Judy Fjell grew up in Montana listening to folk-protest music on the radio and was so inspired to sing the repertoire that she bought a garage sale guitar and taught herself to play.

Nancy Schimmel, the daughter of Malvina Reynolds, experienced firsthand her mother’s protest stories and songs in Berkeley, California. Nancy Schimmel truly knows the life of Malvina Reynolds better than anyone else alive today.

Malvina Reynolds (1964)

When Judy and Nancy met at a Fjell concert in Oakland, California, in the mid-eighties, they began a conversation and collaboration which continues to the present. Each Malvina Reynolds concert is a one-time-only celebration of the life of this American songwriter, who collaborated regularly with Pete Seeger and whose songs are still performed forty years after her death. Malvina’s song “Little Boxes” is currently known from the Weeds television series. It has also been seen on YouTube by 13 million viewers in Walk Off the Earth’s brilliant cardboard box set video. Kodak adapted “Turn Around,” Malvina’s song about her daughter Nancy for its television ads in the sixties. A civil rights sit-in at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel inspired Malvina to write “It Isn’t Nice,” still a favorite at protest gatherings. Other well-known Malvina songs are “What Have They Done to the Rain,” “Magic Penny,” “God Bless the Grass,” and “Morningtown Ride,” which was a top hit in England for several weeks. Judy and Nancy will also perform several of the songs they have co-written in the “spirit of Malvina.”

Windborne

Vocal virtuosity rooted in folk music and cultures from around the world. Their dynamic concert programs include songs from Corsica, the Republic of Georgia, Bulgaria, Quebec, and Basque country, as well as traditional and original American folk music. They believe deeply in the power of music to change hearts. See more about them here.

Optional potluck at 6PM.

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.

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

Classical guitarist Cameron O’Connor and pianist Hui Wu of Ensemble Demitasse will be playing a combination of solo and duet works in The Arts Center’s gallery ​ on Sunday, April 8th from 3:00-5:00pm​ . This promises to be a fantastic musical experience featuring two top flight musicians that ​ bridge the gap between performer and audience​ . This event is presented by the Corvallis Guitar Society and The Arts Center’s Artist Accelerator Program. Limited seating
available. Tickets cost $25 each and can be purchased at ​ Grassroots Books and The Arts Center’s website.
Ensemble Demitasse breaks with tradition by valuing a personal and intimate connection with audiences; inhabiting musical roles such as multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Hui Wu (China) and Cameron O’Connor (USA) bridge the gap between performer and audience through programs which focus on interaction and storytelling. Over the course of years performing in Los Angeles venues from Zipper Hall to Central Juvenile Hall, Ensemble Demitasse is equally comfortable connecting through old and new music, and frequently works with some of LA’s most original young composers. ​ Award-winning and critically acclaimed, O’Connor has been observed by The New York Times as having ‘fluttered on his guitar strings in a mannerreminiscent of a pipa players technique’. While Wu was described as a ‘sparkling performer’ and ‘a rising star’ by The New York Times and China Musical Weekly.
The mission of the Arts Center is to foster creativity and engagement with the arts to inspire personal growth and community well-being. The Arts Center’s Artist Accelerator Program, focuses on career building for artists and brings the Spring Concert 2018 to Corvallis as it’s first event in ​ promoting the development of early to mid-career artists, such as O’Connor and Wu.
Look for more events by The Artist Accelerator Program this summer that continue to raise the visibility of local and regional artists.

MOLLY’S REVENGE

4PM show – sold out
7PM – seats available

Yes you read that right. In our house!
These guys will rock your socks with their smokin trio of Scottish and Irish Music. This trio is big time. They play at the top folk festivals and performing arts events in the USA, and prestigious events in Scotland, Australia and China.  Their arrangments traditional Celtic jigs and reels bring these dance tunes up to date with a driving, hard-edged accent that always leaves audiences shouting for more.  www.mollysrevenge.com

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.

Olivia Awbrey & Huck Notari

Olivia Awbrey

“A slightly more epic Esme Patterson…look out for her.”
– Chris T-T, English Songwriter

“Keep your eyes peeled…Olivia Awbrey is one to watch.”
– Eugene Weekly

“Packing well-crafted, road-tested tunes on her debut record, Olivia Awbrey spreads her folksy wings and brings some outspoken punky, rock and roll energy to her full-band, studio debut while still retaining her softer side.” – Vortex Music Magazine

Since releasing her debut EP, Fight or Fight (2017), Olivia has garnered attention in the folk and psych-rock communities in the US and the UK. Unafraid to blur lines between folk, psych and punk, her songs and voice have been likened to Esme Patterson and Liz Phair. With the help of hard-earned scholarships, Olivia took her songs to FAI 2017, FAR-West 2017, and the Spokane Folk Festival last year.

Exploring themes as ordinary as grocery store check out lines and as grand as the formation of Pangea, Olivia continues to draw in listeners throughout the US and Europe.

While intermittently recording her sophomore release with producer Hutch Harris (The Thermals), due out early 2019, Olivia is on tour in the US this spring and summer, and the UK this September.

Huck Notari

It was his grandfather, Glenn Burris, a Broadway singer who first sparked Hucks curiosity of singing at a young age. Huck Notari grew up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where his parents first introduced him to the piano and he taught himself to play the guitar at the age of 17.

Huck later moved to Eugene, Oregon where he joined up with a country blues, ragtime band called the Kitchen Syncopators (with Gill Landry of Old Crow Medicine Show, Woody Pines and Felix Hatfield) and toured up and down the west coast. He also found himself in New Orleans, where he was a Charlie Chaplin mime on Royal Street. But it wasn’t until 2007, when he moved to Oregon City that Huck discovered his own voice and wrote his first album, “Highland”, followed by his second album,” Very Long Dream”, in 2009 and his third, “Huck Notari and the River” in 2013.

Huck Notari’s lyrics and authentic guitar picking are timeless and draw his listeners into a place of nostalgia, broken hearts and old values. Huck currently calls Portland, Oregon his home. He is working on his fourth album and continues to tour around the U.S. and Europe.

The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc

is a fiddle trio from Norway, Sweden and the Shetland Islands that have wowed audiences worldwide by their gripping and unique blend of fiddle music. Their show in Corvallis last year stunned the crowd, so much so, that they immediately agreed to return this year. NFB is comprised of Olav Luksengård Mjelva (Norway), Anders Hall (Sweden) and Kevin Henderson (Shetland Islands), each a master of their respective traditions. Their sound has been described as “unique, meaningful, intense and invigorating” with clever use of harmony, rhythm, riffs & bass lines. Their humor and personalities also make for a truly fun evening.

Pre-show social hour at 6:30 with live Scandi music in the lobby by Vänta Bara with special guest, Amy Håkansson

Vӓnta Bara, translated from Swedish as “Just Wait” is a trio with Lori Prime on fiddle and nyckelharpa, Kim Majors on fiddle and Maralyn Belgique on cello. Collectively, they have played various forms of traditional and folk-dance music for over two decades. Amy Håkansson grew up in a family blue grass band, but her love for the nyckelharpa led to a year-long study at the prestigious Eric Sahlstrom Institute in Sweden. She studied under Väsen’s Olov Johansson who invited her to perform with the group on both nyckelharpa and banjo! Their love of traditional folk music has brought them together to play dance tunes for Norske Runddansere at the cultural center, Nordia House, in Portland. They are excited to share their music in Corvallis for a social hour in the lobby of the Majestic Theatre where snacks, wine, sodas and 2 Towns Cider are available.

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.

Annual
Pete Seeger Celebration

Fun, family-friendly celebration of resistance and song

featuring three songs presented by JOE HICKERSON (co-author of Where Have All the Flowers Gone) which were learned from, or by, Pete Seeger during his July 1960 visit to CAMP WOODLAND.

Before there were Riverkeepers, there was Pete Seeger. Most commonly associated with American folk music, Pete’s passion for the Hudson River helped spawn not only the cleanup of that industrialized river but a whole organization to protect and restore rivers around the globe. Pete lived along the Hudson River with his wife, Toshi. Outraged by the pollution in river, the couple built a boat named the Clearwater. The Clearwater served as hub of the Hudson River revival and it caught the attention of John Cronin, who became the first Riverkeeper. The connection to water, music, and organizing runs strong in the Waterkeeper movement. We owe a part of our existence to the passion, dedication and creatively of Pete Seeger. We hope you join us to celebrate his birthday and our Columbia River.

All proceeds benefit Columbia Riverkeeper.

Guy Davis

once said, “I like antiques and old things, old places, that still have the dust of those who’ve gone before us lying upon them.”  Blowing that dust off just enough to see its beauty is something Guy has excelled at for over twenty years of songwriting and performing.  It’s no wonder his reverence for the music of the Blues Masters who’ve gone before him has been evident in every album he’s ever recorded or concert he’s given.

Guy has had his musical storytelling influenced by artists like Blind Willie McTell and Big Bill Broonzy, and his musicality from artists as diverse as Lightnin’ Hopkins and Babatunde Olatunji.  However, there’s one man that Guy most credits for his harmonica techniques, by stealing and crediting from him everything that he could, and that man is the legendary Sonny Terry.

Guy’s new album, “Sonny & Brownie’s Last Train – A Look Back at Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry” is an homage to these two hugely influential artists, not only on Guy’s career, but to thousands of musicians around the world.  One such artist is the Italian harmonica ace, Fabrizio Poggi, who collaborates with and produced this recording.

Recorded in the summer of 2016 in Milan, the album features the original, title track song written by Guy Davis, songs by both Sonny and Brownie, as well as songs known to have been recorded and performed by the famed duo written by their contemporaries, such as Libba Cotton and Leadbelly.

Guy and Fabrizio have a relationship going back a decade in which they’ve performed together on tour in Europe and in the United States.  In 2013 Fabrizio produced and played on Guy’s highly acclaimed recording, “Juba Dance”, which was number one on the Roots Music Charts for eight weeks.  And ‘Fab’ also performs on Guy’s last album, “Kokomo Kidd”.

Guy Davis has spent his musical life carrying his message of the blues around the world, from the Equator to the Arctic Circle, earning him the title “An Ambassador of the Blues”.  His work as an actor, author, and music teacher earmark him as a renaissance man of the blues.

What music and acting have in common, he explains, “is that I don’t like people to see the hard work and the sweat that goes into what I do. I want them to hear me and be uplifted. And I want some little eight-­‐year-­‐old kid in the front row to have big eyes and say, ‘Hey, I want to do that!’.”

Guy Davis is an exceptional harmonica player, and accompanied Pete Seeger on his final tour. He is well worth seeing and hearing.

The evening is hosted by Bob Santelli of the GRAMMY Museum and features storytelling, a live on-stage interview, audience questions and a performance by Guy Davis.

Click here to purchase tickets.

American Strings participates in Corvallis Arts for All. When tickets are still available on the evening of the performance, SNAP participants with an Oregon Trail card may purchase up to two tickets for $5 each at the door. No advance purchase.

We’re throwing a fest!

Sinking City Pop Fest

is happening here in Corvallis, Oregon

from May 11-13, 2018.

We’re still very much in the planning stages, but it’s going to be a stacked weekend of all-ages DIY punk shows and events around Corvallis to celebrate our awesome community. There will be a ton of updates on this project in the next few months, so check back here or join our fb group to stay in the loop.

Touring bands often refer to the stretch of I-5 between Portland and San Francisco as the “dead zone.” In 2015, some friends started organizing shows under the umbrella of Corvallis DIY in an attempt to make Corvallis a more visible destination for punk, indie, emo, and hardcore bands booking their own tours. At the same time, we started hosting regular meetups and throwing events like Band in a Hat and the Halloween cover show to get people excited about participating in their local community. Our scene has been growing steadily since then, and Corvallis has gained a reputation as a fun, semi-secret place to play on the west coast – a rainy city sunken into the heart of the Willamette Valley.

Sinking City Pop Fest is not-for-profit and volunteer-run. All proceeds after expenses will be donated to the Rural Organizing Project, an intersectional nonprofit that supports radical organizing efforts in small Oregon communities.

Stay tuned for the show schedules and ticket presale information.

BANDS

Adieu Caribou (Salem/Corvallis)
Bad Dates (Corvallis)
Bobby’s Oar (Seattle)
Broken Dead (Eugene)
Dogbreth (Seattle)
Dooley (Corvallis/Eugene)
Flexing (Corvallis)
Garage (Corvallis)
GLIT (Eugene)
Lisa Prank (Seattle)
Mr. Wrong (Portland)
Plattenbau (Berlin)
SEACATS (Seattle)
Shaene Marie Pascal (Corvallis)
The Shifts (Eugene/Corvallis)
Special Moves (Olympia)
trying to be brave (Corvallis)
Watercolor Paintings (Thousand Oaks/Oakland)
Wayside Ghost (Eugene/Portland)
The Wobblies (Portland/Corvallis)

VENUES

Interzone (Friday night)
1563 NW Monroe Ave, Corvallis, OR 97330

Mudville Stadium (Saturday matinee)
House / ask-a-punk

Chintimini Community Center (Saturday night)
2601 NW Tyler Ave, Corvallis, OR 97330

Nearly Normals (Sunday matinee)
109 NW 15th St, Corvallis, OR 97330

SPONSORS

Razorcake, Interzone, Sacred Art Tattoo, Nearly Normals, Bullfrog Music, Happy Trails Records, & The Arts Center

RSVP on Facebook here

Buy presale tickets here

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 

A Celtic Evening
James Wilson
with
Dave and Sharon
Thormahlen

James Wilson was a English as a Second Language teacher at the Benton Center for awhile, now lives in Portland. He is getting together with Corvallis musicians Sharon and Dave Thormahlen to present an evening of Celtic tunes (“which we will deviate from a bit with some Latin and originals”).

Sharon and Dave have been performing all sort of music, from swing (in the Swing Beans) through children’s music to British (Celtic, Beatles, etc.) and more for many years.  They always put on a good show.

An evening house concert with
Birch Pereira
and the Gin Joints
from Seattle

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

Check out all the fun videos at   https://www.theginjointsband.com

If you’ve seen them before, then don’t miss this opportunity to hear the continuing evolution of their repertoire and skills.

The band’s debut album, Dream Man, was released independently and received the Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award for “Northwest Jazz Recording of the Year” in 2016. Their second album “Western Soul” was released in March 2018 and features western-tinged jazz and soul originals along with reinterpretations of old blues, swing and early rock’n’roll. Fans, critics and deejays have delighted in Birch Pereira’s “old soul,” tenor voice, the group’s new, stripped-down arrangements of musical gems from the past and Pereira’s ever growing repertoire of original, yet period-evoking material. Frank Gutch Jr, of No Depression described the new album thusly: “I love this album. I love the sound of it. I love the feel of it. I love the idea of it.”

One of the fun aspects of the Gin Joints is that, depending on availability, Birch can draw from a large pool of highly talented Seattle musicians, who all love playing this music.   Joining Birch this time are Adrian Van Batenburg on drums/percussion (returning again to Corvallis) and fine Seattle guitarist Colin Higgins (see below).

PERSONNEL
After playing cello in the Corvallis Youth Symphony, Birch Pereira got his BA in Jazz Studies (bass performance) from the University of Washington in 2005.   Since then he has become well-known in Seattle as a highly versatile bass player, band leader, composer, producer/engineer and teacher.  With the formation of the Gin Joints he moved out front as vocalist, arranger, composer and bass player — and hasn’t looked back since.

Adrian Van Batenburg got his BA in Jazz Studies (drumming/percussion) from University of North Texas in 2002.  He has been gigging, recording, touring and teaching since moving to Seattle that year.

Colin Higgins studied jazz guitar performance at North Texas University and University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. He graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Music degree from University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.  Colin moved to Seattle in the fall of 1997. He’s performed in a wide range of musical settings, from jazz to classic rock, with many great Seattle musicians.

A house concert is a great way to hear music in an intimate setting and get to know the performers up close and personal.

To reserve a space and get directions,   email to peartree15@comcast.net
(or, if an email won’t work, call 541-753-9224).