One of the Wood River Valley's most anticipated summer events is the Northern Rockies Folk Festival.
The festival, now in its 32nd year, brings musicians together from afar and close to home. This year, event organizers have implemented a few changes to ease costs and provide more fun.
The two-day festival starts Friday, July 31, in Hop Porter Park in Hailey. The first band, Up A Creek, will kick off the music celebration at 5 p.m. and the night ends with The Blasters at 8:30 p.m.
The festival continues on Saturday, Aug. 1. The day's music starts at 11:30 a.m. with Joe Paisley and ends with headliner The Gourds at 8:30 p.m.
A wristband for Friday only will cost $12. A wristband for Saturday only will cost $18. A two-day wristband will cost $25. Wristbands are available at Chapter One Bookstore in Ketchum, Notes Music in Hailey and online at nrff.com. Several nonprofit vendors will be selling food. Concertgoers can bring picnics but no dogs.
New this year is the online ticketing option and local musicians, billed as "Tweeners," who will play in between several of the other acts. Musicians include Michael White, Piers Lamb, Braden Jonny, Craig Meyers, Tim East and Tom Archie.
Up A Creek, from the Wood River Valley, features band members Bill Sprong, Raul Vandenberg, Jeff London and Scott Seaward. They play alternative country and folk music and grew out of the band In Search of a Red Headed Fiddler.
The Denton, Texas, two-time Grammy Award-winning band Brave Combo will grace the festival stage next. Their own brand of music ranges from a groundbreaking world music act to a hot jazz quintet or a rollicking rock 'n' roll bar band and a new wave polka band. The band has won the heart of many, including Matt Groening, David Byrne, Garrison Keillor and Harvey Pekar. It has been described by The Washington Post as "mosh pit polka."
Following Brave Combo Friday evening will be The Blasters, who have played their version of Americana, rock 'n' roll and the blues for about 30 years. The Blasters' Phil Alvin, John Bazz, Keith Wyatt and Jerry Angel provide a powerful rockabilly sound influenced by The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and many others. The Blasters have built a reputation in Los Angeles for being one of the city's most recognizable bands. They have five albums to their credit.
The festival continues Saturday, Aug. 1, at 11:30 a.m. with the valley's own Joe Paisley (son of Jim Paisley) followed by No Cheap Horses, The Damphools and the ever-popular Kim Stocking Band.
No Cheap Horses features Dave Muscavage (of Headwaters) on mandolin, Mia Edsell on acoustic guitar, Gerard Kelly (of Doc Tater) on lead guitar, Jason Vontner on drums and Jim Paisley on bass.
The Damphools, making their second festival appearance, have released their first CD, "Damn the Hard Times." The Kim Stocking Band has been playing the festival for more than eight years and is one of the valley's most recognizable bands. It features Kim Stocking on vocals, Mike Saul on guitar, Chip Booth on mandolin and guitar, Jeremy Haddon on bass and Troy Tadlock on drums.
Up next is Ryebender, which is a combination of players from Portland, Ore., Alaska and the Wood River Valley. Its first album, "Hollow and Drifting," was recorded in Sun Valley in November 2008. The sound of the band is the product of Alaskan brothers Mark and Jason Ward, who grew up playing music with fellow Alaskan Lennie Dietsch. The band members have been friends for years and played in a number of lineups, both together and apart. Ryebender's debut album has garnered critical acclaim from publications in the U.S. and Europe and reached No. 51 on the AMA radio charts.
Los Angeles-based Olin & the Moon will make its Hailey debut on Saturday. The band is excited to play in front of a hometown crowd, since four out of the five band members grew up in the Wood River Valley.
"It's like the local hometown stamp of approval," said the band's drummer and percussionist Marshall Vore. "It's one of the biggest event that happens up there. It feels nice to have the local support."
Olin & the Moon have dedicated itself to making music and it's paying off with several self-produced CDs and another on the way.
"I love it," said David LaBrel, a singer and songwriter for the band. "This is all I want to do and go on tour as much as we can. I will travel until I run out of money. I think everyone in the band will do it forever."
Olin & the Moon have recorded songs about the Wood River Valley, including "Castle Rock." In addition, the band wrote music for a film, "Peach, Plum, Pear" and its songs will be used for the movie's trailer.
"We have all these people who are starting to believe in us," Vore said. "It takes some time to focus and we have put a lot of work into the band and music. Now, we are staring to see things happen. We are ready for the big time, but there are a lot of steps on the way."
Wrapping up the festival will be a performance by The Gourds, who have produced 10 albums and have a large following nationwide. The Austin-based band is comprised of Kevin Russell on vocals, guitar and mandolin, fellow songwriter Jimmy Smith on vocals, guitars and bass, Claude Bernard on accordion, keyboard, guitar and vocals, Keith Langford on drums and Max Johnston (formerly of Uncle Tupelo and Wilco) on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, lap steel and vocals.
Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com
Festival schedule
Friday, July 31
· Up A Creek, 5 p.m.
· 'Tweener': Craig Meyers (of Wood River Valley), 6:15 p.m.
· Brave Combo, 6:30 p.m.
· 'Tweener': Mike White (of the Wood River Valley) 7:45 p.m.
· The Blasters, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 1
· Joe Paisley, 11:30 a.m.
· No Cheap Horses, 12:30 p.m.
· The Damphools, 1:30 p.m.
· 'Tweener': Braden Jonny (of Idaho), 2:45 p.m.
· Kim Stocking Band, 3 p.m.
· 'Tweener': Tom Archie, 3:45 p.m.
· Ryebender, 4:30 p.m.
· 'Tweener': Tim East (of Wood River Valley), 5:45 p.m.
· Olin and the Moon, 6:15 p.m.
· 'Tweener': Piers Lamb (Wood River Valley) 7:40 p.m.
· The Gourds, 8:30 p.m.
Wood River Valley natives Olin & the Moon will play the 32nd Northern Rockies Folk Festival on Saturday, Aug. 1. Photo by
