CBCCA announces a varied concert season
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 1 month AGO
Kate Voss and the Hot Sauce will kick off the Central Basin Community Concert Association’s concert season Sept. 26.
COURTESY PHOTO/BANANAS ENTERTAINMENT
The Hall Sisters will blend tight family harmonies with rich instrumentals at the Wallenstien Theater March 24.
Molly in the Mineshaft will bring a Celtic-bluegrass-folk sound to the Wallenstien Theater Oct. 17 as part of the Central Basin Community Concert Association’s 2024-25 season.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | July 26, 2024 1:25 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Central Basin Community Concert Association is urging people who love music to get their season tickets early, according to an announcement from the association.
“The best way to see all the shows is by purchasing a season membership,” the CBCCA wrote in the announcement. “We’ve announced our 2024-25 season and are excited for the music coming to the Basin.”
The first performer for the season will be Kate Voss and the Hot Sauce. Voss got her start playing piano in clubs in Seattle with a variety of bands, according to her official biography. She studied jazz, but found her interests were more varied than that genre would allow, so she formed her own band to play a fusion of jazz, blues, pop, country, western swing, oldies, Americana and rockabilly. Besides piano, Voss sings with a voice reminiscent of Nancy Sinatra and Etta James, and also plays the ukulele bass and melodica. Her band, the Hot Sauce, can be anything from a duo to a sextet and backs her up with a danceable, nostalgic sound.
On Oct. 17, Molly in the Mineshaft will take the stage with a mixture of traditional folk styles including Celtic, bluegrass and blues. The Utah-based septet wields an array of instruments including mandolin, banjo, guitar, cello, fiddle and bagpipes, backing up three vocalists’ harmonies. They’ve won numerous awards and championships for their instrumental work, according to their promotional materials.
The source of the band’s name is somewhat shrouded in mystery, according to their biography. One story holds that it was inspired by a cow that wandered into a mineshaft in California in 2015 and stayed there for three days before being rescued. A more prosaic explanation is that the band members got tired of making up new names every time they played together and “Molly in the Mineshaft” was the only phrase they could all agree on.
After a hiatus for winter, the series will resume March 24 with the country pop sound of the Hall Sisters. The four — piano, mandolin and guitar player Jessica; violinist Natalie; viola and guitar player Lydia and cellist Valerie — grew up singing and playing together, and their show combines tight harmonies with country and Irish instrumentals. They’ve released seven albums and have played the Grand Ole Opry, Carnegie Hall and Dollywood, as well as a four-country tour in the Balkans.
Rounding out the season, the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra will fill the venue with timeless classical music. The Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra has a long tradition as one of the finest student/community orchestras in the region and its repertoire contains some of the most demanding pieces in orchestral music, according to its website. The orchestra’s conductor, Kevin Hekmatpanah, is in his 24th year as music director of the symphony.
Individual season tickets are $70 for adults, $60 for seniors over 60 and $40 for students, according to the CBCCA’s announcement. Tickets for a family are $145, but for a single-parent family the price drops to $95. Tickets are also available for individual performances. In addition, the CBCCA has reciprocity with similar concert associations in several other cities, including Wenatchee and Richland, so ticket holders who miss a show in Moses Lake can see one in another city instead.
Besides the regular concert season, the CBCCA will again stage Dancing with the Moses Lake Stars, a riff on the popular TV show that lets local folks pair up with professional dancers and compete on stage. The inaugural event last year brought in more money to fund the CBCCA than the original goal, and organizers hope it will be at least as successful this year. That event is Jan. 11.
All Columbia Basin Community Concert Association performances are at the Wallenstien Theater at Big Bend Community College.
For more information or to buy season tickets, visit www.communityconcertsml.com.
Joel Martin may be reached via email at [email protected]
Save the dates
Sept. 26: Kate Voss and the Hot Sauce
Oct. 17: Molly in the Mineshaft
Jan. 11: Dancing with the Moses Lake Stars
March 24: The Hall Sisters
April 13: Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra
The Hall Sisters will blend tight family harmonies with rich instrumentals at the Wallenstien Theater March 24.
Molly in the Mineshaft will bring a Celtic-bluegrass-folk sound to the Wallenstien Theater Oct. 17 as part of the Central Basin Community Concert Association’s 2024-25 season.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.