Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival
By Sandy Carriger
Saturday, August 16, 2009, was a great day to be in
Historic Sutter Creek. With temperatures in the mid 80's and a
nominal crowd of mostly mature adults, we attended the Sutter Creek
Ragtime Festival presented by the Mother Lode Ragtime Society.
Sutter Creek is a lovely old town established in the 1850's as part
of the California Gold Rush era.
Courtesy Photo: Town
Square Harmonizers
I
always enjoy strolling the streets, stopping into the
quaint little shops, having a bite
to eat and then discovering new and different photo ops of the
community. The festival was presented at five small venues; The Ice
Cream Emporium, American Exchange, Sutter Creek Theater, Foxes Bed
and Breakfast and the Ragtime Garden. Each offered exceptional
views and within earshot of the performers. We opted to partake in
a variety of musicians, from professional to amateur, old to young.
We started at the Sutter Creek
Theater where we caught
the tail end of a piano performance by Frederick Hodges.
Courtesy Photo: Tom Brier performing at the Sutter Creek Theater
He is considered one of the world's best ragtime pianists and
regularly appears at major ragtime and jazz festivals. His passion
revolves around music from the early part of the 20th century.
Hodges then hosted what was called "The Future of Ragtime." Four
very young and very talented men ranging from 16 years of age to
early 20's demonstrated their zeal and dedication to ragtime piano.
Will Perkins, Tim Rotolo, Vincent Johnson and Andrew Barrett gave
impressive performances, some of which 
were their own arrangements! While in
search of a place to lunch, we passed the open piano session in the
Ragtime Garden and caught a brief snippet of Larisa Migachyov on
the ivories (courtesy photo above). Larisa is multi-talented, born
in Russia, and has been playing piano since she was 5 years old,
composes, worked as an engineer, is now attending law school and
has an online math tutoring site! Courtesy
Photo: Larisa Migachyov on
the ivories
We stopped for a bite at
The Twisted Fork (hubby had fettuccine Alfredo and I dined on the
garden burger and garlic fries, YUM) at the American Exchange Hotel
where a Youth Concert was taking place. Ten youngsters ranging in
ages from 7 to 19 years displayed their flair for ragtime piano.
All were wonder-fully talented! After a little window shopping, we
settled in at the Ragtime Garden to hear the Town Square
Harmonizers; Dave - tenor, Bob - lead, Peter - baritone and Gordon
- bass, who claim "their hobby - or avocation - is Acapella singing
in the barbershop style." Our final stop, back to the Sutter Creek
Theater, where we saw the last few minutes of Tom Brier, a local
who has been composing since the age of 11 and has over 160 ragtime
compositions to his name. He works as a programmer/analyst for
Sacramento County and is active in the Mother Lode Ragtime Society.
Courtesy Photo: Town Square Harmonizers
The last act at our final
destination for the day was the piece de resistance, the Carl Sonny
Leyland Trio. Sonny on the keyboards, Marty Eggers on bass and Hal
Smith on drums; the three have played together since 2004. All are
professionals in their own right. Leyland has toured the U.S. and
Europe and played with some top name bands. He has been performing
since the age of 15. His inspiration stems from boogie woogie, but
expanded his repertoire to include ragtime, jazz and blues. A few
of the pieces performed included: The Thriller, Route 666, Cow
Cow Blues, Casey on My Mind and Kitten on the Keys. Watching
Sonny's fingers fly over the keyboard is absolutely mesmerizing.
Good music, good shops, good weather, good people and good food!
What more could anyone ask for on a sunny, not too hot Saturday
outing in August! The Mother Lode Ragtime Society was established
in 1999 following the first-ever Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival.
Interested in performing or just a ragtime enthusiast, more
information by contacting Ilah and Frank Blauvelt, (209) 223-0867
or jasser09@yahoo.com. The
mailing address is: The Mother Lode Ragtime Society, 11310 Prospect
Dr., #10, pmb 12, Jackson, CA. Visit online at
www.suttercreekragtime.com The Sutter Creek Ragtime Society
meeting will be held Sat, Sept 19, 7PM to 9:30PM. Tom Brier will be
playing his magic, free and open to the public. Food will be
available for purchase. More info and photos are at:
motherloderagtime@comcast.net
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