I spoke with Wintergrass director Patrice O'Neill earlier today. And she requested that I post this letter responding to comments about the festival's relationship with Hotel Murano. So here it is, bluegrass fans:

In 1993 a quartet of unlikely people got together at the Ruston Inn and hatched a plan to present a bluegrass festival in the dead of winter in the middle of downtown Tacoma. At the time, it was not safe to walk down 15th Ave. the History and Art Museums did not exist, the UW wasn’t even a gleam in anyone’s eye and the Sheraton Hotel had a 3% occupancy rate at the end of February. There were also no other independently produced indoor bluegrass festivals anywhere. We made a phone call, did a little tour and promised that we could fill not only the hotel, but the streets of Tacoma with the sounds of music and joy. Were it not for the audacious and even playful attitude of the staff at the then Sheraton Hotel, Wintergrass would have been laughed right out of the building.

But sixteen years and many banjos later, we look back with nothing but the greatest affection, respect and love for the hotel that took a chance on us and the city that slowly allowed us to occupy a place in their heart.

As the story of this difficult decision has emerged many voices were added to the chorus shouting advice and casting aspersions. It is important to those of us who have worked to create and sustain Wintergrass, that our farewell to Tacoma not be viewed as a feud, but rather as what it has been – a painfully difficult, very emotional decision to choose between two excellent options for the future of our event.

=> Read more!

Wintergrass is leaving Tacoma.

The Wintergrass board of directors’ voted to uproot the popular bluegrass festival and move to Hyatt Regency Bellevue in 2010 after a 16-year run in Tacoma, festival directors said today.

“I wish it was another way,” Wintergrass director Patrice O’Neill said Tuesday afternoon, audibly choked up as she prepared to break the news to management at Hotel Murano, which has served as ground zero for the event.

“Ultimately, the decision had to be made on what was best for the long-term health of the festival. And that was a tough, tough call,” she said.

=> Read more!

Cheryl Tucker just posted a response to our recent Wintergrass editorial from Hotel Murano's Portland ownership over on the Inside the Editorial Page blog. I thought a few of you might be interested in reading excerpts here, too. I was most interested in what Provenance Hotels president Howard Jacobs wrote in the last paragraph of the letter:

Let’s focus on the real issue. The Wintergrass Festival desires the lowest possible hotel rates and is shopping the competition in Bellevue and other cities to force us to hold their festival at the Murano at rates and conditions which are economically unsustainable. For years, we have had a close working relationship with this group and would hope to be able to continue that relationship. For more than 10 years, we have even created leased office space for their leadership in our hotel, which they use year-round. While we have upgraded the facility to provide their guests with top-notch amenities and service, they would like to pay less in real dollars than they were paying during the pre-renovation days. That is something that we cannot do and still remain in business. The Hotel Murano, The City of Tacoma and other constituencies have bent over backwards to meet the demands of Wintergrass, even as those demands change and grow by the hour. It’s time for the editorial board of the Tacoma News Tribune to use its power of persuasion on Wintergrass to support the community that has in turn supported them over decades, instead of asking the City, the Murano and others to lose money for the “privilege” of having them in Tacoma. It’s a privilege we can’t afford.

Read the entire letter here. And tell me what you think in the comments section.

Wintergrass won't make an announcement about whether the popular bluegrass festival is staying in Tacoma or moving to Bellevue until tomorrow at the soonest, according to director Patrice O'Neill.

The City of Tacoma, Tacoma Regional Convention & Visitor Bureau and other entities offered concessions to woo Wintergrass back to Tacoma earlier this week. But the final hitch appears to be the festival's contract with Hotel Murano, where the Wintergrass office is located and a bulk of musical activity takes place in February.

Wintergrass organizers gave Hotel Murano until 5 p.m. today to revise the contract extension it had submitted to them earlier this week. And the Murano has been working with festival co-director Stephen Ruffo today to come up with a contract that "is a detailed and satisfactory response to the things that are most troubling to Wintergrass fans," according to an e-mail sent a short while ago.

Many Wintergrass attendees have been put off by a less jam-friendly atmosphere since Hotel Murano (formerly the Sheraton Tacoma Hotel) opened in 2008. Organizers feel the art-filled Murano's icy reception to instrumental jam sessions - an essential part of the festival for many - is partly to blame for a 25 percent drop in attendance at this year's festival.

"I am pushing as hard as I can to get this done by tomorrow," O'Neill wrote by e-mail. "Otherwise it will be Monday. Things are looking pretty good for Tacoma right now, but that's about as much as I can say."

South Sound bluegrass fans anxiously await news about whether Wintergrass will remain in Tacoma or move to Bellevue in 2010. (Click here to read the last story I wrote on the issue if you're not up to speed.) And the ball is now officially in Hotel Murano’s court, according to an e-mail festival director Patrice O’Neill sent earlier tonight.

O’Neill and co-director Stephen Ruffo conducted a conference call with Wintergrass board members today. They determined that Wintergrass' fate rested on contract negotiations with Hotel Murano, she said.

Excerpts from O’Neill’s e-mail:

What will happen is this. We are giving the Murano until 5 p.m. on Thursday to revise the standard contract they just sent to us. This contract does not address the most critical issues to us. The contract from the Hyatt [in Bellevue] does. Our board recognizes that there are huge risks inherent in a decision either way. …

At this point, it looks like the whole ball of wax rests on whether or not the Murano can give us a satisfactory contract. That in and of itself is not satisfactory to me. I love what the city of Tacoma has done in the last few days. I am touched beyond belief and impressed and very willing to give Tacoma another shot.

Much of the friction between the hotel and Wintergrass since 2008 has stemmed from restrictions to instrumental jam sessions in the hotel lobby and other areas, a main attraction to the festival for many regulars.

Murano general manager Mark Van Cooney admitted that jamming was a point of contention. But during a recent interview with News Tribune staffer Ian Demsky he said the hotel had made concessions by allowing 24/7 jamming in the hotel ballroom and in the lobby until 2 a.m. The hotel had received complaints from some festival attendees about the late night noise, he said.

A closed door meeting has been set for Monday aimed at keeping Tacoma’s Wintergrass festival from moving to Bellevue. The meeting is expected to focus on rising hotel rates, parking and other issues that have organizers of the popular bluegrass festival eying a move to Hyatt Regency Bellevue in 2010.

“The city wants to have an opportunity to respond to the offer that they’ve been presented by the Hyatt,” said Tacoma Arts Administrator Amy McBride, who called the meeting. “So we’re doing everything in our power to come up with a package that will entice them to stay here.

McBride did not elaborate on what the city and other entities were prepared to offer Wintergrass. But Wintergrass director Patrice O’Neill anticipated that Hotel Murano and other local hotels would offer significantly reduced rates for Wintergrass patrons, and that the Tacoma Dome might offer free parking.

Hotel Murano is ground zero for Wintergrass activity. “The Hotel Murano has really kicked into high gear and is working pretty hard with Amy and a number of other people to make it possible for us to stay,” O’Neill said.

Among those O’Neill expected to meet with on Monday were Tacoma’s community and economic development director Ryan Petty, Tacoma Regional Convention & Visitor Bureau president Tammy Blount and Tacoma’s public assembly facilities director Mike Combs.

“We want people at the table who can make decisions (and) present the offer with credibility,” McBride said.

“In my opinion they’re an extremely important Tacoma event,” she said. “I think for a town that bills itself on the arts, it would be a real black eye to lose them. They do great work and they need to be recognized for that.”

Apparently, lots of Tacomans agree. O’Neill said festival organizers have been deluged with feedback from patrons insisting that Wintergrass stay in Tacoma, where it has been for the past 16 years. (You can add your two cents here.)

“It’s been honestly quite surprising hearing people be so passionate about Wintergrass staying in Tacoma,” O’Neill said. “It’s nice. It’s very nice to hear. So I think the efforts that the Murano and the city are making and the voices of (fans) are making this a lot harder than it was already.

“At this point I couldn’t tell you what we’re going to decide,” she added. “I don’t think we know.”

In case you missed the Wintergrass story I wrote with fellow staffer Ian Demsky for today's paper, festival organizers are considering moving to Bellevue for 2010. Click here to get the skinny.

Wintergrass co-director Patrice O'Neill followed up with an e-mailed response to this line from the story: City Manager Eric Anderson told the Council members at Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting that Tacoma was fighting hard to keep festival and had offered organizers “a small sum of money” to stay."

O'Neill writes, "Just so you know, we have not ever spoken to Eric Anderson and this is the first we've heard about a small sum of money being offered to us. No such thing. We would love to hear directly and officially from anyone at the city but have not. There has been no small sum of money offered to us for anything."

Despite a couple of sound problems, was that Bee Eaters performances at the Hotel Murano ballroom with Darol Anger and Paul from Big Trio amazing or what? With some Beatles done bluegrass style to boot. FYI, I learned that a bee eater is apparently an African bird, in contrast to the funnier image you may have had of some knucklehead shoving bees in his mouth. Hence the bird on the cover of the Boston group's self-titled debut album.

Make sure you go back and check out the interview clip from the other day if you haven't. And I'm working on getting the OK to post a couple more performance clips, so stay tuned and I'll hopefully have something later today.

Darrell Scott is a great interview, with answers as thoughtful and engaging as some of his lyrics. And since I had only a small space to work with for my story on Wintergrass in today's paper, I thought I'd post a few clips from out conversation online, including this one with Darrell talking about the electric vibe that comes with playing Urban Grace Church.

After a long day yesterday, I'm getting a late start at the festival today. But Darrell's comments give me more incentive to get there in time for Mike Marshall & Choro Famoso, playing at the church at 4:15 p.m.

Alright, here’s where I give you two compelling reasons to go see the Boston-based Bee Eaters today at Wintergrass, namely these breathtaking tracks the quartet played for a few lucky folks behind the scenes at Hotel Murano this afternoon.

The Bee Eaters play "The Tree Climber"

The Bee Eaters play "Stoneground"

After you give those two killer cuts a listen, you’ll probably wonder about the album they came from (which with Darol Anger, by the way), their influences, how they met and all that good stuff. And it’s all covered if you click this sentence to hear an interview clip with banjo player Wes Corbett (first male voice), fiddler Tashina Clarridge (the female voice), her brother, Tristan (second male voice) and hammer dulcimer player, Simon Chrisman. They play at 7:30 p.m. today at the Hotel Murano Ballroom.

Tashina Clarridge, Wes Corbett, Simon Chrisman and Tristan Clarridge, a.k.a. The Bee Eaters, play the Hotel Murano ballroom Saturday (Feb. 21) at 7:30 p.m. By all means, check 'em out.
ERNEST JASMIN

I'm holed away in a room at Hotel Murano working on my first batch of uploads for Wintergrass. And being one of three people who got to catch singer-songwriter Darrell Scott deliver an intimate, acoustic performance? Yeah, this is the part of the job I really love.

With the artist's permission, I'm willing to share, of course. Click the links below to hear a couple of songs Scott said he'll likely perform tonight, or just go check the guy out at 8:30 p.m. tonight at the Hotel Murano Pavilion or 10:45 p.m. at Urban Grace Church. (The latter is the venue he said keeps him coming back, by the way.) I'll have some interview clips with one of Nashville's underrated songwriters later.

Darrell Scott singing "Crooked Road"

Darrell does "River Take Me"

The 16th annual Wintergrass festival kicked off Thursday night at the Hotel Murano Pavilion, where I caught great performances by Seattle’s Tallboys, Canada’s Widow Maker and mandolin master Mike Marshall’s latest project, Big Trio (above with Marshall in the maroon shirt with Alex Hargreaves on fiddle, upright bass player Paul Kowert not shown.) I had my Microtrack with me, and the plan was to record a few "bootleg" clips throughout the festival to either show you what you missed or help you figure out who to catch next. But technical difficulties (read: user error) threw a monkeywrench in my plan for night one, and all I got were really muffled clips with a lot of hissing, which really wouldn't do the performances any justice. All three bands I caught were great, but the lack of clips is especially a bummer after Big Trio's phenomenal, gypsy jazz oriented set. But I plan on picking up the new CD today, and I've got another chance to record when Trio comes back to the Pavilion at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Plus, Marshall will also be gigging with Brazil's Danilo Brito & Choro Famoso. Check here or The News Tribune for full schedule. And I figured out how I screwed up the settings on my field recorder, so check back here throughout the day for interview and song clips, plus a few photos.
ERNEST JASMIN