BETH WILLIS PLAYS THE OREGON COAST THROUGHOUT SEPTEMBER

A voice with touches of Jewel and Joplin. A desperate madness and yet a strong sense of humor. A passionate, even slightly in-your-face folk style that crosses many musical boundaries and time periods.

Currently, Portland-based Beth Willis is hitting the regional club scene hard with this truckload of wit and musical frivolity. She's been called the "acoustic goddess of fun" and can be seen at a flurry of gigs around the state, with her new album, "Every Angle," in tow.

Beth plays Cannon Beach and Lincoln City this month, with shows at Kodiak Bar & Grill in Lincoln City on September 2 & 3, and shows at Lumberyard Rotisserie in Cannon Beach on September 7 and September 28.

Beth Willis is earthy, gutsy, bluesy and folksy, yet with stream-of-consciousness lyrics that are engaging and heady, all augmented by an undeniable party atmosphere. She’s funny and biting, poignant and thought provoking all at the same time in some moments, mashing together genres from different decades between her powerful set of lungs and that acoustic guitar she strums so intently. (Below, Beth gets the dance floor nuts at Lincoln City's Kodiak).

Leonard Cohen, Jack Johnson, Patti Smith and Tracy Chapman all come to mind, as well as the already mentioned legends above. Beth is part cool alterna-folkie and part raunchy bluester from San Francisco in the late 60’s, with the lyrical insight and adeptness of someone like Cohen or Smith.

Case in point: the lost young girl in the sad yet amusing “Saturday Night,” who confesses to going out clubbing while living the life of a poser, dressing a part for public display in heavy metal attire and nose ring, yet feeling uncomfortable in that uniform as much as her own skin. Who hasn’t been there – even after adolescence? Yet while Beth makes the listener feel for the character, the girl manages to make fun of herself as well as give you reasons to laugh at her.

Having started her first band at age 17, Beth had already released three albums before this one, as a solo artist or with various other groups and duos. She concentrated hard on her music during her college years in the late 90’s and in the early 2000’s. Beth recently quit her fulltime office job for the Portland School District to again push her music fulltime.

Beth’s energetic, even rollicking performances are usually dominated by her vast array of cover songs. You’ll hear everything from Joplin to Peter Gabriel, Semisonic to The Beatles, Bob Marley to Stain’d – even a song by Snoop Dogg. Beth may be an acoustic solo singer, but she delivers a powerful punch. Her shows at Kodiak Bar & Grill in Lincoln City usually result in large sing-a-longs, and even a decent crowd on a dance floor – something slightly unusual for a solo player.

With her cover tunes, Beth is a bit like a human jukebox, with a huge amount of songs in her brain. When it comes to her own material and the album “Every Angle,” this emerging artist is a bit of juggernaut.

SHOW DETAILS

Sept. 7 & Sept 28 – free
9 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Lumberyard Rotisserie & Grill 264 3rd Street, Cannon Beach. (503) 436-0285

September 2 & 3 – free
9 p.m. – 12 a.m.
Kodiak Bar & Grill. 4649 SW Hwy 101. (541) 994-7729.