3C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2016
W H A T ’ S
O N
T H E I R
PLAYLIST
T
he Daily Astorian invites people to share the music they are enjoying and
describe a few thoughts about the work. This week, James Dean Kindle,
of the Eastern Oregon Playboys, gives us some of his inspirations. The song-
writer is also the executive director of the Oregon East Symphony. To submit
a playlist, send to news@dailyastorian.com
Q: Your band’s name is the Eastern Ore-
gon Playboys. Is that a play on Bob Wills
and the Texas Playboys?
A: The band name is indeed a play of of
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. The name
came to me long before I had formed the
band. I knew that I wanted my future band’s
name to be geographically representa-
tive. At the time I came up with it I was on a
western swing kick and thought that I’d like
to front a western swing band so making
the name a pastiche of the Texas Playboys
seemed appropriate. I never really found the
right combo nor wrote a large enough body
of original songs in that genre to have a such
a band and ended up using it for my rock
band.
Giant Sand
Q: Do you enjoy country music of that
era?
A: Country music of the Depression
through the immediate post-World War
II-era holds a strong presence in my fam-
ily and igures from that time like Bob Wills,
Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams loom large
in my musical DNA. Wills’ liberal mixing of
genres, Lefty’s crooning vocal inlections,
and Hank’s emotionally direct and precisely
metered songwriting are all elements that
I’ve tried to assimilate into my style.
Q: Your band’s most recent album is
country. But you also do pop. What pop
inluences are you favoring these days?
A: I’ve been listening to Red Jacket Mine,
a band from Seattle, a lot lately. Their front
man Lincoln Barr’s songwriting has evolved
from power pop to something more sar-
donic and sophisticated like Steely Dan or
Elvis Costello. He recently recorded an album
with John Convertino of Calexico on drums
and Susan Pascal, a Seattle jazz vibraphon-
ist, which I’m anxiously anticipating. In con-
cert I’ve heard him play a song from the
upcoming album that I think is titled “Fond
of Surprises” which sounds like a timeless
minor key jazz ballad a la “Cry Me A River” or
“Almost Blue.”
Q: What’s something new that you’re
listening to this week?
A: I recently picked up a copy of Giant
Sand’s “The Sun Set, Vol 1.” The music isn’t
new per se, though it is a new release. It’s
the irst installment of a retrospective collec-
Red Jacket Mine
tion of the Tuscon band’s entire catalogue
in light of their impending retirement. Giant
Sand’s leader/songwriter Howe Gelb has a
lot of great word play in his songs and his
recordings feel like the sonic embodiment of
the Southwest desert. I’d like to get to a sim-
ilar place with my own music in terms of it
being representative of the Eastern Oregon
landscape.
Q: You are also executive director of the
Oregon East Symphony. What are some of
your classical music inluences?
A: The irst classical music I really con-
nected with were minimalist composers
like Steve Reich and Terry Riley. I discovered
them through psychedelic bands I was lis-
tening to at the time (Spacemen 3) and was
drawn to the harmonically shifting sonic
textures they created. As a cinephile I also
enjoy ilm composers like Ennio Morricone
and Angelo Badalamenti for their ability to
E.J. Harris/East Oregonian
James Dean Kindle of the Eastern Oregon Playboys.
create atmosphere and heighten emotional
tension.
I guess minimalist and ilm composers are
generally considered outside the canon of
classical music though. Its only been recently
that I’ve started developing an appreciation
for composers who are part of classical music
orthodoxy. My day job as executive director
of a symphony has led me to dig deeper into
the works that we’ve performed recently.
“The Adagio” from Joaquin Rodrigo’s Con-
cierto de Aranjuez has such a simple and
powerful melody that I can’t help but try to
pick it out when I’m noodling on guitar. I also
catch myself humming the irst movement
Mendelssohn’s “Italian” symphony a lot.
Dylan Fest honors a still living legend
Tribute began
in a bar on the
Lower East Side
By KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In
a year when the musical world
is still mourning icons Prince,
David Bowie and Merle Hag-
gard, musicians of all genres
and generations have been cel-
ebrating a still active legend —
Bob Dylan — in an annual all-
star concert series for 15 years.
This year’s two-day Dylan
Fest, held in Nashville, Ten-
nessee, includes classics like
“Like a Rolling Stone,” “Tan-
gled Up in Blue” and “All
Along the Watchtower,” and
performers such as Ann Wil-
son of Heart, Wynonna Judd,
Emmylou Harris, Kacey Mus-
graves, Jason Isbell, Butch
Walker and Kesha. The fes-
tivities kicked off Monday
and more performers took
the stage Tuesday — Dylan’s
75th birthday — at the historic
Ryman Auditorium.
The performances were
livestreamed on AOL.com.
The Dylan Fest started at a
bar the Lower East Side with
a small group of friends get-
ting together to sing his songs
on his 60th birthday. Since
then, the concert series has
expanded to Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Austin and Chi-
cago, raised money for char-
ities and included musical
celebrations of other icons
including Tom Petty, George
Harrison, Fleetwood Mac and
the Beach Boys.
“It’s quite a trend when
someone dies to try to pay trib-
ute to them,” said Dylan Fest
organizer Austin Scaggs, a
music writer and musician. “I
like to celebrate when these
people ...are alive and I want
them to know there is another
generation behind them, or
two generations now, that are
feeling the same feeling about
their music.”
A day after her impres-
sive performance of Dylan’s
“It Ain’t Me, Babe” at the
Billboard Music Awards,
pop singer Kesha was back
in Nashville on Monday to
deliver a standout version of
Dylan’s gospel song “I Shall
Be Released,” and got a stand-
ing ovation. She performed
barefoot in a sparkly light blue
suit.
The singer, who had hits
with “Tik Tok” and “We R
Who We R,” is part of what
Scaggs likes to call the “Fest
Family,” which also includes
the Kings of Leon, Norah
Jones, Dhani Harrison and
Jakob Dylan.
“I sense a specialness about
her, a uniqueness,” Scaggs
said of Kesha. “And I know
that manifests itself with her
acting crazy or acting wild, but
the bottom line is she has an
incredible voice and she has a
real passion for music.”
Backstage the crowd of
musicians waiting to perform
was mostly young millennials
from Americana, folk, indie
rock and country, a second
generation of Dylan fans.
Laura Roberts/Invision via AP
Artist Emmylou Harris performs at the Dylan Fest at Ry-
man Auditorium on Monday in Nashville.
“If you want to listen to
great songs, instead of going
to a thousand artists, you can
just go to his catalog and ind
so many great ones,” said sing-
er-songwriter Holly Williams,
who sang his classic “The
Times They Are A-Changin”’
on Monday night.
“No matter how old, how
young you are, we can all
relate to the lines, ‘Come
gather round people wher-
ever you roam and admit that
the waters around you have
grown,’” she said.
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