This flower does the pickin’
The staff and volunteers at the Lincoln City Cultural Center have been showing plenty of stamina this year as they jump the hurdles before them to continue providing art and entertainment in the midst of a pandemic.
Live music fans are getting a second chance to enjoy guitarist Mary Flower, who will perform with the BBQ Boys — aka: a “jug band sans the jug” — live at 7 pm on Saturday, Oct. 24. This three-set concert, originally scheduled for Sept. 9, was postponed by the Echo Mountain Fire. All tickets for the original date will be honored, and a few more are still available at lincolncityculturalcenter.thundertix.com.
As part of the QuaranTunes series, this concert can be enjoyed two ways: table seating in the cultural center auditorium, limited to 25 guests seated in singles and couples; or via the VIP Live Stream, broadcast through the center’s private YouTube channel.
A Midwest native, Flower relocated from Denver to join the vibrant Portland music scene in 2004. She continues to please crowds and critics at folk festivals, seminars and on concert stages domestically and abroad, including Merlefest, the King Biscuit Blues Festival and the Vancouver Folk Festival.
A review in Acoustic Guitar magazine said that “There are few musicians in the genre bringing as much creative spark and low-key mojo” as Flower, and a Living Blues review said that she “marries acoustic blues with touches of ragtime, folk, and jazz…the interplay is always interesting, often provocative, and sometimes breathtaking.”
A finalist in 2000 and 2002 at the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship, a nominee in 2008, 2012 and 2016 for a Blues Foundation Blues Music Award and many times a Cascade Blues Association Muddy Award winner, Flower embodies a luscious and lusty mix of rootsy, acoustic-blues guitar and vocal styles that span a number of idioms — from Piedmont to the Mississippi Delta, with stops in ragtime, swing, folk and hot jazz.
Flower’s 11 recordings show a deep command of and love for folk and blues string music. For Flower, it’s never about re-creation. Her dedication to the art form is a vital contribution to America’s music.
The BBQ Boys are a four-piece jazz, blues and jug-style band that has performed with many well-known artists such as Maria Muldaur, David Grisman and Dan Hicks.
The group’s current lineup is Stew Dodge on fiddle and vocals, Spud Siegel on mandolin and vocals, Doc Stein on dobro, guitar and vocals, and Mark Vehrencamp on sousaphone.
The BBQ Boys joined forces with Mary Flower in 2013 to form a jazz-and-blues-infected jug band, sans jug, and have created new masterpieces of old standbys and originals, adding rich harmonies and searing solos.
Your ticket purchase supports these fantastic musicians, the cultural center and an adventurous group of local audio and video professionals dedicated to live broadcasts of the highest quality — the LCCC Stream Team.
The Lincoln City Cultural Center is located at 540 NE Hwy. 101. For more information, go to www.lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.