An icon of American gospel and rhythm and blues, Mavis Staples, now approaching her 75th year and over 6 decades of performing, rocked the open-air hillside of the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon with the zest of a teenager and hearty bones equipped to carry the wisdom and weight of her music. Many of the night’s songs were classics from the 70’s when her family band, the Staple Singers, were the spiritual and musical voices of the civil rights movement, largely connected through her father’s friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr.

There’s no way to say a bad word about this woman. If you did, I imagine she’d stand right up to you, laugh and direct the attention to something more valuable of her time. She was feisty, authentic, clear and bold; a solid power house of beauty from which caricatures of strong women are built. Humor and attitude dripped from her comfortable flesh. “We’re so glad to be back here… Where are we? The Rogue Valley? Not Jacksonville, Jacksonville’s in Florida! You can’t fool me, girl… No, I know we’re in Jacksonville, Oregon. I know where that plane dropped me off.” Knowing herself to the bone, feeling her own two feet (and cane) on the ground, she let sound come right on out of her.

“Ah, yeah,” Mavis rolled off her tongue after opening with “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me) and a slow, intentional rendition of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” Setting the tone with songs protesting political domination, hatred, war, economical exploitation and promoting respect for oneself and others, the irrefutable power and inevitability of change, and an unrelenting positive outlook that we’re gonna make it and support each other the whole way through. Her potent, soulful voice intricately wove with syncopated calls of three skillful backup vocalists, Donny Gerrard, Yvonne Staples and Vicki Randle, filling the pause of breath with sound in a safety net designed to catch the music. Well-orchestrated timing and cohesive musical conversations produced a tonal equation whose result was simple, easy, effortless flow.

She set the tone for the night with slow-paced, enunciated syllables hanging on the space between words, reminiscent of a gospel sermon—nothing was rushed, “Y’all. I’m gonna tell you, we’re here to bring you joy. Happiness. Inspiration. And some positive vibrations. Leave you with enough to last you, I don’t know… the next 6 months.”

With the gritty rasp and soul of a lifetime of music gargled in her throat, Mavis played with the music. Imitating the tonal sounds of the instruments with a soul scat, as if repeating bird calls, she leaned back and shook funky syllables back to the instruments. The notes didn’t last as long as they once did, but the potency and content of her music seemed to more comfortably fit her age. Singing “The Weight”, she flapped her arms down atop her chest while belting, “Put the load on me!” again and again—I believed she could have held a Mack truck.

Donny Gerrard’s deep vocal support held a power from a different era that suited Staples’ lead. Toward the end of the show the bassist, Jeff Turmes, also stepped up to the mic and surprised me with a sweet, clear voice. At this point, Mavis took a chair at the back of the stage and let the band members drive momentum and crescendo out of a high energy, “Freedom Highway”… only after scatting with the bass and pulling every last essence of breath to yell, “I won’t turn around! No, I won’t,” over and over until no words were left and only a chair remained. Vicki Randle rocked a cow bell and punched a tambourine to ecstatic rhythm. She and Turmes gathered around Stephen Hodges on the drums and built a percussive storm. Rick Holmstrom played a guitar solo that took the instrument as soft and quiet as its notes would expand while still existing in the realm of audible sound. The instrument whispered and breathed long exhales between delicate touches. It gathered power in this way; dredging up the forgotten notes that often lie at the bottom of the pool. When he took the guitar back to full pressure, high energy explosion, the sound was more complete than riding that high alone could have produced. A true professional, he knew how to play with music and tantalize power through it. Mavis returned to close with “I’ll Take You There.” As she pointed out, they’ve been holding us there for 64 years… I saw no sign of stopping.