Calendar

Calendar

Submit calendar info to:

calendar@corvallisfolklore.org

Apr
21
Sat
Contra: UnLeashed! with Erik Weberg @ Gatton Hall / First Congregational Church
Apr 21 @ 7:30 pm – 11:00 pm

Unleashed!

Since its members came together in 1999, UnLeashed! has been one of Portland’s favorite contra bands. Fiddler Jocelyn Goodall leads the pack with the driving style she learned from famed Irish fiddle master Tommy Peoples. On guitar, banjo, and fiddle, Rick Macquoid provides enough energy to keep dancers going all night long, while Eliza Romick’s percussive dulcimer and banjo-ukulele add that infectious pulse that dancers love. With Rick Piel’s incessant keyboard backup supplying intensity and rhythm, an evening with UnLeashed! is guaranteed to make you howl with joy!

Erik WebergErik Weberg

I danced my first contra dance in Moscow Idaho in the Fall of 1986.  Several excursions to the dance hall were necessary for me to find the courage to actually dance, but once I, tried it caught hold quickly and I became a regular dancer. Christian Petrich encouraged me to try calling for the first time in 1990 and soon after that I started regularly attending the first Wednesday open mic in Spokane Washington. I called dances around Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho for a few years before moving west of the Cascades in 1993. I was soon asked to call dances in Portland and up the Willamette Valley. Since then I’ve been calling dances, festivals and weekends around the country from Seattle to Boston, from Fairbanks to Tuscon and most places between. I am able to enjoy this craft because of the good folks who encouraged and taught me to call dances years ago, the booking agents and local dance committees who have given me wonderful opportunities to practice in their communities, and the thousands of dancers and musicians who forgive me my mistakes and make it all worthwhile. If you’re reading this you’re probably one of them; so, thank you!

Beginners lesson starts at 7:30pm (experienced dancers welcome) dance starts at 8:00pm

Each dance is taught. No partner necessary (it’s traditional to dance each dance with a different partner)

First and Third Saturdays of the month except July, August. Occasional special dances.

Apr
24
Tue
International Folk Dance in Albany @ call for address
Apr 24 @ 7:15 pm – 9:15 pm
Apr
27
Fri
Best Cellar @ Methodist Church Wesley Lounge
Apr 27 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm

Cassandra Roberts7:30 Cassandra Robertson

A muse with a message, Cassandra has the heart of a lion, and the mane to match.  Accompanied by her acoustic guitar, she floors the audience like a sonic boom with captivating messages of peace, prosperity, hope and above all, inspiration.  Her unique style of “acoustic conscious folk” kick starts the heart and levitates the soul; reminding us all that we CAN positively affect the world we all share, as long as we choose planet over profit and remember to be ourselves.

GuitarMasala8:30 GuitarMasala

“I’m very happy to let you know that after a long hiatus from playing, my hand issues have been resolved and I’m back to playing guitar, composing and performing with my band, GuitarMasala.  
We hope you will join us for our re-emergence concert. Otto Gygax will be coming down from Portland to play his world class rhythms on hand drums. We’ve managed to snag George Beekman from his busy performance schedule to lend his magic with symbols, bells and chimes.  Sherry Rosen will be adding texture, harmonies and melodies on the Indian harmonium.   We’re elated to be playing together again.” 
With strong eastern influences, and a strong supporting cast, Sid Rosen delights with his original compositions for guitar.

The best Cellar is a once-a-month evening of acoustic music. Admission is “pay what you will,” and kids are free. Cookies and coffee are available. Located in the cellar of the Methodist Church on 11th and Monroe, in Corvallis. For more information, or to join the volunteer team, contact Mark Weiss at mjweiss@cmug.com

 

 

 

The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc @ Majestic Theatre
Apr 27 @ 7:30 pm – 11:00 pm

Nordic Fiddlers BlocThe Nordic Fiddlers Bloc

is a fiddle trio from Norway, Sweden and the Shetland Islands that have wowed audiences worldwide by their gripping and unique blend of fiddle music. Their show in Corvallis last year stunned the crowd, so much so, that they immediately agreed to return this year. NFB is comprised of Olav Luksengård Mjelva (Norway), Anders Hall (Sweden) and Kevin Henderson (Shetland Islands), each a master of their respective traditions. Their sound has been described as “unique, meaningful, intense and invigorating” with clever use of harmony, rhythm, riffs & bass lines. Their humor and personalities also make for a truly fun evening.

Pre-show social hour at 6:30 with live Scandi music in the lobby by Vänta Bara with special guest, Amy Håkansson

Vӓnta Bara, translated from Swedish as “Just Wait” is a trio with Lori Prime on fiddle and nyckelharpa, Kim Majors on fiddle and Maralyn Belgique on cello. Collectively, they have played various forms of traditional and folk-dance music for over two decades. Amy Håkansson grew up in a family blue grass band, but her love for the nyckelharpa led to a year-long study at the prestigious Eric Sahlstrom Institute in Sweden. She studied under Väsen’s Olov Johansson who invited her to perform with the group on both nyckelharpa and banjo! Their love of traditional folk music has brought them together to play dance tunes for Norske Runddansere at the cultural center, Nordia House, in Portland. They are excited to share their music in Corvallis for a social hour in the lobby of the Majestic Theatre where snacks, wine, sodas and 2 Towns Cider are available.

May
1
Tue
International Folk Dance in Albany @ call for address
May 1 @ 7:15 pm – 9:15 pm
May
3
Thu
Willamette Valley Old-Time Social @ Various - see website
May 3 @ 6:00 pm – May 6 @ 7:00 pm

Immerse yourself in traditional
American music and dance at the
Willamette Valley Old-Time Social
May 3rd – May 6th!
Mud City Old Time Social 2018

Mud City Old-Time Society is once again hosting the region’s 3rd annual old-time music and dance celebration, the Willamette Valley Old-Time Social in Eugene, Oregon May 3rd-6th. There will be a Thursday night kickoff party at 1st National Taphouse with four local bands including, Huff & Meade, Sugar Pine String Band, The Eugene City Barnstormers, and Grand Ronde String Band. Friday night will feature a BBQ social and jam fest, and on Saturday there will be a whole day of workshops at The Shedd Institute for the Performing Arts, focused on old-time fiddle, banjo, guitar, dance and voice, including one with two-time Grammy-nominated fiddler Bruce Molsky and his Mountain Drifters-Allison de Groot and Stash Wyslouch! Saturday evening we will offer flatfoot dance lessons with Rebecca Stout and a big traditional square dance at the W.O.W. Hall with The Horsenecks and Gabe Strand calling. The weekend will finish off with a Sunday farm brunch and later that evening, a farewell concert at Sam Bond’s Brewing with The Local Honeys from Kentucky.

This event is sponsored by; Bubbaville, Stumptown Printers, 2Towns Ciderhouse, Zigzag Mountain Farm, 100 Mile Bakery and the Eugene City Barnstormers. Mud City Old-Time Society is a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting traditional old-time music and dance in the Southern Willamette Valley. Come and be a part of the thriving Pacific Northwest old-time music scene and experience the community-building power of traditional American music and dance!

May
4
Fri
Westwind Weekend @ Westwind Stewardship Group’s Camp Westwind
May 4 @ 6:00 pm – May 6 @ 2:00 pm

WestwindWestwind Weekend

of music and dance

A beautiful setting on the Oregon Coast.  A pristine, sheltered beach, tidepools galore, wildlife in the water, woods, and air, hikes that lead to superb vistas up and down the coast.  It’s a weekend at the beach, with music and friends old and new.  It’s always sunny at Westwind, AND it almost always rains.  Which is to say, any weather can happen.

A growing, family friendly community.  More than a fourth of those who attend the Westwind Weekend are young people.  Kids bring their friends.  They dig in the sand, play Frisbee, hike, play cards, dance, play music, drink hot cocoa, help out, hang out, and build lasting memories.

Non-stop music jams.  At any moment you’ll find swing favorites on the front porch, old-time in the shed, and Irish/contra tunes in the kitchen.  Some of the finest musicians in the Willamette Valley come to Westwind and are joined by folks just learning to play and everyone in between.

Contra dancing and more.  Friday and Saturday evenings feature the Westwind All Star Orchestra playing tunes, and dance programming that’s aimed at all ages and abilities. Expect family dances, contras and squares, and a set of Scandinavian favorites. Also find musicians jamming and swing or zydeco dancing underway outside the main hall.

Camper-led workshops.  Gumboot dancing, daisy chain squares, swing chords, beach talk, favorite folk songs: come with your special talent to share or learn something you’ve never heard of before. Sunday morning expect time for singing the gospel of our non-denominational love of community.

A Saturday camper concert. Enjoy listening to the crazy, creative, and sublime as your fellow campers perform, or put together your own high or low art performance and step up onto the whale bone stage.

Happy, hearty vegetarian food.  Beth Littlewolf has been our cook for 25+ years. She makes wonderful fare that brings us all together in the historic Wilson Lodge for family-style meals.  Meals at Westwind include snack Friday evening, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and early-wake up breakfast fare plus brunch on Sunday.

May
5
Sat
Contra: The Bridgetown Boys with Tarka Ayres @ Gatton Hall / First Congregational Church
May 5 @ 7:30 pm – 11:00 pm

The Bridgetown Boys

  • Victor Fiore – fiddle
  • Lanny Martin – piano
  • Jon Neff – guitar

We’re all experienced contra dance musicians. We’re in the Portland Megaband and, following a rehearsal, we jammed together and decided to form a band. We sound sound pretty darn good, if we say so ourselves. (Formerly named “Magpie”, then “Lanjovic”)

Tarka AyresTarka Ayres

Tarka Ayres credits contra dance with helping keep her mental stability through school. She started dancing in 2004 and has called dances in Oregon and Washington since 2012. Dancers appreciate her ability to integrate new dancers into the community, her clear teaching and succinct calling, and her choices of challenging dances.

 

 

Beginners lesson starts at 7:30pm (experienced dancers welcome) dance starts at 8:00pm

Each dance is taught.  No partner necessary (it’s traditional to dance each dance with a different partner)

Potluck at 6:00 p.m with host Relan Colley, 745 NW 16th St; 541-753-2617. (Located near the south side of Corvallis High School and several blocks east of Fred Meyer. The closest intersection is NW Taylor & NW 16th.) Probably in the backyard if the weather is good!

First and Third Saturdays of the month except July, August. Occasional special dances.

May
6
Sun
Annual Pete Seeger Celebration @ Clinton Street Theater
May 6 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Pete SeegerAnnual
Pete Seeger Celebration

Fun, family-friendly celebration of resistance and song

featuring three songs presented by JOE HICKERSON (co-author of Where Have All the Flowers Gone) which were learned from, or by, Pete Seeger during his July 1960 visit to CAMP WOODLAND.

Before there were Riverkeepers, there was Pete Seeger. Most commonly associated with American folk music, Pete’s passion for the Hudson River helped spawn not only the cleanup of that industrialized river but a whole organization to protect and restore rivers around the globe. Pete lived along the Hudson River with his wife, Toshi. Outraged by the pollution in river, the couple built a boat named the Clearwater. The Clearwater served as hub of the Hudson River revival and it caught the attention of John Cronin, who became the first Riverkeeper. The connection to water, music, and organizing runs strong in the Waterkeeper movement. We owe a part of our existence to the passion, dedication and creatively of Pete Seeger. We hope you join us to celebrate his birthday and our Columbia River.

All proceeds benefit Columbia Riverkeeper.

Hoolyeh International Folk Dancing @ First Congregational United Church of Christ
May 6 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

First and Third Sundays

We will mix Balkan, Israeli and other folk dances each week, with occasional live music from Balkan, Israeli and other traditions.  Watch the calendar for announcements about special dances, but just come to each dance and learn all sorts of dances.

May
7
Mon
Corvallis Guitar Society Meeting @ Odd Fellows Hall
May 7 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Corvallis Guitar Society

The goal of the Corvallis Guitar Society is to act as a catalyst to bring local guitarists out of the woodwork and provide an opportunity to perform and enjoy guitar music in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. The accent here is on participation and we hope people will want to participate in the open stage section also – no piece of music is too short or simple (though there is a five minute limit if we have a full sign-up sheet) and you are guaranteed a warm round of applause for showing us what you can do! We do have a limited number of open stage slots so be sure to sign up early at the front desk on the way in.

Our Mission

To promote classical and related guitar styles by providing a supportive performance environment for people of all ages and ability.

We seek to achieve this through a monthly meeting that provides an opportunity to discuss, listen to, and play solo guitar music including classical, flamenco, finger-style, jazz, as well as classical guitar ensemble styles.

May
8
Tue
International Folk Dance in Albany @ call for address
May 8 @ 7:15 pm – 9:15 pm
May
9
Wed
An Evening with Guy Davis @ Majestic Theatre
May 9 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm

Guy DavisGuy Davis

once said, “I like antiques and old things, old places, that still have the dust of those who’ve gone before us lying upon them.”  Blowing that dust off just enough to see its beauty is something Guy has excelled at for over twenty years of songwriting and performing.  It’s no wonder his reverence for the music of the Blues Masters who’ve gone before him has been evident in every album he’s ever recorded or concert he’s given.

Guy has had his musical storytelling influenced by artists like Blind Willie McTell and Big Bill Broonzy, and his musicality from artists as diverse as Lightnin’ Hopkins and Babatunde Olatunji.  However, there’s one man that Guy most credits for his harmonica techniques, by stealing and crediting from him everything that he could, and that man is the legendary Sonny Terry.

Guy’s new album, “Sonny & Brownie’s Last Train – A Look Back at Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry” is an homage to these two hugely influential artists, not only on Guy’s career, but to thousands of musicians around the world.  One such artist is the Italian harmonica ace, Fabrizio Poggi, who collaborates with and produced this recording.

Recorded in the summer of 2016 in Milan, the album features the original, title track song written by Guy Davis, songs by both Sonny and Brownie, as well as songs known to have been recorded and performed by the famed duo written by their contemporaries, such as Libba Cotton and Leadbelly.

Guy and Fabrizio have a relationship going back a decade in which they’ve performed together on tour in Europe and in the United States.  In 2013 Fabrizio produced and played on Guy’s highly acclaimed recording, “Juba Dance”, which was number one on the Roots Music Charts for eight weeks.  And ‘Fab’ also performs on Guy’s last album, “Kokomo Kidd”.

Guy Davis has spent his musical life carrying his message of the blues around the world, from the Equator to the Arctic Circle, earning him the title “An Ambassador of the Blues”.  His work as an actor, author, and music teacher earmark him as a renaissance man of the blues.

What music and acting have in common, he explains, “is that I don’t like people to see the hard work and the sweat that goes into what I do. I want them to hear me and be uplifted. And I want some little eight-­‐year-­‐old kid in the front row to have big eyes and say, ‘Hey, I want to do that!’.”

Guy Davis is an exceptional harmonica player, and accompanied Pete Seeger on his final tour. He is well worth seeing and hearing.

The evening is hosted by Bob Santelli of the GRAMMY Museum and features storytelling, a live on-stage interview, audience questions and a performance by Guy Davis.

Click here to purchase tickets.

American Strings participates in Corvallis Arts for All. When tickets are still available on the evening of the performance, SNAP participants with an Oregon Trail card may purchase up to two tickets for $5 each at the door. No advance purchase.

May
11
Fri
SINKING CITY POP FEST 2018 @ Several venues in Corvalls - see text or website
May 11 @ 7:00 pm – May 13 @ 9:00 pm

Corvallis DIYWe’re throwing a fest!

Sinking City Pop Fest

is happening here in Corvallis, Oregon

from May 11-13, 2018.

We’re still very much in the planning stages, but it’s going to be a stacked weekend of all-ages DIY punk shows and events around Corvallis to celebrate our awesome community. There will be a ton of updates on this project in the next few months, so check back here or join our fb group to stay in the loop.

Touring bands often refer to the stretch of I-5 between Portland and San Francisco as the “dead zone.” In 2015, some friends started organizing shows under the umbrella of Corvallis DIY in an attempt to make Corvallis a more visible destination for punk, indie, emo, and hardcore bands booking their own tours. At the same time, we started hosting regular meetups and throwing events like Band in a Hat and the Halloween cover show to get people excited about participating in their local community. Our scene has been growing steadily since then, and Corvallis has gained a reputation as a fun, semi-secret place to play on the west coast – a rainy city sunken into the heart of the Willamette Valley.

Sinking City Pop Fest is not-for-profit and volunteer-run. All proceeds after expenses will be donated to the Rural Organizing Project, an intersectional nonprofit that supports radical organizing efforts in small Oregon communities.

Stay tuned for the show schedules and ticket presale information.

BANDS

Adieu Caribou (Salem/Corvallis)
Bad Dates (Corvallis)
Bobby’s Oar (Seattle)
Broken Dead (Eugene)
Dogbreth (Seattle)
Dooley (Corvallis/Eugene)
Flexing (Corvallis)
Garage (Corvallis)
GLIT (Eugene)
Lisa Prank (Seattle)
Mr. Wrong (Portland)
Plattenbau (Berlin)
SEACATS (Seattle)
Shaene Marie Pascal (Corvallis)
The Shifts (Eugene/Corvallis)
Special Moves (Olympia)
trying to be brave (Corvallis)
Watercolor Paintings (Thousand Oaks/Oakland)
Wayside Ghost (Eugene/Portland)
The Wobblies (Portland/Corvallis)

VENUES

Interzone (Friday night)
1563 NW Monroe Ave, Corvallis, OR 97330

Mudville Stadium (Saturday matinee)
House / ask-a-punk

Chintimini Community Center (Saturday night)
2601 NW Tyler Ave, Corvallis, OR 97330

Nearly Normals (Sunday matinee)
109 NW 15th St, Corvallis, OR 97330

SPONSORS

Razorcake, Interzone, Sacred Art Tattoo, Nearly Normals, Bullfrog Music, Happy Trails Records, & The Arts Center

RSVP on Facebook here

Buy presale tickets here

May
13
Sun
Song Circle at Dick and Diane’s @ Dick and Diane's House
May 13 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Song Circle

Share a song, lead a song, request a song, or listen as we go round the circle. Song Circle is free and open to all who wish to participate.  Bring your own instrument, borrow one, or just sing.