Calendar
Submit calendar info to:
calendar@corvallisfolklore.org
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
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
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.
Sarah Lee Guthrie
As the daughter of Arlo Guthrie and the granddaughter of the legendary folk artist Woody Guthrie, Sarah Lee Guthrie’s lineage is undeniable. But if you close your eyes and forget that her last name is synonymous with the river-legacy of a widening current of American folk music, you’d still be drawn to the clarity and soul behind her voice. There is a gentle urgency to her interpretations of the songs she sings and the classic music of her heritage. It flows from the continuity of her family, her vital artistic life today and the river of songs that have guided her to where she now stands.
(I’ve seen her solo, with her husband, and with her dad, Arlo, and she’s well worth seeing)
Join host Bob Santelli, at this rare opportunity to witness the growth of one of American’s finest young folk singers, through a conversation and live performance.
7:30 Choro Na Cozinha
- Kimberly Cullen (pandeiro),
- Spencer Doidge (7-string guitar)
- John Bliss (mandolin)
- Bill Pfender (clarinet).
Choro na Cozinha: (“Choro in the Kitchen”). Choro is a lively, lyrical genre of Brazilian music. Syncopated and harmonically complex, it is the ancestor of samba and bossa nova and still a widely-popular music in bars, restaurants and backyards of Brazil.
8:30 Swangle
Swing tunes from the early to mid 1900’s – with clarinet, fiddle, piano, vocal harmonies and an emphasis on fun. Group members are Michelle Dedman, Barbara Barry-Doyle, Evelyn Idzerda, Jacques Gabriel, Bill Pfender.
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
7:30 Randy McCoy and Family
Randy McCoy is a local musician and co-owner of the Little Gym of Corvallis
His song “26 Reasons”, inspired by the Sandy Hook shooting, appears on the CD Connecticut Voices for Heroes.
8:30 Rita Brown
Rita has been performing in Corvallis for years, as a soloist, with partner Bill Smyth and as part of groups The Flow and Crooked Kate. She helped highlight the Best Cellar tribute to female musicians last spring.
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
7:30 Dinna Fash
Dinna Fash is Scots Gaelic for don’t worry, and this trio uses cellos and fiddles to play a wide variety of traditional and modern Celtic tunes so you can leave your worries behind. Kevin Craven, recently arrived from Hawaii is a local violin teacher and also plays with the OSU Symphony. Maria Blair on fiddle and cello, most recently from Durango Colorado, is also a step dancer. She brings special rhythm and vitality to the music. Beth Brown has been playing Celtic cello on the Corvallis scene for over 10 years, previously with the bands Three Fingered Jack and Lark. The trio is heavily influenced by Alasdair Frasier and Natalie Haas and has attended their camps and workshops. Along with traditional Irish, Scottish, Québécois and Shetland tunes, they play some of the modern tunes composed by the new generation of Celtic influenced musicians.
8:30 Adam Scramstad
Adam is an award winning Acoustic/Electric Finger-style & Blues Musician, born and raised in Oregon. Performing regularly throughout the Pacific Northwest, Scramstad’s reputation as a professional Blues Guitarist & Vocalist is rapidly becoming widespread.
A strong and creative Songwriter in his own-right, Scramstad’s repertoire also covers a broad range of early American Folk/Blues artists’ works – such as: Son House, Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Lightning Hopkins, Blind Blake, John Fahey, Elizabeth Cotton.
Adam’s 2006 debut Solo album “No Sun Around Blues” climbed to #33 on the Roots Music Radio Blues Chart – June 2006. The CD is a mix of acoustic blues (w/vocal) & finger-style guitar songs, and quickly became a favorite of local NW Radio Stations. His music has been featured on the nationally syndicated “Blues Deluxe Show” as well as receiving regular airplay on many regional, national and international stations/shows.
Although he maintains a focus on Solo Acoustic Delta Slide & Country Blues (both vocal and instrumental), Adam also regularly performs with Blues Guitar Legend Terry Robb (Adam’s Producer & Mentor)– as an acoustic duo as well as slinging electric guitar in the acclaimed Terry Robb Band. You can hear Adam’s rhythm & lead electric guitar work throughout the 2012 Terry Robb Band release “Muddyvishnu”.
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
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED
7:30 Revel’n
Evelyn Idzerda and Ron Snyder create some wonderful sounds with sweet singing and hot guitar picking doing old timey classics and innovative bluegrass.
8:30 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.
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
This event has been canceled
7:30 Absolute Harmony
Absolute Harmony is four singers who believe in the power of harmony and in music with a message. They blend tight vocal harmonies, weaving a musical tapestry that lifts the spirit and arouses the heart. Their music ranges from folk music to South African freedom songs, from doo-wop to original compositions by Absolute members. They are: Elizabeth Wyatt, Julie Williams, Shelley Willis, and Micki Reaman.
8:30 Guitar Masala
Sid Rosen and his friends play unusual music with an international flavor.
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
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED
7:30 Dave Plaehn and Jeff Hino
Dave Plaehn and Jeff Hino are the Corvallis Blues Brothers.
Dave and Jeff have been performing their own distinct blend of acoustic blues, folk, and original material since 1990. Plaehn and Hino explore the uncluttered powerful interplay of blues harmonica, National steel guitar, and vocals in the tradition of the great country bluesmen like Robert Johnson, Elmore James, and Bukka White.
8:30 The Lucky In Love String Band
Pete Kozak, Jeff Hino, Ron Green, and Mark Weiss
Bluegrass with a twist. Well, maybe a few twists. Hot instrumental work and three part harmony.
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
Jimmie Vaughan
Jimmie Vaughan performing in Florida. By Gage Skidmore.
A founding member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the older brother of Texas blues legend Stevie Ray, Jimmie Vaughan brought renewed attention to Texas blues in the 1980s, ultimately leading to Austin, Texas becoming a major American blues center. A multi-GRAMMY Award winner, Vaughan’s “Baby, Please Come Home” was a 2020 GRAMMY nominee in the Best Traditional Blues Album category. He also won a Blues Music Award for Best Male Blues Artist this year.
Hosted by Bob Santelli, Oregon State University’s director of popular music and performing arts, the American Strings series offers a unique opportunity to learn about a variety of genres from across the American music tradition.
If you have any questions or require special accommodations, please contact Isabelle Nissen at 541-231-5820 or OSUFEvents@osufoundation.org.
Rosanne Cash
One of the country’s pre-eminent singer/songwriters, Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs that have earned four GRAMMY Awards and nominations for 11 more. She is also an author whose four books include the best-selling memoir Composed, which the Chicago Tribune called “one of the best accounts of an American life you’ll likely ever read.” Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Oxford-American, the Nation and many more publications. In addition to continual worldwide touring, Cash has partnered in programming or served as artist in residence at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, San Francisco Jazz, the Minnesota Orchestra and The Library of Congress.
Hosted by Bob Santelli, Oregon State University’s director of popular music and performing arts, the American Strings series offers a unique opportunity to learn about a variety of genres from across the American music tradition.
If you have any questions or require special accommodations, please contact Isabelle Nissen at 541-231-5820 or OSUFEvents@osufoundation.org.
Sarah Jarosz
With her captivating voice and richly detailed songwriting, three-time GRAMMY award winner Sarah Jarosz is one of the most compelling musicians of her generation.
In a break from a life of touring since she was 16 years old, Jarosz recorded her new album, “World On the Ground,” while at home during quarantine. Collaborating with producer/songwriter John Leventhal, a five-time GRAMMY award winner known for his work with Elvis Costello, Shawn Colvin and his wife, Rosanne Cash, Jarosz crafted a subtle tapestry of sound perfectly suited to her lyrical storytelling.
Sarah will talk about her creative process and perform some songs from this new album — a collection of stories from her hometown of Wimberly, Texas — revealing her remarkable gift for slipping into the inner lives of others and patiently uncovering indelible insight.
Get comfy at home, turn up your speakers and join host Bob Santelli as we get to know better this contemporary Bluegrass/Folk/Americana superstar through an intimate evening of music and conversation.
Hosted by Bob Santelli, Oregon State University’s director of popular music and performing arts, the American Strings series offers a unique opportunity to learn about a variety of genres from across the American music tradition.
If you have any questions or require special accommodations, please contact Isabelle Nissen at 541-231-5820 or OSUFEvents@osufoundation.org.
Shemekia Copeland
Providing a soundtrack for our time, Copeland sings about the world around her, blending blues, R&B and Americana into a sound that is all her own. Her riveting new album, “Uncivil War” was recently nominated for five Blues Music Awards, including Song of the Year. It builds on the musically and lyrically adventurous territory that Copeland’s been exploring for over a decade — tackling the problems of contemporary American life head on with nuance, understanding, and a demand for change. It also brings Copeland’s fiercely independent, sultry R&B fire to songs more personal than political.
The Chicago Tribune’s famed jazz critic Howard Reich says, “Shemekia Copeland is the greatest female blues vocalist working today. She pushes the genre forward, confronting racism, hate, xenophobia and other perils of our time. Regardless of subject matter, though, there’s no mistaking the majesty of Copeland’s instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery. In effect, Copeland reaffirms the relevance of the blues.”
NPR Music calls Copeland “authoritative” and “confrontational” with “punchy defiance and potent conviction,” and says “It’s hard to imagine anyone staking a more convincing claim to the territory she’s staked out—a true hybrid of simmering, real-talking spirit and emphatic, folkie- and soul-style statement-making.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer succinctly states, “Shemekia Copeland is an antidote to artifice. She is a commanding presence, a powerhouse vocalist delivering the truth.”
The American Strings series is free and open to all via Zoom. Register below.
Los Lobos
The Oregon State University College of Liberal Arts (CLA) presents a conversation and some music with Los Lobos front men David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez on Wednesday, March 31 at 5 p.m.
The webcast event is part of CLA’s American String Series. Hosted by OSU Director of Popular Music and Performing Arts Bob Santelli, each segment of American Strings is comprised of a conversation and music by successful artists from a variety of genres, making for a one of a kind opportunity to appreciate and know better the great American music tradition.
Los Lobos (“The Wolves”) is an American rock band from East Los Angeles. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex and traditional Mexican music. The band gained international stardom in 1987, when their cover version of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” topped the charts in the U.S., the UK and several other countries. Hidalgo (vocals, guitar, accordion, fiddle, requinto jarocho) and Pérez, Jr. (vocals, drums, guitar, jarana huasteca) are two of the founding members of the band and wrote most of their songs together.
Hidalgo he has been featured on albums by T-Bone Burnett, Ry Cooder, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. He is also a member of the group Los Super Seven, and of the Latin Playboys, a side project with other members of Los Lobos. Pérez, the band’s primary lyricist, started out with Los Lobos playing the jarana, a small Mexican guitar, and singing. As the band ventured more into Norteño music and rock he became the drummer, first playing with just a snare drum. Eventually he moved to the front of the stage and started playing guitar again. Pérez has also been a member of the Latin Playboys. Additionally he paints and has been the art director and artistic supervisor on many of Los Lobos’ albums.
Hidalgo and Pérez will talk with Bob about their longtime collaboration and unique experience in fusing cultures and crossing genres, and play some of their music.
The American Strings series is free and open to all via Zoom. Register below.
Register Here