NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, June 27.
PORT TOWNSEND –– Listen as people who were raised with the same accent, the same phrasing and intonation, and the same genes blend their voices like coffee and cream.
Centrum’s 2014 Voice Works workshop turned a special focus to the different voices of brothers and sisters and how those raised with those same qualities use them together.
The national workshop culminates with two public performances: Siblings in Harmony, featuring five sibling duos singing, tonight; and the Honky-Tonk Polka Dot Dance and Concert, featuring a diverse lineup of performers and plenty of space for dancing, on Saturday.
The concerts are at Fort Worden State Park, 200 Battery Way.
Concerts begin with a Free Friday at the Fort concert with Laurel Bliss, Tom Sauber and Patrick Sauber singing early bluegrass tunes at the Fort Worden Commons at noon today.
Highlighting this year’s focus on sibling singers is Minneapolis’ The Cactus Blossoms.
Brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum show how they blend their distinctive yet familiar voices in classic country harmony in a pair of shows over the weekend.
The sibling show will take over Wheeler Theater at 7:30 tonight as brothers and sisters harmonize for audiences.
While that show is sold out of $20 tickets, it will be broadcast live on KPTZ 91.9-FM, both on air and streaming on the public radio station’s website at www.kptz.org.
Saturday sees Voice Works’ annual Honky-Tonk Polka Dot Dance and Concert at 7:30 p.m. in McCurdy Pavilion. Tickets are $20.
Polka dot act
The opening polka dot act includes vintage jazz by Sylvia Herold and ballads by Tim Eriksen.
Then the dance breaks out, with sets by Bill Kirchen, The Little Horsefly Country Band with Pharis Romero, The Cactus Blossoms and Kelli Jones-Savoy.
The “best overall polka-dot presence,” aka the supremely dotted outfit, will win free tuition to the 2015 Voice Works festival.
The backup house band includes Bill Kirchen of Hot Rod Lincoln with pedal-steel virtuoso Bobby Black, credited with crystallizing the sound of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and Joel Savoy.
Expect as well a flurry of surprise appearances from past and present Voice Works faculty, including Cortney Granger, said Program Manager Peter McCracken.
To order tickets or for more information, visit www.centrum.org or phone 800-746-1982.
Tickets also will be available at the box office beginning one hour before each show.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
