Discovering Southern Oregon – April 2024
THE HISTORIC TOWN OF JACKSONVILLE has become the undisputed leader of the Music Scene in Southern Oregon. This tiny town established the birth of the Southern Oregon music scene with the Britt Festival, but today, live music can be heard in establishments all over town and at the wineries and tasting rooms that surround it.
It all started back in 1963 when Portland conductor John Trudeau and his friend, Sam McKinney, visited Southern Oregon with the dream of starting a classical music festival. They visited the former hillside estate of Jacksonville pioneer Peter Britt and found the amazing resonance to the hillside acoustics combined with a gorgeous view of the valley provided the perfect location, and the Britt Festival was born! Today the Britt Festival has expanded to all genres of music and has a seating capacity of 2,200 with 962 reserved seats. Local wines and beers are served along with great food by local restaurants and food trucks.
During Britt concerts there is an incredible energy in the air as our small-town swells, restaurants are lively, and sidewalks fill with excited concertgoers packing their chairs and coolers up the hill. Jacksonville is electrifying on a Britt night; you can feel the excitement in the air.
Over the years, we have been fortunate to see world-class performances at the Britt Festival: Smokey Robinson, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, Moody Blues, Doobie Brothers, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Kenny Loggins, Chicago, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, ZZ Top, Judy Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Three Dog Night, Huey Lewis, Heart, The Temptations, Peter Frampton, Boy George, Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper, Gladys Knight, Beach Boys, Joan Baez, and our own Britt Orchestra. New last year was the Britt Orchestra in concert playing the soundtrack while a movie played on a gigantic screen. This year they will continue the concept with Star Wars, A New Hope, in concert.
Some of my favorite memories of the music scene in Jacksonville involve leaving a Britt concert, ascending down that steep hill, shoulder to shoulder with 2200 concertgoers, energy thick in the air, then entering historic downtown and hearing live music belting out from three saloons…and the night continues. Those are unforgettable evenings.
One night we were listening to live music at the Bella Union Saloon when members of the Britt Orchestra poured into the saloon after their classical concert. Not long after they arrived, they joined the band, creating an incredible evening of impromptu music.
Last Wednesday night, we had dinner at South Stage Cellars (SSC while listening to the live music of Jeff Kloetzel…when SSC closed at 8pm, we walk across the street to Boomtown Saloon to the start of “Open Mic” night where we heard another half dozen talented bands.
The music scene is ever-expanding in Jacksonville but took a big leap forward in 2015 when Porscha Schiller, the tasting room manager of South Stage Cellars, conceived of the Rising Stars program. Local musicians of any genre—jazz, folk, classical would apply to play at South Stage Cellars and compete. People would come to the tasting room to drink wine, hear the music from multiple bands and vote for their favorites. The winner received a 30-minute interview on Jefferson Public Radio and got to be the opening act on the Britt stage.
Porscha suddenly and prematurely passed away in 2018, but her legacy of live music lives on as it’s now customary for wineries and tasting rooms to host live music. Her influence has been responsible for live music venues doubling in Jacksonville. Last year Jacksonville also saw the expansion of Classical Chamber music in the winter months, spearheaded by Marshall Thompson, with three chamber music concerts at New City Hall—and all of them sold out!
Jacksonville is all about history, wine, food, and music. It doesn’t matter what genre of music you prefer; you can find it in Jacksonville.