William Florian

Dolly Parton pushed Jenn Grinels and Merideth Kaye Clark to make Siren Songs “social-media official.” The two singers, songwriters and longtime friends had just formed their folk duo in Portland, and in December posted a rehearsal video of their performance of Parton’s classic “Jolene” to Instagram. A friend mentioned Netflix and Parton’s online “Jolene” challenge, which allowed people to post their own video performances of the song with the hashtag #jolenechallenge.

“We added a ‘Jolene’ hashtag, and days later I got a call from Jenn, and she said, ‘Have you checked your email? Have you checked your email?’” Clark said. “And I was like, ‘No, what’s happening?’ They emailed Jenn I think, not me — I saw the email later. The email said, ‘Congratulations, Siren Songs, Netflix and Dolly Parton LOVE’ — capital L-O-V-E — ‘your version of “Jolene” as part of the “Jolene” challenge.’”

As huge fans of Parton, Grinels and Clark were thrilled. But Parton’s team needed a way to share the band with fans.

“They were like, ‘Dolly is going to share it on her channels, so you might want to get a website, you might want to get your own Instagram,’” Grinels said. “Because I think it was originally posted on just my Instagram. So they were like, ‘Get a Siren Songs Instagram, get a Siren Songs Twitter,’ like all the things, a Facebook page. We didn’t have any of that yet because we had just started it.”

A little less than a year later, Siren Songs is figuring out how to be a new band with a debut album in the midst of COVID-19. Clark and Grinels will play their first show for a live audience since February at the Tower Theatre on Saturday as part of the theater’s Americana Marathon, which will also feature shows from fellow Portlanders The Junebugs on Friday and William Florian of the New Christy Minstrels on Sunday.

(The Junebugs and Siren Songs both start at 7:30 p.m. and tickets cost $22 plus a $3 theater conservation fee. Florian’s show costs $27 plus the $3 fee and begins at 7 p.m. Visit towertheatre.org for tickets and show information, including COVID protocol.)

Clark last performed at the Tower in 2018 as part of her “Blue” tour, in which she performed Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” album in its entirety.

“I was really excited when the Tower contacted us and asked us if we would be game to come back,” Clark said. “… We were excited, and then we were like, ‘OK, now before we say yes, let’s talk about safety.’ What was very reassuring is that before we even had a chance to ask the questions, they were there with their precautions, a laundry list of things that the Tower Theatre is doing to ensure that their audience is safe and that we’re safe.”

While Clark has focused her career mainly in musical theater, with roles in “Wicked” and “Oliver!” to her name, Grinels went the troubadour route and has spent the last decade touring with the likes of 10,000 Maniacs and Marc Broussard. The two have known each other and collaborated on music for decades, they said, and when Grinels recently moved from Nashville to Portland, where Clark is based, they reconnected.

“Last fall this project came together in this really serendipitous, magical way,” Clark said. “We recorded a debut album that was going to have a consequential release tour, and all that was canceled. However, we still released the album. We did a very successful Kickstarter campaign, garnered a lot of support and have made it through the summer keeping writing and creating and doing what online concerts we have. And it seems like of all of my projects that have really, the bottom has dropped out, this one is just singing along and is still so special. Jenn and I keep coming together and making things, and things seem to keep happening.”

The self-titled album, released in May, features an intimate collection of live in-studio songs, including three Grinels originals. One of those songs, “100,” has been in the duo’s repertoire almost since they met, Grinels said.

“I think that’s maybe the second song I ever wrote,” she said. “That’s how long it’s been around, but I think because it was the second song, I was somewhat self-conscious of it in a way and it’s evolved a lot.”

The lead track, Grinels’ “Goodnight Sun, Hello Moon,” was taken from a musical Grinels was working on before the pandemic hit. The musical is based on the true story of a young woman named Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, who posed as a man and fought during the Civil War.

“(It) was never-discovered … until her family published her letters home about 20 years ago,” Grinels said. “The musical is based on those letters, and there’s one scene where I had to write a lullaby. … Meredith was following along with the process and heard the song and loved it, and I loved the song. And then when this project came along, we thought, ‘Oh, this song fits perfectly in our Siren Songs set,’ so we took it.”

Along with “Jolene,” the album features other timely covers, including John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and, in another nod to their musical-theater roots, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Edelweiss.”

The duo is looking forward to playing the Tower, where they will be able to re-create the intimacy of their album and collaboration. They have three new songs they plan to introduce, and recently released a collaboration with Alfred Howard, the single “Close My Eyes to See.”

“We are really busy with creating stuff, but it’s also because we have a lot of time sitting at home,” Grinels said. “I think we are poising ourselves for a renaissance.”

Roots recap

Another Bend Roots Revival is in the books. This year, the local-centric festival went online, with three days’ and seven stages’ worth of music broadcast through YouTube at bendroots.net.

The five hosting venues were open for limited-capacity audiences, but I preferred to stream from the comfort of my couch. (Hey, it’s a pandemic, and I’m an introvert.) I may not have caught as much of the festival as I have in past years, but I still have a few recommendations.

Up-and-coming singer-songwriter Olivia Knox played her third Roots in a row Friday (see last week’s column for an interview with her). She delivered a strong set with her new band, and it was easy to hear why she’s been getting so much attention both locally and nationally, including a recent appearance on the “Today” show.

The Woodsmen only popped up on my radar this year. The rootsy group, led by singer-songwriter Adam Wood and featuring Larry and His Flask and Guardian of the Underdog’s Jeshua Marshall, brought some new twists to a well-worn sound, infusing world-weary songs with jazz and rock elements.

This was in part thanks to guest guitarist Seth Acquorolo, also of Guardian of the Underdog, and fast becoming one of my favorite axe-slingers on the scene. His playing with both The Woodsmen and Guardian (on Saturday) was both muscular and adventurous. He’s great at finding the less-trodden melodic path and elevated both bands with his tasteful lead lines.

Finally, I caught a chunk of the Jess Ryan Band, also on Saturday. The group, reunited with Andrew Lyons on saxophone, continues to expand on its chemistry together, while Ryan remains as evocative a frontwoman as ever.

For those who missed it, the streams are still available on YouTube. Visit bendroots.net and catch up.