PORT ANGELES — If there are two people whose voices sing of music on the North Olympic Peninsula, they would be Kim Trenerry and Jason Mogi of Deadwood Revival, a band born after the couple moved to Port Angeles 24 years ago.
So said Kayla Oakes, the Juan de Fuca Foundation for the Arts executive director who’s booked them for a free, live-streamed concert Saturday night. It will be JFFA’s annual Winter Benefit, broadcast online from the Lincoln Theater, a venue called into use just for this event.
Show time is 7 p.m. Saturday, with connection information provided to viewers who sign up, at no charge, at JFFA.org. Information also is available by email at contact@JFFA.org or by calling 360-457-5411.
“We’ve had so much generosity coming to us,” said Oakes, who said she and the JFFA board decided on free admission to the Winter Benefit. Then they got in touch with the Deadwood Revival duo.
Mogi and Trenerry are an ideal pair, Oakes said, since they’re well-known across and beyond the Peninsula — and because they live in the same household.
Married for 18 years, they write songs together, revamp old-time classics and interweave the sounds of guitar, clawhammer banjo, harmonica and vocal harmony.
“Sometimes the harmony gods give the world a voice match I swear was made in heaven,” longtime friend Carol Pope said of Trenerry and Mogi.
“I still get goosebumps,” she added, when the Deadwood Revival voices drop to a whisper, then swell to crescendo.
The duo, also known for their music with the newer band Joy in Mudville, have performed in bars, barns, parks, theaters, brewpubs and festivals across Washington state, Oregon and California. Their last live gig was at Chimacum’s Finnriver Farm & Cidery in February.
And they’ve never done a show at downtown Port Angeles’ movie theater.
The Lincoln, shuttered since 2014, will provide the stage, lighting, sound system and a strong internet connection — but no audience.
Live comments from viewers on the JFFA Facebook page and YouTube channel will serve as a way for the artists to interact with fans, Oakes said.
Mogi and Trenerry chose the moniker Deadwood Revival for a few reasons: Mogi repairs and builds old-style musical instruments, and he and Trenerry both love the idea of taking a forgotten old song and reviving it.
Many old-time songs are given a fresh take in his and Trenerry’s hands. Deadwood Revival has a rootsy, Americana sound in originals such as “Ain’t the Buyin’ Kind,” “Passenger Side,” “Shake the Barnhouse Down” and “Daisy,” a song about a 1966 Volkswagen bus.
“We feel like our music has always been pretty positive,” Trenerry said.
“Everybody needs some positivity right now.”
The JFFA Winter Benefit will be a night of live music and fundraising as in previous years, Oakes said. She’s kept the auction items to just eight, including a group rowing excursion from the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association, a staycation at the new 7 Cedars Hotel, and curated packages of local wines and beers.
“We have a JFFA swag bag that’s really fun: a collection of vintage festival T-shirts plus some of our new, branded merchandise,” Oakes said.
At this weekend’s Port Angeles Farmers Market, JFFA will offer 50/50 raffle tickets for sale as an additional fundraiser, plus free “snowflake scene” art kits for families to take home. The market is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday under The Gateway pavilion at Lincoln and Front streets.
The Winter Benefit auction and raffle proceeds support JFFA’s 2021 offerings, which include live-streamed “In [Your] Living Room” concerts and the Juan de Fuca Festival in May — which Oakes and the board hope will be a hybrid of online and in-person performances.
“We are moving forward with festival planning,” said Oakes, adding the need this year is for operating expenses to keep JFFA afloat after a year of severe impact.
The theme is the same as ever, she said: “keeping it local since 1992,” the year of the first Juan de Fuca Festival in Port Angeles.
“We’ll always be committed to our community,” Oakes said.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
