Alfonso Maya
Modern Troubador
The Secret is Out
It’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy,
especially when music, wine and food sam-
ples are involved. And a kids’ craft and play
area to keep the little ones happy? And
kids 15 and under are free? Sign me up, bro.
The first annual Summerfest at Secret
House Winery promises all this and more
as it highlights some of the best local food,
music, wine and beer in a daylong celebra-
tion.
Organizer Darrel Kau says he and the
owners of Secret House decided to do
“something different from the commercial
concert venue.” Summerfest stemmed
from a desire to counter the proliferation
of summer concerts with high ticket prices.
Kau envisioned an affordable “best of”
event for the whole family. “This is the first
time we’re doing this, and we’re hoping it
breaks even so we can do it again,” Kau
says. “It’s in a vineyard, it’s not as formal-
ized as an amphitheater . . . so you just
come on in and walk around. There’s lots of
space to lounge and fields to play in. It’s
very inviting.”
Kau targeted some of the area’s best
music. The fest starts at 2 pm with The
KoKo Lovetet, representing with slightly
funky cool jazz. It gets hotter as the day
goes on with the spicy salsa of Eugene’s fa-
vorite Latin musicians, Lo Nuestro. After
that, sampling time starts at 3 pm! The $10
ticket is a small price to pay for the ample
samples coming your way: the wines of
Secret House, of course, plus the local brews
of Ninkasi Brewing Company and the foods
of Mario Bros., Three Forks Wok & Grill and
Larson’s Fine Chocolate and Ice Cream.
The day could end there, and I’d be
happy, but it’s just getting started. Norma
Fraser will perform soulful roots reggae,
sung in her warm Jamaican patois that
makes any event seem like a tropical holi-
day. You get a little gritty in the mix with
Justin King and the Apologies, who kick
out rock and roll with King’s virtuosic gui-
tar. Disco Organica follows, with “trip hop
lounge that grooves the soul.”
No Eugene “best of” celebration would
be complete without the blues, and you can
hardly do better than The Vipers with
Deb Cleveland. They’re known and loved
by blues fans everywhere, and they draw
this celebration of what’s great about sum-
mertime in Eugene to a close. Summerfest
begins at 2 pm Satuday, June 23, at Secret
House Winery (88324 Vineyard Lane,
Veneta; for directions see www.07summer-
fest.com). $10, youth under 15 free.
— Vanessa Salvia
Stereotyping of Mexicans isn’t limited to
Republican congressmen; it’s easy to as-
sume that a troubadour from Cuernavaca
must be playing norteño or ranchero or
any of the various varieties of Mexican
pop/rock. But Alfonso Maya’s warm, inti-
mate tunes appeal as much to straightfor-
ward folk music fans as world music types.
Maya’s songs emerge from the trova
tradition spawned in eastern Cuba. The
similarity of the trovadores name to “trou-
badours” is probably no accident: As part
of the socially conscious Nueva Cancion
movement that originated in the 1960s,
these traveling singer-songrwriters con-
veyed news, political satire and social con-
cerns around the is-
land. Borne on
breezy bossa nova,
son and other Latin
American rhythms,
the style migrated
to Mexico, finding a
sympathetic home
in the now bustling
arts capital of
Lightning Dust
Cuernavaca.
Sometimes melancholy, sometimes im-
petuous, Maya’s loping trova ballads can
evoke Gilberto Gil’s early sound. From sly
digs at commercial music (couched in
hook-laden melodies) to cheerful celebra-
tions of the underground scene to wistful
songs of lost love, Maya’s memorable
melodies leap across language barriers to
the hearts of listeners.
Alfonso Maya plays at 7:30 pm
Saturday, June 23, at Cozmic Pizza ($8),
and at 7:30 pm Sunday, June 24, at Green
Salmon in Yachats. — Brett Campbell
sound like Black Mountain. And The Cave
Singers don’t sound like bassist Derek
Fudesco’s old band, Pretty Girls Make
Graves. Far from it: The trio’s spare tunes,
which hover around old-timey but some-
times suggest classic rock done up
acoustic style, are haunted by their singer’s
scratchy, impassioned voice.
Lightning Dust creates moody, often
bleak, relatively slow tunes, with the excep-
tion, on their new self-titled album, of the
almost disconcertingly jaunty “Wind Me
Up.” Amber Webber’s voice is sweet and
thick and dark as molasses, winding stickily
through songs that are grounded in
Joshua Wells’ gracefully straightforward
piano lines and occasionally, as on the
melancholy and gor-
geous “Castles and
Caves,” layered with just
the right amount of cello.
“Jump In,” on which Wells
shares the vocal lead, has
a carnival-like piano bit
that might snag the ears
of Jason Webley fans.
Wells has a conversa-
tional delivery that adds
to the peculiar sideshow vibe that sparks
some of the songs, but Webber’s tremu-
lous, powerful voice is the star here. At her
most plaintive, Webber brings to mind PJ
Harvey; the band’s more dirge-like and
dreamy tunes suggest Cat Power replacing
Nico with the Velvet Underground.
Lightning Dust creates hymns for empty
rooms with rain-struck windows; their
music calls up images of cobwebs in bright
corners, clean clothes in the dirt and other
such contradictary visions. Lightning Dust
and The Cave Singers play at 9 pm Sunday,
June 24, at Sam Bond’s Garage. 21+ show.
$5. — Molly Templeton
Light on Dark
Pieces of other bands from farther
north arrive in town this week in the form
of Lightning Dust and The Cave Singers.
But don’t be fooled: Lightning Dust, the
new project of Black Mountain members
Amber Webber and Joshua Wells, doesn’t
THE
Musical Complexities
The members of The Walton Complex
have been struggling for years to get the
band organized and find a sound that’s co-
hesive and represents who they are. The
LANDMARK
An Ocean view from every table
111 Hwy 101 in YACHATS • 541-547-5459
www.landmark-yachats.com
Live at the Coast
• Open Jam every Thursday 6:30pm •
FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 9PM
The Co-Stars
Indie pop and rock from Eugene
SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 9PM
Papaw’s Blue Jelly Band
we like to party.
thirteenth and oak | twenty one and up
visit indigodistrict.com for more details.
28 JUNE 21, 2007
Rockin’ blues from Corvallis veterans.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 8PM
Widower
An almost country band from Brooklyn, New York
Fresh Fish/Italian - Authentic Oregon since 1911