YACHATS — If you like your bluegrass spiced with swing, ragtime, jazz and Americana music, the Yachats Commons is the place to be for a special concert Sunday, Aug. 7.
Damn Tall Buildings, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based trio, headlines the evening, which starts at 6 p.m. with special guests Cary Novotny and Brongaene Griffin, a Portland-based duo.
“Bluegrass at heart, but pulling from … influences including swing, ragtime, jazz and … contemporary perspective in the songwriting,” Damn Tall Buildings offers “virtually unmatched energy and enthusiasm,” according to Savingcountrymusic.com.
Accompanying their own vocals on banjo, fiddle, guitar and bass, Damn Tall Buildings coined the term “guerrilla roots” to describe its sound, which The Boston Globe summarized as “Think of The Carter family for the millennial generation … Old Crow Medicine Show meets Flatt & Scruggs, with a sprinkle of Johnny Cash.”
On stage first will be Bronnie Griffin and Cary Novotny, who play a mix of Irish traditional and American roots music. Griffin spent over 10 years in Ireland as a street entertainer, and Novotny studied classic guitar in Kentucky, where he was also influenced by country, folk and bluegrass.
Tickets are $20 ($22.69 with service fee) at Brown Paper Tickets, $25 at the door. Food, beverages, beer and wine will be available for purchase. Doors open at 5 p.m.
“It’ll be a party; we want the community to have a great time,” said Stephen Farish, a board member of Polly Plumb Productions, sponsor of the concert. Polly Plumb is the local non-profit that sponsors cultural events in Yachats like the November Yachats Celtic Music Festival.
“I wanted to bring summer music to the community,” said Farish, who is music director of the Celtic Festival.
Through the Celtic Festival, Farish deals with musical agents around the country who represent many different musical genres. One of these reached out to him saying Damn Tall Buildings would be in the area, so Farish conducted an online audition. “I liked what I heard; I thought yeah, these folks would be fun … we need to start doing more concerts.
“I think we have a following out there for bluegrass and Americana music,” Farish said. “When I saw that this band was coming through the area, I said ‘Let’s do it.’”
