Another successful Acoustic Music Festival

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8/7/2008 9:32:00 AM

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Another successful Acoustic Music Festival

Sebastian Moraga
Staff Writer

It was fitting Wenatchee musician Michael Carlos opened the 15th Annual Leavenworth Coffeehouse's Acoustic Music Festival at Waterfront Park Saturday as each has survived troublesome times of late.

Since his 2004 debut album, "Yesterday's Icons," his father died (2005) and Carlos was involved in a car accident a year later on Blewett Pass that claimed the life of his girlfriend Jennifer Reese.

Recent turbulent times for the organizers of the Coffeehouse threatened the 2008 season because the venue had to vacate its former digs at the Chumstick Grange.

But brighter things are seemingly on the horizon for both as the Coffeehouse has found a new home at Barn Beach Reserve and Carlos has just released his second album.

The 37-year-old Carlos, known for his eclectic, mix-and-match tunes, endured the punishing midday heat, which wreaked havoc on his guitar strings, in a black t-shirt. But other than the color of his shirt and a cumbia dedicated to Reese, there was little to suggest he was a man in mourning.

There was however, plenty to suggest that this was a man who survived some hard times. His lyrics spoke time and again of being out of control, of having more than one way to fall, and of wearing adversity well.

True to Carlos' musical trademark, he mixed the chaotic lyrics with happy songs and goofy banter with the audience during his one-hour set.

"The next two performers are personal friends of mine," he said. "They should call this CarlosFest."

One of the songs in his set that enchanted the audience the most was an fast-paced tune in Spanish called "Playerita" (Little Beach Girl), which once again reflected the black-and-white nature of Carlos' music.

"I'm dealing with a lot of dark, personal things," said Carlos, whose real name is Karl Michael Polivka. "And "Playerita" was just conceived as a daydream, someone imagining an ideal dream girl on the beach, kind of as a distraction."

His new album, which he also pitched during the show, is called "Damage and Remainder"

The festival itself was a welcome distraction of sorts for the Leavenworth Coffeehouse, after a year of wondering what's next.

Cindy Rietveldt, bookings coordinator for the Coffeehouse, remembers last year's uncertainty.

"We had a festival...but we didn't know if it was going to be our last event," she said. "We wanted to continue the coffeehouse, but we knew we had to make some real changes to keep it working. Then we had the opportunity through Icicle Arts to move into their wonderful space at the Barn Beach Reserve, which for us was fantastic."

The new building is financially supported, Rietveldt said, freeing the Coffeehouse from having to pay rent.

"That makes something as small and grassroots as we are a lot easier to produce music, she said."

Rietveldt also had kind things to say about the Coffeehouse's former landlord.

"The Grange was wonderful to us, they offered us a fantastic deal on the rent for many years," she said. "Unfortunately, beyond their control, we had to come up with our own insurance. Their insurance would not cover us anymore...also beyond their control, it's an old building that didn't have easy access."

Performers and audience members struggled up and down the Grange's stairs, Rietveldt said, so it was time to move.

The 2008 concert series for the rejuvenated Coffeehouse starts in September.

"You just can't get people indoors in Leavenworth in the summer," she said, explaining the date.

Outdoors, it's a different story, and the acoustic festival proved that. People trickled in all day long, but in smaller numbers than Rietveldt expected, to watch Carlos and six other performers.

"We usually get a large local audience, and people are worried about where they're going to park with all the construction going on," she said. "But we have a nice audience."

Sebastian Moraga can be reached at (509) 782-3781 or by e-mail at moraga@cashmerevalleyrecord.com.

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