It’s set to be a blistering weekend, so we’re going to do our best to cool things down this hour with classical music in the woods, golden harmonies soaring over the Willamette, and a brilliant, new blue pigment.

Classical Music Meets Silent Disco At Stunning WPA Sites

The pianist Hunter Noack is harking back to the Works Progress Administration era with a concert series called “In A Landscape.” He has invited such musical luminaries as Pink Martini’s Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes to join him in playing classical music in some of the region’s most famous WPA sites. Think Timberline Lodge, Council Crest, and the Oneonta Tunnel. Noack has a history of bringing music to unlikely places,which is why he agreed to drag a piano out into the West Hills to play a few of the songs for this audio postcard.

Sista In The Brotherhood - 7:25

The Portland-filmed “Sista in the Brotherhood” follows a day-in-the-life of a black woman working at the Sellwood Bridge construction site. The film is based on the research of producer Roberta Hunte and the real life experience of co-writer and director Dawn Jones Redstone, who spent years working construction and training other women in the trade. The film has been screening around the country at festivals and even won the Best Short Film Award at this year’s Portland International Film Festival.

The Band Joseph's Golden Harmonies Soar Over The Willamette River - 17:19

One of our favorite musical discoveries last year was the band Joseph. They’re three sisters from Estacada, Oregon, and their harmonies are like that golden tone the sun casts as it sets on the high desert or the Cascade foothills.

Allison, Meegan and Natalie Clossner spent the last year on the road, perfecting their harmonies and writing new music. Now they’re back with a highly anticipated follow up, “I’m Alone, No You’re Not,” due out Aug. 26, and the sisters suggested the crazy idea to meet us and opbmusic on the Willamette River's Eastbank Esplanade to play a couple of songs (watch opbmusic's videos).

The First Iraqi Vet To Write A Graphic Novel About The War - 25:08

While in Iraq, the marine Maximilian Uriarte, a Corvallis native, started writing a comic strip titled “Terminal Lance.” It quickly became a hit and now runs in the "Marine Corps Times." Since returning from the war, Uriarte has expanded the strip into the graphic novel “The White Donkey,” the first graphic novel about the war written by a veteran.

Blind Pilot's New Album Navigates Straight To The Heart - 33:15

Blind Pilot's newest album, “And Then Like Lions,” may be their most intimate yet. Lead singer Israel Nebeker told us during a performance at the OPB studio that many of the songs were written in response to the death of his father. "And then, as an album, it turned into an invitation into a conversation about loss in general," he said.

Scientists Discover The First New Blue Pigment In 200 Years - 43:46

Get this: there hasn’t been a new blue pigment created since 1802. Now, we're talking about a new color, as every color already exists in the light spectrum. We're talking about a new pigment — the chemical or substance that gives paint, dye or other objects their color. Pigments have to be derived from nature or made in a lab, which is exactly what happened in 2009 at Oregon State University, when researchers were heating up elements in a furnace. Their goal was to create new materials that could be used in electronics – instead they found a brilliant new blue pigment. And it’s finally making it to the market.