2008 American Roots Music Festival
Saturday, October 11th, 2008

Northwest indie-grass quartet True North combines traditional bluegrass instrumentation with soulful vocals, fat harmonies and folk-edged songwriting for a decidedly modern acoustic sound. True North's tight and careful arrangements can be alternately big and wild, tender and deliberate.

Original songs written by Dan Wetzel and Kristen Grainger give the band a fresh, modern bent, but you can also count on True North to perform bluegrass standards with originality and style, and give classic rock songs like “Free Fallin" a beautiful new identity.

True North's members are seasoned bluegrass pickers with a great deal of band and studio experiences between them. The band’s instrumental skills are exceptional; its vocals, both lead and harmony, are outstanding.

The Black Swan Classic Jazz Band is a versatile group with the ability to tastefully and softly caress an intimate room, fire up a large hall and keep the dancers cutting a rug. Black Swan delights in entertaining as well as educating its audiences with authentic renditions of the music of noteworthy early jazz figures such as Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Fats Waller, Turk Murphy, Scott Joplin and others. You will hear a strong mix of music performed by few other bands, originals by members of Black Swan and many popular favorites you know and love.

Music groups from various area schools perform.

The Total Experience Gospel Choir bursts with love, joy and enthusiasm - humanity! It is hailed as one of the Pacific Northwest's finest soulful ensembles. Pastor Patrinell Staten Wright started the group as a gospel music class at Seattle's Franklin High School in 1973. Since then the choir has grown to become a nationally and internationally known gospel singing group.