Calendar
Submit calendar info to:
calendar@corvallisfolklore.org
7:30 Blues and Sunshine
Blues & Sunshine features two of LB’s own, Ron Sharman & retired English prof Tom Chase, joined by Steve Sever, the inspirational mentor & father of nationally known singer/songwriter Matt The Electrician. These local guys are a garage band in the truest sense of the words. Come join the fun.
8:30 Rita Brown and Bill Smyth
Rita and Bill have been performing, together and separately, for over ten years as a duet, soloists, and as members of such groups as Where To, Crooked Kate and The Flow, after meeting as part of a Joe Cocker cover band. They are not to be missed.
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 Methodis 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 MC Squared
Cliff and Chere Periera and Mark Weiss have been playing and singing together for more than three decades, and they’re still going strong.
8:30 Star McMullen
While I used to say I played oldtime fiddle, the term “oldtime” has come to be used in many other ways since I started playing with the Oregon Oldtime fiddlers in 1987. What I play is Texas style oldtime fiddle which includes many tunes that originated in the U.S., sometimes as progressive development of old tunes from the British Isles. Add to that the influence of swing and ragtime, and you get what I do!
Star McMullen won the seniors division of the national fiddling championship, at Wiezer, Idaho. AND, she was Alex Hargreaves fiddle teacher.
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 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 areavailable. 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 Williams
Randy recently returned to Corvallis where his love for guitar and performing began while an OSU student in the 1960’s. Randy became a regular at open mic events on campus playing and singing material by such artists as the Limeliters, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, and the Beatles. His acoustic guitar technique was influenced by classic guitar training, and the fingerpicking style of Merle Travis and Doc Watson. He released a CD called “Finger Pickin’ Good” in 2014, and now performs regularly at Imagine Coffee.
8:30 Webster Chicago
Delta Blues. Down home, the way blues was meant to be. The members of the band, left to right, are Brian Rhodes (guitar), Tom Spies (drums), Chris Dunfield (harp/vocals) and Bill Veley (bass).
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
Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman
Award winning harp and guitar duo from Ireland with a virtuosic blend of Irish, Ragtime, and much more.
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 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.
8:30 GuitarMasala
“I’m very happy to let you know that after a long hiatus from playing, my hand issues have been resolved and I’m back to playing guitar, composing and performing with my band, GuitarMasala.
We hope you will join us for our re-emergence concert. Otto Gygax will be coming down from Portland to play his world class rhythms on hand drums. We’ve managed to snag George Beekman from his busy performance schedule to lend his magic with symbols, bells and chimes. Sherry Rosen will be adding texture, harmonies and melodies on the Indian harmonium. We’re elated to be playing together again.”
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
DRÅM
Dråm is a Swedish folk music group specialized in the sackpipa, the Swedish bagpipe. Dram means “drone” in a Swedish dialect.
Dram’s members, Erik Ask-Upmark and Anna Rynefors have both received the prestigious Zorn award and the title of Riksspelman (official master musician) for their playing and exposure of the Swedish bagpipes.
Aside from the Swedish pipes, Dram’s other instruments include different Swedish folk whistles and the nyckelharpa keyed fiddle.
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 Chuva Boa
Colleen Kitchen and Laura Zaerr have been collaborating since the 90’s. Laura’s diatonic lever harp was a natural fit for Celtic music, and Colleen had spent three years in Ireland with no piano, so she had gotten a pennywhistle and learned Irish music for lack of other options. Their first Celtic band, “Heather Breeze,” was active doing dances and festivals including the inaugural daVinci days, until other competing interests such as the birth of Colleen’s daughter put a crimp in that. The two collaborated on a number of classical endeavors in the ensuing decades. Laura put together “Village Green”in the oughts, and Colleen was part of that ensemble for a while. But meanwhile the jazz roots were beckoning. While Colleen crashed Neal Grandstaff’s jazz improv class at Oregon State, Laura had been sitting in with Winston McCullough’s jazz ensemble and discovering ways to make the big harp work for jazz. It’s NOT easy. Only the best harpists can do it. With a natural gift for improvisation, and inspired by Dorothy Ashby Colleen and Laura developed ways to tag team each other, and the bright brilliant choros and bossa novas of Brazil seemed especially suited to the sound of the harp. You can’t have a Brasil band without percussion, and when expert percussionist Kevin Ronkko joined the group, it was just the ticket to make manifest the groove that was driving the music only in their imagination.
The group played for a while with no name, and everyone was telling them they needed a name. It was the drought year of 2015, not only dry, but very hot. The band was rehearsing the song “Chovendo na Roseira” and all the references to good nurturing rain were making everyone thirsty. Someone remarked that we could use a dose of “Chuva Boa” (good rain) right about now, and the name stuck. Below is a video of Brazilian icon Gal Costa performing “Chovendo na Roseira” (to be replaced with our own when we get a nice clean one.)
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 Methodis Church on 11th and Monroe, in Corvallis. For more information, or to join the volunteer team, contact Mark Weiss at mjweiss@cmug.com
James Kline
Classical guitarist, composer, singer-songwriter, innovator of the 19 string arch harp guitar, James Kline is an artist who constantly renews and reinvents himself.
As a classical guitarist he studied in Spain under a full scholarship from the Spanish government. There he won a number of international awards, including the Ramirez Prize of Santiago de Compostella and the Tarrega Pize of Benicasim. He holds an ARCM diploma from The Royal College of Music of London and has performed throughout eastern and western Europe as well as the United States and Mexico. He has also gained recognition as a composer and was awarded an Individual Artist Grant in music composition from the Marin Arts Council of California.
As a singer-songwritter, James draws inspiration from a slightly more unusual life experience which includes years working as a commercial fisherman, working as a wilderness guide, extensive travel on four continents, and living among Mexico�s Tarahumara Indians. An interest in Renaissance and Baroque music led him to design his own version of the eleven string arch guitar, an instrument which combines the best qualities of the lute and the guitar. The urge to expand his horizons and dedicate more time to composing led James to co- found the neo Celtic group Bardou with whom he performs regularly. He has again reinvented his instrument to become the world�s only player of the 19 string arch harp guitar, a combination of lute, guitar, and Celtic harp.
A modern day troubadour, his performances reflect a wonderful diversity of life experience and musical intrigue and are often punctuated with story telling.
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 Tim Hardin
Folk songs and good humor from a long time Corvallis singer and guitarist, now living in the Virgin Islands. He will be joined for some songs by Corvallis singer Audrey Perkins.
8:30 Dave Plaehn and Jeff Hino
Dave Plaehn and Jeff Hino are the Corvallis Blues Brothers.
Dave Plaehn & Jeff Hino 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.
“It’s a nice reminder that not all the talented musicians in this state are based in the city at the terminus of the Willamette River. This is roots music at its finest played by craftsmen in the deepest sense. This is a duo that has a lot to say and the skills to back those voices, too.”
Greg Johnson, President,
Cascades Blues Association
“Two talented blues musicians who offer a fresh and diverse array of original and traditional acoustic based compositions. Treat you ears to a real pleasing performance.”
Rod Downing, President,
Washington Blues Society
Hope to see you there for this spring evening of Corvallis musicians!
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 Methodis Church on 11th and Monroe, in Corvallis. For more information, or to join the volunteer team, contact Mark Weiss at mjweiss@cmug.com
A fund raiser for The Folklore Society and The Best Cellar. We will have several local musicians: 
Rita Brown,
Suz Doyle, Adam Scramstaad, Fred Towne, Mina Carson, Cliff and Chere Pereiera, Mark Weiss, Evelyn Idzerda, and others.
They will be singing songs from The Great Women Songwriters. Including songs from Carol King, Elizabeth Cotton, Joni Mitchell, Etta James, Nanci Griffith, Kate Wolfe, Gillian Welch, Laura Nyro, Malvina Reynolds, and more.
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 Methodis Church on 11th and Monroe, in Corvallis. For more information, or to join the volunteer team, contact Mark Weiss at mjweiss@cmug.com
New World String Project
John Weed • Aryeh Frankfurter • Lisa Lynne • Stuart Mason
Extraordinary instruments and heartwarming music rooted in the Nordic, Celtic, and American folk traditions. 98 strings on stage!
Science tells us that cross pollination can result in hybrid vigor that transcends the sum of its parts. In a parallel vein, the vibrant West Coast traditional music community has given birth to the New World String Project. Four highly skilled and well known multi-instrumentalists have joined forces to create an exciting weave of music rooted in the Celtic, Nordic and American folk traditions. Ancient and modern sounds mingle freely on Swedish nyckelharpa, Celtic harp, fiddle, guitar, cittern, bouzouki, and more. Join the New World String Project for a musical ride that will shake your boots, uplift your spirit and warm your heart.
“(New World String Project) literally pranced through their hour-long program at St. Mary’s in Pacific Grove, displaying both calculated structure and unbridled abandon.” –Monterey County Weekly (CA)
Doors open 6pm with a potluck reception.
A house concert is an excellent opportunity to hear great music in a very intimate setting.
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.
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