Ovations: Juni Fisher

The Calaveras Arts Council presents
Juni Fisher
at the Bret Harte Theater in Angels Camp
March 11, 3 p.m to 5 p.m.

Sunday, March 11, 2018
​3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

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From here you can see the Western Vista

By Maggie Sloan 

I’ve got to come clean. I once had the amazing opportunity at the Cowboy Poetry Festival in Monterey to play music on stage with Juni Fisher. It was the high point of my musical “career” to play Irish dance music in counterpoint to the tales that Juni told—in story and song—about the Irish diaspora in the American West. She was the most professional, capable, and organized musician I’ve ever met.

She held the audience riveted.
​
​In truth, Juni is an inveterate story teller. She spins yarns about the heartbeat of the American west, what she calls the Western Vista. Sodbusters, cowboys and cowgirls, sideshow attractions, horses, pigs, chickens, and cows all come to life with Juni’s recounting of heartbreak, hope, love, cunning, and foolishiness. She sharpens the excitement that helped build our shared Western mythology.

"I don't just come and sing songs," she said. "It's a combination of stories, songs, and stand-up comedy. I like to bring laughter into it even if it's serious."

Not just a pretty hat

Juni Fisher in signature Western gear

Don’t think that these are some kinds of novelty songs, because they’re not. Juni sings stories told in spare lines of poetry set to lyrical tunes that are bewitching. If you find yourself tearing up at the plight of a little red horse, or sighing romantically over two lovers who are, well, unusual, you can be forgiven for falling under her spell. Juni has been described as having “luminous intensity [that] ignites her writing and her performances. At the heart of her unique and complex artistry is her ability to bring alive what become unforgettable characters and images, stunning stories that often carry a deep and compassionate reflection of the human spirit."
 
Plus, she’s a solid entertainer; her performance topknotch. She punctuates her songs with clean, clear, crisp guitar playing, and her singing never strays from pitch, tone, or the sheer joy of performing the stories she loves to tell.
 
So it’s without a shred of reluctance that I advise you to go to the Bret Harte Theater and let Juni charm you into falling in love with the Western Vista. It will be a magical show and you will not want to miss it. This time I’m looking forward to being in the audience.

'Yakima', is about the legendary Yakima Canutt, early rodeo champion and Hollywood stunt man/horse wrangler. It comes from her stellar CD project, "Let 'Er Buck, Let 'Er Go, Let 'Er Fly'", produced for the centennial of the Pendleton Roundup.​