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.

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.”

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

Wintergrass kicks off Thursday (Feb. 19), and the Grammy-nominated SteelDrivers are expected to generate a big buzz as they showcase their soulful “rhythm & bluegrass” during four sets Friday and Saturday nights. (Show times are listed below the photo.)

The quintet is made up of Nashville vets Chris Stapleton (lead vocals, guitar), Mike Henderson (mandolin, vocals), Richard Bailey (banjo), Tammy Rogers (fiddle, vocals) and Mike Fleming (bass, vocals), an outfit that has collectively written, toured and recorded for the likes of George Jones, Waylon Jennings, the Dixie Chicks, Reba McIntire and Al Green, just to name a few. Now they’re rising stars themselves, and I caught up with Fleming to get the skinny on his crew.

Click this link to hear what he had to say, along with clips from three tracks from the band's self-titled debut, “Blue Side of the Mountain,” “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey” and “Heaven Sent.”

Fresh from a Grammy nomination for their song "Blue Side of the Mountain," the SteelDrivers are ready to thrill the bluegrass loving masses at Wintergrass. The band is scheduled to perform 7:15 p.m. Friday at the Hotel Murano Pavilion, 9:15 p.m. Friday at the Rialto Theater, 7:15 p.m. Saturday at Urban Grace Church and again 10:40 p.m. Saturday at the Hotel Murano Pavilion. Check the Wintergrass site for the latest scheduling and ticket info.
DAVID MCCLISTER

Here's some good news and bad news about next month's Wintergrass festival. As some of you may have already heard, the Hotel Murano lobby won't be available for those impromptu jam sessions that the festival's faithful love so much thanks, I'm told, to a handful of unruly knuckleheads last year. But festival co-director Patrice O'Neill tells me that a jam area will be set up in the hotel's pavilion area. And she also just informed me that the theater at Tacoma's Museum of Glass will be open for jamming, too, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 21.

For more festival updates, ticket info and a schedule of this year's performers, check the Wintergrass site here.

Of all the genres I cover I can’t say that bluegrass is my strongest suit, even if do I hail from the Bluegrass State. So every year I learn a bunch from the organizers of Tacoma’s Wintergrass festival, which will take place from Feb. 19 to 22 at Hotel Murano and surrounding venues in 2009.

=> Read more!

Cripes, y’all! I am seriously worn out after bouncing back and forth between all the big musical happenings in T-town over the weekend. First, I got to hang out with the Ebony Hillbillies and discover some cool bluegrass acts I hadn’t checked out before – folks like Colorado’s Spring Creek and Seattle’s Loose Digits – over at Wintergrass.

Then for reasons unrelated, I didn’t get any shuteye until around 5 a.m. So I woke up pretty late, cranky and barely in time for Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars show at the Pantages Theater, which was actually just what I needed to lift my spirits. The nine-piece outfit’s joy was so palpable and infectious during a two-hour set that featured most of the rump shaking African reggae numbers from debut album, “Living Like a Refugee,” along with new material that bandleader Reuben Koroma said his band would soon record for a follow up disc.

“African music is a therapy,” Koroma said at one point, speaking with a rich Krio accent. “It makes you shake all your limbs – shake your trunk.”

And there was plenty of trunk shakin’ happenin', indeed. Clusters of dancers grew in the aisles as the show went on. And at Koroma’s beckoning nearly everyone -- young, old, hippie, yuppie -- got on their feet and wiggled it a bit for “Soda Soap,” a song many must have recognize from the documentary that bears the band’s name.

Of course, the most captivating footwork took place on stage with vocalist-percussionist Alhaji Jeffrey Kamara, aka Black Nature, being the biggest hit. He took center stage several times for a few bars of dancehall-style chant which he’d punctuate with an arsenal of sick moves. The guy would bounce, wobble and twitch around like a boneless puppet. He’d twirl with his eyes closed and a dreamy expression on his face, seemingly blessed by some sixth sense that barely him from crashing into band mates or his set of congo drums. Or he’d theatrically fall only to bounce right back up without missing a beat; think of those guys who fight with drunken monkey style in one of those old kung fu flicks. That guy was a gas.

SLRA put on the best show I’ve seen so far this year. And I seriously want to kick myself for not taking my camera, if only to show you all Koroma’s flamboyant getups. The first looked kind of like a shiny, pink space suit with a gaudy, metallic-looking baseball cap. Seriously, George Clinton might have told the guy to tone it down a notch. Then I spied Koroma dressed in street clothes and sneaking off tot he tour bus, which was parked on Broadway, during intermission. And when he came back on stage he was wearing an only slightly more subdued white ensemble with blue sequins and turban.

I was bummed that I didn't have enough time to squeeze in any more Wintergrass before I capped Sunday evening off by dropping in on Travis Tritt at the Emerald Queen Casino. The country superstar kicked off a rockin’ set with “Drive In Your Country,” his hips swiveling like a twangier version of Elvis. And it was soon clear he planned to give fans their money's worth when he took a moment to make fun of performers who play short sets and skimp on their biggest hits.

“You think to yourself as you’re drivin’ home, if I’d just stayed at the house and listened to the CD,” he said, drawing a few laughs. “Well, here’s the good news. That’s not gonna happen tonight, I promise.”

He wasn't lyin' about an epic set that last more than two hours and was chock full of such crowd pleasing hits as “I’m Gonna Be Somebody,” “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’,” and “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)”and the Eagles’ “Take It Easy.” The soulful singer performed a lot of the songs all by his lonesome during an extended solo acoustic set that included “Foolish Pride,” “Where Corn Don’t Grow,” “Where Corn Don’t Grow” and fiery instrumental “Pickin’ at It.”

I got to hang out with a few of those Ebony Hillbillies today at Wintergrass. So I thought I'd post a couple of clips.

I'd done a bit of research since last night's Black and Bluegrass performance. And I discovered that bassist Bill Salter had made quite a name for himself playing other genres of music. The guy's got two Grammys. And ever heard of a little song called "Where Is the Love?" You know, as in Roberta Flack? Maybe Bill Withers' hit "Just the Two of Us?" Well, Salter and a partner wrote those. And as I walked to sound check with him, he told me a little bit more about his background and how he hooked up with the Hillbillies last summer.

Click here to listen.

Then I caught up with group founder Rique Prince, who talked about what playing their first Wintergrass meant to his band.

Here's what he had to say.