14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
A man ‘Possessed’ gives free concert in Cannon Beach
CANNON BEACH — Possessed
by Paul James — a performer
the New York Times dubbed
a “one man folk wonder”
— will bring a whirlwind of
musical energy to Cannon
Beach during a free concert 5
p.m. Sunday, July 23, in the
downtown city park.
The free event — pro-
duced by the Tolovana Arts
Colony with support from
the City of Cannon Beach’s
Community Grant — includes
an opening act. Attendees are
encouraged to bring chairs,
blankets and picnic baskets.
All ages are welcome.
“Sweating intensely, and
with every muscle straining,
he played religiously intense
folk without the religion, in
between tales of teaching
music to special-education
students,” the Times’ Jon
Caramanica wrote.
The publication hon-
ored the performance at the
Pickathon festival as one of
2014’s top 10 concerts of the
year.
Combining the names of
his father and grandfather,
Possessed by Paul James is
the moniker of Konrad Wert.
And as NPR put it: “Those
who have seen him perform
… would agree he seems
possessed by something.”
Touring from his home
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Possessed by Paul James (aka Konrad Wert)
base in Boerne, Texas, just
outside San Antonio, Wert
plucks, strums and bows
banjo, guitar and fiddle. His
songs traverse country, folk
and punk traditions.
“While performing by
his lonesome, Wert’s music
is hardly sparse,” the Arts
Colony wrote. “It is muscu-
lar, gritty and electric, like a
tornado whipping across the
plains.”
“Part of the magic of a
Possessed by Paul James per-
formance is witnessing Wert
spinning up, conjuring such
elemental intensity,” organiz-
ers continued. “Indeed, live
and in person is where he
really shines.”
Wert told NPR: “In the re-
cording studio, that’s a great
way to present the music. But
in a live show, in an interac-
tion, whatever’s gonna come
is gonna come. For me, that’s
Liberty presents classical music series
ASTORIA — For the first
season since its renovation,
Astoria’s Liberty Theatre
will offer an entire series of
classical music.
The series begins Sat-
urday, Sept. 23, with the
Portland Chamber Orches-
tra, including pianist Ruusa-
mari Teppo. The Schubert
Ensemble of London comes
Wednesday, Oct. 4, followed
by The Tacoma Opera on
Friday, Nov. 17; PROJ-
PHOTO BY ERICK BENGEL
ECT Trio Thursday, Jan.
4; Song & String Trio on
Sunday, Feb. 4; The Bodhi
Trio on Saturday, Feb. 17;
The Delgani String Quartet
on Friday, March 16; The
Oregon Brass Quintet on
Thursday, April 26; and the
The Solstice Wind Quintet
on Friday, May 25.
The performers will hold
free pre-show workshops to
the band, orchestra, choir
and dance students of Asto-
ria High School, with help
from community donors.
These workshops are funded
by community donors.
“The purpose of Lib-
erty Restoration, Inc. is to
provide a forum for com-
munity events, a center for
local, regional and national
performing artists, and a
center that fosters education
and the development of the
performing arts, and a center
which anchors downtown
Astoria’s continued econom-
ic revitalization,” the theater
said in a release.
For more information,
visit www.libertyastoria.org.
the purest pleasure of playing
music: It’s almost a conver-
sation, with a listener and a
musician.”
When not performing,
Wert doubles as a special
education teacher.
Cannon Beach’s down-
town city park is located
northeast of Second and
Spruce streets, behind the
tennis courts and Chamber of
Commerce.
For more information,
visit www.tolovanaartscol-
ony.org, email tolovanaarts-
colony@gmail.com, or call
541-215-4445.
Mayor leads hike on
Four County Point Trail
ASTORIA — For the
Angora hike taking place
Saturday, July 22, Astoria
Mayor Arline LaMear will
lead a hike on the Four
County Point Trail. Hikers
will meet at 9 a.m. at the
Sixth Street parking lot to
carpool.
This short hike (1.6
miles round trip) along Wolf
Creek through a Douglas fir
and alder forest leads to the
only place in Oregon where
the corners of four counties
(Washington, Tillamook,
Clatsop and Columbia)
meet.
Afterward, hikers will get
back in their cars and drive
to the Sunset Wayside Rest
Area. Here, there’s a loop
trail (1.5 miles) that crosses
South Fork Rock Creek on a
100-foot bridge through an
alder forest.