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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 2016)
Acoustic blues guitarist Mary Flower kicks off blues month at Peninsula Arts Center LONG BEACH, Wash. — Nobody picks it like Mary Flower. An internationally known and award-winning picker, singer-songwriter and teacher, Portland acoustic blues artist Mary Flower will perform live at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 at the Peninsula Arts Center. Flower’s immense ¿nger- picking guitar and lap-slide prowess is soulful and me- ter-perfect, a deft blend of the inventive, the dexterous and the mesmerizing. Her supple hon- ey-and-whiskey voice provides the perfect melodic accompani- ment to each song’s story. Evolving out her native Indiana, Flower ¿rst relocat- ed to the rich Denver music scene, working with Katy Mof- fatt, Randy Handley and Pat Donohue and was a founding member of the famed Mother Folkers. After building her ca- reer and reputation as a pick- er’s-picker, including top-three ¿nishes (and the only woman ¿nalist) at the National Finger- picking Guitar Championship in 2000 and 2002, Flower es- caped the Denver orbit to land in culturally rich Portland. She continues to please crowds and critics at folk festivals and on concert stages domestically and abroad, ones that include Merlefest, Kerrville, King Bis- cuit, Prairie Home Companion and the Calgary Folk Festival, among many. Flower embodies a luscious and lusty mix of rootsy, acous- tic-blues guitar and vocal styles that span a number of idioms — from Piedmont to the Mississip- pi Delta, with stops in ragtime, swing, folk and hot jazz. Flower’s 10 recordings, including four for Memphis’ famed Yellow Dog Records — “Bywater Dance,” “Instrumen- tal Breakdown,” “Bridges” and “Misery Loves Company” — show a deep command of and love for folk and blues string music. Flower recently released her 10th album, “When My Blue- bird Sings,” this time on her Submitted photo Acoustic blues artist Mary Flower will perform at the Peninsula Arts Center on Feb. 6. Mary Flower 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 Peninsula Arts Center 504 Pacific Ave. N., Long Beach, Wash. 360-901-0962 $12 own label, Bluesette Records. “This CD is a departure stylistically from my previous recordings,” Flower says. “The CD is a mix of lap slide instru- mentals and guitar pieces with vocals, all original. Some of these tunes have been rumbling around in my head for quite a while and seemed well-suited for a solo project. Many of you have asked for more solo and more slide — so here it is, the raw and unadorned. Enjoy.” Accolades come easily and deservedly for Flower — the aforementioned National Fin- gerpicking Guitar Champion- ship ¿nishes, as a nominee in 2008 and 2012 for Blues Foundation Blues Music Awards, a 2009 nod with the coveted Vox Populi award at the 2009 Independent Music Award’s Acoustic Song cat- egory, and a 2011 Portland Muddy Award win. The list goes on. But for Flower, it’s not about prizes. It’s about making the music come alive onstage, in her recordings, and with her teaching. She continues to compose, record and tour relentlessly, honing and evolving her style rooted in rich tradition but always moving America’s indigenous music forward. The Peninsula Arts Center is located at 0 Paci¿c Ave. N. Admission is $12 at the door, by calling 360-901-0962, or online through Brown Paper Tickets. Wine, beer and other refreshments will be available for purchase. Concerts bene- ¿t the Long Beach Peninsula Acoustic Music Foundation, a 01(c)3 non-pro¿t charitable organization. Lowest Pair bring Americana to the Fort ASTORIA — Fort George Brew- ery welcomes The Lowest Pair to perform Americana and blue- grass at 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7. All ages are welcome, and there is no cover charge. Born in Arkansas and now homesteading in Olympia, Washington, Kendl Winter sprouts alfalfa beans in mason jars in the back of the tour van and spreads her songs across the country, Johnny Apple- seed-style. Winter brings her weaving poetry of song, old and new, and a voice somewhere be- tween Gillian Welch and Iris De- Ment with a little Olympia twist. Palmer T. Lee, who hails from Minneapolis, was 19 when he inherited a couple of banjos and discovered he could reassemble them into his dream instrument. Lee’s songs are distilled into the warm sweet sounds of his percus- sive wordplay and the melodic interludes of his own style played on a pieced-together banjo. After a year of traveling the country playing clubs, hotels, house shows, backyards and street corners, the duo found their way back up to Minnesota, this time to Duluth, where they sat down to record the follow-up to “36¢.” Linking up with Tom Fabjance at an old church (the same one Low recorded “C’Mon” in) seemed like the perfect way to expand on their sound without diluting their orig- inal magical formula. Their latest album, “The Sa- cred Heart Sessions,” is a col- lection that allows the listener to enter the space that surrounds its creation. One can virtually feel the walls and vaulted ceiling of the old wooden church rising up, creating a natural reverb and warming the air. Be it Winter’s punk roots, her admiration for the tradi- tional American songbook or The Lowest Pair 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7 Submitted photo The Lowest Pair will perform at the Fort George Brewery at 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7. the gravitational pull she sensed drawing her to Olympia, it’s her combining these talents and cre- ative impulses with Lee’s Mid- western charm, the long winters spent listening to a steady diet of Open 7am Daily! S E R V I N G B R E A K FA S T, LUNCH & SUPPER European Style Coffeehouse by day, intimate bistro offering neo-regional cuisine by night. Regional selection of beers, wines and vintage cocktails available. All ages Free 243 11th Street, Astoria, OR 97103 503-325-1787 www.AstoriaCoffeeHouse.com We cater your event! Fort George Brewery 1483 Duane St., Astoria Townes Van Zandt and John Hart- ford and the strange moment of fate that left him with two inherited banjos as a young man; this com- bination has resulted in a original sound that is The Lowest Pair. 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