Portland Center Stage at the Armory Nassim Portland Oregon

‘Bluegrass at heart,’ Damn Tall Buildings to perform Aug. 7 in Yachats

The New York-based trio brings jazz and swing influences to its music; Brongaene Griffin and Cary Novotny also are on the bill.

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Avery Ballotta (left), Sasha Dubyk, and Max Capistran make up the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based bluegrass trio Damn Tall Buildings, which will perform Aug. 7 in Yachats.
Avery Ballotta (left), Sasha Dubyk, and Max Capistran make up the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based bluegrass trio Damn Tall Buildings, which will perform Aug. 7 in Yachats.

EDITOR’S NOTE: ‘Bluegrass at heart,’ Damn Tall Buildings to perform Aug. 7 in Yachats” was published originally on July 21, 2022, by YachatsNews.com, an ArtsWatch Community Partner. ArtsWatch is republishing the piece with permission.

If you like your bluegrass spiced with swing, ragtime, jazz, and Americana music, the Yachats Commons is the place to be for a special concert Aug. 7.

Damn Tall Buildings, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based trio, headlines the evening, which starts at 6 p.m. with special guests Cary Novotny and Brongaene Griffin, a Portland-based duo.

“Bluegrass at heart, but pulling from … influences including swing, ragtime, jazz and … contemporary perspective in the songwriting,” Damn Tall Buildings offers “virtually unmatched energy and enthusiasm,” according to Savingcountrymusic.com.

Accompanying their own vocals on banjo, fiddle, guitar, and bass, Damn Tall Buildings coined the term “guerrilla roots” to describe its sound, which The Boston Globe summarized as “Think of The Carter family for the millennial generation … Old Crow Medicine Show meets Flatt & Scruggs, with a sprinkle of Johnny Cash.”

On stage first will be Bronnie Griffin and Cary Novotny, who play a mix of Irish traditional and American roots music. Griffin spent more than 10 years in Ireland as a street entertainer, and Novotny studied classical guitar in Kentucky, where he was also influenced by country, folk, and bluegrass.

Tickets are $20 ($22.69 with service fee) at Brown Paper Tickets, $25 at the door. Food, beverages, beer and wine will be available for purchase. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Sponsor

Portland Center Stage at the Armory Nassim Portland Oregon

“It’ll be a party; we want the community to have a great time,” said Stephen Farish, a board member of Polly Plumb Productions, sponsor of the concert. Polly Plumb is the local nonprofit that sponsors cultural events in Yachats, such as the November Yachats Celtic Music Festival.

“I wanted to bring summer music to the community,” said Farish, who is music director of the Celtic Festival.

Through the Celtic Festival, Farish deals with musical agents around the country who represent many different musical genres. One reached out to him saying Damn Tall Buildings would be in the area, so Farish conducted an online audition. “I liked what I heard; I thought yeah, these folks would be fun … we need to start doing more concerts.

“I think we have a following out there for bluegrass and Americana music,” Farish said. “When I saw that this band was coming through the area, I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

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Photo Joe Cantrell

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One Response

  1. Nice idea but our area is off the charts with high Covid numbers, so I won’t be at any indoor event with that happening.

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