The Nikhil Korula Band opens for Sly Stone tribute with its global take on dance music

CORVALLIS - Given da Vinci Days' yearly celebration of the "left-brain-meets-right-brain genius" of Leonardo da Vinci, it makes sense that music would be a key component of the festivities. While musicians often are seen as wild creative types, music itself is the ultimate collaboration between the creative and the mathematical.

If the festival seeks to bridge the gap between the two hemispheres of the brain, it seems a logical extension then to bridge the two hemispheres of the globe. And while the acts playing this year's festival might all hail from North America, the styles they play run the gamut, from Louisiana swamp music to African tribal drumming, from the indie-rock and folk music of the Pacific Northwest to continent- and culture-spanning funk and dance music.

This year's headliner is BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, a group that deals in, as the back of its most recent live album reads, "jigs, ballads, blues, two-steps, Baise-Bas, Reels and Zydeco." They'll perform at 8:30 p.m. Friday, July 18, on the da Vinci Days main stage, on campus at 14th Street and Jefferson Avenue.

While they might be the biggest name attached to this year's concert lineup, other groups have been making waves in somewhat smaller circles.

Laura Kemp, for instance, is a singer-songwriter based out of Eugene who has built a strong Northwest following. She'll play immediately before BeauSoleil at 7 p.m.

Saturday night will see a batch of up-and-coming acts take the stage, beginning with Portland-based indie-rockers The Dimes at 6:30 p.m. Following them will be the danceable, jammy pop of the Nikhil Korula Band at 8 p.m.

Finally, closing out the festivities that night will be Joey Porter's tribute to Sly and The Family Stone. Porter's band, which will include local bassist Dan Scollard and the harmony vocals of pop-soul whizkid Debra Arlyn, has built up a legion of funky fanatics through a string of gigs locally at Bombs Away Cafe.

On Sunday, the action will move to the Central Park Stage with the da Vinci Poetry Slam. But every day will also feature a variety of entertainment, from the Unidentified Flying Art Community Exhibit to the Kinetic Challenge to a special screening of the da Vinci Film Festival.

For more information about all these events, and a complete schedule, see www.davinci-days.org.

A conversation with Nikhil Korula

Nikhil Korula was born in Newfoundland to parents of Indian descent, but moved to the United States shortly thereafter. He met bandmates Anthony King and Lorca Hart through a connection at the University of Southern California shortly after attending a Horde Tour performance that featured the Dave Matthews Band, Rusted Root and Blues Traveler. The experience changed him forever, and with a new pool of musical collaborators opened up to him, he set out to make music in the vein that had inspired him.

Since then, the Nikhil Korula Band, or the NK Band as they're often referred to, has toured around the world, and they even managed to open up for the DMB on a string of concerts.

"Lift Your Head," the first song on the band's new album, "The Way Things Work," starts off with a bit of African-influenced percussion before breaking into pop rock akin to DMB or John Mayer. From there, it's off into a jazzy sax solo and a middle section that allows the band to show off its versatile chops.

"We're a world-influenced jam band," Korula says. "I try not to look at places as influencing me. Music, for me, was always about tearing down walls, breaking down boundaries."

Korula traveled to Africa in 1999, an experience that he says made him want to push his jam-band roots into more of a global sound.

"That's the best part about this music," he says, "is seeing how it impacts everyone. It doesn't build walls, it tears them down."

Korula also says that getting an audience into the groove of a performance is every bit as important to him as experimenting with textures from disparate cultures. "I've always loved dance music," he says. "I love going to the clubs."

He also says he's looking forward to coming back to the Northwest from Los Angeles, where, despite his avoidance of claiming a stake in the L.A. music scene, the band continues to be based. On previous trips through Oregon and Washington, the NK Band has found an audience steeped in the music of bands such as Phish and Widespread Panic, the String Cheese Incident and Rusted Root - an audience, in other words, that was receptive to his band's pop-rock-based explorations.

"If you really love music, it's not about the fame," he says. "It's about getting the music out there the best way possible, and impacting people in whatever venue and whatever festival and whatever city you're playing in. For me, it's just about impacting fans. I want them to leave thinking that's one of the best musical experiences I've ever had."

As for playing da Vinci Days, Korula says his band is more than up to the challenge of taking on a festival that is all about the convergence of left-brain and right-brain thinking, as well as the creative paths it can take you down.

"As a band, we're always trying to innovate," he says.

To hear more of the interview with Nikhil Korula go to www.gazettetimes.com and click on the blue GT to Go logo.