Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/02/2022
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location
Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts
Categories
This event has been Postponed. Check back for the new date.
Brownsmead Flats annual Performing Arts Center fundraiser. Not to be missed!
Tickets $15; children 12 and under free.
Tickets must be purchased online. Not Available at this time
Vaccine and masks required!
The Brownsmead Flats are long-time supporters of the Performing Arts Center, now the Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts.
The Brownsmead Flats play acoustic music that may be best described as “Crabgrass” which they liken to a folk/bluegrass style with a maritime flavor. The band has a strong focus on vocal harmonies and many of their songs are composed by members of the group and reflect on living in the Pacific Northwest. A variety of instruments are played by the quintet. Dan Sutherland is featured on the hammered dulcimer, fiddle, and mandolin. Ray Raihala picks the banjo, guitar and mandolin. Ned Heavenrich plays harmonica and guitar. John Fenton keeps the band together rhythmically with the bass, and Larry Moore rounds out the group with his expertise on mandolin and occasional flashes of fancy foot work.
The Brownsmead Flats create a festive atmosphere where audiences are encouraged to participate by singing along, doing hand motions, and participating in dances taught by the band. The versatility of the group allows them to generate music for audiences of all ages. Their tight harmonies and enjoyment of making music together translate into an event guaranteed to fill audiences with song and mirth.
Youtube video done in 2021 just for the Larsen Center for the Performing Arts!
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Brownsmead, Oregon is a community located about 20 river miles east of Astoria, Oregon. It is an area that was diked off from the Columbia river in the 1920’s creating land that was and still is used for agriculture. Originally settled by farmers and fishermen from Scandinavian countries it became an area of interest in the 1970’s to young men and women from various parts around the U.S. seeking a more rural lifestyle. Many of them bought land, built houses with shared labor, and began rearing children together. Some worked in the schools, others were veterinary technicians, some were carpenters, fisherman, public health workers, musicians, and artists.
Gatherings were frequent and potlucks the norm, followed by music, singing, and dancing. These get-togethers became the wellspring of the formation of The Brownsmead Flats, the Flats part referring to the tide flats endemic to the area. In 1984 the Brownsmead Flats did their first performance outside of the perimeters of their homes at a Christmas Fair in Astoria. Since that time the group has been playing at events throughout the Pacific Northwest and as far away as Costa Rica where they did a six city tour in 2015 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Oregon/Costa Rica Partners of the Americas.
The group performs what they call Crabgrass- a folk/bluegrass style of music with a maritime flavor. Many of the songs they perform are written by the group and focus on living on the west side of the Cascade mountains. They have produced five different CD’s. “Potluck” [1996] was the first and refers to the origins of the group, “Rain” [1998] was second, “Astoria” [2006] was next and “Live at the Liberty” [2006] was also produced that year. Their most recent recording “Strings and Yarns” came out in 2011.
For the most part the group has consisted of five musicians. Dan Sutherland, John Fenton, and Ned Heavenrich have been in the band since its inception. Ray Raihala, the only bandmember who was born and raised in Brownsmead came aboard in the early 1990’s and the newest member Larry Moore joined the group formally in 2017. Larry has been the band’s substitute for the last twenty years and is a founding member of the Beerman Creek String Band from Seaside, Oregon. Except for Ray, who is an insurance agent, the rest of the group are retired or partially retired, giving them more time to play their music. All of them can be seen as solo or duo acts at two restaurants in Astoria, T.Paul’s Supper Club and the Urban Café on any given weekend.