7:30 Curtis and Loretta

Curtis & Loretta’s music comes straight from the heart.   The husband and wife duo’s extraordinary harmonies and proficiency on a parade of stringed instruments create an alluring frame for their poignant original songs, and traditional pieces from America and the British Isles.  The current menagerie includes mandocello, folk harp, guitars, clawhammer banjo, ukulele, and mandolin, plus a bit of kazoo, harmonica, and shakers. Curtis’ down-home sense of humor and Loretta’s theater background engage the audience in an experience that runs the gamut of rolling with laughter to holding back tears, with plenty of side-trips in between.  They rack up countless miles each year, crisscrossing the country to deliver their own unique brand of folk singer/songwriter music.

8:30 Crooked Kate

Crooked Kate returns after a ten-year hiatus. What was a trio is now a duo with Anne Ridlington on cello and Rita Brown on guitar and vocals. Anne and Rita stayed in touch during the last decade while Anne played in the Eugene Symphony among other ventures, and Rita played in the local band, The Flow. But the eclectic, adventuresome Crooked Kate beckoned and the two could no longer ignore the call. Sometimes the sound elegant, sometimes messy, always creative and heart fulfilling.

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

Bill Staines

If you know the songs River or Roseville Fair or many others, this is the man responsible for them.

“One of the most admired and imitated writers on the contemporary folk circuit.. [He writes] pensive, probing narratives made especially memorable by their ability to translate the common details of common lives into songs of uncommon eloquence and beauty.” – The Austin American-Statesman

7:30 Marshal Adams –

Marshall has been performing music on the guitar for over 50 years, and once
opened for the Grateful Dead. For the Best Cellar, Marshall will play arrangements from jazz to flamenco, Brazil to the wild west, and will be joined, on some tunes, by his grandson, Will Danley.

8:30 Dave Plaehn and Jeff Hino 

The best blues duo for miles around. 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 Methodist Church on 11th and Monroe, in Corvallis. For more information, or to join the volunteer team, contact Mark Weiss at mjweiss@cmug.com

Reilly and Maloney
Farewell Tour

Ginny Reilly and David Maloney have been entertaining CFS members and people all over the country for decades.  This is probably your last chance to see them perform together.

Birch Pereira
and the
Gin Joints
afternoon house concert

Born out of a love of the early years of swing, country and rock ‘n ‘roll, Birch Pereira & the Gin Joints is a band whose sound transports you to the time of speakeasies, honky-tonks and rock ‘n’ roll joints. With upright bassist and vocalist Birch Pereira at its center, the band features many of Seattle’s most skilled and versatile musicians who share the love of the American song traditions and a desire to offer a fresh angle on them.

The band itself plays in a variety of formats from intimate duo or trio gigs to dance gigs as a larger ensemble and features a revolving cast of professional, Golden Ear nominated, Seattle musicians. Birch Pereira & the Gin Joints released their debut album Dream Man on May 12th and continue to support the release with performances around the West and East Coast.

“The Gin Joints are a new group in town and feature Seattle mainstays Birch Pereira on bass and vocals, Jason Goessl on guitar, Sam Esecson on drums and Kate Voss on Harmonies. On this cover of “Lost Highway,” Pereira sweetly carries the lyrics of loss as Goessl accompanies on lead guitar. The quartet are masters of the early Americana sound. In short, we expect big things from their upcoming record, Dream Man.”    Jake Uitti – The Monarch Review

7:30 Shy and Gary Nolde

High school sweethearts Shy and Gary Nolde have been singing their style of American folk and blues for about 50 years.

“Through the years we’ve seen it all, had it all, spent it all, known our share of joy and pain, sunshine and rain. In other words, we’re playing music together and having the time of our lives,”

8:30 Adam Scramstaad

Adam is an 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.

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 Revel’n  featuring Evelyn Idzerda

Evelyn Idzerda and Ron Snyder bring us great vocals and spiced with hot guitar licks.

8:30 Gumbo  featuring Sid Beam

Sid Beam and some all star musicians perform imaginative originals, sometimes with the feel of swing jazz, sometimes with the feel of deep Americana, and sometimes, well with a lot of imagination.

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

Neal Gladstone
Tribute Concert

Fans of Neal Gladstone’s music are in for a treat this winter.  Though Neal stopped performing after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, his musical friends in three top local bands have cooked up a Tribute concert featuring his songs and comedy, with Neal as the Guest of Honor.  Like any Gladstone show, this one will be full of surprises and great music.  The line up includes Neal’s long-time vocalist Audrey Perkins and her band Swing and a Ms., plus The Flow with Rita Brown and Bill Smyth, and the Plaehn-Hino Blues Band with special guests Creighton Lindsay and Bret Godfrey.  The evening’s host will be MC David Grube.

Neal told us that while he was embarrassed to be the subject of this tribute, he is excited to hear his songs played by these excellent musicians.  So mark your calendar for Jan. 28 for the Neal Gladstone Tribute Concert at the historic Whiteside Theatre, and get your tickets early.

Neal Gladstone Songbook  Just in time for Christmas, watch for the release of the new Neal Gladstone Songbook, featuring 30 of his most popular songs, arranged for piano and/or guitar.   The song books will be sold at GrassRoots Bookstore, Gracewinds, and Troubadour music.   Along with tickets to the Neal Gladstone Tribute Show on Jan 28, what a perfect stocking stuffer for the Gladstone fan on your list!

FMI or to volunteer for the concert:  Chere and Cliff Pereira cherep@comcast.net.

Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen

Steve Gillette is best known as a songwriter, with songs recorded by artists from Ian & Sylvia to Garth Brooks, from Jiminy Cricket to John Denver. His song Darcy Farrow alone has been recorded by more than one hundred artists since 1966, most recently by Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Nanci Griffith. Quite literally, he wrote the book on songwriting: Songwriting and the Creative Process (Sing Out Press) is a standard text in songwriting classes across the country. Steve sings in a rich baritone and is a virtuoso on guitar, using a unique fingerpicking style with a flat-pick and two fingers. His most recent solo recording is The Man (2010, Compass Rose Music), a CD featuring music from (or reminiscent of) 1920s and ’30s jazz and roots music, accompanied by a narrative Steve created, blending fact and fiction from that vibrant era. Featured prominently on the album is George Gillette, Steve’s dad, playing stride piano in the style he grew up with. 

Cindy Mangsen, who married Gillette in 1989, is also a songwriter, but her focus has been on songkeeping. Cindy is a master interpreter of traditional ballads, rich in myth and legend. She plays guitar, concertina, and banjo, and is renowned for her compelling voice, described by one critic as a voice that can warm a New England winter. Her newest solo CD is Cat Tales: Songs of the Feline Persuasion (2005, Compass Rose Music), an album of songs about cats and their people.

Roy Zimmerman

There’s lots of new grist for Roy Zimmerman’s song-writing mill with the election results and everything going on in the world.  This should be interesting (and entertaining).

Roy Zimmerman is a satirical songwriter in the Tom Lehrer/Phil Ochs tradition with a great gift for clever and funny lyrics that really rhyme and an incredibly entertaining banter between his songs.

“You’re brilliant. Just brilliant!” — Terry Jones, Monty Python

Tom Lehrer himself says, “I congratulate Roy Zimmerman on reintroducing literacy to comedy songs.  And the rhymes actually rhyme, they don’t just ‘rhyne.'”

Joni Mitchell says, “Roy’s lyrics move beyond poetry and achieve perfection.”

He spent the Comedy Boom years of the Eighties doing stand-up in San Francisco, sharing stages with George Carlin, Bill Maher, Kate Clinton, Dennis Miller and many others. He wrote all the material for his funny folk music quartet The Foremen, recording two albums for Warner/Reprise Records. He’s done several shows with The Pixies’ Frank Black, swapping songs in a solo acoustic setting.

“Roy Zimmerman simultaneously inspires me and makes me laugh my ass off,” says comedian/author Paul Krassner.

Zimmerman tours almost constantly, taking his funny songs about fracking, creationism, marijuana laws, government shutdown, same-sex marriage, guns, taxes and abstinence across the country, often playing in some of the least Progressive places in America for the most Progressive people there.  “I get accused of preaching to the converted,” he says, “but I don’t think of it that way. I think of it as entertaining the troops.”

In thirteen albums over twenty years, Roy has brought the sting of satire to the struggle for Peace and Social Justice. His songs have been heard on HBO and Showtime. He has recorded for Warner/Reprise Records. He’s been profiled on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Zimmerman’s YouTube videos have amassed over seven million views, and he’s a featured blogger for the Huffington Post.

Sing Out! Magazine writes, “Zimmerman is a guy on the left skewering folks on the right with rapier-sharp lyrics … underneath the caustic satire is a man who is surprisingly optimistic.”

The Martha Room at the First Presbyterian Church is in the basement, most easily accessed through the 11th Street entrance near the parking lot.

The regular Hoolyeh 3rd Sunday dance has been cancelled for tonight only.

7:30 Tom and Ellen Demarest

Tom Demarest was one of the founders of the Best Cellar and played at the first one, more than 40 years ago.  He and Ellen have been playing together in Corvallis for decades, and are perennial favorites with their original songs and great covers.

7:30 Pete Kozak with Mark Weiss

Pete plays mandolin, guitar, banjo, fiddle, dobro, and harmonica. He’s a great musician who has played in several local bands, through the years: The Bush Pilots, Yellow Rose, Pickin’ Noodle Soup, and The Rubes. He’s stood on stage with Neal Grandstaff, Paula Walters, Jeff Hino, Creighton Lindsay, Mark Weiss, Ray Brassfield, and Gary Nolde. On top of all that, before coming out west, Pete earned a Best Vocalist award at the Nebraska Old Time Fiddlers and Country Music Festival.

Mark Weiss has been flat picking and singing in Corvallis for decades and currently produces the Best Cellar.

Multiple Grammy-nominee John McCutcheon charms audiences with “story telling that has the richness of fine literature” (Washington Post) and his mastery of a stage full of folk instruments is simply amazing. He plays guitar, fiddle, autoharp, banjo, jaw harp, (hambone if we are lucky) and is best known for his hammered dulcimer playing. A John McCutcheon concert is always energizing, fun, uplifting, community building, and his audiences leave with a renewed sense of hope for humanity. “This notion of telling stories of ordinary people who have done great things, and carrying those stories from one place to another, of telling people ‘this is where I’ve been, these are the stories I can bring you,’ is the heart of what I do,” McCutcheon sums up. “That’s my goal. If you can recognize yourself in my songs, then I’ve done my job.” He lives in Georgia but keeps moving, toward wherever he senses there’s still a story yet to be told.

His 30 recordings have gathered many honors including 7 Grammy nominations. His most recent honors the centenary of Joe Hill’s death on November 19^th, 1915. John McCutcheon brings Joe Hill’s music to a whole new audience. With fresh arrangements, stunning musicianship, and released on a palette that makes these songs feel as though they were written today rather than a century ago, there is a life and vitality that is both rare and refreshing. In honor of Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday John recorded THIS LAND: Woody Guthrie’s America. He assembled an all-star cast of songs and musicians to honor America’s most enduring folksong writer: Willie Nelson, Tommy Emmanuel, Kathy Mattea, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Tom Chapin, Tom Paxton, Maria Muldaur and more. McCutcheon offers fresh new arrangements and exciting new interpretations of many of Woody’s most well-known songs. He has so much material we never know what he might perform, and of course he gives the audience a chance to request their favorites so plan ahead!

But it is in live performance that John feels most at home. It is what has brought his music into the lives and homes of one of the broadest audiences any folk musician has ever enjoyed. People of every generation and background seem to feel at home in a concert hall when John McCutcheon takes the stage, with what critics describe as “little feats of magic,” “breathtaking in their ease and grace…,” and “like a conversation with an illuminating old friend.”

So if you want to laugh, cry, be inspired, and feel like you are a part of a big community, then don’t miss this concert. More information about John McCutcheon his website is at www.folkmusic.com For info or to volunteer, call Chere Pereira 541-753-9224.

Whether in print, on record, or on stage, few people communicate with the versatility, charm, wit or pure talent of John McCutcheon.

Libby Roderick

an internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter, poet, activist, teacher and lifelong Alaskan. The surprising power and depth of her music and the humor and spontaneity of her performances have attracted large and enthusiastic audiences across the continent and fans all over the world. Her six recordings have received extensive airplay on Earth and, in 2003, NASA played her song “Dig Down Deep” on the planet Mars as encouragement to the robot “Spirit.” Libby is an exhilarating and witty artist who offers a remarkable blend of passionate music, wry humor and incisive commentary on social and personal issues.

Cassandra Robertson

a muse with a message, 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.

Libby Roderick has composed a bunch of new socially-engaged music and got a big grant to tour it, so Spring Creek is hosting a concert by her in collaboration with the Corvallis Folklore Society.

The challenge of the Spring Creek Project is to bring together the practical wisdom of the environmental sciences, the clarity of philosophical analysis, and the creative, expressive power of the written word to find new ways to understand and re-imagine our relation to the natural world.

7:30 Guitar Masala

Unfortunately Sid injured his hand and won’t be able to play. Instead Audrey will give two sets starting at 7:30.

8:30 Swing and a Ms. with Audrey Perkins

Swing and Ms. is a Corvallis band since September of 2013.  Band members–Audrey Perkins on vocals, Page Hundermer on bass, John Bliss on guitar and other strings, Paul Regan on guitar, and Bill Pfender on clarinet–play music from the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s and other tasty tunes along the music-time spectrum. From Gershwin to Gladstone “The Great American Songbook” comes to life with these wonderful musicians.

Special Note: Because we expect a larger crowd than usual, this Best Cellar will not be held in the cellar. We will be upstairs, at the top of the Methodist Church where we can seat more folks, as Audrey and the guys often sell out the room.

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