Rooting around for new music at Roots

Published 7:29 am Thursday, October 4, 2018

After three years, I’ve hit on a pretty solid game-plan for covering the massive Bend Roots Revival.

Well, maybe not “solid” so much as “insane.” In a nutshell: Land at Roots around noon-ish Saturday and start running. With more than 115 acts on seven stages in three days, there’s no possible way one person could listen to them all. But I try my best, taking in a few songs here, a few more over there, some more in the middle and everywhere else in between. I usually make a day of Saturday and then try to pop in and out Friday and Sunday.

That routine started to wear thin at this year’s festival, which took place Sept. 28 through 30 at the Deschutes Brewery warehouse grounds — the fifth to be held there, and 11th overall. General event manager Samantha Harber said the festival raised just more than $25,000, which as always will benefit Rise Up International’s music and arts education programs in Bend-La Pine schools.

“I felt like we had the most foot traffic that we’ve ever had, which is awesome,” Harber said

But back to the music. After doing my usual headless-chicken dance for a good five hours Saturday, I decided to slow down and actually take in a few full sets.

I was glad I did — I may have only seen two more bands that day, but those two sets were among the highlights of my weekend. That includes AM Clouds, one of my favorite local bands (as anyone who reads my local music coverage regularly has probably picked up on). The muscular, power-popping rock quartet celebrated the one-year anniversary of its first-ever performance (at last year’s Roots) with a sneak peak at its upcoming debut album.

But Roots is all about finding new music, and as usual, I found plenty. Here’s this year’s top-five “finds,” in no particular order (except for possibly the No. 1 slot):

5. The Stirlings: Bend’s musical ecosystem seems to support one classic, Zep-inspired band at a time. Last year it was the now-defunct Streetlight Moon; this year it’s The Stirlings, a four-piece whose bluesy howling and growling on the Bucha Buena Stage would surely have made Page and Plant proud.

4. The Gentle Earth: Singer-songwriter Victor Johnson, also the host of Strictly Organic’s Thursday open mic nights, teamed up with bassist Jamie Morris earlier this summer. The duo delivered solid and, at times, surprisingly rocking takes (Johnson, a prog rock fan, switched between electric and acoustic) on heartfelt originals such as “I’m a Lost Storyteller” and “Foster Avenue” on the 4 Peaks Stage.

3. Oregon Fryer: I’ve seen this band’s name around town before, but its set on the BIGS Stage was the first time I’ve heard them. I think the name threw me off. Moral of the story: Don’t judge a band by its name. This rollicking five-piece’s blend of barroom honky-tonk, soul and old-school R&B was perhaps the most joyful music played at Roots on Saturday.

2. Travis Ehrenstrom Band: The other full set I witnessed Saturday, on the Black Butte Porter Stage, and well worth it. The six-piece features one of the tightest rhythm sections I’ve heard in Bend (that’s bassist and Roots co-founder Patrick Pearsall and drummer Kyle Pickard), used to great effect on Ehrenstrom’s winding, rocking originals. Lots of jamming, to be sure, but Ehrenstrom’s heady arrangements, bordering on fusion at times, were the main draw.

1. Maxwell Friedman Group: I went to Roots on Friday specifically to see Friedman and his quartet, and again, the trip was well worth it. The teenage Friedman continues to impress with his organ and piano chops — otherworldly is the only word that comes to mind. And he’s assembled the other tightest rhythm section I’ve heard in Bend to back him up. Dare I say it, this is the best music being made in Central Oregon right now.

— Reporter: 541-617-7814, bmcelhiney@bendbulletin.com