Concert to benefit St. Vincent de Paul

COEUR d'ALENE - You can't quite pigeonhole 'Back Porch Blend's' type of music.

But if you tried it would go something like this:

"It starts and ends with spiritual music, but there's a wide mix in between," said Bruce Christensen, lead guitarist of the eight-member group.

That blend of gospel, originals, bluegrass and jazz is coming to the Kroc Community Center at 6 p.m. Saturday in a benefit concert for St. Vincent de Paul's family transitional housing.

Oh yeah, it's the group's first concert since coming together last year.

No pressure.

"We just had the team," Christensen said. "About this time last year, we thought, you know let's do a concert."

But this isn't a rag-tag bunch, it just took the lifelong musicians that long to get together. Most are members of Summit Northwest Ministries, a church near the state line. Christensen has played with most of the group individually for 20 plus years. Finally, the time was right and the band was formed.

Guitars, banjos, drums, bass and keyboard, you name it.

"We would hope it would become a tradition," Christensen said. "We're melding into a tight group and we're having more fun than we deserve - and we haven't even performed yet!"

Come Saturday, that will change.

Christensen and his wife donated to St. Vincent's in the past, and felt the proceeds should go there as well.

"I think it's awesome," said St. Vincent Director Jeff Conroy, when he learned of the inaugural show.

Tickets to the show, which will be about 22 songs and an hour and half long, cost $12 at the door.