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John McCutcheon 2014
See: https://corvallisfolklore.org/home/event/john-mccutcheon2017
returns for his traditional fall concert in Corvallis. He’s been doing this for decades and fills the hall with both audience and amazing music, his own and others’, accompanied by a wide array of instruments.
CFS Swing Dance
Music by Swing & a Ms, with Audrey Perkins
Come down for a swing lesson/refresher at 7:00pm and dance away to live music starting at 7:30.
Katie McNally
Described by The Living Tradition as “the new face of Scottish fiddling in the USA”, Katie McNally grew up steeped in the vibrant Scottish and Cape Breton music community in Boston and is the 2009 New England Scottish Fiddle Champion. She was a student of Hanneke Cassel and has performed at venues such as the Newport Folk Festival, The Freight and Salvage, Wolf Trap, Symphony Space, Benaroya Hall, and various folk venues throughout the country. Katie performs regularly with all-female Celtic band Long Time Courting, has been a member of the New England fiddle supergroup Childsplay since 2009, and joined world-renowned Galician bagpiper Carlos Núñez on his tour of North America in 2012. Featured on the cover of Fiddler Magazine’s Winter 2014 issue,Katie is in high demand across the country as a performer, fiddle teacher, and dance musician.
In her second tour of the Pacific Northwest, Katie will be teaming up with two innovative performers in acoustic music in the US, genre-bending pianist Neil Pearlman and Madison-based violist Shauncey Ali. Katie’s evocative and melodic playing combined with Shauncey’s powerful harmonies and counterpoint—all anchored by Neil’s rhythmically driving piano accompaniment—creates a uniquely arresting take on traditional music.
This is a 50-seat intimate acoustic venue, so the concert will likely sell out. Buy your tickets in advance at tickettomato.com.
Join Boston-based fiddler Katie McNally for an evening of bold and exquisite tunes bursting from the Scottish and Cape Breton traditions.
David Roth strikes many chords, hearts, and minds with his unique songs, offbeat observations, moving stories, sense of the hilarious, and powerful singing and subject matter. As singer, songwriter, recording artist, keynote speaker, workshop leader, and instructor, David has earned top honors at premier songwriter competitions – Kerrville (TX) and Falcon Ridge (NY) – and taken his music, experience, and expertise to a wide variety of venues in this and other countries full-time for more than two decades.
Perennial favorite Chuck Pyle will be in town on Friday May 15 to do a house concert at the Pereira’s. The show starts at 8 PM and admission is $18 for CFS members and $20 for nonmembers. Admired as a sly humorist and an innovative guitarist, Chuck Pyle has performed for the Colorado Legislature, on Austin City Limits, and at Bill Gates’ home. He’s had his songs recorded by John Denver, Chris LeDoux, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band & Jerry Jeff Walker. He sees what’s best about America, writing songs about love lost & love found, forgetful cowboys, heroic highway patrolmen, and brain stems gone “critical”.
He is an accomplished guitarist with a warm and welcoming voice. He has performed in Corvallis many times and his concerts are really entertaining- with great stories and songs that make you laugh, keep you thinking, and many that make you want to get on your horse and ride the open range.
Pyle’s latest CD, COVER STORIES, is a collection of tunes by some lesser-known songwriters – like Pete & Lou Berryman, Walt Wilkins, Lynn Miles and Hayes Carll – whose work has been admired by other songwriters for years. These are 12 well-crafted songs beautifully rendered in 12 great performances by Chuck Pyle with his innovative Chuck Pyle Finger-Style, accompanied by side-kick, Gordon Burt on fiddle, and Don Richmond on steel guitar, dobro & mandolin.
“Chuck Pyle’s songs, playing and singing are transporting. If you’re looking for top-flight alt-country-inflected contemporary folk… this is it.” – Sing Out!
“Pyle was one of my favorite songwriter discoveries of this year. Every song lover in town should make it a point to seek out this man’s music.” – Music Row Magazine
To reserve a space and get directions, send an email to cherep@comcast.net (or, if an email won’t work, call 541-753-9224).
Rebecca Lomnicky and David Brewer are a high energy pure-drop Scottish music duo, with world class fiddling talent in combination with bagpipes, guitar, bodhran, and whistle. International Scottish Fiddle Champion, Rebecca Lomnicky, and David Brewer of the popular Celtic band Molly’s Revenge, have each spent copious amounts of time delving into the traditions of their respective instruments, living and studying in both Edinburgh and the highlands of Scotland. Together they perform captivating Scottish music which bridges the gap between the fiddle and bagpipe music of Scotland—two worlds united, into a heartfelt and rousing musical experience. Between their entertaining and informative stage banter, their four instrument combinations and vast repertoire of tunes, including everything from soaring slow airs to intricately arranged dance tunes, these charismatic performers will leave you on your feet with your hands together.
The new CD, THE FIRE, is Lomnicky and Brewer’s second album together and fully showcases every aspect of their stylistic expertise, technical prowess, and musical passion. Combining the aesthetic elements of all their past recordings into a newer finely crafted sound, this album features the diversity of Scotland’s traditional regional styles with an added contemporary flare.
Grisman, Hargreaves, Leslie & Smith
Samson Grisman (Bass) , Dominick Leslie (Mandolin), Alex Hargreaves (Fiddle) and Nathaniel Smith (Cello) have been great friends and musical confidants since they met each other on the bluegrass festival circuit in their pre-teens. The group is comprised of four of the most individualized instrumental voices in a new generation of acoustic musicians, and they play together with a cohesion that can only come from more than a decade of musical camaraderie. Drawing inspiration from the music of David Grisman, Béla Fleck, Tim O’Brien, Darol Anger, Jerry Douglas and many other luminary new-acousticians, They have forged a sound that has elements of Oldtime, Jazz, Funk, Free-Improvisation, and Bluegrass with an energy that is entirely their own. Their debut EP, “The Brotet”, features original compositions from each of the members and is sure to be enjoyed by anyone with a broad musical palate and open ears.
Listen to the band at https://brotet.bandcamp.com/releases
Nashville based singer/songwriter Jenn Grinels will make her first Corvallis appearance on Wednesday, July 8th beginning at 8 pm at the Troubadour Music Center (521 SW 2nd Street in Corvallis). Joining her will be Corvallis native Birch Pereira on upright bass. Originally playing cello in the Corvallis Youth Symphony, he went on to major in Jazz Studies, Bass Performance at UW and plays professionally with many groups in Seattle.
This year, Grinels recently completed a 20 concert tour of Europe that took her to 7 countries and was entirely fan organized. Jenn Grinels captivates audiences everywhere with her powerful, supremely polished vocals. “I found myself utterly captivated…Whether Grinels was quietly purring into the microphone or seriously belting out a tune, the audience was hanging on every note and lapping up every well-crafted phrase. Grinels has the rare gift of being a well-rounded performer who engages the audience fully and openly, sharing the performer as much as the performance. And her performance – was nothing short of amazing.” – Kenneth Fish, San Francisco Examiner, Napa City Winery.
Watch her on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jgrinels
There can’t be many Swedish folk groups with a street named after them in America, a tribute some citizens of Bloomington, Indiana, have conferred upon the extraordinarily accomplished trio Väsen.
Väsen is a Swedish “folk revival” band that has been playing together for over 25 years and has been dubbed “the best band in the world” by music critics and listeners alike. Although inspired by, and firmly rooted in traditional Swedish folk music, Väsen adds to the genre with distinct harmonies and rhythms. The band features Olov Johansson on nyckelharpa, the national instrument of Sweden, Mikael Marin on 5-string viola, and Roger Tallroth on 12-string guitar (tuned A-D-A-D-A-D). Väsen in Swedish has multiple meanings: spirit, noise, a living being, and essence, being the most prominent.
Watch them on A Prairie Home Companion, or at the Celtic Colours International Festival.
Multiple Grammy-nominee John McCutcheon charms audiences with “story telling that has the richness of fine literature” (Washington Post) and his mastery of a stage full of folk instruments is simply amazing. He plays guitar, fiddle, autoharp, banjo, jaw harp, (hambone if we are lucky) and is best known for his hammered dulcimer playing. A John McCutcheon concert is always energizing, fun, uplifting, community building, and his audiences leave with a renewed sense of hope for humanity. “This notion of telling stories of ordinary people who have done great things, and carrying those stories from one place to another, of telling people ‘this is where I’ve been, these are the stories I can bring you,’ is the heart of what I do,” McCutcheon sums up. “That’s my goal. If you can recognize yourself in my songs, then I’ve done my job.” He lives in Georgia but keeps moving, toward wherever he senses there’s still a story yet to be told.
His 30 recordings have gathered many honors including 7 Grammy nominations. His most recent honors the centenary of Joe Hill’s death on November 19th, 1915. John McCutcheon brings Joe Hill’s music to a whole new audience. With fresh arrangements, stunning musicianship, and released on a palette that makes these songs feel as though they were written today rather than a century ago, there is a life and vitality that is both rare and refreshing. In honor of Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday John recorded THIS LAND: Woody Guthrie’s America. He assembled an all-star cast of songs and musicians to honor America’s most enduring folksong writer: Willie Nelson, Tommy Emmanuel, Kathy Mattea, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Tom Chapin, Tom Paxton, Maria Muldaur and more. McCutcheon offers fresh new arrangements and exciting new interpretations of many of Woody’s most well-known songs. He has so much material we never know what he might perform, and of course he gives the audience a chance to request their favorites so plan ahead!
But it is in live performance that John feels most at home. It is what has brought his music into the lives and homes of one of the broadest audiences any folk musician has ever enjoyed. People of every generation and background seem to feel at home in a concert hall when John McCutcheon takes the stage, with what critics describe as “little feats of magic,” “breathtaking in their ease and grace…,” and “like a conversation with an illuminating old friend.”
So if you want to laugh, cry, be inspired, and feel like you are a part of a big community, then don’t miss this concert. More information about John McCutcheon his website is at www.folkmusic.com For info or to volunteer, call Chere Pereira 541-753-9224.
Whether in print, on record, or on stage, few people communicate with the versatility, charm, wit or pure talent of John McCutcheon.
yOya
alex pfender – vOcals, guitar
noah dietterich – keybOards, vOcals
ian meltzer – percussiOn
yOya is the project of longtime songwriting partners Alex Pfender and Noah Dietterich. Natives of Corvallis, and friends since the fifth grade, Pfender and Dietterich grew up to the sound of rain in the fir trees and ‘Graceland’ on cassette. When the duo moved to California to study music they found themselves absorbing the electronic sounds of the LA scene. What emerged was yOya’s unique mix of folk-hearted songs, intricate vocal harmony, gritty synths, and electronic beats. The LA Weekly describes yOya as “one of LA’s top 3 Live Bands”. For the upcoming Corvallis show, yOya will spotlight the folk that lies at the core of their songs, presenting an acoustic show in the intimate setting of the Arts Center.
Combining classic folk songwriting with contemporary electronic beats, yOya’s latest single “The Heartwood” evokes “a cabin high in grassy hills or a rooftop overlooking a gleaming city,” according to Consequence of Sound. The trio has recently shared stages with Bleachers, Moses Sumney, Avi Buffalo and many others. Learn more at their website: yoyatheband.com.
Concert has been CANCELLED
Jim Malcolm has been forced home for family health reasons and had to cancel the rest of his west coast tour.
The concert producer will be in the Majestic Theatre lobby from 6:30pm to 8:00 pm on Thursday, Feb 4, 2016. Bring your tickets purchased at Grass Roots and exchange them for a refund. Ticket Tomato tickets are being refunded through Ticket Tomato and you should get a notification.
FMI: Richard Thies 541 753-8307
Jim Malcolm
Live from Scotland
He’s Scotland’s Songwriter of the Year in 2004 and three-times nominated for Scots Singer of the Year. Jim Malcolm’s concerts are like a musical tour through Scotland’s landscape and history, with humor his constant companion. Jim Malcolm performs award-winning original songs, traditional ballads and the works of Robert Burns, with guitar and harmonicas. His harmonica work is pretty hot. Jim likes to do a 50 seat venue so he can do it without a sound system. He has a great voice for that and has sold out here before, so I recommend getting tickets early.
Here is what others say:
“Jim Malcolm’s voice has the complex individuality of an aged single-malt whisky.” Boston Globe
“One of the finest talents to have emerged through the Scottish folk scene in years” The independent
“One of those pure warm Scottish folk voices one never tires of listening to.” Dirty Linen
Review by Michael Moll of Folkworld of Jim Malcolm’s 2014 CD “The Corncrake”
The popular Scottish singer/songwriter tackles on this album almost entirely traditional songs (with only one exception). This is the second “traditional” album by Jim Malcom, after last year’s “Still” – while all previous 10 solo albums were very much focussed on Jim’s own material. Many of the songs are seldomly heard, while some are better known. The album has a very relaxed flair featuring Jim’s wonderful warm voice, guitar and harmonica, as well as guests Pete Clark (fiddle, Mark Duff (whistles, bodhran), Scoter Muse (banjo), Dave Watt (keyboards and melodica) and Jim’s wife Susie adding vocal harmonies. The cover of the album is a beautiful watercolour painting of a corncrake by wildlife artist David Bennett.
Jim has also just released a 2015 CD: “ Live in Perth”: “This is a rewarding selection of old and modern Scottish folk song, recorded live with no studio jiggery pokery, in front of a lively audience of fans, friends and family. “
Prepare for the
Republican Candidates’ Debate
with the musical political insight of
Roy Zimmerman
Roy Zimmerman is a satirical songwriter in the Tom Lehrer/Phil Ochs tradition with a great gift for clever and funny lyrics that really rhyme and an incredibly entertaining banter between his song
“You’re brilliant. Just brilliant!” — Terry Jones, Monty Python
Tom Lehrer himself says, “I congratulate Roy Zimmerman on reintroducing literacy to comedy songs. And the rhymes actually rhyme, they don’t just ‘rhyne.'”
Joni Mitchell says, “Roy’s lyrics move beyond poetry and achieve perfection.”
He spent the Comedy Boom years of the Eighties doing stand-up in San Francisco, sharing stages with George Carlin, Bill Maher, Kate Clinton, Dennis Miller and many others. He wrote all the material for his funny folk music quartet The Foremen, recording two albums for Warner/Reprise Records. He’s done several shows with The Pixies’ Frank Black, swapping songs in a solo acoustic setting.
“Roy Zimmerman simultaneously inspires me and makes me laugh my ass off,” says comedian/author Paul Krassner.
Zimmerman tours almost constantly, taking his funny songs about fracking, creationism, marijuana laws, government shutdown, same-sex marriage, guns, taxes and abstinence across the country, often playing in some of the least Progressive places in America for the most Progressive people there. “I get accused of preaching to the converted,” he says, “but I don’t think of it that way. I think of it as entertaining the troops.”
In thirteen albums over twenty years, Roy has brought the sting of satire to the struggle for Peace and Social Justice. His songs have been heard on HBO and Showtime. He has recorded for Warner/Reprise Records. He’s been profiled on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Zimmerman’s YouTube videos have amassed over seven million views, and he’s a featured blogger for the Huffington Post.
Sing Out! Magazine writes, “Zimmerman is a guy on the left skewering folks on the right with rapier-sharp lyrics … underneath the caustic satire is a man who is surprisingly optimistic.”
Edwin Huizinga & William Coulter
2016 Fire & Grace Tour
Virtuoso Violin meets Celtic Guitar. Canadian-born violinist Edwin Huizinga has established himself as one of North America’s most versatile violinists. Grammy award winning guitarist William Coulter has been performing and recording tradition and classical music for over 25 years. This duo makes music that will take you on a journey into the universal Fire & Grace that connects the elements of classical, folk, and contemporary musical traditions from around the world. The journey will take your mind and your heart from a Prelude by Bach, to an Irish reel, from a tango by Piazzolla, to a Spanish love song, from Winter by Vivaldi, to a Balkan dance tune. Expressive and compelling melodies, fiery and graceful rhythms, and imaginative arrangements unite this diverse music. The virtuosity and charm of this duo will transport you, entertain you, and leave you spellbound. They will be joined by old-timey and bluegrass fiddler Annie Staninec.
Birch Pereira
&
The Gin Joints
Born out of a love of the early years of swing, country and rock ‘n ‘roll, Birch Pereira & the Gin Joints is a band whose sound transports you to the time of speakeasies, honkey tonks and rock ‘n’ roll joints. With upright bassist and vocalist Birch Pereira at its center, the band features Jason Goessl on acoustic guitar and Adrian Van Batenburg on drums, some of Seattle’s most skilled and versatile musicians who share the love of the American song traditions and a desire to offer a fresh angle on them.
This concert celebrates their debut album release, and there will be space in the hall for swing dancing.