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Bremenbaard
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I’m new to Portland. And I’m not used to how nice everybody is here— drivers who yield with a smile, Plaid Pantry workers who make small talk, the guy at HomeDepot who gave me a list of restaurants to try. So when I heard about Bremenbaard, I was skeptical. C’mon. A couple of guys coordinating, booking and promoting the shows out of the goodness of their hearts? They had to be in it for the chicks or the free beer.
But then I talked with Dennis Hitchcox and Jess Robertson, the two local musicians who created Bremenbaard. Jess explained that the name Bremenbaard was a combination of the “Bremen” and “bard”. In the Brothers Grimm story of the Musicians of Bremen, traveling musicians meet and band together. Jess added “baard” to include the idea of the poet and wordsmith.
We met at It’s a Beautiful Pizza and as Jess and Dennis explained the motivation behind Bremenbaard, the Kafana Klub played Balkanese music and line dancers performed traditional dances. Jess and Dennis had come to hear the music and hoped to include the Kafana Klub in a future show.
“Bremenbaard is a Portland based musical event highlighting music of all genres at one venue,” Dennis explained. “So hypothetically we may have a Balkanese accordion trio followed by a country band, followed by a rock band, followed by a jazz quartet.”
“Why?” continued Dennis. “Because the people that come to see their friends in the jazz group may also get turned on to the Balkanese music. As a result maybe they buy a CD and sign up on their email list and tell their friends.”
Friday, December 5th will be the third Bremenbaard to date, and the most gutsy. Eight to ten acts will be performing at the Rabbit Hole (203 SE Grand) from about 6pm until 1am. Jess and Dennis have planned the event carefully. There will be two stages, guaranteeing that the waiting time between acts will be minimal. The lineup includes Tourbillon (French folk/jazz), Utande (Zimbabwean mbira music) Dennis Hitchcox (songwrer with rock/jazz guitar techniques), Jess Robertson (singer/songwriter), Daniel Parker and Friends (West Coast pop stylist), Doc Wilson (old time music), Gypsy Caravan (Middle Eastern music with Belly Dancers), and 3 – Second Rule (adrenaline rock).
“It’s exciting to see so many musicians coming together to make this work as volunteers and members of the community,” Dennis said. ‘These are the musicians that see the bigger picture, that riches lie in playing the music and enjoying yourself.”
In addition to booking and coordinating the show, Jess and Dennis have managed to get air time on KBOO’s show “Movin’ on” and they’ve arranged to have the show videotaped for a documentary to be aired on public access.
All this work for the love of music? After meeting these guys and hearing them speak about the project, I was blown away again by the open friendliness of Portland people. These guys are genuine, humble, and dedicated to this project. So I invite people to show up, have a beer at the Rabbit Hole, toss some money in a tip jar, and listen to some music that you’ve never heard before – all courtesy of the kindness of strangers.
Kate Glahn is freelance writer and a newly relocated Michigander. |
