COYLE — Norm Johnson is astonished. He’s about to host his 100th Concert in the Woods out on the Toandos Peninsula, a place that’s neither quick nor easy to find.
Yet folk singers, indie-rock bands and bluegrass outfits from across the West find it — along with acoustic-music lovers who drive from Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Sequim, Poulsbo, Kingston, Silverdale and even Seattle.
They come for non-mainstream acts like this Saturday night’s Betty and the Boy from Eugene, Ore.
The group will play a 7:30 p.m. concert at Concerts in the Woods central: the Laurel B. Johnson Community Center, 923 Hazel Point Road.
As usual with this series, admission is by donation, all ages are welcome, and Johnson plans to have plentiful cake and coffee to celebrate the century mark.
As for Betty and the Boy, the seasoned promoter calls the quintet a perfect fit.
“I love the full sound, excitement and energy of a multi-instrument string band,” Johnson said, “and this one has all the right stuff: guitar, banjo, fiddle, cello, and upright bass, plus some outstanding vocals and harmonica too.”
Betty is Bettreena Jaeger, originally from Kalispell, Mont., a woman with a voice and delivery that commanded Johnson’s attention from the first note.
She had a similar effect on Josh Harvey, the harmonica-mandolin-banjo player. He followed her on that ancient social network MySpace, continually asking her to consider him as a musical collaborator.
“She finally said yes,” said Harvey, aka the Boy.
The pair, now married, kept the name Betty and the Boy even as they collected three more musicians: classically trained cellist Nanci McDonald, who also plays ukulele and guitar; bassist Jon Conlon and violinist Michelle Whitlock, who likes to play her instrument in a lower register.
“We’re a five-piece string band with bluegrass undertones, and more of an orchestral take on it,” said Jaeger, adding that the sound is closer to folk than country.
She and Harvey write most of the songs; both like stories about the journey of life.
A few covers come up too, such as Cat Power’s “Good Woman” and Elliott Smith’s “Clementine.”
Johnson was introduced to Betty and the Boy by Patchy Sanders, another string band that played a Concert in the Woods.
That group performed here last October, as part of a diverse series that so far has included Abby Mae & the Homeschool Boys; Jason Mogi and Kim Trenerry; Wild Rabbit; Star Anna, Lynne Ferguson and FarmStrong.
Audience sizes vary widely, but Slipshod, the bluegrass duo from Portland, Ore., drew a standing-room-only crowd of 65 or so on July 11.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Johnson said of the Concerts in the Woods series, which he began in September 2009. It’s something like the folk-music series he hosted at a Bainbridge Island cafe many years ago, only not in an incorporated city.
“It still surprises me that we can get such outstanding talent and such a faithful audience to attend these shows, out in this remote corner of Jefferson County,” he said.
“I have to think that our remoteness and long drive to get here is part of its charm. With each mile deeper into the woods, you get the feeling that you are traveling back in time to a simpler, calmer place.
“Coming back to the earth,” he added, “fits the kind of roots music we do here.”
For directions and other details about Saturday’s event, see www.CoyleConcerts.com or contact Johnson at 360-765-3449 or johnson5485@msn.com.
For more about Betty and the Boy, see www.bettyandtheboy.com.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
