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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Easing the pain ... Lithia Christmas Faire set Thanksgiving weekend ... ScienceWorks explores the science behind 'Back to the Future' ... Easing the pain ... Lithia Christmas Faire set Thanksgiving weekend ... ScienceWorks explores the science behind 'Back to the Future' ... MUSIC Emy Phelps, Darol Anger and The Bee Eaters play the Unitarian Comment By Laurie Heuston Revels DailyTidings.com By Laurie Heuston Revels Posted Nov. 12, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Laurie Heuston Revels Posted Nov. 12, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Singer and songwriter Emy Phelps and fiddler Darol Anger have one of those late-blooming romances — one that neither expected. The two met at fiddle camps. Phelps brought her children — three boys and a girl — to a succession of music camps where Anger was teaching. "Her children are all talented string players," Anger says during a telephone interview. "I thought that if she could raise three boys who turned out as good as they have, then she could probably deal with one slightly immature fiddle player." Phelps was born and raised in Ashland. She holds a degree in special education from Southern Oregon State College and taught music to kids in first through eighth grades at the John Muir School of the Ashland School District. She also played music with Ashland folk band Borderline, which morphed into her own Emy Phelps Band. "She's been on all sides of music," Anger says. "It's tough to have a professional music career while raising children. Now her youngest is off to college, and we're ramping up our performances a little bit." The two recorded "Look Up, Look Down" — a collection of Phelps' arresting vocals and lyrics set to Anger's acoustic violin — in 2012. Phelps and Anger — along with The Bee Eaters and Rainy & the Rattlesnakes — will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, at the Unitarian Fellowship, 87 Fourth St., Ashland. Tickets are $20, $10 for ages 25 and younger, and can be purchased online at beeeatersashland.brownpapertickets.com . Anger's career took off in the mid-70s with the David Grisman Quintet, an acoustic bluegrass and jazz group inspired by Bill Monroe and Django Reinhardt. The quintet invented a new style of acoustic music that's inspired countless musicians to take a similar eclectic approach. Anger helped drive the evolution of progressive string music with ensembles Republic of Strings, Turtle Island String Quartet, Montreux, his duo project with mandolin master Mike Marshall and others. "I was part of a small group of people that has turned into a huge community of players," he says. "It includes bluegrass people, fiddle contest people, Americana singers and songwriters, chamber groups. It's a flowering thing, and there are so many connections on different levels." He and Phelps are at a point where they can pursue performing together, Anger says. He teaches at Berklee College of Music and runs an online music school. "We get to work with people that we've been involved with for so long, like Tashina and Tristan Clarridge of The Bee Eaters, whose contribution to music on the West Coast is huge. My generation is kind of like the research and development people. The Clarridges and others — Britney Haas, The Punch Brothers — have raised a whole new generation of incredible musicians." The beauty of progressive string music is that fans on almost every level can play it — at least a little bit. "It's a participatory art. That's why it's so vital," Anger says. "People can play for fun, have a family band, play with friends. Buy a guitar, buy a mandolin, sit in your living room and knock out a few chords. The music we play isn't set up to be at the top of some apex. It's not that far from being the person on stage to the person in the audience. It's a beautiful thing because it really is community." The concert at the Unitarian will be a reunion of sorts. Phelps enjoys being back in her hometown, and Anger met the Clarridges when they attended fiddle camps as young children. Tashina Clarridge is a Grand National Fiddle Champion, her multi-instrumentalist brother, Tristan Clarridge, is a five-time Grand National Fiddle Champion and a pioneering cellist, synthesizing traditional folk influences with jazz, rock and pop rhythms. Hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman rounds out The Bee Eaters lineup with his new approach to an instrument once thought to have limited range. Now the Clarridges organize and host their own fiddle camps, most notably the Mt. Shasta Music Summit. Rainy & the Rattlesnakes — sisters Rainy Miatke on mandolin and Lela Miatke on fiddle, along with their father Ray Miatke on guitar — will join the others at the show. "Rainy and Leah are incredible examples of young musicians who have been under the wing of Tristan and Tashina Clarridge," Anger says. "Just as I had the opportunity to mentor Tristan and Tashina. It's great to be involved in this multi-generational movement. "Another great thing about semi-professional string music is that older players are respected," he says. "Back when we were trying to incorporate bluegrass, jazz and chamber music into one genre, the people we looked up to were Monroe, Vassar Clements, Kenny Baker, Doc Watson, the great icons. They were delighted to see what we were doing with the music. They saw it as an addition, not a rejection. Everyone has to invent it for themselves. Whether you're a creator or a curator, you put on that hat everyday." By Laurie Heuston Revels DailyTidings.com By Laurie Heuston Revels Posted Nov. 12, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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