Calendar

Melody Pie Trio

Neo-Traditional Folk • Roots • Music

Together in melodious folkroots conversation, MPT free-ranges from storysong folk balladry and lyrical harmonic tone poems, to traditional fiddle tunes, bluegrass, country rock, jump blues, swing grooves and improv jam. Fiddler Kevin Craven, cellist Beth Brown and singer-songwriter Ralph Penunuri play an eclectic variety of original and traditional multi-instrumental stylings. 

The Nettles

Laura Brophy – fiddle
Kevin Johnsrude – guitars
Michael Proctor – bass
Brian Bucolo – percussion

The Nettles are well-known on the West Coast for their original approach to contra dance music. Playing traditional music from all over the world, The Nettles create a strong rhythmic groove under soaring improvisations. Rhythmic drive and melodic fluidity allow The Nettles to propel contra dances into the stratosphere. .

Michael Karcher

Michael has been having the time of his life calling around the U.S. and Canada since 2011.

He has honed a warm and concise style of teaching and calling, to the delight of dancers across North America.

NOTE NEW TIMES: Beginners lesson starts at 7:00pm (experienced dancers welcome) dance starts at 7:30pm

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.

Heron Valley

Heron Valley are an energetic, young traditional band from Scotland who have serious enthusiasm for the music they play. Their roots lie in Scottish and Irish traditional music, while taking influence from various Folk, Country and Bluegrass styles. The five-piece, energy fuelled group comprises piper/guitarist/whistle player Euan McNab, banjo player/drummer Nick Hamilton, pianist Arlene Mackechnie, guitarist/vocalist Abigail Pryde and bassist Callum Cronin.

Since their inception in 2014, Heron Valley have always ensured that they are conveying the highest amount of energy they have to every crowd they play to, ensuring that people who come to see them live have a fantastic experience. In 2015, they set themselves the challenge of releasing a music video and a debut single, to allow people to clearly see their intentions. This began with their set of tunes, Pressed for Time, and their original idea of filming out on open water on a yacht. The storyline took the band from performing out on this moving boat, to their journey to and performance at a gig. The idea of this was to convey to their audience the enjoyment people have when they come to see them live. This was extremely well received and racked up 85K views, with people all over the world purchasing the single. A year later, they released their second single ‘Home’ along with an extremely diverse music video. This time, they set off at 4AM to climb up Beinn an Lochainn, a hill in the west coast of Scotland. The video sees this journey from bottom to top and shows them playing on cliff edges in the area they all grew up. This gathered an incredible 173K views, and was shared over 2,000 times.

Due to this success, Heron Valley then quickly made a massive impact on the folk scene in Scotland, and 2016 seen them on their tour of 11 Festival stages over the UK, while 2017 seen them on a tour of over 20 festivals around the UK and Europe. Johnny Walley at Folk Music Radio was ‘particularly impressed by the structure of their set, building up the energy incrementally in a series of waves, taking the audience along with them every step of the way.’ With the unbelievable reaction they received at these gigs, and the demand for more recordings of their music, Heron Valley released their debut album, Roam, in May 2017. This has been extremely well received by the public, and has been the focus of their gigs during their 2017 Summer tour. This features 8 brand new tracks of self-penned songs and lively sets of tunes.

The BFD

• Betsey Branch – fiddle
• Fran Slefer – button accordian
• Dan Compton – guitar

The BFD plays for a contra dance about every other month at Fulton Community Center in Portland. Betsy is a versatile musician who loves to explore multiple genres of music. She has wandered her musical way through music from Ireland, Scotland, Appalachia, Quebec, Sweden, England, Bulgaria and New England, to mention a few. She plays regularly for contra and English Country Dances. Fran plays button accordion and fiddle. She grew up in Limerick, Ireland, and lived in Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, and Dublin before moving to the United States. Fran began playing the fiddle in Dublin, learning from Tralee fiddle player Maire O’Keeffe. Her repertoire delves into the dance music of Ireland, Québec, France and Brittany. Dan Compton is a long-time folkie in the Pacific Northwest music scene, and has performed at numerous concerts, festivals, and music- and dance camps. He’s a captivating fingerstyle player as well as a dynamic flatpicker and accompanist.

Gordy Euler

Gordy has been dancing and calling in this area for over 15 years, and he’s good!

NOTE NEW TIMES: Beginners lesson starts at 7:00pm (experienced dancers welcome) dance starts at 7:30pm

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.