Calendar
Submit calendar info to:
calendar@corvallisfolklore.org
Third Thursday Imagine Open Mic Night
Traditional Coffeehouse Music, Poetry and Standup Comedy
Solos – Trios, signup & keyboard setup 6:30 pm.
With the launch of Imagine Coffee’s Third Thursday Imagine Open Mic Night, Corvallis now has three solid weeks of Open Mics every month.
Hosted by a collective of seasoned local songwrights and creatives, the unique character of Imagine’s Open Mic is the variety of it’s traditional coffeehouse format of the ’50’s to ’60’s ‘Village and college community enclaves — which hosted an emerging new populism of deep cultural roots and social activism. This creative renaissance set the stage for the major paradigm shift and cultural blossoming of the 1960’s and ’70’s, which rocked, enlightened and often conflicted with the established conformity and malaise of that era, as it conflicted with yet enriched fixed institutions of the day worldwide with a creative consciousness and power we still see all around us in that new paradigm’s diaspora today. It is still evolving and growing, and still outside the mainstream, like wildflower and weed pushing up through the established pavement of mainstream media culture. This is the spirit we bring to this new monthly event. ~:o)
Semmy Stahlhammer is First Concertmaster at the Stockholm Royal Opera, faculty member at the Stockholm Royal Music College, and appears as solo artist on 20 CD recordings. His CD anthology, Swedish Turn of the Century, was chosen as “Records of the year 2000” by Sweden’s largest newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Semmy also leads the “Stahlhammer Klezmer Classic Ensemble”, an ensemble founded by Semmy’s grandfather around 1910, in Poland.
He will join cellist Isabel Blomme’ and Sergei Teleshev in a performance of kelzmer music (sometimes called “Jewish jazz). He will also speak about his father, Mischa. Semmy wrote a memoir, Codename Barber: My Father’s Story, based on Mischa’s reminiscences of the Holocaust and documents that attested to his service. The Wartime experiences of Mischa Stahlhammer will be the topic of Semmy’s talk when he appears in Corvallis.
Claudia Schmidt
house concert
More than 4 decades as a touring professional have found Michigan native Claudia Schmidt traversing North America as well as Europe in venues ranging from intimate clubs to 4,000 seat theatres, and festival stages in front of 25,000 rapt listeners.
She has recorded nineteen albums of mostly original songs, exploring folk, blues, and jazz idioms featuring her acclaimed 12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer playing.
A house concert is an excellent place to hear and meet great musicians in a very intimate setting.
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.
Westwind 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.
The Highwater Stringband formed in Corvallis in late 1976 by a group of like-minded musicians who had recently arrived there from points over the horizon. They discovered in one another a passion for the acoustic music of earlier times, notably classic country, bluegrass, western swing, and fiddle tunes of the American South. Joining forces seemed like a good idea, and soon the band was getting calls for gigs at barn dances, road houses, coffee joints, folklore society concerts, and bluegrass festivals.
Highwater rode the flood tide for about two years, leaving in its wake a large repertoire of songs and tunes that the band is now dipping into for a series of 40-year reunion concerts. You can look forward to these geezers polishing up old gems and making them new again: Cyd Smith, guitar; Paul Kotapish, mandolin; Clyde Curley, fiddle; Jeff Hino, banjo and Dobro; and DeLynn Anderson, bass player in the original band, who will sing and old standard or two. (Seattle bass player Cary Black joins us for this tour.) It will be an evening of nostalgia for these old friends–and for those who fondly recall the days of the notorious folk scare of the ’70s, when everything old became new again.
These were all major participants in the Corvallis Folklore Society in the beginning, almost 40 years ago, and they’re getting together for the first time in Corvallis since who-knows-when to launch their 40-Year Reunion tour here with us. They’re also excellent musicians. This is something you don’t want to miss!
A house concert is an excellent place to hear and meet great musicians in a very intimate setting.
The Quarks
- Terry Wergeland – piano, accordion
- Betsy Branch – fiddle
- Bill Tomczak – clarinet, saxophone, percussion
Betsy and Terry have played together for dances since 1994, and when Bill moved to Portland in 2012, he was thrilled to join forces with them. With their mix of instruments and improvisatory natures, you never know what to expect from this trio. Their delight in playing together translates to the dance floor, and you are likely to hear plenty of laughter from the stage. When not playing, the three of them love to pontificate about the mysteries of the universe (like how 3 quarks form a particle), thus inspiring the band name.
Sue Baker
Sue has been calling dances all over the Pacific Northwest since 2001. Sue says “Dancing is a joy and I try to make every one a wonderful experience for everyone in the hall.” From her store of “dorky” wedding dances to complex technical dances, she’s danced most of them and draws on the ones she thinks each crowd will like and be successful at. And as she likes to add, “It’s just a dance.”
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 & CFS’s Annual Members’ Meeting: Saturday, May 7th, 2016, before the regular contra dance, at the home of Diane Arney, 770 SW Lookout Drive, Corvallis. It will take place during the pre-Contra dance potluck dinner. (Open to everyone.) Please bring a dish to share; arrive for snacks and socializing at 5:30. The purpose is to provide CFS members an opportunity to talk with the current board, to vote on the proposed slate for 2016-17 and, most importantly, to help support, expand and improve CFS activities.
Members for the annual meeting should arrive around 5:30 pm. The potluck will begin at 6 pm, and the business meeting at about 6:15. Members who don’t wish to eat, are encouraged to come just for the meeting. Diane’s home is a short walk from FCC’s Gatton Hall. Parking at Diane’s is somewhat limited, so please consider walking, biking or carpooling from the parking lot at First Congregational Church.
First and Third Saturdays of the month except July, August. Occasional special dances.
Third Thursday Imagine Open Mic Night
Traditional Coffeehouse Music, Poetry and Standup Comedy
Solos – Trios, signup & keyboard setup 6:30 pm.
With the launch of Imagine Coffee’s Third Thursday Imagine Open Mic Night, Corvallis now has three solid weeks of Open Mics every month.
Hosted by a collective of seasoned local songwrights and creatives, the unique character of Imagine’s Open Mic is the variety of it’s traditional coffeehouse format of the ’50’s to ’60’s ‘Village and college community enclaves — which hosted an emerging new populism of deep cultural roots and social activism. This creative renaissance set the stage for the major paradigm shift and cultural blossoming of the 1960’s and ’70’s, which rocked, enlightened and often conflicted with the established conformity and malaise of that era, as it conflicted with yet enriched fixed institutions of the day worldwide with a creative consciousness and power we still see all around us in that new paradigm’s diaspora today. It is still evolving and growing, and still outside the mainstream, like wildflower and weed pushing up through the established pavement of mainstream media culture. This is the spirit we bring to this new monthly event. ~:o)
Hands4
Since 2004, Hands4 has delivered high-energy music to dance halls throughout the Pacific Northwest, and in Texas during a 2006 tour. Combining seldom-heard traditional tunes with originals by band members and other musicians, Hands4 has created a unique blend of music that is definitely not your usual contra tunes. Hands4 features rock-steady leads by Keith Moe on fiddle and mandolin, soaring whistle and flute lines from Fran Tewksbury, and a clockwork rhythm engine driven by Rich Goss (percussion) and Carl Thor (piano).
Eric Curl
Eric started calling in 1996 and called in California and Colorado before moving Seattle in 2006. A mechanical engineer working for Boeing, he now enjoys calling in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia on a semi-regular basis. In his spare time, he likes to hike, snowshoe, camp, visit friends and family, play music, and of course, dance and call.
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. 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.) Map: https://mapq.st/1cyFC3m
First and Third Saturdays of the month except July, August. Occasional special dances.
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. .
Lindsey Dono
Massachusetts transplant Lindsey Dono is rapidly establishing herself as a Northwest mainstay. With her serene teaching, meticulous programming, and sunny demeanor, Lindsey transforms absolute beginners into confident regulars. Known for her creativity on the dance floor, Lindsey incorporates knowledge of waltz, swing, and blues to lead a variety of workshops, including the ever-requested “advanced contra flourishes.” By day, Lindsey is a devoted research scientist.
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. Host: Diana Jenner, 3675 SE 3rd St; (last house on the left); phone 605-201-9863. Directions: Head south on SE 3rd St (Hwy 99 W). After passing SE Rivergreen, drive just a little bit more. Last house on the left. Map: https://tinyurl.com/h68n7w6
First and Third Saturdays of the month except July, August. Occasional special dances.
Third Thursday Imagine Open Mic Night
Traditional Coffeehouse Music, Poetry and Standup Comedy
Solos – Trios, signup & keyboard setup 6:30 pm.
With the launch of Imagine Coffee’s Third Thursday Imagine Open Mic Night, Corvallis now has three solid weeks of Open Mics every month.
Hosted by a collective of seasoned local songwrights and creatives, the unique character of Imagine’s Open Mic is the variety of it’s traditional coffeehouse format of the ’50’s to ’60’s ‘Village and college community enclaves — which hosted an emerging new populism of deep cultural roots and social activism. This creative renaissance set the stage for the major paradigm shift and cultural blossoming of the 1960’s and ’70’s, which rocked, enlightened and often conflicted with the established conformity and malaise of that era, as it conflicted with yet enriched fixed institutions of the day worldwide with a creative consciousness and power we still see all around us in that new paradigm’s diaspora today. It is still evolving and growing, and still outside the mainstream, like wildflower and weed pushing up through the established pavement of mainstream media culture. This is the spirit we bring to this new monthly event. ~:o)
Uncle Farmer
Uncle Farmer is Ben Schreiber on fiddle and Michael Sokolovsky on guitar. With an Irish and New England sound at its core, the duo is known for its original dance tunes, modern twists on old favorites, and sets mixed with pop rhythms and improvisational flair. Their performances range from sweet and nostalgic to gritty and energetic, and their sound truly fills both the room and the hearts of dancers.
Susan Petrick
Susan Petrick has been calling all over the country for more than a decade. Her gracious manner along with her clarity and confidence on stage have made her one of the most sought after callers in the Pacific Northwest.
As a dancer herself, she knows what makes dancers happy and as a caller, she is always conscious of what is happening on the dance floor. Susan brings with her a diverse collection of dances featuring many flowing and flirty contras that will please your feet and satisfy your soul!
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)
(No potluck)
First and Third Saturdays of the month except July, August. Occasional special dances.
BRUCE MARBIN
MEMORIAL CELEBRATION
and CONTRA DANCE
Potluck & Ceremony 5:30 pm
Contra Dance 7-10 pm
with Callers Stacy Rose and Karen Olsen, and the Bruce Marbin MegaBand (BMMB)!
- Bring memories and stories about Bruce, and a potluck dish to share. No alcohol allowed.
- $10-$20 suggested fundraiser donation for honoring Bruce with a Corvallis park xylophone installation – accessible to all children & adults.
You can also donate online to the gofundme campaign website
- Beginners’ dance lesson at 7 pm.
- Each dance is taught.
- No partner necessary (it’s traditional to dance each dance with a different partner).
- Children are welcome.
Animals of Grace
Animals of Grace is an alt-folk duo based in Seattle led by innovative 12-string guitar player and classically trained vocalist Erika Lundahl. Together with percussionist Doug Indrick, Animals of Grace
“Watching her fingers play that 12-string was mesmerizing as she rapidly switched between tapping, drumming and finger picking.” (Norm Johnson, Concerts in the Woods)
Cascade Crossing
Carl Thor – piano, dulcimer, mando
Lori Prime – Fiddle
Rich Goss – guitar, percussion
Sarah Goss – Bass, whistle, oboe
Cascade Crossing is currently one of the hottest and most sought after bands in the Pacific Northwest region. They have developed a reputation for intense creativity, breadth of instrumentation, and energizing dance crowds. Cascade Crossing’s music is influenced by many styles, with touches of baroque, Caribbean, Celtic, Klezmer, traditional, northern, southern, jazz and ragtime. With many original tunes, expect the unexpected, from hard-driving reels to smooth, mysterious jigs. Using their wide range of instrumentation and styles, Cascade Crossing fills the dance hall with an exciting palette of musical colors and textures.
William Watson
William Watson, a resident of Eugene, OR, danced his first contra in 1989 and began calling in Texas in 1992. Having called numerous contra events in cities coast-to-coast, William’s extensive experience and soothing voice project a calm confidence. His vigilant and thoughtful dance programming ensures a variety of figures, transitions, and sequences to entertain and support new dancers while offering the occasional challenge for the more advanced. His calling proficiency and sensitivities ensure everyone has a good time.
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.