All right, music lovers: Take a hike. Go jump in the river. Or better yet, take a whitewater ride down the river.
Consider those a prelude to two days of really fine Americana roots, blues, jazz – and whatever moves the players – at next weekend's American River Music Festival.
I was there last year (this is the third annual event) and did all those things, and I'm going back. I even agreed to be a judge at next Friday night's open-mike event in which two acts will win a spot on the mainstage schedule as "tweeners" (between-act performances, one Saturday and the other Sunday).
The festival is the work of American River Music, a nonprofit whose mission is "to teach, inspire and enjoy music." The organization's goal is to raise money to foster music in schools, but so far the festival has failed to show a profit, says organizer Matt Semonsen. He holds hope that growing popularity will lead to actual fundraising soon.
"Each year has been really wonderful," Semonsen said in a recent telephone interview. "I get the distinct impression from people (who have attended both previous festivals) that it's building.
"It's hard to get a new festival off the ground – especially in these times – but we're encouraged."
Early advance ticket sales were ahead of last year's at the same time, he said, and many were returning buyers from 2008.
"I'm pretty pleased with that," he said, but "a small stream is still a small stream until it becomes a big stream."
Organizationally, the festival is still run by volunteers – 125 of them to put on the three-day event.
The festival will be larger this year in several ways, Semonsen said. "We've expanded the number of musicians and the choices in the evening time. There are nine different places where music takes place in the community," he said.
Music is presented on the mainstage from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Music performances and workshops are scheduled before and after each day's mainstage concerts.
For the first time this year, there will be a gospel component to the festival – an 11:30 a.m. Sunday performance by the eight-piece outfit Fret Not. The group has performed since 1994 and does much of its work in prison ministry. They are "the inmates' favorite band inside San Quentin," Semonsen said. They play old-time, traditional roots gospel like that heard in African American and rural churches.
Among the better-known performers at this year's festival are Eliza Gilkyson and Nina Gerber performing together and Americana singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave and band. Danny Schmidt, an Austin, Texas, singer-songwriter who won the prestigious Kerrville New Folk award in 2007, has drawn comparisons to the late Townes Van Zandt and to Leonard Cohen. He is the only solo act to command the mainstage.
Other highlights include:
• Handful of Luvin': Saturday night's closing act is a young quartet from Seattle with such influences as gypsy, folk, funk and rock.
• Twilight Hotel: Smart songs and gorgeous voices meld in this alt-folk duo from Winnipeg, Canada. Twilight Hotel is nominated for a 2009 Juno (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Award) for roots album of the year for "Highway Prayer" – buy it at the festival.
• City Folk: This trio (Keith Greeninger, Kimball Hurd and Roger Feuer) was a household name in the Bay Area in the 1990s and a popular festival act. The group disbanded in 1995 but has recently reunited and will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, leading into the festival's closing act – the Skinny Singers, featuring Jackie Greene and Tim Bluhm (of Mother Hips, which performs tonight at The Palms in Winters).
"It's a very nice mixture of music," Semonsen said. "A little bit of blues, some rock (not today's definition of rock), great folk, gospel, indie, dance band. … It just goes on and on."
There is a vibe to the festival – relaxed air, good music, friendly crowd – that organizers continue to cultivate. Bigger should only be better, Semonsen said.
Source Sac Bee
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