Calendar
Submit calendar info to:
calendar@corvallisfolklore.org
Join us for a free one-day DIY gathering
of ukulele players to Converge in Corvallis. Our goal is to play music and have fun at all levels of experience as we play the ukulele. Share in the joy of playing music; connect with other musicians in the region; learn new songs, and advance your ukulele skills.
Take free classes, teach a free session.
This will be a Do-It-Yourself event. When you arrive you can simply take a class at your skill level, or you can teach a song, a skill or a theory to others. It’s as simple as signing up on a volunteer board.It’s all free!
No registration. Just show up.
This event will be free and open to the public. Help us invite and spread the word by emailing friends and the many ukulele groups in Corvallis, Eugene, Salem, Portland and other neighboring communities.
Volunteers interested in leading a session are requested to bring extra music sheets or educational material to share. There is a copy center right across the street from our venue if you should need it.
A quadrant of skill levels:
- Beginners
- Beginner-Intermediate
- Intermediate
- Intermediate-Advanced
Learn at your appropriate skill level.
The Convergence will feature a quadrant of areas for beginners, beginner-intermediate, intermediate, intermediate-advance skill levels. Each quadrant will have sign-up area for volunteers to lead a 40-minute session teaching a song or a skill or a concept.
There will be a time allotted for a children’s circle.
Location:
We will meet in Central Park in downtown Corvallis, which will give participants close access to restaurants, music stores, copy stores and other businesses. We are looking at alternate venues nearby in the event of rain, and will announce those if necessary. Refer back to this website for that information as needed later on.
Parking:
Free Parking Area is located in the heart of downtown and limited to 3 hours per block. Metered parking is available adjacent to the Free Customer Parking Area and free unrestricted parking in the areas beyond that. The Free Customer Parking Area and metered spaces are enforced daily between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. except Sundays and holidays.
Portland FolkMusic Society presents Singtime Frolics
a spring weekend of singing, jamming, learning and sharing at Portland FolkMusic Society’s annual retreat.
Registration is now open!
Early registration ends Feb. 22
click HERE for more information
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.
CAJUN CELEBRATION OF SUMMER!
Music, Painting and Dance
Join renowned fiddle player Kelly Thibodeaux and learn Cajun style fiddling (no prior experience necessary – fiddles available for all), paint a bayou tapestry, do the two-step, sample Cajun cooking and more to celebrate the start of summer with a Cajun party. All ages welcome!
Registration limited to 15, so register early.
American Banjo Camp
Spend a weekend away from the toil and cares of everyday life, with nothing to do but learn about the 5-string banjo or fiddle or guitar or some other instrument from world-famous teachers, play in jams, eat delicious food, and possibly even sleep!
The American Banjo Camp takes place on the first weekend after Labor Day each year at a camp on the Puget Sound.
ABC is a camp for adults of all ages (students under 18 may attend if accompanied by a parent). There you can study old-time or bluegrass banjo with world-class instructors. Or you can take classes in fiddle, guitar, or other instruments (see the schedule).
The schedule is packed with hands-on classes and faculty concerts as well as dozens of jamming opportunities. An “Extra Day” offers a band scramble, student open mic, hosted jams, and panel sessions.
Registration is now open. Click here for details.
Come join us for the fourteenth annual American Banjo Camp. The dates are Sept. 9-11, 2016. We also offer an optional Extra Day beginning mid-afternoon on Thursday Sept. 8 (for details, see below). Our new site is the Pilgrim Firs Conference Center near Port Orchard, WA.
American Banjo Camp offers a weekend of intense instruction with some of the best old-time and bluegrass banjo players around (not to mention great fiddle and guitar players), plus demonstrations, concerts, and plenty of jamming opportunities.
We have full time programs in bluegrass banjo, old-time banjo, fiddle, and guitar. We offer four levels of banjo instruction: Novice, Lower Intermediate, Upper Intermediate and Advanced.
Here’s our 2016 staff:
Bluegrass Banjo Instructors:
+ Janet Davis (Arkansas) – One of America’s foremost banjo teachers and a regular columnist for Banjo newsletter
+ Bill Evans (California) – Versatile instructor; veteran of Dry Branch Fire Squad and numerous other bands
+ James McKinney (Georgia) – Virtuoso in both Scruggs & Single String Styles.
+ Alan Munde (Texas) – Legendary picker, innovator, and educator; banjo player for Jimmy Martin, Sam Bush, and Country Gazette
+ Mike Munford (Maryland/Pennsylvania) – Hard-driving, eclectic player; banjoist for the well-known national touring band Dirty Kitchen
Old-time Banjo Instructors:
+ Riley Baugus (North Carolina) – Widely-traveled exponent of the Round Peak and other traditional Appalachian styles
+ Bob Carlin (North Carolina) – Versatile master of numerous traditional banjo styles; noted scholar of banjo & old-time music history
+ Michael Miles (Chicago) – Clawhammer innovator; known for his original banjo “suites” & for clawhammer adaptations featuring world music and classical music.
+ Joe Newberry (North Carolina) – Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist; plays a powerful clawhammer style; he often appears on Prairie Home Companion
+ Ken Perlman (Massachusetts) – Pioneer of melodic clawhammer; author of several widely-acclaimed clawhammer instruction manuals
Novice Programs:
Mike Stahlman from Portland, OR continues as our bluegrass novice specialist, and Laura Smith from Bellingham, WA is once again our old-time novice specialist.
The ABC Fiddle Program:
We offer a full time fiddle program at ABC. Returning as our principal instructor for 2016 is Erynn Marshall, the first woman (and the first Canadian) to win first place in old-time fiddling at Clifftop. Fiddle classes will also be offered by old-time fiddler Greg Canote and by bluegrass fiddler Paul Elliott.
New! the ABC Full-Time Guitar Program:
ABC offers a full-time program in guitar this year. The principal instructor in guitar for ABC 2016 is Chris Luquette, who plays in the Dirty Kitchen band. Camp accompanists Jere Canote and Peter Langston will also teach in the program.
Accompanists:
Our old-time accompanists for 2016 are Greg Canote and Erynn Marshall (fiddle) and Jere Canote (guitar). On the bluegrass side, Peter Langston is our guitar/mandolin/dobro accompanist, Paul Elliott joins us for his ninth year as our fiddle accompanist, and Mick Nicholson is back as our bass accompanist.
Special Classes:
ABC also offers a variety of “miscellaneous” classes. So far, our 2016 offerings currently include bass, mandolin, and jazz ensemble.
The ABC Extra Day:
Our Extra Day gives students and staff a chance to get to know each other, and ease their way into the regular Camp with a bunch of low-pressure activities in a relaxed atmosphere. Generally, on Thursday evening we have a student open mic and band scramble followed by instructor-led jams; on Friday morning we offer round-robin demonstrations. There is an extra charge for students who wish to take part in the Extra Day, which also covers the cost of lodging and meals (dinner on Thursday through lunch on Friday).
You can access artists’ bios, logistical information, and the registration form on our website, https://AmericanBanjoCamp.com. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to email us at info@AmericanBanjoCamp.com.
Portland FolkMusic Society presents
Singtime Frolics
a spring weekend of singing, jamming, learning, sharing and good food at Portland FolkMusic Society’s annual retreat.
click HERE for more information
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.
Hambo Workshop
with John Scott
Hambo is not a dance you can learn in 5 minutes. It takes instruction, time and practice.
- This class is for beginners, or anyone who wants tips & practice opportunity with coaching.
- No partner is needed!
- The May 6th evening contra dance will feature several live HAMBOS to practice your skills!
Portland FolkMusic Society presents
Singtime Frolics
a spring weekend of singing, jamming, learning, sharing and good food at Portland FolkMusic Society’s annual retreat.
Guest artist Avery Hill
click HERE for more information
Immerse yourself in traditional
American music and dance at the
Willamette Valley Old-Time Social
May 3rd – May 6th!
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!
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.
Gerry O’Connor
with Richard Mandel
(and afternoon workshops – see below)
From Dundalk, County Louth, Gerry O’Connor has played and recorded with such highly regarded groups as Lá Lúgh (Eithne Ní Uallacháin, Sony Music) and Skylark. Gerry has toured and recorded with members of all the legendary groups including Planxty, Bothy Band and others. Lá Lugh’s album “Brighid’s Kiss” was voted Album of the Year 1996 by readers of the Irish Music Magazine. His solo album “Journeyman” was counted in the top five Albums of the year 2004 by the Irish Times.
Richard Mandel (guitar, tenor banjo, bouzouki) fell into the well of Irish music in the mid-‘90s and was soon driving every session he could get into. As a first-call accompanist, Richard has performed and toured with legendary Irish musicians including Gerry O’Connor, Paddy Keenan, Jimmy Keane, Mick Maloney, Paddy O’Brien, Tony DeMarco and many others. Richard plays in the trio Three Mile Stone with mandolinist Marla Fibish and fiddler Erin Shrader. Three Mile Stone released its debut CD, produced by John Doyle, in March 2010 and has received rave reviews. In addition to Three Mile Stone, Richard can be heard on Christa Burch’s CD “Love of the Land”, Radim Zenkl’s, “Restless Joy”, and Tipsy House’s CD, “Sets in the City.”
[P]owerful guitar work, whether taking the form of a high-energy rhythmic input or a more intricate embellishment. —David Kidman, Living Tradition Magazine
Richard’s guitar playing is a perfect support and backdrop for Marla’s and Erin’s tune conversations. It never draws attention to itself except by its excellence and appropriateness. And he can play the snot out of the tenor banjo, too! —Roger Landes (Irish bouzouki master and Zoukfest founder)
[A] lightning right hand and spot on chord choices. He is also a precise and powerful tenor banjo player.—Kevin Carr, FolkWorks
Advance Tickets (at Grassroots Books, 227 SW 2nd St.) are recommended as space is limited.
Afternoon Workshops on May 17 ! ($7/$5 CFS members)
2pm: DADGAD Guitar Accompaniment w/ Richard Mandel
4pm: Irish Tunes for all Instruments w/ Gerry O’Connor