What an eventful week it's been. We're just a few days away from our 10-Year Anniversary Party for Deep Roots at McMenamins White Eagle (836 N. Russell, Portland - Tuesday, April 22, 6 - 10PM). As we anticipate the big night, we also reflect on other big Deep Roots happenings:
1. On Monday, I received a much-anticipated phone call from Kevin Nettleingham of Nettleingham Audio, letting me know that the Deep Roots Music Project Anthology CDs had come in. I drove quickly after work to his house to pick them up, and I've been riding a wave of exhilaration ever since. The new CDs are beautiful to listen to, and to look at.
There are twelve great songs on the CD, with at least one track from every year of the decade-long project. Reynolds High School's own Sideproject, Breanna Paletta, and Geoff Byrd join treasured local talent such as Rubberneck, Amelia, Dr. Theopolis, Luther Russell, Ezra Holbrook, Madgesdiq, Mike Coykendal, Andy Tabb, John Henry Bourke, and others as performers on the new CD filled with some of your favorite tunes.
But this "Anthology" is more than just great music. The cover art and booklet that accompany the CD are filled with cover images, photos, student testimonials, and other bits of history from the Deep Roots legacy. The cover booklet is a wonderful scrapbook of everything great about Deep Roots. Thanks to Tara Julian, a Deep Roots disciple who lives in Boston, for all the work she did to make the graphics spectacular.
2. Three other brand-new Deep Roots CDs were also shipped off to the manufacturer this week. The new editions of Deep Roots created by Portland musicians and teen lyricists at Roosevelt and Reynolds High Schools, as well as our latest Deep Roots chapter at Girls Inc. of NW Oregon are expected back in early May, just in time for the Deep Roots concert events at those institutions. This is the first time Deep Roots has tried to release four new CDs in one season, and by the end of May, they will be the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Deep Roots CDs since our founding in 1998.
3. Deep Roots made the Sunday Oregonian today (April 20, 2008). In a special section called "outlook .08" (page W25) there is a photo of Madgesdiq performing at Roosevelt last spring, and also some good quotes from Girls Inc. musician-volunteer Liv Warfield about collaborating with teen girls on this year's Girls Inc. edition of Deep Roots. Here's a link: Oregonian, Sunday, April 20