[Hannes Coetzee playing guitar in the Karoo]
Hannes Coetzee is making his first-ever trip outside of South Africa in order to play at the Port Townsend Slide and Steel Festival. He will perform June 28 at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater and June 30 in a major show at McCurdy Pavilion.
Two years ago, audiences were simply blown away by Centrum's Voiceworks concert presentation. Last year, the inaugural Slide and Steel Festival had a similar impact on concert goers. In 2007, we are combining the concert presentations of each workshop for what we think will be a truly memorable week of music.
Mainstage Performances
McCurdy Pavilion
Reserved seats: $20 (kids free)
Saturday, June 30, 1:30 pm
Panoply of Slide Guitar—Bottleneck, Dobro,
Lap Slide, and Pedal Steel
Terry Robb • Stacy Phillips • Bobby Black • Joe Wright • Marley’s Ghost
Saturday, June 30, 7:30 pm
Saturday Night Extravaganza
Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum • Hannes Coetzee • Linda and David Lay • The Birmingham Sunlights
Weeknight Performances
$10 each night
Wednesday, June 27, 8 pm • Building 204
Country Dance
led by Wylie Gustafson, Bobby Black, and the All-Star Faculty Band
Thursday, June 28, 8 pm • Joseph F. Wheeler Theater
Slide from Around the World
Mary Lucey with Billy Cardine • Hannes Coetzee
Friday, June 29, 8 pm • Building 204
Old Style Cajun Honky Tonk Dance
led by Christine Balfa Powell and Richard Comeaux
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
Spoon Slide
Hannes Coetzee was born on a farm in the Western Cape region of
South Africa and taught himself to play guitar on a three-stringed
homemade guitar built from an oil can with cat-gut strings. As a child
he quietly watched his uncle playing guitar, after which he would work
out the chords he had just heard, on his own. Coetzee has spent most of
his adult life working on farms as an aloe-tapper. The isolation of
working in the mountains, led him to develop a unique slide guitar
style, using a teaspoon held in his mouth to slide out the melody,
while playing the chords and plucking the strings with his left and
right hand. Since well-known South African songwriter David Kramer was
introduced to him a number of years ago, Hannes has performed to
sold-out crowds in all major South African cities. This will be his first trip outside of South Africa. more
Bottleneck Guitar
Dan Wheetman came to Marley’s Ghost after a long career touring with
the John Denver Band, Liberty, and the Honky Tonk Swamis. His
showmanship and unique sense of humor, combined with an uncommonly
powerful and resonant baritone, provide the focal point for the group’s
upbeat performances. Danny has recorded on the RCA label and has
appeared as Hank Williams Jr.’s fiddler. He has the distinction of having
one of his songs recorded by Kermit the Frog. more
Guitar virtuoso Terry Robb– 18 time winner of the Cascade Blues Association’s Muddy Award – is one of the most heralded players of the flourishing Pacific Northwest blues scene. Resting Place, his debut album with Yellow Dog Records, features well-chosen covers that compeiment Robb’s originals, echoing a broad swath of roots legends such as Merle Travis, Joe Callicott, Reverend Gary Davis, Lightning Hopkins, and John Fahey. more
Dobro
Billy Cardine has a unique and exciting approach to the
resophonic guitar, with a sound and style that is identifiable to even
the undiscerning ear. His tone, timing, and technique have helped him
emerge as one of the most cutting-edge players today. Cardine released
a solo album, Organically Grown in 2001 on Indidog Records. In 2003,
Cardine joined The Biscuit Burners, which released their first,
self-titled album in 2004. Their second album, A Mountain Apart, was
released in 2005. more
Mike Phelan has lived all over the United States playing, recording, and performing in many styles, including bluegrass, rock, folk, and blues in countless bands. A fine singer and soulful lead instrumentalist, Phelan cites guitarists Steve Cropper, Eldon Shamblin, Doc Watson and B. B. King and vocalists Tommy Duncan, Ralph Stanley and William Bell as major influences. Mike’s solo CD Donora Street contains eleven original songs. more
Stacy Phillips is an internationally acclaimed resonator guitarist and a recognized authority on the subject of the resophonic guitar's history, players, and literature. Stacy is the author of more than twenty five teaching and repertoire books and DVDs for lap style slide and fiddle, and he has worked effectively to educate novice players of this instrument, playing a central role in its resurgence in popularity. He has performed with the top acoustic musicians around the world, including David Bromberg, Judy Collins, Bela Fleck, Leon Redbone, Peter Rowan, Johnny Gimble and Mark O'Connor. Besides his own albums, he was one of the featured performers on the CD The Great Dobro Sessions, winner of both Grammy and IBMA awards in 1995. more
Lap Slide/Pedal Steel
Bobby Black is a master of the steel guitar. He has played and
performed for over fifty years with such groups as New Riders of the
Purple Sage, The Moonlighters, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, The Sir
Douglas Quintet, Elton John, The Eagles, John Lennon, The Blues
Brothers, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys, and The Grateful Dead. more
Richard Comeaux is flat out the best pedal-steel player in Louisiana, currently signed to Capital Records with his band River Road. Richard plays pedal steel for Lil’ Band O’ Gold. As the Austin American Statesman notes, “Comeaux’s pedal-steel playing, rarely heard in Louisiana acts these days outside of country bands, straddles…melodies like a graceful tightrope walker.”
Ed Littlefield Jr. (Marley’s Ghost), a product of the Northern California folk scene, relocated to Washington State in the early 1970s. He toured extensively with the well-known Seattle Western swing band Lance Romance before founding Sage Arts, one of the Northwest's premier recording studios, where he functions as a producer and engineer. Ed is one of the most innovative of the new breed of pedal steel guitarists; among his musical influences he counts Ian & Sylvia, Bob Dylan, Flatt & Scruggs, Hank Williams, Doc Watson, Ernest Tubb, The Grateful Dead, The Band, and The Rolling Stones. Ed's solo CD on the Sage Arts label is "Going To The West." more
Joe Wright bio coming soon. Hear him play.
The Port Townsend Slide and Steel Festival, June 24 - 30, 2007, is a total-immersion workshop presenting many styles of slide guitar music and pedal steel guitar music. The workshop’s wide spectrum includes workshop sessions, faculty demonstrations, tutorials, concerts, open jams, parties, and informal and spontaneous gatherings.
Participants must have a basic understanding of how to play a guitar. Differing levels of ability are expected, and classes are designed to accommodate these differences.
The Slide & Steel workshop will run concurrently with Voiceworks: A Week of Singing, 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, “How to back up a singer,” or “The music of Don Helms”).
Tuition for the workshop is $425 ($325 for returning participants who register a new participant the same day as they register), and includes free admission to all festival events. Room and board options range from $200 to $385.
Join us for the return of the Port Townsend Slide and Steel Festival June 24-July 1, 2007, a week-long gathering that celebrates what is considered by many to be the most expressive and tuneful sound ever conceived. Spend a week living, learning, and jamming with masters of country, Hawaiian, old-time, and bluegrass traditions.
The core of the week is a total-immersion workshop presenting many styles of slide guitar music and pedal steel guitar music.
Most evenings, and on the culminating weekend, the artist/faculty take to the stage for a series of public performances closely intertwined with Voiceworks: A Week of Singing, which takes place the very same week.
07/05/09-07/12/09: Port Townsend Slide and Steel Festival
07/26/09-08/02/09: Port Townsend Country Blues Festival
07/05/09-07/12/09: Port Townsend Slide and Steel Festival
07/26/09-08/02/09: Port Townsend Country Blues Festival
