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Snoqualmie Valley Record • July 20, 2011 • 15
Tunes for the town
The opening act on the main stage is North Bend’s own Jessica Oliver. The acoustic, folk and pop performer is a 2007 Mount Si High School graduate. She plays at 1 p.m. You can hear her songs and watch videos online on YouTube. Oliver, who attends Northwest University, has added piano playing to her routine. “I like singing soulful stuff,” such as Adele and Annie Lennox. She has played in a Christian hip-hop outfit and is figuring out how to translate her work to a solo act. She also plays guitar. “I really hope to captivate my audience,” Oliver said. “I let them enjoy what they’re hearing.”
Down the Road Down the Road is a trio of bluegrass and American roots music musicians from North Bend and Snoqualmie. With husband and wife duo Cathi and Gary Davidson on guitars and vocals and John Tubbs on mandolin and vocals, the trio blends signature duet and trio harmony singing, a little yodeling, and clean, tasteful guitarmandolin interplay to add a fresh, honest, straight-ahead voice to the world of old-time country, bluegrass, and folk music. They play at 2:30 p.m. on the main stage.
Kelly Eisenhour Jazz vocalist and North Bend resident Kelly Eisenhour has been a regular headliner at North Bend’s Boxley’s Place since it opened in 2009. She performed in Las Vegas as a professional singer for many years. She has recorded three jazz albums, the latest reaching number 14 on the national radio jazz charts in 2007. She made the move to a full-time faculty position as the choral director at Green River Community College. Her signature group at the college is
Appearing on the main stage at 4:15 p.m., bluesman and harmonica player Paul Green’s professional career began in New Jersey in 1968. He performed with other Jersey musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, and Little Steven Van Zandt. Moving to Oakland in 1975, Paul became a member of the house band at a popular blues spot, Eli’s Mile High Club, performing there weekly and recording two albums. From the Bay area, Green relocated to Chicago where he continued to “cool himself” in the blues. He performed in legendary blues clubs, shared the stage with major names, and came to the Seattle area in 1991. In 2008, he was voted into the Washington Blues Society Hall of Fame. Green leads his own hardhitting Chicago-style electric blues quartet, Straight Shot, and is one-half of the award-win-
Ricky Venture Revue The Ricky Venture Revue, a.k.a. RVR, plays variety dance music with the full Vegas sound and lighting experience. The group serves up danceable hits from the 60s through today, recreating the days of youth with everything from the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison to Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. You can listen to RVR songs on YouTube and at 5:45 p.m. at the main stage.
Dorian Blu Issaquah-based band Dorian Blu plays classic and modern rock with an intriguing mix of blues, jazz, hard rock and epic tunes. They traverse from classic rock like The Doors or The Knack to blues and jazzy numbers like Van Morrison, to epic Pink Floyd numbers—think “Shine on, Crazy Diamond.” The band has played at the block party, The Festival at Mount Si and other Eastside venues. They hit the main stage at 6:45 p.m.
Shelly and the Curves Headlining act Shelly and the Curves will get the main stage audience moving at 8 p.m. The group is a cover band that’s all about audience response. “We’re pretty much entertainment,” said bandleader Bob Tomberg. When the band formed, Bob and headliner (and wife) Shelly Tomberg did some serious research to find out what their sound should be. “People have ‘their’ music,” Bob explained—the sounds of their teen and early adult years that form the basis of their musical tastes. “That’s where you identify yourself.” For his generation, that’s the music of the late 1960s and early 1970s. “As your audience gets younger, you have to go up.” For today’s adults, that means the 1990s were their formative musical years. Bob and Shelly researched the top songs of every year between the 60s and 90s, and
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picked their favorites from each year. That means their selection runs the gamut from Alicia Keys to ZZ Top. The song that defines Bob’s era is, for him, The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues.” “I was in college when The Doors came out. It conjures college, drinking beer, having a great time, doing all that you do in college,” he said. Bandmembers are scattered between Kent and North
MT. SI
Seattle. Bob clarifies that the ladies are “The Curves.” The men in the band, well, they’re the band. Their hard rock-to-soul sounds usually get people dancing. If they just politely applaud or ignore the band, “Shelly doesn’t allow that,” Bob said. “She’s really empathetic with the audience. If they’re not having fun, she’s going to find a way to make them have fun.”
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Courtesy photos
Clockwise from top left, Jessica Oliver, Down the Road and Shelly and the Curves.
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Jessica Oliver
Paul Green
ning acoustic blues duo Cooke ‘n’ Green.
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Local music fans need look no further than North Bend Way to find two different stages playing host to a bevy of local bands, singers and dance acts. Regional rock outfits, jazz groups, cover bands and singer-songwriters from the Snoqualmie Valley will appear on the Main Stage, on Main Street across from Cook Real Estate, while local talent also appears on the Community Stage, located on Bendigo Boulevard.
Green River Jazz Voices. “I feel very blessed to be able to do what I love and be a positive influence for students,” she said. “It’s my wish that my performance of fun and lively jazz standards and blues at the block party will add a nice atmosphere to people’s experience,” she said. “I’d love to see people singing along, moving their bodies feeling the groove, and lots of smiling going on as we all enjoy the day.” Eisenhour plays with the Danny Kolke Trio at 3:30 p.m.
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Rock around the block in downtown blast