Calendar
Submit calendar info to:
calendar@corvallisfolklore.org
Noctumbule
– Marla Fibish and
Bruce Victor –
Original and Traditional, harmonized poetry songs, lots of humor.
This incredible duo are our best friends from where we lived in the bay area. That could make us partial, but indeed they make some of the most beautiful acoustic music you will ever hear. Marla is my idol. She is one of the foremost Irish mandolin players in the world. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Bruce is the funniest guy we know, a great guitarist with a side hobby as a psychiatrist. They are a songwriting duo that layers incredible sounds and virtuosity with their clever and brilliant songs. They use musical settings of a broad array of poetry that they sing in harmony, original instrumental pieces, and traditional Irish tunes and songs. Aryeh recorded their first album in our home studio and whenever they play, we get to sit in. You will get to hear an unusual array of strings — fine guitars in varied tunings, mandola, mandolin, bouzouki, cittern, tenor guitar — and their blended voices. More about their music: https://www.noctambulemusic.com/us
Go to https://lisalynne.com/cedarhouse-concerts/ for location details.
A house concert is an excellent place to hear and meet great musicians in a very intimate setting.
Treehouse
Treehouse brings a mix of Irish, Quebecois, and New England style, and put it together with Pacific Northwest flair. Ben and Rachael come from the Irish traditional session background, having played with many groups across Canada and throughout Washington, Oregon, and California. Kevin Craven is recently arrived from Hawaii. He is a Corvallis violin teacher and also plays with the OSU Symphony. Shari teaches fiddle and has played with several Corvallis area bands including Three Finger Jack.
Michael Karcher
Michael Karcher is a popular Seattle caller who originally hails from New York. Michael has been having the time of his life calling around the U.S. and Canada since 2011. Michael calls regular and techno contras for weekly dances and full weekends. He has honed a warm and concise style of teaching and calling, to the delight of dancers across North America.
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.
Peppino D’Agustino
A young Sicilian artist left Italy over 30 years ago, with the dream of “playing with the greatest guitarists”. Peppino has achieved his dream and he’s now firmly planted in the “who’s who” of the guitar world.
Peppino D’Agostino emerged on the acoustic guitar scene in the early 80’s as a leading member of the second wave of the great fingerstylists that helped redefine the instrument in the ’90s. His remarkable technique, penchant for open tunings, and percussive effects are the basis of his unique compositional style which has been inspiring musicians and audiences alike for decades. Add to that his natural warmth, playfulness, and broad musical tastes and you have the recipe for what he calls “minestrone music”. His virtuosity and his emotional charge have also had a significant influence on the younger generation of fingerstyle guitarists. D’Agostino continues to evolve and grow in ways that would have been hard to predict when he first showcased his melodic yet emotionally intense style on the recordings Acoustic Spirit, Close to the Heart, and Every Step of the Way which was named one of the top three acoustic guitar albums of all time by Acoustic Guitar magazine readers.
Doors open 6pm with a potluck reception.
A house concert is an excellent opportunity to hear great music in a very intimate setting.
7:30 Sharon and Dave Thormahlen
Sharon and Dave have been making beautiful music together in Corvallis for decades. They perform traditional and new music written by Sharon, mostly on instruments made by Dave.
8:30 Wild Hog In The Woods
Stringband music from a bygone era played the way it always should have been.
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 Nettles
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.
Laurel Thomas
Laurel Thomas has called contra dances all over Oregon and Washington since 2008. Dancers appreciate her clear teaching, her articulate calling and her carefully crafted programs designed to build skill for beginning dancers while keeping experienced dancers happy with an appropriate level of challenge.
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.
16th Annual FAR-West 2019 Music Conference
FAR-West, one of five regions of Folk Alliance International, celebrates folk music through our annual conference. We invite you to join us this October — to listen, celebrate, recognize, and enjoy the richness of folk music in the West. Our regional conference offers an affordable, intimate and interactive way for acoustic artists and presenters to focus on the folk community in the western region of the US and Canada. Join us for four days of music, learning and connecting. We welcome a wide variety of styles, levels and disciplines, encouraging musical and cultural diversity and excellence.
Compton & Newberry
Roots of Bluegrass Tour
Nationally recognized Bluegrass duo Mike Compton and Joe Newberry have agreed to swing through Jordan while on their West Coast tour!
Compton is a Grammy award-winning mandolinist and Newberry is an IBMA award-winning songwriter who have teamed up for the “Roots of Bluegrass” tour. Their combined music industry endeavors have enabled them to entertain millions of people, including the more than 4 million regular listeners of A Prairie Home Companion, and through the Grammy Award-winning soundtracks from the movies, O Brother, Where Art Thou and Cold Mountain.
Mike Compton has entertained from Carnegie Hall to the White House – and lots of good folks’ houses in between. The New York Times calls him “a new bluegrass instrumental hero.” He has performed on 100+ CDs in a variety of genres with some of the most beloved artists of our day. At heart, Mike Compton is a preservationist, continuing the music that Bill Monroe innovated on the mandolin and which set the standard for two generations of bluegrass mandolin players.
Joe Newberry is a prizewinning guitarist, songwriter and vocalist known far and wide for his powerful banjo playing. He won the songwriting prize for “Gospel Recorded Performance” at the 2012 IBMA Awards for his song “Singing As We Rise”, and was co-writer [with Eric Gibson] of the 2013 IBMA “Song of the Year,” “They Called It Music.” A longtime guest on A Prairie Home Companion, he was a featured singer on the Transatlantic Sessions 2016 tour of the U.K., and at the Transatlantic Session’s debut at Merlefest in 2017.
Dam Beavers
The Dam Beavers is a contra dance band of two vibrant musicians who have charmed the contra dance community with their energy and talent, Ben Schreiber and Scotty Leach. Scotty has been immersed in music since he was born, playing piano and fiddle. He is one with his instrument, at ease with his skill, energizing the dancers. Ben Schreiber plays fiddle in a number of bands, Uncle Farmer, the Off Beats and more. He shows a virtuosity and range that is mesmerizing. They will be playing for contra dancing and doing a week long band and instrument workshop. Fun awaits!
Seth Tepfer
Mr. Tepfer develops database systems for Emory University, including interfaces and web front ends. In his spare time, Mr. Tepfer travels across the country as a contra and square dance caller and dance organizer, from Ithaca, New York to Bonaire, (Netherlands Antillies) to Seattle, Washington. He enjoys many different styles of dance, from Contra to Cajun, Waltzing to Swing and beyond.
At various times in his life, Mr. Tepfer has been a Scottish Country Dancer, a Lincoln-Douglas debator, a trombone player, an Argentine Tango dancer, a dungeon master, a foil and epee fencer, a graphic designer, a polarity therapist, a movie critic, an EMT, a cajun dancer, a macrame artist, a pastry chef, a waltz instructor, a vaudeville-style comedian, and a gas station attendant. Still to come are massage therapy, sky diving, contra dance band member, and polar expeditions.
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.
7:30 Fred Towne
Fred has been writing and singing songs for many years, independently and as part of Where To? and with other performers.
8:30 Suz Doyle and Friends
Suzannah Doyle is a composer, performer, and on-the-spot songwriter whose work appears in productions world-wide. She plays with and in groups of all sizes, from classrooms to concert halls, from singers and instrumentalists to improv groups, and she is the chief comedy wrangler of Ringtone Theatre.
She played by invitation at the White House in Washington, D.C., and appears live and on 23 albums with a diverse array of performers in the Pacific Northwest, including her most recent group “The Wallop Sisters” (formerly “the Ukes of Hazard”), with whom she co-hosts the monthly Corvallis Ukulele Cabaret community Singalongs.
Suz’s music can be heard in network television, PBS, commercials and videos, in Piano Dreams: the Movie, in Jane Eyre, the Musical Classic (with playwrite Kristina Harris), and on the CD “Ringtone Theatre: Volume 1” featuring short musical comedy sketches for cellphones and comic relief. Her songs are available online at many nifty digital marketplaces.
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
Celtic harps,
rare instruments and
wondrous stories
a benefit for OregonFlora
The multi-instrumentalist duo of Lisa Lynne & Aryeh Frankfurter present an afternoon of music with Celtic Harps, Swedish Nyckelharpa, Ukrainian Bandura, Bouzouki, Cittern and more. Join these international performers and recording artists in an evening benefiting OregonFlora, a program that provides resources about the plants of the state. Appetizers, silent auction, and wine raffle are featured.
OregonFlora provides information about the native and naturalized plants of our state through its website, wildflower identification app, and Flora of Oregon books. Our work promotes plant awareness, gardening with native species, and restoration to support sustainable agricultural practices.
American Roots
Music Festival
The American Roots Music Festival, taking place on November 2nd at The Tabernacle in Turner, OR (directions) is a showcase of music styles that are part of our cultural heritage but that are underexposed in today’s media. The original Festival ran from 2004 – 2009.
The event is a fundraiser for Keeping the Arts, a non-profit that provides financial support to youth arts programs throughout Oregon. As of April 2019, we have funded $150,000 in grants for such programs.
The Festival starts on November 2, 2019 at 9:30am, with a free Educational Youth Concert (The History of The Fiddle In American Roots Music) for K-12 students primarily in the North Santiam, Cascade, Salem-Keizer, and Albany school districts. We will provide free ticket information to each of the districts to circulate among the schools and invite the music teachers to also attend the concert. We will provide a synopsis of the content of the Youth Concert so music teachers can incorporate in their curriculum prior to youth attending the Youth Concert.
The festival features four daytime performers representing different genres of American Roots Music. They are: Mary Flower – Blues; Lauren Sheehan-Americana; JazzArts Combo-Jazz; and Fern Hill-Bluegrass. Our headline evening concert features The Western Flyers, one of the top Western Swing bands in the country. Tickets are $20 for adults, Youth 18 and under are free.
Treehouse
- Rachael Young, piano
- Benjamin Young, whistle and guitar
- Kevin Craven, fiddle
- Shari Ame, fiddle
- Bo Leyden, mandolin, flute
TREEHOUSE is Kevin Craven and Shari Ame on twin fiddles, Ben Young on guitar, whistles and flute, Rachael Young on keyboards and Bo Leyden on mandolin and flute. As well-seasoned musicians, we will serve you up a full sound, infectious rhythms, and creative arranging. Expect delight from the first contra to the last waltz, and all this for the meager cost of two lattes!!!!! Come dance your heart out to some of your local favorites!!!! Treehouse will not disappoint!!!!!.
Shell Stowell started contra dancing in 2015, and has been dancing up and down the West coast ever since. Driven by her passion for the dance, music, and community, Shell now plays the fiddle and helps to organize the Corvallis Contra Weekend. As a dancer, Shell is known for her enthusiasm on and off the dance floor. As a caller, she incorporates her love of teaching, organizing, and music to strive for clear, energetic instruction and variety in her programming. Shell also emphasizes safe, inclusive dance etiquette that promotes positive communication between dancers.
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.
American Strings:
An Evening
with Carlene Carter
Hosted by the GRAMMY Museum’s Bob Santelli, director of popular music in the OSU College of Liberal Arts and the Majestic Theatre, the conversation and performance that comprises each segment of American Strings makes for a one of a kind opportunity to appreciate and know better the great American music tradition. This month will feature the daughter of June Carter Cash of the Carter Family and the step-daughter of American music legend Johnny Cash. Carlene Carter blends her traditional roots with her own take on country music. Join Bob Santelli for an American Strings evening of conversation and music as a bit of Nashville comes to Corvallis.
The American Strings series brings renowned artists from around the U.S. to Corvallis and Oregon State University for an in-depth look at how and why stringed instruments play such a profound role in American music.
Registration opens for the
Corvallis Contra Weekend 2020
February 14-16, 2020
This event sells out quickly, so register now at the event website https://corvallisfolklore.org/ccw/
Joyride
Joyride is a Portland Oregon contra dance band known for fun, skilled play, tune sets carefully tailored to dances, and well-phrased melodies and harmonies set in a danceable groove. George Penk’s rich, compelling fiddle, Erik Weberg’s deft flute, harmonica and bombarde, Sue Songer’s heartbeat piano and Jeff Kerssen-Griep’s vital guitar and percussion provide modern and traditional tunes for dances, weekends and festivals throughout the year. This band loves creating a great experience for everyone, every time. Come catch a lift with Joyride at home or on the road!
Deb Comly
Deb Comly was bitten by the contra bug in 1994 and took off dancing across the country. Her passion for the dance keeps her dancing, calling, teaching, organizing, and playing music in Flagstaff and across the Southwest. Known for her quick and efficient teaching, diverse programing and reassuring demeanor, dancers are comforted to know she’ll be behind the mic! From her beaming smile to her happy feet, Deb’s energy is contagious!
A beginner’s lesson starts at 7:00pm (experienced dancers welcome and encouraged); dance starts at 7:30pm.
Each dance is taught. No partner necessary (it’s traditional to dance each dance with a different partner)
We dance First and Third Saturdays of the month except for July & August. Occasional special dances. See the rest of the calendar for more info.