Perennial favorite Chuck Pyle will be in town on Friday May 15 to do a house concert at the Pereira’s. The show starts at 8 PM and admission is $18 for CFS members and $20 for nonmembers. Admired as a sly humorist and an innovative guitarist, Chuck Pyle has performed for the Colorado Legislature, on Austin City Limits, and at Bill Gates’ home. He’s had his songs recorded by John Denver, Chris LeDoux, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band & Jerry Jeff Walker. He sees what’s best about America, writing songs about love lost & love found, forgetful cowboys, heroic highway patrolmen, and brain stems gone “critical”.

He is an accomplished guitarist with a warm and welcoming voice. He has performed in Corvallis many times and his concerts are really entertaining- with great stories and songs that make you laugh, keep you thinking, and many that make you want to get on your horse and ride the open range.

Pyle’s latest CD, COVER STORIES, is a collection of tunes by some lesser-known songwriters – like Pete & Lou Berryman, Walt Wilkins, Lynn Miles and Hayes Carll – whose work has been admired by other songwriters for years. These are 12 well-crafted songs beautifully rendered in 12 great performances by Chuck Pyle with his innovative Chuck Pyle Finger-Style, accompanied by side-kick, Gordon Burt on fiddle, and Don Richmond on steel guitar, dobro & mandolin.

“Chuck Pyle’s songs, playing and singing are transporting. If you’re looking for top-flight alt-country-inflected contemporary folk… this is it.”    – Sing Out!

“Pyle was one of my favorite songwriter discoveries of this year. Every song lover in town should make it a point to seek out this man’s music.”  – Music Row Magazine

To reserve a space and get directions,   send an email to cherep@comcast.net (or, if an email won’t work, call 541-753-9224).

The 13th annual festival has moved from Peace Presbyterian Church to the Irving Grange which is still in the Santa Clara area.  The Eugene Scottish Festival Committee is a nonprofit organization that provides the only Scottish cultural event in Lane County, the 13th annual such event.  On stage the music is mainly folk with lots of fiddles, Guitars, harps and bagpipes.  It is a family event and no alcohol is served.  We organize games for children, including a bouncy house, a Scottish museum, Scottish foods and a dog parade.

Lily Henley and Duncan Wickel

Lily Henley is a soulful singer, driving fiddler, and innovative songwriter breaking out of the box with influences ranging from homegrown Americana to the haunting melodies of the Mediterranean and the Middle-East. She’s performing as a duo with multi-instrumental phenom Duncan Wickel, who has captivated critics and fellow musicians alike with his creativity, authenticity and the chameleon-like ease with which he blends and changes styles on fiddle, cello, and bozouki. With a repertoire combining ear-catching vocal melodies, grooving fiddle tunes, and raw lyrics drawn from Ladino, Hebrew, Celtic and American folk songs, Lily & Duncan  have delighted audiences across the US, and have performed alongside many great musicians including John Doyle, Tim O’Brien, Rushad Eggleston and the Foghorn Stringband. Together they offer music lovers a tantalizing palate of familiar and refreshingly new sounds.

These folks are potent musician so don’t miss this one!  It’s going to be an enjoyable evening.  We do anticipate selling out so please reserve soon if you wish to join us…

Rebecca Lomnicky and David Brewer are a high energy pure-drop Scottish music duo, with world class fiddling talent in combination with bagpipes, guitar, bodhran, and whistle. International Scottish Fiddle Champion, Rebecca Lomnicky, and David Brewer of the popular Celtic band Molly’s Revenge, have each spent copious amounts of time delving into the traditions of their respective instruments, living and studying in both Edinburgh and the highlands of Scotland. Together they perform captivating Scottish music which bridges the gap between the fiddle and bagpipe music of Scotland—two worlds united, into a heartfelt and rousing musical experience. Between their entertaining and informative stage banter, their four instrument combinations and vast repertoire of tunes, including everything from soaring slow airs to intricately arranged dance tunes, these charismatic performers will leave you on your feet with your hands together.

The new CD, THE FIRE, is Lomnicky and Brewer’s second album together and fully showcases every aspect of their stylistic expertise, technical prowess, and musical passion. Combining the aesthetic elements of all their past recordings into a newer finely crafted sound, this album features the diversity of Scotland’s traditional regional styles with an added contemporary flare.

THIS CONCERT HAS BEEN CANCELED

With a voice “like butter” and a repertoire of original, folk-soul inspired songs, Juliet Strong touches audiences with her depth of sound, musicality, poetic imagery and eclectic style. Juliet’s energetic sound is underscored by rhythm piano, counter melodies, vocalise, and ukulele. The result is a unique and infectiously uplifting musical experience.

Juliet has a background in folk, classical and jazz piano and voice. Her performance style incorporates her classical training and theatrical background, as well as her upbringing among a tightly knit community of folk musicians, dancers, poets, and performers from the San Francisco Bay Area. She has drawn inspiration from her exposure to musical styles of all types, including Balkan, Turkish, Flamenco, Americana, English Country Dance, Indian and Brazilian. Her love of jazz, bebop, soul, funk and R&B have also influenced her original work. She has showcased her diverse training and background in theatrical collaborations, writing projects, live music performances, tours, and a discography of self-released recorded work. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Our own inimitable Mark Bielman will accompany her on bass.  I hope you will join us for what will surely be another fine show Juliet and Mark…

There can’t be many Swedish folk groups with a street named after them in America, a tribute some citizens of Bloomington, Indiana, have conferred upon the extraordinarily accomplished trio Väsen.

Väsen is a Swedish “folk revival” band that has been playing together for over 25 years and has been dubbed “the best band in the world” by music critics and listeners alike. Although inspired by, and firmly rooted in traditional Swedish folk music, Väsen adds to the genre with distinct harmonies and rhythms. The band features Olov Johansson on nyckelharpa, the national instrument of Sweden, Mikael Marin on 5-string viola, and Roger Tallroth on 12-string guitar (tuned A-D-A-D-A-D). Väsen in Swedish has multiple meanings: spirit, noise, a living being, and essence, being the most prominent.

Watch them on A Prairie Home Companion, or at the Celtic Colours International Festival.

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Guitar and banjo player Larry Unger and fiddler Audrey Knuth are a Boston based traditional duo who play exhilarating tunes with driving rhythms. Their concerts feature American and Celtic tunes with elements of other traditions including swing and blues. They also draw from Larry’s catalog of original fiddle tunes, which have been featured in several of Ken Burns’ documentaries. Declared a “guitar genius” by Sing Out Magazine, Larry Unger joins fiddler Audrey Knuth in creating a stirring musical experience.

Larry Unger has been a full-time musician since 1984 and has presented a diverse range of musical performances across the United States, Europe, and Scandinavia.

Hailing from Honolulu, Audrey moved to Boston in 2008 to attend Berklee College of Music and to explore the thriving New England folk scene. After graduating, Audrey has made a name for herself in the music community, namely as a dance fiddler and audio engineer.

Please join us for another great summer evening concert on Saturday, August 22 at 7 pm.

Todalo Shakers

The Todalo Shakers play vintage jug band party  blues and old time rags & stomps which sound like they are lifted right out of 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee or Dallas, Texas.  The band features lots of harmony singing, making for a rich palette of vocal blends and a great feeling of camaraderie; the exuberance and fondness that the musicians feel for their material and for each other is unmistakable.

Eric & Suzy Thompson have long been known for their bluesy string band music. The other Todalo Shakers include Mendocino’s Frannie Leopold, who plays guitar, has toured and recorded with New Mexico’s Jeanie McLerie as the Delta Sisters, and with Hank Bradley and Cathie Whitesides as the Balkan Kafe Orchestra. Bruce “W.B.” Reid, who makes his home in Seattle, Washington, spent some of his formative years during his early twenties hanging out in San Diego with bluesman Sam Chatmon, of the legendary string band the Mississippi Sheiks.  Bruce has toured and recorded with the Tallboys (Seattle’s hottest oldtime string band), with oldtime fiddler Lee Stripling, with the Carolina Jug Stompers and with his wife, Bonnie Zahnow. The most recent addition to the band is Seattle bassist Matt Weiner who boasts a long resume including stints with the Asylum Street Spankers and Hot Club of Cowtown.

What exactly is a “Todalo”? First of all, it’s pronounced “TOE-dah-low.” It’s closely related to “diddy-wah-diddy”, and crops up occasionally in obscure old blues songs: “I’m satisfied, satisfied, my todalo shaker by my side” is a line from the Memphis Jug Band classic “You May Leave, But This Will Bring You Back” and references to “todalo” turn up in songs by Mississippi John Hurt, Eubie Blake, and Bessie Smith.

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.

Gathering at 6:30
Music at 7:00
Please bring a snack or drink to share.

WINTERDANCE

Concert has been CANCELLED

Jim Malcolm has been forced home for family health reasons and had to cancel the rest of his west coast tour.

The concert producer will be in the Majestic Theatre lobby from 6:30pm to 8:00 pm on Thursday, Feb 4, 2016.  Bring your tickets purchased at Grass Roots and exchange them for a refund.  Ticket Tomato tickets are being refunded through Ticket Tomato and you should get a notification.

FMI: Richard Thies  541 753-8307

Jim Malcolm
Live from Scotland

He’s Scotland’s Songwriter of the Year in 2004 and three-times nominated for Scots Singer of the Year. Jim Malcolm’s concerts are like a musical tour through Scotland’s landscape and history, with humor his constant companion. Jim Malcolm performs award-winning original songs, traditional ballads and the works of Robert Burns, with guitar and harmonicas. His harmonica work is pretty hot. Jim likes to do a 50 seat venue  so he can do it without a sound system.  He has a great voice for that and has sold out here before, so I recommend getting tickets early.

Here is what others say:

“Jim Malcolm’s voice has the complex individuality of an aged single-malt whisky.”   Boston Globe

“One of the finest talents to have emerged through the Scottish folk scene in years”       The independent

“One of those pure warm Scottish folk voices one never tires of listening to.”                Dirty Linen

Review by Michael Moll of Folkworld of Jim Malcolm’s 2014 CD  “The Corncrake”

The popular Scottish singer/songwriter tackles on this album almost entirely traditional songs (with only one exception). This is the second “traditional” album by Jim Malcom, after last year’s “Still” – while all previous 10 solo albums were very much focussed on Jim’s own material. Many of the songs are seldomly heard, while some are better known.  The album has a very relaxed flair featuring Jim’s wonderful warm voice, guitar and harmonica, as well as guests Pete Clark (fiddle, Mark Duff (whistles, bodhran), Scoter Muse (banjo), Dave Watt (keyboards and melodica) and Jim’s wife Susie adding vocal harmonies. The cover of the album is a beautiful watercolour painting of a corncrake by wildlife artist David Bennett.

Jim has also just released a 2015 CD: “ Live in Perth”: “This is a rewarding selection of old and modern Scottish folk song, recorded live with no studio jiggery pokery, in front of a lively audience of fans, friends and family. “

MUSIC by Notorious  and  The Nettles

CALLERS: Cis Hinkle and Lindsey Dono

For more information and to register go to
https://www.eugenefolklore.org/CascadeContras

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.