PORT ANGELES — Taylor Thomas has done this Harvest Hoedown thing before and found it nourishing all the way around: good people, good food, good cause.
And this year, the event’s third time out, Thomas’ band Good Machine will be added to the list, along with a large helping of what the trio calls “folk-grass.”
Good Machine — singer-guitarist Cole Gibson, upright bass man Hayden Pomeroy and cellist Thomas — is the headliner at the Harvest Hoedown, an all-ages dance party at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Black Diamond Community Hall, 1942 Black Diamond Road.
Good Machine is not the only music provider; the Flying Strings, another Port Angeles band, will arrive in time to be the opening act.
Tickets are available for $15 in advance and $10 at the door, though children 12 and younger are admitted free.
Proceeds from the party benefit the Port Angeles Farmers Market, and with a beneficiary like that, you can bet on not going hungry.
“We’ll have baked goodies, popcorn and apple cider available for purchase for all your snacking needs,” farmers market manager Cynthia Warne promises.
“We’re really excited to have Good Machine,” she said, adding that she’s watched the musicians develop over the past couple of years.
PA graduates
The three, who graduated from Port Angeles High School in 2011, took themselves on a U.S. tour, working their way down the West Coast, then into the South including New Orleans.
“We just busked on the street for gas money,” said Thomas.
Yes, it was an adventure, but “we like it here,” she said, so the trio returned home to blend their work as a band with their day jobs: Thomas at the New Day Eatery, Pomeroy as an emergency medical technician and Gibson as a full-time student at Peninsula College.
In its sets, Good Machine mixes originals such as “Redwood Tree” and “Devil Song” with covers of familiar folk and bluegrass tunes, all to “keep it dance-ier,” Thomas said.
The Flying Strings — Al Watkins’ band featuring daughter Elizabeth Watkins, 16; son Adam Watkins, 13; their cousin Imogen Fraser, 9; and family friend Charlotte Hertel, 14 — will warm up the room with their own brand of acoustic music.
Imogen, a multi-instrumentalist, will make her debut as a lead singer and fiddler Saturday night.
Advance tickets are available at the Port Angeles Farmers Market, which takes place Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. year-round at The Gateway pavilion at Front and Lincoln streets, and at Renaissance, 401 E. Front St., and Port Book and News, 104 E. First St.
More information can be found by phoning 360-460-0361, finding the Port Angeles Farmers Market on Facebook or visiting www.portangelesfarmersmarket.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.
