Oregon Music News

Burgerville continues its involvement, combining in local music and good causes with a free show featuring singer/bassist/songwriter Dylan May on Friday, December 9th from 6-8 pm at Burgerville 1122 SE Hawthorne. Ten percent of all food & beverage sales benefit the Oregon Music Hall of Fame Education Programs for our schools.

Watch Dylan May perform “Our Revolution”

Burgerville supports Brian Grant Foundation with Shakers’ Sessions album

Here’s what they told us:

On November 15th, Northwest-based, locally supportive fast-food chain, Burgerville launched Burgerville Records with The Shakers’ Sessions.

The Shakers’ Sessions is a compilation of Northwest musicians singing songs written by Portland musician, and Parkinson’s patient, Rob Barteletti. The album will see one-hundred percent of profits going to the Brian Grant Foundation, a non-profit organization that is an informational and inspirational resource for a community of people empowered to live unique and fulfilling lives with Parkinson’s.

Listen to Rob Barteletti’s “Her Man, Her Lover, Her Friend” from Shakers’ Sessions:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

More than 1.5 million Americans have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative, neurological disorder that that gets worse over time. Parkinson’s is a loss of cells in the brain that produce dopamine which is a chemical messenger responsible for transmitting signals to coordinate movement.

Rob Barteletti

Every day, 195 people are newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s and it affects more than just the person who has it – it also affects the entire family dealing with Parkinson’s disease. One such person is songwriter (and former high school teacher) Rob Barteletti, who was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease in 2002.

“At the time I was teaching a theology course that asked the question, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ As I had learned from reading Harold Kushner’s book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, ‘Why?’ is the wrong question; the better question is ‘What are you going to do about it? How are you going to make the most of the bad things that happen to you and your loved ones?’” Barteletti says without hesitation. “Perfect,” I thought. “My chance to put into practice what I have been teaching.”

He continued teaching for more than five years after his diagnosis, retiring in 2007 after 31 years. After retiring, Barteletti, who realized the clock was ticking on his songwriting, his ability to play and write music on the guitar, dove into his music full-time, writing constantly.

Following a conversation with close friend, and recording engineer/producer Rob Stroup from 8 Ball Studios, the idea was born to do a benefit album for Parkinson’s patients, with local musicians coming in and signing songs Barteletti had penned.

Rob Stroup

“I had just written a series of swampy, tongue-in-cheek, sad, hopeful songs. I brought rough demos to Rob Stroup for his opinion. As we discussed this, we came up with the idea to invite the best singers in Portland and the Northwest to each record one of my songs. The album would be sold as a benefit, with all profits earmarked for Parkinson’s support organizations,” recalls Barteletti .

Phone calls were made. Emails were sent. Soon, Barteletti found Northwest musicians more than willing to participate, including Storm Large, Pete Droge, Fernando Viciconte, Ian Moore, Mike Coykendall, Casey Neill, Bart Ferguson, Steve Wilkinson, Ken DeRouchie, Rob Stroup, and even the one-time student of Barteletti at Jesuit High School, Nick Peets.

Storm Large / Photo by John Rudoff

“There are three irrefutable cold, hard facts about Parkinson’s disease:it is chronic, it is progressive, and it is incurable. Every Parkinson’s patient hears this somber mantra upon diagnosis,” informs Barteletti. “I now understand the reality of those words more than any time since I was diagnosed seven and half years ago.”

He continues, “Over the past few years, my musical skills have diminished, but it’s as if my songwriting has been set free by the disease. This fills me with hope and inspiration.”

Honored that so many Northwest icons were willing to participate in the making of The Shakers’ Sessions, Barteletti hopes to inspire others with the disease, educate those unfamiliar with its impact on lives, and ultimately raise money to help those living with the incurable disease.

“The collaborative goal is to bring these songs not just public artistic recognition, but more importantly to share this music to bring awareness and funding to The Brian Grant Foundation, to further their cause, and help them provide assistant to those less fortunate than me, who are also living with Parkinson’s. My dream is to see the day when a cure can be found for this insidious, relentless disease.

But, in the mean time, I hope The Shakers’ Sessions can inspire and offer hope to others like me. Much like it has done for me,” Barteletti says.

The result is a 12-track collection of roots-oriented, folk-pop-tinged Americana, with ea ch guest vocalist adding their own interpretation to Barteletti’s rustic Americana songwriting style.