City in the Country

Spirit Family Reunion is part of a long line of musicians based in New York City while playing the music of rural America. Like Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan and The Holy Modal Rounders before them, Spirit Family Reunion brings youthful energy and enthusiasm to antiquated sounds; screeching fiddle, unschooled harmonies, quavering mandolin and chugga-luggin’ freight train rhythms blend with the production value of a band busking on a Brooklyn sidewalk.

“I Want To Be Relieved,” from their 2012 release No Separation, recalls the gospel inspiration of The Band; the youngsters opened for The Band’s Levon Helm in 2012. The title-track from the same record digs deeper into the old-time church-revival sound. Album opener “Green Rocky Road” settles nicely into a foot stompin’ backbeat, compelling enough to get everyone up and dancing around the barnyard.

While one segment of contemporary pop goes deeper into the bleeps and bloops of electronic music — evermore consumed with beat culture — another has rediscovered acoustic sounds, believing, I’m sure, what they do to be more authentic than the DJs, making a statement against vocoders and the sterile production value of the mainstream.

And when Spirit Family Reunion is hot, running on all cylinders as they were at 2012’s Newport Folk Festival, they make a pretty compelling case that strings, wood, steel and folks harmonizing around familiar tunes will have its place in popular music for years to come.

Spirit Family Reunion plays 8:30 pm Wednesday, May 8, at Axe and Fiddle in Cottage Grove; $5.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!