This Labor Day Weekend I will relish some beautiful, warm, sunny days and the fact that I don’t have any plans other than chilling out in the backyard. Last weekend was really my more celebratory farewell to summer, as I traveled to Portland and McMenamin’s Edgefield Hotel to take in a concert on the grounds there.

Both my daughters have musical talent; Sarah, the oldest, has a lovely singing voice (she once even literally sang for her supper in London!), and Jenny plays piano and guitar. Jenny also shares my appreciation for singer/songwriters who can pen thoughtful, intelligent lyrics, and she keeps me in the know on up-and-coming and less well-known artists. She introduced me to the music of Brandi Carlile some 10 years ago, and we’ve been enjoying her music — and her building fame — ever since.

I should note that while Brandi Carlile is the lead singer in her band, her bandmates and fellow songwriters Tim and Phil Hanseroth (“the twins”) get equal billing and provide the great harmonies and rockin’ guitar to their songs. Together with my sister Robbe, whom we discovered was also a big fan, we’ve taken in several Brandi Carlile concerts over the years, from the Britt Festival in my own backyard in Southern Oregon to Portland’s Paramount Theater and the Oregon Zoo and now, twice, at Edgefield.

Edgefield sits on 74 acres just east of Portland and just west of the entrance to the scenic Columbia River Gorge.  Built in 1911 and consisting of several large buildings and fields, vineyards and orchards, it was once the county poor farm. Now it offers more than 100 guestrooms and hostel accommodations in the main building and features lovely gardens and a host of outbuildings which house everything from a glassblower and potter to a movie theater and cozy pubs. Its large outdoor stage overlooks a grassy, tree-ringed lawn   that seats about 5,000 guests and is a popular summertime concert venue.

Parking (in grassy fields) is free, and then you trek a quarter mile or so to wait in line ’til the gates to the venue open up. Last Saturday brought temperatures in the low 80s, but water stations along the path kept folks from getting too warm. Veterans of the site come early, mark their place in line with lawn chairs and then go in search of brews and other refreshments on the property. The staff works very efficiently to get everyone in through the screening process, and then everyone disperses to snag their spot on the lawn     and purchase food and beverages from the McMenamin’s booths scattered under the trees.

One can purchase house beers ($7), cider, limited cocktails, wine and water and sodas. Most entrées (including vegan and gluten-free options) run about $13, and while not terribly generous in size, they are satisfying. We found the ice cream booth to be extremely popular and its output extremely tasty!

The opening act began once the sun had lowered enough to shade the stage, and we very much enjoyed Courtney Marie Andrews, a young singer/songwriter who accompanied herself on piano and guitar.   She has a soaring, pure, strong voice and her music fits in the Americana/folk/country genre. Though we had not heard of her before, she has produced five albums, and we decided we’ll be searching out her music in the future.

Coming off six Grammy nominations (and winning three) this year, Brandi Carlile   is touring with a few more musicians (strings) and backup singers than we’ve seen in the past, and they all made beautiful music that evening.    With an appreciative nod to the long-loyal Portland-area fanbase, they played some old favorites along with several cuts from By the Way I Forgive You, the latest award-winning album, often encouraging the audience to sing along.

It proved to be a wonderful send-off to a beautiful and mostly smoke-free summer, providing a great anchor on which to hang my memories of the summer of 2019.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor