By Omie Drawhorn
The Silverton Wine and Jazz Festival once drew customers to many businesses in Silverton’s downtown core as businesses hosted talented jazz bands and served wine and appetizers.
When the festival changed its format this year and held the main part of the festival in Town Square Park, businesses like the Silver Creek Coffee House didn’t see the increase in business they had grown to appreciate.
So Greg Hart, owner of Silver Creek Coffee House, gathered a few of his regular customers and organized a festival that would energize Silverton’s downtown core.
The result is Silverton Shindig, a full day of free music at 23 businesses, two open mic locations, extending from the Old Oak Oven at 309 S. Water St. to The Mercantile at 207 High St.
The Saturday, Oct. 6 festival, called Silverton Shindig, will feature a full day of music to suit a variety of tastes. Music begins at 10 a.m. and will run through 9 p.m.
Silverton residents Gregg Sheesley, Lawrence Stone and Ron Nelson helped Hart organize the festival.
“We wanted to showcase our wonderful, little magical historical district, go back to the root beginnings of the jazz festival and do something to invite people to come to walk around. We tried to think about how we could do this without spending a lot of money,” Sheesley said.
The group put the festival together with a modest budget, and Hart said it has been a grassroots effort, made possible by the support of local businesses and community members.
The organizers originally thought a festival like this would take a year to put together, but their excitement was infectious, and their friends and neighbors pushed them to do it on a shorter deadline.
“Things got away from us,” Hart said with a laugh. “The town is ready for something like this.”
At the festival, some kind of music will be playing at all times, Hart said.
Oftentimes there will be several locations with music playing simultaneously, so downtown strollers will have options.
Open mic locations will be located outside Larsen Flynn Insurance, 100 S. Water St., and the Palace Theater, 200 N. Water. Roaming musicians will play around town and add to the ambiance.
The main sign up location for open mics will be in front of the Palace Theater.
While businesses will front the money to pay the bands, there will be buckets on tables in the establishments for customers to leave a tip to offset the cost.
To attract amateur musicians, Hart posted an ad on Craigslist, which netted more than 200 responses. Hart asked interested musicians to mail him a CD, so participating businesses could listen and select the style of music that worked best for their establishment. Musicians are mainly from Silverton, Salem, Portland and surrounding areas.
Every style of music from accordionist, to harpist, to bluegrass, to rock, to funk, to blues and to country will be represented. Musicians also include a pan drummer, African gospel, and a barbershop group.
Hart said he also plans on talking with the Silverton High School band director for additional ideas and is looking into recruiting younger musicians to perform.
The roaming musicians are on their own in terms of collecting tips, but Sheesley said these musicians, as well as those who play at the open mics, are encouraged to talk to businesses about playing in their location if there is an open slot.
To add to the light atmosphere, a town crier dressed in Friar Tuck attire and carrying a scroll will periodically call out names and locations of music around town.
Hart, a musician himself, regularly hosts musicians at Silver Creek Coffee House. “It brings out a pretty regular crowd,” he said.
He’s hoping the Silverton Shindig will be the first year of an annual event.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. He said music has a way of bringing people out and about.
Patrons can enjoy a day downtown and some quality music without worrying about dropping a great deal of money. Because the music is free, they may take the opportunity to do some shopping or grab a bite to eat, Sheesley said.
A festival poster, drawn by Sheesley, Hart and Stone will be auctioned off on the day of the festival.
Sheesley said the festival isn’t meant to be a tourist destination, but more of a “staycation for people in Silverton and the surrounding areas.”
They have distributed maps around the town that list music times and locations, and the festival is timed strategically after First Friday so the businesses can do some last-minute marketing when people are out and about.
“I want to celebrate the unique, innovative town I’ve called home since 1975,” Sheesley said. “We need to stop thinking everything needs to be redone, that we need to have trendy, state-of-the-art solutions, and get back to celebrating community.”
