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By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune August 13. 2015 9:00AM Festival celebrates vintage and roots country music Songwriter Ashleigh Flynn and her band join a regional lineup of musicians at the annual West Coast Country Music Festival. Photo courtesy of Richard Hallman Tales from the wilder, untamed days of America often make their way into Ashleigh Flynn's lyrics. "I'm a 'found lyricist.' I'm often stealing from history and folklore and melding that with my own life experiences," says the singer and songwriter. "A song is a great tool to encapsulate a mini story." Portland-based Flynn and her band The Porch Climbers will be among the artists inspired by vintage country music and performing at the third annual West Coast Country Music Festival, set for noon to dark Saturday, Aug. 15, at Green Springs Inn, 11470 Highway 66, Ashland. To get there, follow Highway 66 east 17.5 miles from the south Ashland exit. Tickets are $20 in advance and can be purchased at Music Coop, 268 E. Main St., Ashland or online at  westcoastcountrymusicfestival.com . Tickets are $30 at the door. Kids age 13 and younger get in free. The festival musicians draw on the nostalgia-inducing sounds of roots country and bluegrass to create exciting new songs marked by strong vocals, expert playing and intriguing lyrics. In Flynn's song "Prohibition Rose," she tells the story of a notorious woman who plied sailors with liquor and opium in her Prohibition-era Portland speakeasies. Her goons would carry passed-out sailors into rooms filled with broken glass and steal their shoes. The unfortunate men would find themselves on outbound ships, trapped into working as virtual indentured servants, according to local legend. Prohibition Rose was an expert at concealing her activities from Portland police and getting early warnings about raids. In one instance, she had her men hide whiskey beneath her voluminous skirts just as the police arrived. "She was standing there reading the Bible when the cops came in," Flynn says. "The police weren't able to find the whiskey without looking under her skirt." Country duet singers Leslie Beia and Pete Krebs have mined stories of relationships gone right and wrong for the songs they perform together as The Earnest Lovers. Their partnership is an homage to famous country music pairings such as Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, and Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Beia played Portland's country music scene for about five years before she finally crossed paths with music veteran Krebs. They hit if off and began performing together. "One of the things that really appeals to me is with two voices you get both sides of the story," she says. "We alternate lines. It's like having a shared experience. It feels like both parties are represented." Beia says she is not only excited to perform, she is looking forward to hearing the other performers. "It's a really well curated lineup in a genre where people are making a lot of different sounds. It will be cool, diverse music," she says. Festival organizer Dee Fretwell says the music will range from heartbreaking serenades to hard-driving, upbeat honky-tonk tunes. "The focus is really on the classic style from the '50s and '60s. It's a throwback country festival," she says. The Canadian group Petunia & The Vipers has a repertoire ranging from slow songs that sound like they might have been sung on the prairie by a lonesome cowboy to tunes with rockabilly instrumentation and lightning-fast lyrics that would challenge the best rapper. Petunia, who goes by a single name, also throws in some yodeling. Seattle-based Cahalen Morrison & Country Hammer will bring their classic country sound, while the Northern California group Miss Lonely Hearts will get the crowd on its feet with high-energy rockabilly music. Siskiyou Summit and the Jeff Fretwell Band will add local flavor. A variety of food and beverages, including barbecue, Mexican food and beer, will be available at the festival, along with arts and craft vendors. The festival benefits Modern Roots Foundation, which helps kids rent and buy American roots instruments, including guitars, fiddles, mandolins and banjos. The foundation also supports music lessons and workshops. For more information about the foundation, visit www.modernrootsfoundation.org . http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150813/ENTERTAINMENT/150819874 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->