Wednesday, September 4, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
21
Greeninger to return to folk festival to perform and teach
By Ceili Cornelius
Correspondent
Soulful singer-songwriter
Keith Greeninger is return-
ing to play the Sisters Folk
Festival for the fifth time.
Greeninger has played
Sisters Folk Festival with
his band, with Dayan Kai, as
well as solo shows. During
all of those years, he has also
taught at the Americana Song
Academy at Caldera.
Greeninger spoke highly
of his experiences teaching at
Caldera ahead of the festival.
<I love being a part of peo-
ple9s self-discovery and con-
necting and expressing them-
selves here, it is a really safe
space to express yourself,= he
said.
He works with a large
demographic of students,
including older people.
<It is great to see the new
connection they find and hav-
ing a balance of old and new,=
he said.
This year, Greeninger will
be teaching a course entitled
<Writing From The Soul.=
<The course focuses
on knowing the difference
between story songs and songs
that tap more into emotions
and the soul. We try and sit
in a space during the teaching
that allows for you to focus
on the sound and style of the
song, even more so than the
songwriting,= he said.
His second course, enti-
tled <Writing Songs For The
People And For Community
Change,= focuses on how to
write songs about what is hap-
pening in the world and how
to create a change for a whole
community through music.
<It is really a course in how
to write songs that just speak
the truth, in a way that every-
one can see it, objectively,=
said Greeninger.
Greeninger9s focus here is
to invite the audience to see
these things for themselves
and let them choose their own
opinion. He will be teaching
these two courses throughout
the week up at Caldera along-
side David Jacobs-Strain and
other instructors who are also
all playing the Sisters Folk
Festival the weekend after the
song camp.
Greeninger has become a
surrogate local in Sisters. He
has played numerous shows
outside of the Sisters Folk
Festival over the years. He has
done house concerts around
Sisters and Bend as well as
performances at The Belfry.
Greeninger loves the commu-
nity of Sisters, and it shows
when he performs here.
<I love the sense of com-
munity that is at the core of
the Folk Festival and every
artist is invited in as one of its
own. I feel very welcome and
respected here. The people
give you their undivided atten-
tion,= he said.
Greeninger also loves get-
ting to work with the youth.
He has returned nearly every
year to teach at the Americana
Song Academy for Youth,
which occurs in March.
<It is wonderful to work
with the youth and see how
much the community keeps
an open mind about the youth
and the arts and the connection
there giving the youth a safe
space to grow and explore,=
he said.
Greeninger has been a part
of a number of young stu-
dents9 lives for many years,
getting to see them grow and
flourish into adulthood.
<I get to see the young
people I met while they were
in school going out into the
world with this brilliant confi-
dence,= he said.
Greeninger will be per-
forming at the Folk Festival
alongside Dayan Kai, multi-
instrumentalist and vocal-
ist. The first time Greeninger
played the Sisters Folk
Festival was with Kai by his
side, and they have been work-
ing together for many years.
<Dayan and I were invited
back to the festival and were
both adopted into the family,=
said Greeninger.
Greeninger and Kai will be
performing multiple sets over
the weekend, as well as a com-
bined set with David Jacobs-
Strain and Bob Beach at the
Village Green Stage, at 3 p.m.
on Saturday, September 7.
<We are really good friends
with Bob and David and we
always leave a lot of space
during our sets to just see
what happens and don9t plan
much,= said Greeninger.
Greeninger is in the pro-
cess of finishing up his latest
record, which is expected to
be released in October. The
record features the band he
has worked with in the past, as
well as Dayan Kai and some
solo work. He is putting the
final touches on it at his studio
near his home in Santa Cruz,
California.
Greeninger is looking for-
ward to his return to this sec-
ond home.
<I just want to thank the
folks in Sisters for being so
supportive of the arts and hope
everyone enjoys the festival
and performances as a cel-
ebration of that,= he said.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Keith Greeninger and Dayan Kai have been long-time supporters of the
Sisters Folk Festival.
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