Calendar
Submit calendar info to:
calendar@corvallisfolklore.org
Hard Drive
Hard Drive is a hard-driving aural modern traditional old time authentic millennial bluegrass collective made up of Tatiana Hargreaves, Aaron Tacke, Sonya Badigian, and Nokosee Fields. From brother duets to raging fiddle tunes, Hard Drive brings a sense of deep intuition and silliness to the world that encompasses old-time, country, and bluegrass.
The Bluegrass Situation describes the band as “a delightful subversion of our expectations of what traditional bluegrass is supposed to be.”
Hard Drive serves up a “high-octane bluegrass-old-time style, delivered with deep intuitive insight, manic exploratory zeal and seriously powerhouse instrumental (and vocal) chops but also, importantly, with an abundant and overwhelming sense of fun.” [Folk Radio UK].
They float gently around a Bermuda-Triangle-type spacetime warp in central North Carolina, and they are constantly expanding at the approximate pace of the universe.
Attendance is limited to 300 so get tickets early!
See COVID requirements: https://www.whitesidetheatre.org
Zimfest
Zimbabwean Musical Festival
Concerts
Music & Dance
Workshops
African Marketplace
Cultural Presentations
Other Events
General Information Schedule
The Western Flyers
Dubbed “The Biggest Little Band in the Land,” powerhouse Western swing & country trio The Western Flyers serve up an irresistibly hot, unmistakably Texas-style sound popularized by Bob Wills in the 1940s with an electrifying energy all their own. Featuring a fresh, all-star lineup led by Western swing master Joey McKenzie on rhythm guitar & vocals, champion fiddler Ridge Roberts, and upright jazz bassist Matthew Mefford, the award-winning Flyers are guaranteed to have even the shyest of wallflowers swinging on the dance floor.
This is a house concert at a private home located in the town of Monroe/Alpine, about halfway between Eugene and Corvallis. We ask each attendee to donate $20 or $25, which all goes to the outstanding world-class touring performers. To reserve a ticket, please email lisa@lisalynne.com. Address will be provided upon reservation RSVP. More information about Cedar House Concerts is available here:
ROY ZIMMERMAN
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 song
Roy Zimmerman’s signature blend of heart and hilarity
has never been more necessary. In a career spanning more
than thirty years, Roy’s songs have been heard on HBO and Showtime, and his videos have
garnered hundreds of millions of views. Roy co-writes these songs with his wife Melanie Harby. Their song parody “Vote Him Away (The Liar Tweets Tonight)” has had over 140 million views online
“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 – the “Blue Dots” he calls them. So this is his “Blue Dot Tour”. “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.”
The world is full of funny songs, but Zimmerman’s hilarious, rhyme-intensive originals are also incisive calls to action, smart, savvy and undeniable. The “Blue Dot Tour” is ninety minutes of these songs – funny songs like “The Faucet’s on Fire!” and “I Want a Marriage Like They Had In the Bible,” heartfelt songs like “Hope, Struggle and Change” and “I Approve This Message.”
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.”
Laurie Lewis
For nearly four decades, Laurie Lewis has gathered fans and honors for her powerful and emotive voice and her versatile, dynamic songwriting. She is a sought-after recording producer and an equally skilled teacher and mentor.
And she is an inspiration and a ground-breaker – across genres, across geography and across gender barriers.
Laurie has shown us how a woman can blend into any part of the classic bluegrass singing trio, and she showed us how a great voice could move fluidly between bluegrass and other types of music. She showed us how a female fiddler could emulate the strength and grit of the early bluegrass musicians. She has shown how a Californian can appeal to traditional bluegrass audiences, as well as winning acclaim in the worlds of Americana and folk music.
She has shown us how to lead bands of talented musicians – learning from them while helping them make their best music. And she has shown us how to thrive in a constantly changing musical environment – without ever sacrificing her art.
Attendance is limited to 300 so get tickets early!
See COVID requirements: https://www.whitesidetheatre.org
Karan Casey
Irish singer-songwriter Karan Casey has been blazing a trail for over 30 years. A lover of ballads, love songs and searing versions of social justice songs, fond of a good yarn, she has toured the world making deep connections with her audience connecting via Ireland’s past but crucially repositioning women and songs in a universal and a modern setting. Karan has been striking out lately to explore new areas of performance on the piano and with spoken word and theatre. She has released eleven albums as well as contributing to numerous other artists’ projects – appearing on more than 80 albums so far – and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, performing with her own band as well as collaborating with such diverse musicians as Maura O’Connell, James Taylor, Bela Fleck, Boston Pops Orchestra, Kate Ellis, Niall Vallely, Pauline Scanlon, The Chieftains, The Dubliners, Peggy Seeger, Karen Matheson, Mick Flannery, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Tim O’Brien and Solas. In 2018 Karan helped found FairPlé which is an organization aimed at achieving fairness and gender balance for female performers in Irish traditional and folk musics. Karan tours with her band Niamh Dunne, Sean Óg Graham and Niall Vallely. Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale produced by Donald Shaw, was released on the Vertical Records Label and her song “Down in the Glen” was nominated for Best Original Folk Song at the RTE Folk Awards in 2019. She achieved a PhD in music at the University of Limerick in 2019. Karan first theatre show I Walked into My Head directed by Sophie Motley was premiered at the Kilkenny Arts Festival 2021. 2022 saw Karan collaborate with composer Harry Escott on a version of the Irish ballad “Grace” for the film “Ali & Ava”. Karan’s new album “Nine Apples of Gold” was released to great critical acclaim in February 2023. It has received extensive radio play on both sides of the Atlantic reaching No 1 on the US Folk radio charts for the month of March. Karan’s new stage show about women in the Irish revolutionary period The Women We Will Rise was premiered at the Everyman Theatre in Cork in September 2023.
Attendance is limited to 300 so get tickets early!
See COVID requirements: https://www.whitesidetheatre.org
Jubilate O Sing! Winter Concert
O Sing!
Singing is our elemental human self-expression. Join us in a celebration of the winter holidays as we sing songs welcoming the return of the light and the joy of the season. We are presenting two concerts in mid-December, one on December 16 at the First United Methodist Church, 1165 Northwest Monroe Avenue, Corvallis, and the other on December 21 at the First Congregational Church, 4515 SW West Hills Road, also in Corvallis. Both events start at 7 PM and last about an hour. The performances feature the same songs.
Tickets are available online for $15 each plus a small processing fee. A limited number of tickets are available for purchase at the door the night of the event. Children under 10 are free. Additional donations to the choir are welcome and can be made when tickets are purchased.
Follow the links on the choir’s website for more information and to purchase tickets: https://www.jubilatechoir.org/
Jubilate O Sing! Winter Concert
O Sing!
Singing is our elemental human self-expression. Join us in a celebration of the winter holidays as we sing songs welcoming the return of the light and the joy of the season. We are presenting two concerts in mid-December, one on December 16 at the First United Methodist Church, 1165 Northwest Monroe Avenue, Corvallis, and the other on December 21 at the First Congregational Church, 4515 SW West Hills Road, also in Corvallis. Both events start at 7 PM and last about an hour. The performances feature the same songs.
Tickets are available online for $15 each plus a small processing fee. A limited number of tickets are available for purchase at the door the night of the event. Children under 10 are free. Additional donations to the choir are welcome and can be made when tickets are purchased.
Follow the links on the choir’s website for more information and to purchase tickets: https://www.jubilatechoir.org/
Cantrip -Celtic music
The name Cantrip is an Old Scots word meaning a charm, magic spell or piece of mischief and it aptly describes the unexpected twists and turns in their musical arrangements, likewise the compelling potency of their musicianship. Swirling border pipes, raging fiddle, thunderous guitar and three rich voices blend to create a sound energetic enough to tear the roof off. Echoes can be heard of trad music from the 1960s and 70s, but the years have slowly infested their music with the sounds of funk, metal, bluegrass, swing, and even klezmer. After 20 years of touring, Cantrip has found a character like no other. Dan Houghton, Jon Bews, Alasdair White and Eric McDonald stir the elements in a witches’ cauldron, slowly coalescing into chaotic order.
She’s Speaking LIVE
Join us for an evening concert celebrating women! Eight phenomenal Oregon women songwriters backed by a killer band will share original songs inspired by women and pay tribute to some of their musical sheroes. This inspiring collaboration will touch your heart, uplift your spirit, and get your toes tapping while honoring the power of women’s voices and stories. With Arietta Ward, Naomi LaViolette, Liz Chibucos, Lisa Mann, Bre Gregg, LaRhonda Steele, Beth Wood & Kristen Grainger.
Attendance is limited to 300 so get tickets early!
See COVID requirements: https://www.whitesidetheatre.org
Hanneke Cassel
with Tristan Claridge
and Christopher Lewis
Effervescent and engaging, Boston-based fiddler Hanneke Cassel’s fiddle music fuses influences from the Isle of Skye and Cape Breton with Americana grooves and musical innovations. She has performed and traveled across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Hanneke’s music is a blend of the contemporary and traditional, described by the Boston Globe as “exuberant and rhythmic, somehow wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness.”
A benefit for the 
July 25-28, 2024
Advance ticket sales at Grassroots Books and Music
Dick Hensold
and
Patsy O’Brien
Music born from the age-old traditions of Ireland, Scotland, England and Cape Breton is given new life in the hands of two of its master musicians.
Piper Dick Hensold and guitarist and singer Patsy O’Brien deliver an astonishing evening of songs, tunes and stories that have stood the test of time, and leave both the serious music lover and casual listener wanting more.
Dick and Patsy will offer workshops on Saturday, April 13, at 10am. More details to follow.
A benefit for theJuly 25-28, 2024
Advance ticket sales at Grassroots Books and Music
Kalos
Kalos is made up of three innovative interpreters and composers of Celtic roots music: Eric McDonald, Ryan McKasson and Jeremiah McLane. They are masters of tradition who purposefully explore the dark corners floating on its edges, delivering an alluring musical complexity full of spontaneity and joyful exuberance. They set the standard for traditional repertoire with an underlying drive and pulse charged with rhythmic electricity and integrity, forging a new musical path that draws on Celtic, Breton, American and other musical traditions on accordion, guitar, fiddle, and vocals. The title of their new album, Headland, which refers to a point where land meets sea, is a fitting analogy for the exploratory space Kalos inhabits — one that calls forth driving, heartfelt music journeying through unknown territory to seek and find its essence – the enduring, resilient experience of the human heart.
Rated: G
Choro das 3
This multi-instrumental trio of sisters touring from Brazil are a virtuosic wonder to behold. “Choro das 3” is from São Paulo, Brazil, and are highly regarded as some of the best choro musicians in the world. (Choro is an enormously appealing lively or romantic musical style that originated in Brazil over 100 years ago and is now popular internationally.) In Brazil, this group has been featured on national television, played for the president, and played for huge audiences at national festivals. They have legions of fans and followers all over the world and when you see and hear them it will be easy to understand why. They are traveling the US in their motorhome and you can see all their adventures on their website. Or check out this video of the two youngest sisters here.
6PM concert at 5pm gather. We are hoping to have it on the lawn stage as a picnic show if the weather agrees. If it’s not a warm and dry day we will have it indoors either here or at the hall. We will make that determination a few days before based on projections. Donation is $20 or $25 per person. Email to make your reservation
A house concert is an excellent place to hear and meet great musicians in a very intimate setting.