DECEMBER 20, 2018 // 9
By BRENNA VISSER
IF YOU GO
COAST WEEKENED
A
fter 25 years, The
Trail Band has
reached the end of
the musical road.
Known for its
eclectic sound and
iconic Christmas shows played
around the state, the eight-person
ensemble will play their final
performance Wednesday, Dec. 26,
at the Coaster Theatre in Cannon
Beach. As of press time, the con-
cert had sold out.
Marv Ross, the group’s found-
er, said the reasons are typical.
“We’ve done it for 25 years,”
Ross said. “We’re cutting back …
trying to simplify life and have
more time to travel.”
But the beginning of this
group’s journey was anything but
typical. The ensemble formed
in 1991 after Rindy and Marv
Ross, better known at the time for
their place in the popular 1980s
pop-rock band Quarterflash, were
asked by the Oregon Trail Advi-
sory Council to form a band to
commemorate the 150th anniver-
sary of the Oregon Trail.
For the first two years, the
project took the form of a musi-
cal, based on the diaries of those
who traveled the trail, all done in
the brass-band style popular in
the mid-19th century.
“I had always wanted to do
one, so I saw this as my chance,”
Winter Holiday Concert with The Trail Band
Where: Coaster Theatre Playhouse, 108 N. Hemlock St., Cannon
Beach
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26. Doors open 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: SOLD OUT
he said.
Eventually, the show ran its
course — but things just didn’t
feel finished.
“Well now, what do we do
with this amazing band we’ve
put together?” Ross remembered
asking.
A new start
In 1994, The Trail Band decid-
ed to create a new show, Christ-
mas With The Trail Band — a
holiday concert akin to the parlor
orchestras and town-square brass
bands of the 1800s. Originally
produced as a television special
for Oregon Public Broadcasting,
the concert began to gain momen-
tum, growing from a few shows
in Portland to a full tour around
the state 25 years later.
But the show got off to a
rough start.
“I remember the first time we
did the Christmas show, it was
funny because it flopped,” Ross
said. “It was very old-fashioned,
which had done well within con-
text of Oregon Trail. But at the
Festival of Trees in Portland? It
just wasn’t going to work.”
Over the next three days, Ross
and his team rewrote the show,
incorporating a gospel influence
from Linda Ronstadt, a fellow
Quarterflash band member, and
brought it to life.
Keying into unique sounds
and musical styles is a large part
of the band’s success, Ross said.
The group features rare instru-
ments like the flageolet or cornet,
and plays a variety of genres,
spanning from the 15th century
to jazz.
“It absolutely is unique. It kind
of fell into our laps serendipitous-
ly,” he said. “I never would have
guessed that 27 years later we’d
still be performing.”
Laughter and tears
The Christmas concert started
coming to Cannon Beach after
local business owners and mu-
sicians Paul and Margo Dueber
saw The Trail Band more than 20
years ago in concert. The connec-
tion was strengthened after Paul
Dueber took a songwriting class
with Ross about 10 years later.
After inviting Ross and Rindy,
his wife, to play a few concerts
at their home, Dueber knew they
were perfect for Cannon Beach’s
Haystack Holidays celebrations.
“Their sound is so unique,
mostly because of all the different
kinds of instruments they play,”
Dueber said. “They clearly love
what they do.”
The band has been capping
off Haystack Holiday festivities
for the last three years. Part of
their success, Dueber feels, is
their ability to stand out from
what otherwise is a cacophony of
homogeneous Christmas carols.
“People visiting here between
Christmas and News Year’s
… they don’t want the typical
Christmas concert,” she said. “It’s
not like everything else they’ve
heard through December.”
For now, Ross and the band
are trying not to think too hard
about what it means to be arriving
at the end of their trail togeth-
er. He expects some laughs and
some tears, and definitely some
gratitude.
He is instead pouring his
effort into making sure every
detail of their last concerts is
perfect.
“Because otherwise I’m sunk,”
Ross chuckled. “I’ll save all the
emotion for Cannon Beach — but
God knows what will happen
during that last show.” CW
‘It absolutely is unique. It kind of fell into our
laps serendipitously. I never would have guessed
that 27 years later we’d still be performing.’
MARV ROSS, FOUNDER OF THE TRAIL BAND