Vallecito, CA…Twisted Oak Winery is pleased to announce the next concert of our 2015 Twisted Folk Concert Series – featuring Chris Webster & Nina Gerber, and Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore! “Once again we are featuring four talented (and award-winning) musicians that have graced our stage before,” said winery co-owner Jeff Stai. “Chris Webster’s lovely voice coupled with the guitar virtuosity of Nina Gerber is just a killer combination. And to have the equally beautiful voice of Mollie O’Brien and talented guitar of Rich Moore is almost more than you could ask for. It should be an amazing evening!”

An easy dinner (easy because you don’t have to cook) will be available for purchase (with a vegetarian option available), along with yummy Twisted Oak wine, brownies, popcorn, and soft drinks. Concertgoers are welcome to bring their own picnics but we ask that no outside alcoholic beverages be brought in.

Seating at Twisted Folk concerts is outdoor festival style, first-come, first-served – bring a low beach-type chair or a blanket. We’re on top of a hill and there is always an evening breeze – it can get a little chilly after dark so please plan ahead.

Twisted Oak Winery is located in the foothills of Calaveras County, and specializes in wines made from Mediterranean varieties like Tempranillo, Viognier, and Petite Sirah. We’re also known for being the home of the world-famous “Rubber Chicken National Forest.” Our concert venue, located at the winery in Vallecito, sits on a hilltop that commands a sweeping view of the Sierra Nevada and the surrounding foothills, presided over by a 350-year old California Blue Oak that graces the label of every wine we bottle.

Chris Webster & Nina Gerber, and Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore

Grammy Award winner Mollie O’Brien became known to the world as a singer’s singer when, in 1988, she and her brother Tim released the first of three critically-acclaimed albums for Sugar Hill Records (Take Me Back, Remember Me and Away Out On The Mountain). Eventually, Mollie recorded five equally well-received solo albums (Tell It True, Big Red Sun and Things I Gave Away for Sugar Hill Records, and I Never Move Too Soon and Every Night In The Week for Resounding Records). Additionally, she was a regular on the nationally-syndicated radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion” from 2001 through 2005. She’s long been known as a singer who doesn’t recognize a lot of musical boundaries, and audiences love her fluid ability to make herself at home in any genre while never sacrificing the essence of the song she tackles. O’Brien has primarily focused her efforts on the fading art of interpretation and the end result is a singer at the very top of her game who is not afraid to take risks both vocally and in the material she chooses.

Husband Rich Moore has busied himself in the Colorado music scene for many years. While staying home with the kids when Mollie & Tim toured, he held a day job and continued to perform locally with a variety of Colorado favorites, including Pete Wernick and Celeste Krenz. Not only is Moore known to produce some of the funniest onstage running commentary, he’s also a powerhouse guitar player who can keep up with O’Brien’s twists and turns from blues to traditional folk to jazz to rock and roll. He creates a band with just his guitar and, as a result, theirs is an equal partnership. O’Brien and Moore’s first duet CD, a live recording titled 900 Baseline (Remington Road Records) was released in 2006. Their first studio project, Saints & Sinners (Remington Road Records), was released to nationwide acclaim in 2010. In January 2014 they’ll release their followup, Love Runner (Remington Road Records). Both studio projects were produced by Lyons, CO ace arranger and bassist, Eric Thorin, who often joins them onstage for their live shows. All three CDs showcase their talent for unlocking the secrets to a diverse array of songs in authoritative yet very fun and unusual arrangements. For their latest release, Love Runner, they again enlisted their talented friends, Glenn Taylor (pedal steel), John Magnie (piano and accordion), Eric Moon (piano and organ) and Marc Dalio (drums). When one song called out for a musical saw, they were lucky enough to discover the wondrous Lesley Kernochan.

A career that began nearly two decades ago as a teen-aged lead singer for one of California’s best know regional acts (Mumbo Gumbo), Chris Webster boasts a successful resume highlighted by four solo releases (Drive, Now Playing, Something in the Water, My Name is Christine) and one amazing traditional Bluegrass/Americana recording (The Webster’s “10,000 Miles) with her sister Cassie and renowned guitarist Scott Nygaard. More importantly, she brings a pedigree rivaled by few. With astonishing power and passion, her voice reaches magical heights, yet effortlessly turns on a dime to deliver gut wrenching torch songs and gentle ballads. Combining elegance and grace with a foot-shuffling manner, Webster has a purity and beauty about her that is seldom seen and never forgotten. She can cut to the bone with tender, unrequited songs of love-gone- wrong then slap you upside the head with a fistful of lyrics and a take- charge melody that makes you step aside, stand back, and listen. You can turn the wine to water, but you can’t make me drink. You can ask me nicely, and I’ll tell you what I think. You can sit real close with your hand on my leg. But before you touch that wheel, make no mistake…I’m driving, I’m driving.

After carving a career out of what some might call the shadows, guitarist Nina Gerber is at last beginning to dare the light. Her first album as a leader, Not Before Noon follows two decades which brought her to prominence without ever placing her name on the front of an album cover. Since her accompaniment of Kate Wolf first earned her recognition, her acute skills as performer, producer and arranger have continued to deepen. Her contributions to acoustic music have earned her a following as loyal as for the numerous high talents she has accompanied. Nina has a unique ability to completely free herself within an eclectic range of styles. Presented with folk, country, bluegrass, rock, or blues, she is able to fall into leads that have rare reverence for the true feeling of a song, always emphasizing taste over technical display. She seeks to express through her hands, rather than gain attention, and it is this integrity which makes her expressions worth intent listening.

What: Twisted Folk Concert Series Presents Chris Webster & Nina Gerber, and Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore

Where: Twisted Oak Winery, 4280 Red Hill Rd at Hwy 4, Vallecito
When: Saturday, June 27th, 2015 – 8:00pm. Concertgoers admitted 7:00pm

Ticket Information:
Tickets $25 advance ($22 Twisted Few wine club members), or $30 at the door, if available.
Children 12 and under: $10. All proceeds from children’s ticket sales will be directed to supporting music education in local schools.
For more info, or to purchase tickets: 209-736-9080, twistedoak.com/concerts