tobacco and vegetable farmlands of northeastern Tennessee, always wanted to be a farmer, and he is. But David has also always been a musician. Singing in church was learned as he learned to walk, and he developed a keen ear for the traditional music of the region.
Join us for VoiceWorks: A Week of Singing, celebrating the joy and potential of the human voice. At VoiceWorks, June 24 - 30, 2007, experience a week that brings you together with world-class artists and other participants in an energizing community of voices. The experience is designed for everyone.
Day and night, you’ll soak up the styles, the songs, and the stories in a wide range of vocal traditions. You’ll learn about breathing, phrasing, and dynamics. You’ll find your range, learn how to find your key, and you’ll learn that your hearing might well be your most important asset. Through close observation and personal experimentation, you’ll learn new songs, learn how to make your voice blend, and what makes your voice unique. The week culminates in a public performance by the faculty on Saturday.
VoiceWorks is open to everyone. Differing levels of ability are expected, and the faculty is eager to respond to participant needs accordingly. Whether you sing in the shower, in the car, or in front of thousands, we’re ready to show you the time of your life!
The VoiceWorks workshop will run concurrently with the Slide & Steel workshop, and there will be some integration between the two gatherings. Most of the faculty will be teaching two sessions a day. Generally speaking, one session will be incremental, building upon the work done on the previous day. The second daily class will be more spontaneous, evolving on-site as a collaboration with another faculty person, or perhaps a one-time class (for example, “The Music of the Louvin Brothers,” or “How to find the fourth harmony part”).
Tuition for the workshop is $425 ($325 for returning participants who register a new participant on the same day as they register. There is also a special “family rate” in which two immediate family members (parent/child, siblings) registering together pay $425 for one and $325 for the other.) Tuition includes admission to all festival events. Room and board options range from $200 to $385.
Join us for Voiceworks: A Week of Singing, June 24-July 1, 2007, celebrating the joy and potential of the human voice. At Voiceworks, experience a week that brings you together with world-class artists and other participants in an energizing community of voices.
The core of the week is a residential workshop where singers live and work with an amazing collection of musicians from around the nation.
Most evenings, and on the culminating weekend, the artist/faculty take to the stage for a series of public performances closely intertwined with the Port Townsend Slide & Steel Festival, which takes place the very same week.
07/19/09-07/26/09: Jazz Port Townsend
07/26/09-08/02/09: Port Townsend Country Blues Festival
07/19/09-07/26/09: Jazz Port Townsend
07/26/09-08/02/09: Port Townsend Country Blues Festival
