The 2019 Bend Roots Revival takes place this Friday through Sunday on the Deschutes Brewery grounds. Filled with over 100 bands and artists, the festival is a community melting pot that has grown by leaps and bounds since its first year.
A few of Bend Roots' performers shared their feelings on what makes this festival so special and important to the community.
Bruce Moon – AM Clouds
Sun., 6:30-7:15pm on the AVID Cider Stage
On the festival: "Roots Revival brings our creative community together every year for the righteous task of raising money for arts education. The festival has an amazing vibe. Great performers come from out of town, but, for me, it's the local artists that are the lifeblood of Roots and give it its eclectic, funky, home-grown appeal."
Favorite Roots Revival memory: "My favorite memory of the festival is from 2017. It was AM Clouds' first time at Roots and our first show ever. The crowd at the Redbird Stage gave us a really warm reception. All our kids were in the front row dancing. It was such a cool experience to be performing and have people aged 3 to 73 under the tent together groovin' to the music."
Stephanie Slade – Slade and Hatchet
Fri., 7:15-8pm on the Black Butte Porter Stage
On the festival: "This will be Slade and the Hatchets first year at Roots. However, each band member has played previous years in past and present projects. Our bass player, Pat Pearsall, is one of the co-founders of this festival. Pat and Mark Ransom started this waaaaay back when it was on Galveston in the parking lots of Parilla Grill and The Victorian Café. They have come a lonnnnnng way!"
Why you should come: "The Roots festival is what Bend is really about. Free music, loving the arts, the community and supporting growth of both in our area. It supports music in schools, private lessons, education in the arts and really shows off how many amazingly talented people we have in this small area."
Blake Lowrey-Evans – The 3 of We
Sat., 6:30-7:30pm on the Bend-In-Spoon Community Arts Stage
On the festival: "Roots Revival is special because it takes an incredibly diverse pool of musical genres, musicians, artists, teachers, the local community and brings us all together to donate our time and talents to shine a light on the importance of music in the world and our community."
Favorite Roots Revival Memory: "My favorite memory from last year's Revival was stumbling upon Oregon Fryer and being blown away by how tight they sounded, and how much I enjoyed their music. They played some songs that I assumed were covers because they were perfect songs, and after talking to them I came to find out they were their original songs!"
