Local groups pay tribute
to classic Tom Waits songs
The event, organized by Foolscap Books, includes
performances from dance troupes and puppeteers
BY RYAN NYBURG
PULSE EDITOR
Over the course of the past 30
years, singer/songwriter Tom Waits
has established himself as an origi
nal talent in the music world.
Beginning with his debut album
“Closing Time,” Waits created a se
ries of albums devoted to film noir
imagery. In the mid-1980s he
changed styles dramatically, work
ing with stream of consciousness
lyrics and experimental arrange
ments on such albums as “Rain
Dogs” and “Frank’s Wild Years.” He
also expanded his career, doing film
and theater work (both as a musi
cian and an actor). He was nomi
nated for an Oscar and won two
Grammy awards.
Now Waits is receiving a new
kind of tribute in the form of the
Sixth Annual Tom Waits Tribute
Night at Sam Bond’s Garage. Orga
nized by Foolscap Books, the event
features locals performing Waits’
songs. But the event isn’t just a col
lection of performers doing covers,
according to Foolscap owner Mari
etta Bonaventure.
“In the past, we’ve had DJs recre
ating his songs on stage,” Bonaven
ture said. “This year we’ll have a
dance troupe performing as well as
a puppet show.”
This year is the first year the trib
utes have been held outside of
Foolscap Books. The. bookstore,
which closed its Blair Boulevard lo
cation last May, is now operated en
tirely on the Internet. During the in
terim between the bookstore’s
closing and opening a new perform
ance arts venue, Bonaventure has
held events at different locations
around town.
“The guys at Sam Bond’s said
they would let me do any Foolscap
events I wanted to
at their venue,”
Bonaventure said.
The change of lo
cation apparently
hasn’t curbed en
thusiasm for the
event. Many past performers have
already signed up for this year’s
tribute, according to Bonaventure.
One of these is the Ordinary Flies, a
local group consisting of stringed in
struments and a harmonica.
“We love Marietta and will be
part of anvthing she puts on,” Flies
guitarist PatncK vVilliams said. “The
last tribute night was actually one of
our first concerts.”
The Ordinary Flies also includes
Adam Goldthwaite on banjo, Bren
den Smith on mandolin and An
drew Gudger on harmonica. While
the group plans to include five
songs from three of Waits’ albums,
Bonaventure said that overlapping
is not much of a problem.
“We had a pretty big show last
year but nobody repeated a single
song," Bonaventure said.
While most of the performances
are of a strictly musical nature, there
are also some performance pieces to
add variation. Local artist Jarrett
Arnold and his wife Jaylene will be
putting on a marionette puppet show,
with the puppets performing the
songs.
“Jarrett started making puppets
about a year ago,” Jaylene said. “He
did a few performances for local kids
and performed at the DIVA during
TOM WAITS TRIBUTE
When: 9:30 p.m.
Where: Sam Bond’s Garage
Price: $3 to $5
the Eugene Celebra
tion. For this perform
ance, we’re going to
have the puppets per
forming songs from
‘Black Rider’ while 1
accompany them on
accordion.
Bonaventure has a reason for why
such a diverse crowd of performers
would be interested in performing
Waits’ music.
“The range of music he performs is
really incredible,” Bonaventure said.
“What he can do stylistically, it’s real
ly pretty amazing. ”
Sam Bond’s Garage is located at
407 Blair Blvd. Tickets for the Sixth
Annual Tom Waits Tribute Night are
on a $3 to $5 sliding scale. Perform
ers who sign up in advance are ad
mitted for free. The show begins at
9:30 p.m.
ryannyburg@dailyememld.com
'PERUG1NQ,
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30th East Broadway [5-41) 434-LUNA
Event info and more at www.lunajazz.com
14
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Duck Preview 2004
Sunday, November 7
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