Local man starts Music Alliance

His goal is to schedule a series of evening performances, each featuring at least three songwriters, during the spring.

Haney’s counting on those concerts to generate excitement and support for a regional Elk Mountain Music Festival, which he hopes to put on in Baker City in late summer 2011.

Haney, a local musician/songwriter who performs with his wife, Peggy, as the duo Star Nation, said the spring series of Songwriter Connections concerts kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday at Quail Ridge Golf Course, 2801 Indiana Ave.

A $5 admission will be charged at the door.

“One of our goals is to provide a respectful venue for original artists,” Haney said.

He got the idea for starting the Elk Mountain Music Alliance from his experience performing at the annual summer Tunesmith Concert Series, which is put on in Enterprise by the Wallowa Music Alliance and draws visitors from Portland, Tri-Cities, Walla Walla, Bend, Eugene, Seattle and Boise.

Haney’s also planning to put together educational songwriter workshops for youths and adults, to be led by regional songwriters.

He sees all the events as stepping stones to hosting a regional music festival here Baker City in 2011.

It takes about 18 months of planning to put together a big regional music festival which would include food and art booths, Haney said.

“Baker City is becoming a pretty artsy place. There’s lots of support for artists,” Haney said.

However, he believes it’s the combination of original art and music, along with the town’s nationally known microbrewery and wine shops, that can turn Baker City into an art and music tourist mecca.

Like painting, pottery, photography, poetry, short stories, novels and other forms of art, Haney said songwriting is a “soul-exposing experience,” especially if you write songs and sing about events in your own life.

He said one of the keys to writing a song people can relate to is to give enough personal information, but not too much.

“You’ve got to leave enough room for imagination, so the listener can interpret that song like they do when they read a book, or look at a painting or sculpture,” Haney said.

He hopes the Elk Mountain Music Alliance will bring local and regional musicians together to share music and ideas.

“We want the local musicians to connect. We need their creative ideas,” Haney said.

Musician songwriters interested in performing at the spring Songwriter Connections concerts at Quail Ridge Golf Course are asked to submit a CD of original material, and a press kit with a photo and biographical information.

“It doesn’t have to be a professional recording, we just want a recording of them performing,” Haney said.

A three-person panel will screen the submissions and choose a minimum of three artists for each of the spring concerts, and those songwriters will be considered for inclusion in the planned 2011 festival.

For more information contact Haney at 541-403-2625, by mail at 2305 Cherry St., Baker City, OR 97814, or via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it