For those who prefer their merlot with a splash of rock n’ roll, The Whidbey Island Winery will continue with its annual “Shakin’ the Vines” concert series Saturday evening.
The summer series kicked off last month with a dash of folk and Americana via Ian McFeron and will continue Saturday with the critically acclaimed and locally famous songstress Janie Cribbs along with her new group, the T. Rust Band.
Cribbs explained that her new musical outfit continues to serve up the same doses of sultry jazz that has captivated Whidbey audiences for the past several years. But with the T. Rust band, she said, blues fans will finally get their fix as well. She described the new group’s music as “acoustic and electric rootsy blues with an old soul.”
Fans of Cribbs and her previous bands, such as Tambourine Sky, know Cribbs is no stranger to blues music, having been nominated by the Washington Blues Society.
“We’re more electric [with the T. Rust band],” she said, both in the figurative and literal sense. Instead of playing multiple acoustic guitars, Joe will be playing electric guitars including a slide guitar which, according to Janie Cribbs, is a crowd-pleaser. The group, which includes Joe Reggiatore, Kevin Holden and Greg Barnes in addition to Cribbs, has also added bass guitars and drums.
“With [blues] you can touch people’s hearts and souls, besides their feet,” Cribbs said, adding jokingly that she expects there will be plenty of dancing, especially after attendees enjoy a glass or two of wine.
Sean Karamanyan, employee at Whidbey Island Winery, said this will be the fifth year of Shakin’ the Vines, and that to date, they haven’t had a day of bad weather.
He said the concerts typically attract 20-40 people, making it “a nice little group, nice and intimate.”
Jacob Navarro, of the band Spoonshine and Ali Marcus, described his band’s music as “Americana roots music, a landscape where folk, country, bluegrass, rockabilly, and rock and roll are all dancing partners” in an email to The Record. Spoonshine will perform at Shakin’ the Vines on August 30.
“My songs are often influenced by northwest, blue collar themes, such as the fishing and logging industries,” he explained. “The natural landscape of the Skagit Valley and the area that surrounds has always been an influence: mountains, rivers, the sea. Of course life, death, both found and unrequited love, these are so often the primary colors that I turn to when painting a song.”
Additional shows in this summer’s series will include roots Americana group Massy Ferguson on Aug. 16 and gypsy jazz ensemble Pearl Django on Aug. 23.
Each show is $20 which includes one glass of wine; additional wine is available for purchase. Performances run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Whidbey Island Winery in Langley, outdoors in the vineyard.
