Music festivals of various genres will be jamming around island this weekend

July 23, 2019 1:30 am
Janie Cribbs and the T.Rust Band, a local favorite, will perform at the Second Annual Bluesberry Festival on July 27. Photo by HLM/Mindful Eyes
Janie Cribbs and the T.Rust Band, a local favorite, will perform at the Second Annual Bluesberry Festival on July 27. Photo by HLM/Mindful Eyes

South Whidbey will be center stage for three music festivals next weekend — Whidbey Island Music Festival, Freeland’s Bluesberry Festival and Whidbey Island Guitar Festival in Langley. From bluegrass to Baroque, sitar to southern rock, jazz to classical, there’s a sound bound to please every musical palate.

Whidbey Island Music Festival:A perenneal favorite for fans of classical music, this year’s performancers from July 26-Aug. 4 take listeners to the opera and the concert halls of Europe. Among compositions chosen; Josef Haydn’s masterful string quartets, Schubert’s cello quintet in C major and Handel’s beloved “Piangero la sorte mia.” Divas Sherezade Panthaki, Amanda Forythe and Danielle Sampson will sing songs, arias, opera scenes and motets by Mozart, Dowland, Haydn and Handel. Single advance tickets $22, $25 at door, $10 students.

The Bluesberry Festivalfeatures five bands from 11:30 a.m to 8:30 p.m., Saturday, July 27. LeRoy Bell & His Only Friends, the band that wowed the outdoor dancing crowd last year, returns as headliners along with two other Seattle bands, Breaks and Swells, and the Stacy Jones Band that received top honors from the Washington State Blues Society annual awards last year. Local favorites, Janie Cribbs and T. Rust Band and Hot Club of Troy complete the line-up.

The show is a fundraiser for South Whidbey Commons Cafe and Books, a popular gathering spot in Langley that teaches culinary and barista skills to youth. Tickets $40 in advance; $50 at the show; 12 and under are free with an adult.

The show takes place just off Highway 525 on Mutiny Bay Blues blueberry farm. Parking is on-site and available off Bush Point Road. Plump juicy organic blueberries grow on the family farm’s 20 acres.

Three food vendors will be on site serving lobster rolls, gourmet french fries, hotdogs and pulled pork sandwiches, said organizer Greg Coe. Beer and wine will be sold by the Freeland Chamber of Commerce. The festival is also adjacent to Mutiny Bay Distillery, which will be open for tastings. Parking available from Bush Point Road entrance only.

Whidbey Island Guitar Festival brings a world of sound and sounds of the world through a diverse lineup of performers.

Classical guitarist Andre Feriante once again put the word out to his orbit of talented musicians about a chance to play on a rocky speck of the Pacific Northwest that he’s called home the past three years. Musicians play solo acts during the weekend festival, July 27 and 28 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., in the spacious, flowing Comforts of Whidbey wine-tasting venue.

Located on Langley’s View Road, farm critters, distant mountains and nearby water can be seen from the wraparound deck. Tickets are $25 per day or $40 for both days. This is the fifth gathering of guitarists that Feriante, born in Italy and trained by the legendary Andres Segovia, has staged in Leavenworth, Seattle and South Whidbey.

He’s currently raising money to help cover costs of staging the annual show through an Indiegogo fundraising page.

Playing Baroque guitar and lute, Elizabeth Brown summons lyrical, poetic and soothing sounds from her instruments. She’s premiered new work with the Seattle Symphony and performed in numerous operas. Brown is slated to play in Saturday’s lineup along with Feriante, Milo Petersen on jazz guitar and Eric Fridrich, Chicago blues player on acoustic and electric guitars. Closing out Saturday’s show is Sharanjeet Singh Mand, an internationally recognized artist of the sitar.

Danny Godinez is among Sunday’s musician lineup, along with Feriante and Tonedevil Bros on harp guitar and mandolin. Godinez has toured throughout the United States and Europe and performed with Carlos Santana and other bands.

Also playing in solo acts Sunday will be three Whidbey favorites — Troy Chapman and Keith Bowers playing jazz and gypsy jazz and Quinn Fitzpatrick playing acoustic guitar.

“The beautiful thing is all of these artists have a story of how the guitar chose them and how the guitar has taken them to many places and audiences,” Feriante said.

“The goal is to bring people together that might not normally attend the same show. Lovers of jazz, classical, blues, gypsy jazz, harp guitar, flamenco, acoustic finger style, modern electric will hear what they know and be surprised by what they’ve never heard.”