Note at 12:30 pm:
Despite troubling weather conditions, we anticipate this concert going
ahead as planned. If the situation changes, we'll post an update here, so
check back periodically. Iowa debut | Bluegrass music from
Alaska may sound like a non sequitur, but Anchorage’s Bearfoot is proving
the two aren’t as unrelated as one would think. Comprised of Kate Hamre
(acoustic bass), Mike Mickelson (guitar), Jason Norris (mandolin), Angela
Oudean (fiddle) and Odessa Jorgensen (vocals/fiddle), Bearfoot’s rise from
über talented music camp counselors to successful national touring act has
been nothing short of meteoric. A mere two years after their initial meeting
as teachers at a bluegrass camp for kids, Bearfoot earned one of roots
music’s most prestigious awards — Telluride Bluegrass Band Champions — an
honor they share with the Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek.
though the band has nine years and three albums under its
belt, the new release, Doors and Windows,
contains many firsts, including guest musicians. Joining the band this time
out in the studio were Andrea Zonn (Union Station, James Taylor) on fiddle,
Andy Hall (Infamous Stringdusters) on dobro, Alison Brown on banjo and Larry
Atamanuik on drums…another Bearfoot first. Band members, all of whom sing
wonderfully, have also elected to rely more on a lead singer approach, with
newest member Odessa Jorgensen (formerly of The Biscuit Burners) taking up
the reins.
Doors and Windows
offers up 11 gorgeous songs steeped in the bluegrass tradition but unafraid
to embrace new genres. The opening song, “Oh My Love,” features a gentle,
rolling melody that speaks to the freedom of loving without fear and serves
as the perfect lead-up to the toe-tapping traditional, “Single Girl.”
Bearfoot proves less-is-more on the old-timey-inspired “Caroline” (written
by former member Annalisa Tornfelt) and the show-stopping a cappella
original, “Good in the Kitchen.” The title track, penned by Jorgensen and
featuring hypnotic guitar and fiddle underpinnings, is darkly evocative. And
Bearfoot tackles their first pop cover with a laidback version of The
Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down.”
Collaborative, uplifting, energetic,
haunting, beautiful, inspired: all words that describe the sound of Bearfoot.
With the release of Doors and Windows, Bearfoot find themselves atop
a cultural mountain where they overlook the past, present and future of
bluegrass music.
