Family Tickets with Friday Night Concert:
$25 for 2 adults and up to 4 children
Contest competitors free for all events except Friday Night Concert
Tickets sold:
Oak Street Hotel
610 Oak Street
Hood River, OR 97031
Friday Night Concert
The Voetberg Family
Multi Grammy award winner Floyd Domino states that "…the Voetberg family is unique, wonderful, talented, entertaining, and a joy…” and since their first performance in 1999, the family band has followed a serendipitous path of bluegrass, gospel, country, folk, jazz and Celtic influences.
The ten children — ranging in age from six to twenty-three — have garnered many awards including ten Washington state fiddle championships, eight WSMTA awards for outstanding keyboard and vocal performance, twenty regional fiddle championships, ten Top Five placements at the National Fiddle Competition and the title of 2007 National Young Adult Fiddle Contest. www.voetbergfamily.com
John Reischman and John Miller — Acoustic Mandolin & Guitar Duo
John Reischman
As one of the acoustic world’s top-ranked mandolin players and composers, veteran artist John Reischman is renowned for his exquisite taste, tone and impeccable musicianship.
His mastery of the instrument is showcased today in the powerful bluegrass band John Reischman and the Jaybirds, and his Latin/jazz instrumental duo with highly-regarded acoustic guitar stylist John Miller.
"Mandolinist Reischman, in particular, possesses phenomenal tone ... guitarist Miller matches him note for note with slippery leads and sophisticated chords on his Martin," Vancouver’s Georgia Straight said of the duo’s debut album The Singing Moon (Corvus). www.JohnReischman.com
John Miller
John Miller achieved acclaim as one of the foremost fingerpicking guitarists while still in his twenties, releasing five solo albums ranging from Country Blues to the songs of George Gershwin to international acclaim.
At the age of 28, John stopped making solo recordings, choosing to concentrate on composing, teaching, and building his skills as an accompanist for the next 25 years. At the age of 53, John returned to the recording studio to make his first solo release in 25 years, a collection of Jazz Standards entitled "Hey There". At this stage of his career, John's unusual mid-career shift has made him virtually unique among fingerpicking guitarists, a "triple threat" with recognition as a stellar solo guitarist, an acclaimed composer, and a much sought after accompanist. with the skills and knowledge to function with mastery in a host of different musical styles.
A self-taught guitarist, John Miller focused his first three solo recordings, "First Degree Blues", "Let's Go Riding", and "How About Me" on the Country Blues that were his first love. John remains to this day one of the top scholars, players and teachers of Country Blues. He is a long-time member of the teaching staffs at the Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop and the European Blues Association's Blues Week, and has filmed instructional videos teaching the music of Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten, Furry Lewis, Bo Carter, and Robert Wilkins.
As John was completing "How About Me", his tastes were shifting toward the Jazz Standards of the '20s--'50s, and his next two albums, "Safe Sweet Home", and "Biding My Time" featured songs in that style and from that era. At the same time that John was making these solo recordings, he was also serving as the bass player in the trail-blazing Bluegrass band, Country Cooking, which included in addition to John such notable musicians as Tony Trischka, Peter Wernick, Russ Barenberg and Andy Statman.
John then went on to a brief tenure as rhythm guitarist with the band Heartlands, which featured Russ Barenberg, Tony Trischka and Matt Glaser. John's work in these ensembles whetted his appetite for group music-making, and after relocating to Seattle in 1983, John focused on ensemble work, at first with the Jazz quartet Wide Awake, and then after the demise of that band, with the acoustic Jazz trio, Catwalk.
The CD that Catwalk recorded got John excited about recording again, and as the '90s moved forward he made duo recordings with Jazz vocalist Rebecca Kilgore ("It's Easy To Remember"), mandolinist John Reischman ("The Singing Moon"), and violinist Ruthie Dornfeld ("Noches De Fiesta"). The programs of the CDs with John Reischman and Ruthie Dornfeld are comprised primarily of John's original compositions.
As the 21st century moves forward, John Miller has continued to record in group settings with John Reischman ("The Bumpy Road", the French Cabaret band, Rouge ("La Terre De Nos Desires") and the Finnish-American quartet Freshet ("Freshet"). While on tour with John Reischman in Japan in 2001, John was convinced by a Japanese friend, Kazi Goda, to undertake his first solo recording in many years. The result was his solo album, "Hey There", that has signalled to one and all that John Miller is back as a solo guitarist. John plans next to follow up "Hey There" with a CD of original Country Blues tunes. As his solo and ensemble work continue, one can only wonder what music we will next hear from John Miller. www.JohnMillerGuitar.com
Friday, April 30, 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Hood River Middle School
$20
Paul Lestock – "Get in the Groove Playing with Others"
Learn the mysteries of playing in any key, how to take a break without sweating and how to groove with the band.
Paul Lestock of Arrow Guitar teaches how to play in a groove with a group. When you learn a few tricks you will be amazed!
Eileen Walter – "Tune Up Your Fiddling"
An entertaining and educational workshop conducted in a master class format for all levels. Portland fiddle teacher Eileen Walter will ask for volunteers from among the workshop attendees to play tunes for the class. She will offer assessment and suggestions.
Saturday, May 1, 11:00 a.m.
Hood River Middle School
$20
John Reischman – “Mandolin Madness” Master Class
John Miller – “Fast Fingers, Slippery Leads, Sophisticated Chords”
