Jean Williams
Examiner.com
Environmental Policy Examiner

A Northwest band has been chosen to write the sound track for the movie/documentary Green Light: The Sustainable Oroville Project.

It will be written by Portland musician Keegan Smith.

The movie will be framed around the concept of a small town--in this case, Oroville, Washington--that draws together entrepreneurs, enlightened city planners, local businesses, and farmers--to propose and design ways to be a sustainable and energy efficient community—without any direction or involvement from the federal government.

A major component of the story is the installation of a canola seed crushing plant, with contracts from local farmers to grow the seed.

According to Keegan Smith and the Fam’s web site--the band is an eclectic mix of musical heavyweights, producers, and bandleaders from the Northwest's thriving music scene. The fundamental instrumentation of the Fam is comprised of: Tyrone Hendrix (drums), Chris Chard (bass), Josh Wuerth (guitar), and Justin Dodge (keyboards/producer). However they frequently feature all-star performers on various other instruments such as brass and percussion.

Kelsey Smith, Keegan’s sister, manages the band. Kelsey is very close to her brother and she considers the band to be part of a close knit family.

“Keegan is an amazing story teller,” said Kelsey. “He connects with people by walking and dancing through the crowd. It energizes his audience and perpetuates a sense of familiarity that makes them feel at home."

In the case of the Sustainable Oroville movie, the message is green industry and sustainable living. 
The Keegan Smith and the Fam band hooked up with the Sustainable Oroville project through a mutual friend, Kevin Pile, of EcoTrain Media Group, because they had been in discussions about the project for a year.