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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2015)
Two Portland groups play two local shows Robin Bacior, Grand Lake Islands to release new albums LONG BEACH, Wash. and ASTORIA — Portland bands Robin Bacior and Grand Lake Islands are embark- ing on tours in honor of their new respective albums. Both groups will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8 at the Adrift Hotel, located at 409 Sid Snyder Drive in Long Beach, Washington. Then, both will play at 9 p.m. Friday, Jan 9 at the Voodoo Room, located at 1114 Marine Drive in Astoria. Bacior’s voice speaks of a much older soul. Born and raised in California, Bacior took great traditions and brought them with her to New York. She began col- laborating with cellist Dan Bind- schedler, combining classical arrangements with simple folk structures. In 2012, Bacior re- located to Portland, and she and Bindschedler collaborated cross - country. During this time, Bacior had frequent dreams about bod- ies of water, and felt they signi- - whelming amount of transition. As a result, Bacior wrote a new collection of songs, later named “Water Dreams,” her album that comes out Tuesday, Submitted photo Grand Lake Islands is a collective led by songwriter Erik Emanuelson. Jan. 13. The songs center around Bacior’s departure from New York, the collapse of paths that felt certain, and humbly mov- ing forward — essentially, how it feels when it doesn’t work out. Bacior brought the songs to Bindschedler (who has since moved to Portland), and the two sat down and arranged more was then presented to recording engineer/producer Rian Lewis. The result is something with- in the realm of New Music; a classical duet playing composed pieces fused with experimen- tation. Bacior uses the piano as a rhythmic base while Bind- schedler laces his cello’s sound through various pedals, creating a more atmospheric, sonical- ly wide space. Throughout the cello/piano movement, Bacior’s alto vocals carry their own strong melodies. Grand Lake Islands is also releasing a new record, “Song From Far,” on Jan. 20. Grand Lake Islands is a collective band led by songwriter Erik Eman- uelson. The project began in New York City as Emanuelson’s evening pastime while teaching English. As his songs grew in- creasingly stronger, he decided to leave his career and focus on music, moving to Portland. There he met collaborators Evan Krogh (guitar/lap Steel), Kyle Hartlet (bass) and Bob Reynolds (drums). Grand Lake Islands’ forth- coming “Song From Far” was produced by Victor Nash at Des- tination Universe. It was record- ed following a highly productive period of collaboration between band members during Portland’s bleakest months. The songs re- change that occurred in Emanu- elson’s life. Emanuelson’s expressive tenor delivers lyrics soaked with stark emotional landscapes. Themes of isolation and uncer- tainty are echoed in songs like “Silver Moon,” where he sings, “emergency red, and outdat- ed, with an ear to an unplugged phone, pacing around waiting for that old dial tone.” Yet other and “Monterey,” evoke a kind of carefree lightness. Recorded mostly live, the album’s synchronized energy feels cohesive as it moves from ethereal texture to more straight- forward folk-country grooves. The songs break into wide- open brightness with sparkling guitar, swelling lap steel, and snapping snare hits before being swallowed again by interludes of dark, aerial, nearly distorted tones. With one eye to the dark- ness drifting over the horizon and one eye on the light coming over the other, “Song From Far” is a snapshot of a sky in motion. ENCORE starts winter classes, welcomes new members ASTORIA — ENCORE stands for Exploring New Concepts of Retirement Education and is for adults 50 years old and older. It is a volunteer-led orga- nization that operates under the auspices of Clatsop Communi- ty College. Annual membership is $50 and includes more than 20 classes offered during fall, winter and spring sessions scheduled to correspond with the college calendar as well as computer and library priv- ileges at CCC. The beauty of ENCORE classes is there is no homework (except for reading in the book group), and there are no grades. You can sign up for one class or even for all the classes, whatever your sched- ule allows because there are no overlapping times for the class- es. Classes are offered either in Astoria or Seaside. The Curriculum Committee sets up the class schedule based on suggestions from ENCORE members, most of whom have to teach, including several for- mer professors. If you want to keep your mind active or if you are curious about a topic, consider coming to a trial class before joining. Winter Session begins Mon- day Jan. 12 with Folk Dancing led by Drew Herzig. Then, Tuesday morning is Beginning Pottery; Tuesday afternoon is Pick Your Favorite Decade, where class members can talk about some personal memo- ries. Wednesday morning is Science Exchange, where class members can bring in articles of interest or the moderators suggest topics from science-re- lated headlines; Wednesday afternoon is The Bible: A New and Different Look, using his- torical events mentioned in the Bible but discussed in a historic context. Thursday morning is Philosophy of Art led by CCC Philosophy Instructor Seth Tichenor; Thursday afternoon is Memoir Writing. Friday is Book Group led by CCC U.S. History Instructor Steve Berk. The book to be discussed is “The New American Milita- rism” by Andrew Bacevich. In the spring, Folk Dancing, Science Exchange and Book Group will be offered again along with several other inter- esting classes yet to be sched- uled. One special class called In- side the Coast Guard is being developed for the spring by Erhard Gross, an ENCORE member and former profes- sor. He will be working with a designated U.S. Coast Guard representative to complete sub-topics of the presentation, such as history of the Coast Guard, command structure, rescue unit Cape Disappoint- ment and more. The ENCORE Trip Committee will be work- ing with Gross to schedule visits to various Coast Guard installations of interest. The ENCORE Membership Committee works to recruit and retain members by orga- nizing social events. Dec. 16 was the annual ENCORE Holi- day Bash at the Riverview Buf- fet in Astoria, which included a buffet dinner, a holiday sing- a-long with the North Coast Ukulele Strummers, and guest speaker Sydney Stevens, who talked about holidays on the Coty Hogue plays the Fort Hear American roots, Appalachian folk ASTORIA — Coty Hogue’s got something different in her. Maybe it’s from growing up in a Montana town several orders of magnitude below small; maybe it comes from immersing herself in a folk music tradition that ex- tends back for centuries. What- ever it is, you’d be hard-pressed But when Hogue picks up her banjo and lets her voice out, there it is. You’d think she’s a pretty young gal, but her voice gives her away when she sings Appalachian songs. That voice, pitched low and steady, keeps raising chills. Then she’ll apol- ogize for playing too many sad songs in a row and launch into a fast-picking barnburner. Frequently accompanied by Aaron Guest (12-string guitar) song selection runs the gamut of American roots music: a little blues, a pinch of swing, a spoon- ful of classic opry. Hear Hogue perform at 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11 at the Fort George Brewery, located at 1483 Duane St. Submitted photo Coty Hogue plays at the Fort George Brewery Sunday, Jan. 11. Long Beach Peninsula. Look for a Chinese New Year’s event in February and a guest speaker social in the spring as well. This commit- tee also organizes ENCORE’s Lunch Bunch, which meets at different locations at noon on For more information about ENCORE, visit www.encore- learn.org or contact Evy Javadi or Mary Fryling at 503-338- 2408. January 8, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 7