Performers 2020

Amy HoferBobby WinsteadBobby Winstead and the Long GoodbyesBrooks MastenBruce MolskyCaleb Klauder and Reeb WillmsCaroline OakleyCharmaine SlavenCliff Perry and Laurel BlissCoosh Coosh Cajun BandCrankie Show Devin Champlin Double File Evie LadinFlat Rock String BandThe Horsenecks ★ Jane PalmieriKC & the MooNshine SipStersKate O’BrienKelsey NelsenKids Open MicLeela GraceLori Prime and Ken TorkeMaggie LindMarta King ★ Ned LeagerOld Barn Preservation SocietyPortland Sacred HarpRats Gone To RestRed YarnSami Braman and FriendsSassafras SistersSteam MachineSteph NollStickpileSunFish DuoThe TallboysTatiana Hargreaves and Sonya BadigianTony MatesThe WaysidersUncle WiggilyThe Yups


Bruce Molsky ↑↑


Friday Night Concert – Jan. 17, 202 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, 9:00 – 9:50 pm.
Fiddle Workshop – Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 4th Floor Emerald
Room, The Tiffany Center, 2:00 – 2:50 pm.

Bruce is a self-described “street kid” from the Bronx who bailed on college and big city life for a cold-water cabin in Virginia in the 1970s. His mission? To soak up the passion that was dramatically upending his parent’s life plan for him – authentic Appalachian mountain music – at the feet of its legendary pioneers, old masters who are now long gone. Today, Bruce Molsky is one of the most revered “multi-hyphenated career” ambassadors for America’s old-time mountain music. For decades, he’s been a globetrotting performer and educator, a recording artist with an expansive discography including seven solo albums, well over a dozen collaborations and two Grammy-nominations. His new trio, Molsky’s Mountain Drifters includes banjo virtuoso Allison de Groot and genre-defying Stash Wyslouch on guitar. Berklee College of Music has made Bruce their Visiting Scholar in the American Roots Music Program where Bruce is the go-to guy for the next generation of roots musicians.

Fiddle Workshop
“We’ll take a fun and intense hands-on approach in Bruce’s old time fiddle workshop. Tunes are taught a phrase at a time, first melody, then bowing, and then piecing things together. We’ll dig into old-time music’s unique phrasing, rhythm and syncopation, intonation, etc. The tune is the vehicle, so mostly we’ll be playing! If enough folks are interested, we can also spend some time working on singing with the fiddle.
Bring a recorder or smartphone. Since developing ear training skills is one of the workshop goals, written music will not be provided. Suggested experience level: If you have at least a small repertoire of tunes and feel reasonably comfortable on the fiddle, then you’ll be fine.”


Amy Hofer↑↑

Square Dance Caller, Wednesday Night Square Dance, Jan. 15, 2020, The Village Ballroom, 7:00 – 8:00 pm

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Amy Hofer is a caller and fiddler who lives right here in Portland. She helps organize the Portland Sunday Square Dance at the Village Ballroom. Photo by Jeff Lefferts.


Bobby Winstead↑↑

Guitar Workshop – Saturday Jan. 18, 2020 – Tiffany Center – 4th Floor Emerald Room – 1:00 – 1:50 pm

Bobby has been playing folk and gospel music since he was a kid, picking up guitar around age 11. He took a specific interest in playing old time guitar around 2009 while living in Portland. Since then he’s played with several stringbands throughout the years, including The Brother Cousins and Newt Payne Stringband, as well as various pick-up bands for square dances. He formed the honky tonk band Bobby and the Long Goodbyes in 2014. Currently living in Louisville, he teaches Classic Country Repertoire for the Louisville Folk School.

Guitar Workshop
We’ll work on a nice, solid Boom Chuck rhythm, some bass runs, and how to figure out which chords to play when! (for folks who know the basic handful of chords and can hold onto a flatpick!


Bobby Winstead and the Long Goodbyes↑↑

Cajun/Honky Tonk Night -– The Spare Room 4830 NE 42nd Ave. — Thursday, January 16, 2020, 10:30 — 11:30 pm
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Bobby Winstead and the Long Goodbyes bring you original country songs by Bobby Winstead, as well as their honky tonk favorites from the early and mid-century greats. Originating in Portland, OR, the band channels both the exuberance and tenderness of that era with renewed energy for today’s honky-tonkers. This band formed in 2014 to bring Bobby’s songs to the stage, and they released their debut record last May. Band members include Jack Dwyer on electric guitar and mandolin, Ellie Hakanson on fiddle and harmony vocals, Kevin “Shuffle King” Major on the drum kit, and Gordon Keepers on upright bass. They are excited to return to the Portland Old Time Music Gathering, and hope to put a spring in your two-step!


Brooks Masten ↑↑

Host of the Sunday Cabaret – Mississippi Pizza Pub, Sunday, January 19, 2020, 1:00 — 4:00 pm

Brooks not only makes amazing banjos, he plays them as well. As he has the past few years, he’ll be serving as the genial host of our big Sunday cabaret. His ever-changing array of flamboyant costumes is not be missed.


Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms↑↑

Saturday Night Concert, Jan. 18, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, 9:00 – 9:40 pm
Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms

Reeb Willms and Caleb Klauder met, sang, and liked it. They’ve been singing with each other ever since. “If you don’t like this music, you deserve to have your ears cut off!” was a quote recently heard late night in a bar where Caleb and Reeb were performing. A little harsh perhaps, but the sentiment exudes admiration for the pure and honest sound that these two produce. They are a vocally-driven duo whose music stands out as subtle, powerful, and compelling. Their sound is elevated by Caleb’s distinctive and lyrical mandolin playing and grounded by Reeb’s unwavering guitar playing as they perform original songs and tunes as well as their favorite picks from traditional and country repertoire. Both originally hail from Washington State: Caleb from Orcas Island, and Reeb from the Waterville Plateau. They tour regionally and internationally with both the Foghorn Stringband and the Caleb Klauder Country Band.


Caroline Oakley↑↑

Square Dance Caller, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, 9:00 – 10:00 pm
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Caroline Oakley is a musician and dance calling machine who has been teaching and calling old-time community square dances for over a decade. She enjoys fiddling, playing guitar, singing old country songs, growing vegetables, sewing, fermenting things, dancing, and numerous other forms of physical activity. She has called at many of the West-Coast’s premier old-time and bluegrass music festivals. Caroline also teaches music to young families through Music Together, teaches community square dancing in local schools, and raises three young boys.


Charmaine Slaven↑↑

Square Dance Calling Workshop, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 4th Floor Emerald Ballroom, The Tiffany Center, 4:00 – 4:50 pm.
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Square Dance Calling Workshop
If you’ve ever wanted to try calling a square dance here is a good opportunity to try it out. Charmain Slaven, Seattle-area musician, caller, organizer & dancer, hosts an hour-long Introduction to square dance calling. Do si do, sashay and promenade. Find out what these things are and how to teach people to dance to them.


Cliff Perry and Laurel Bliss↑↑

Saturday Night Concert, Jan. 18, 2020, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, 7:00-7:40 pm

Cliff Perry and Laurel Bliss are recognized veterans in the Bluegrass and Old Time music community of the Pacific Northwest, respected by their peers and loved by their fans. They began singing as a duet in the late 1980’s, making the recording “Old Pal” in 1993, awarded Best Old Time Recording in 1994 by County Sales of Floyd, Virginia.


Coosh-Coosh Cajun Band↑↑

Cajun Honky Tonk Night, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, The Spare Room Bar, 7:30 – 8:30 pm.

Get ready to dance to traditional 2 Steps and waltzes from the dance halls of Southwest Louisiana as we kick off the Thursday night Cajun Honky Tonk party. Coosh-Coosh Cajun Band is made up of locals Tia Regan on accordion and vocals, Lefty Head of Too Loose Cajun Zydeco Band on fiddle, Ruth Mabel Boytz on bass, Jinny Macrae on guitar and vocals, Dennis Poklikuha on drums and Ned Leager on triangle. What is Coosh-Coosh? It’s a traditional breakfast dish unique to Cajun culture and is much like grits.


Crankie Show ↑↑

Crankie Show, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, 5:00 – 6:00 pm

A crankie is an old storytelling art form. Called a moving panorama in the 19th century, this scrolling, picture art form is experiencing a bit of a comeback. It’s a long illustrated scroll that is wound onto 2 spools, loaded into a box with a viewing screen and illuminated from behind. The scroll is hand cranked while accompanied by a narrative, song or tune. Crankies by Kelsey Nelsen, Alex MacCleod and Yodelady (Emily Teachout, Monica Peabody, and Jen Witherspoon) and Erin Elliott. You can see a beautiful Crankie here.


Devin Champlin↑↑

Mandolin Workshop, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, Saturday, Jan.18, 2020, 3:00 – 3:50 pm

Devin Champlin is a musician and luthier who makes acoustic guitars and mandolinettos. He’s been in many bands including The Sons of Rainier, The Gallas Brothers and The Crow Quill Night Owls. He resides in Bellingham, WA.

Mandolin Workshop – 4th Floor Emerald Room East,The Tiffany Center, Saturday, Jan.18. 3:00-3:50 pm

Mandolin Rags:
Let’s learn and play a few gems from the ragland corner of the stringband spectrum. Source players represented will be the likes of Prater and Hayes, Doc Roberts, and the Scottdale Stringband, and tunes will be in the keys of F, C, and G. The workshop is open to all levels of mando players, although it may move a little fast for beginners.


Double File ↑↑

Wednesday Night Square Dance, The Village Ballroom, Jan. 15, 2020, 8:00 – 9:00 pm
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Double File includes multi-instrumentalists Sophie and Isaac Enloe, and Maggie and Patrick Lind.


Evie Ladin ↑↑

Banjo Workshop, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 12:00-12:50 pm
Flatfoot Clogging Workshop – 2nd Floor Crystal Room East,The Tiffany Center, Saturday, Jan.18. 4:00 – 4:50 pm


Banjo player, singer, songwriter, percussive-dancer and square-dance caller, Evie grew up steeped in traditional folk music/dance. Evie’s performances, recordings and teaching reconnect Appalachian music/dance with other African-Diaspora traditions, and have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Lincoln Center, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass to Celtic Connections. Gaining her professional training dancing for ten years with the ensemble Rhythm in Shoes, Evie has produced two popular instructional DVDs in southern Appalachian flatfoot clogging. She has taken home ribbons in folk song from Mt Airy, NC Fiddler’s Convention, and Neo-Trad Band from the Appalachian Stringband Festival, Clifftop, WV. Based in Oakland, CA, Evie tours with Keith Terry and the Evie Ladin Band; and has produced 6 CDs. In the percussive dance world, she is Executive Director of the International Body Music Festival, directs the moving choir MoToR/dance and is an ace freestyle flatfooter. In the trad world, Evie teaches banjo and harmony singing at the infamous Freight & Salvage, online at Peghead Nation and numerous camps. In the songwriter world, she just writes great songs. A highly entertaining performer, Evie enjoys facilitating arts learning in diverse communities.

Banjo Workshop – 4th Floor Emerald Room East,The Tiffany Center, Saturday, Jan.18. 12:00-12:50 pm
What is that rhythmic whomp that makes clawhammer banjo so funky? Evie Ladin marries melody, harmony & rhythm in a distinctive style that drives tunes along, and gives depth to songs. A patient and experienced teacher, Evie aims to give all levels of players something to chew on. Students should have the basic bum-diddy and be ready to learn some tunes and licks.

Flatfoot Clogging Workshop – 2nd Floor Crystal Room East,The Tiffany Center, Saturday, Jan.18. 4:00 – 4:50 pm
Flatfoot clogging is the percussive dance tradition that lights the fire under old time music. This older style has direct influences from the Native American, African and European cultures from which it evolved. We will learn some basic steps that get you dancing to jams or during square dances. No experience or special shoes necessary, though hard soled shoes might be more fun to dance in.


Flat Rock Stringband↑↑

Friday Night Square Dance, The Tiffany Center, 4th Floor Emerald Room, 1410 SW Morrison St., Jan. 17, 2020, 10:00 – 11:00 pm.
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Featuring Linnea Spitzer on fiddle, Brooks Masten on banjo, Robin Wilcox on bass, and Eric Bagdonas on guitar, the Flat Rock Stringband has been playing old-time tunes together around the Portland area since 2009. The band’s name can be explained by a phrase found twice in Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion that refers to how much it rains in the Northwest


The Horsenecks ↑↑

Saturday Night Concert, Jan. 18, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, 8:10 – 8:50 pm.

The Horsenecks play hard-hitting and heartfelt Old Time and classic Bluegrass music. Their sound is centered around the pairing of the signature rhythmic Appalachian fiddle style of Oregonian Gabrielle Macrae, (the Macrae Sisters, Hook & Anchor) and the driving yet subtle three-finger banjo playing of Liverpudlian Barry Southern (Tramp Attack, The Loose Moose Stringband.) Gabrielle’s playing style is the result of being raised in the Old Time music hotbed of Portland, OR and being exposed to the fiddle traditions of the Southeast through years of traveling to festivals and learning from some of the greatest players in the genre. Her love of traditional music brought her to North Carolina as a teenager where she fully immersed herself in the music of the region and became a sought-after clawhammer banjo player after releasing an album with the Macrae Sisters in 2008 that received glowing reviews in both Sing Out! and The Old Time Herald magazines. Barry’s banjo playing ranges from thrilling and high-octane to moody and captivating, and his versatility shines when the two are playing. Harmony singing and thoughtful song writing bring this Old Time duo to the stage with a compelling take on the music that moves them; foot-stomping dance tunes, innovative fiddle-banjo compositions and heartfelt and inspired harmony singing. Whether they are singing centuries-old ballads, their own songs, or getting you up and dancing with a barn-burning fiddle tune, they remain firmly rooted in tradition, paying homage to the depth and richness of the music.


Jane Palmieri↑↑

Square Dance Caller, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, The Village Ballroom, 8:00 – 9:00 pm.

Jane Palmieri is a local Portland caller who has a special fondness for collecting and calling gender-free dances or outright changing dance calls to fit her queer agenda. She puts energy locally into organizing the lively Every Wednesday Square Dance. She puts energy locally into organizing the lively Portland Squares monthly Sunday square dance.


KC & the MooNshine SipSters ↑↑

Saturday Night Square Dance, 4th Floor Emerald Ballroom, The Tiffany Center, Jan. 18, 2020, 9:00 – 10:00 pm

Get ready to dance your socks off with KC & the MooNshine SipSters. Karen Celia Heil, Thomas Angell, Katy Harris and Peter Linden will be representing the Golden State.


Kate O’Brien ↑↑

Kids’/Family Jam Leader. 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, Saturday, January 18, 2020, 12:00 – 12:50 pm

Hi – I was raised on “Motown & Mozart”. I grew up in a musical family outside of Detroit (the one in Michigan). Back in the 70’s, Dad would come home from work at GM, loosen his tie and sit at the piano and play an eloquent mix of classical, boogie woogie, jazz standards and stride and whatever else he felt like, in the quiet dark of the living room. Music was everywhere in the house. I started playing violin in school orchestra at 9 years old and although happily classically trained, I’ve been exploring other genres since my early 20’s. I’ve toured the US & Europe playing violin, piano and singing in original Pop, Americana & Ambient groups and I currently play a sort of country western swing style fiddle in Gerle Haggard. I jam old-time tunes most Thursdays with the crew at Jim’s NW Youth Hostel. I love it all so much!

I own Mosaic String Academy in SE Portland, where we teach private lessons and group classes on violin, viola, cello and bass to people of all ages. MSA is unique in that we have a classical approach to tone & technique but are sure to expose and immerse students in various genres of music outside of the classical realm, where strings have a voice! I’m also the founder of “Portland Fiddle Camps” est. 2008 – a summer day-camp for kids. Since 2014, with the help of my dear friend and collaborator, Sophie Enloe, PFC has grown to enroll students from all over the NW, bring in special-guest teachers & offer 2 full weeks of camp every summer. YAY! See ya at our Kids Jam on Saturday! www.mosaicstringacademy.com  www.portlandfiddlecamps.com


Kelsey Nelsen ↑↑

Family Square Dance Caller, Saturday, Jan.18, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, 3:00 – 3:50 pm
Crankie Show, Jan.18, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, 5:00 – 6:00 pm


Kelsey Nelsen is an artist and square dance caller who lives on Lopez Island in Washington state’s San Juan Islands. She organizes square dances and other events in the San Juans, calls dances around the Northwest and in Portland and makes beautiful Crankies. She created the beautiful poster for the 2016 Gathering.


Kids’ Open Mic ↑↑

Kids’ Open Mic, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, Sign up 12:45 – 1:00 with Olivia Horgan. Open Mic from 1:00 – 1:50.

Here’s a chance for your children to shine at a special hour of Open MIc performances. Sign-up starting at 12:40 with Olivia who will be joining us again this year as our facilitator.


Leela Grace ↑↑

By Ear Harmony Singing — Tiffany Center 3rd floor Conference Room — Saturday, January 18, 2 – 3:30 pm
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Leela is a nationally-known singer, songwriter, banjo player, recording artist, percussive dancer and teacher of music and dance. Originally from Missouri, she spent a beautiful 8 years in Portland, teaching popular banjo, by-ear harmony singing, and Appalachian clogging classes. In 2014, Leela embarked on the new adventure of motherhood and in late 2015, Leela and her family moved to northern Vermont following a job opportunity for her husband. After many “adventures” in the snowy northern lands of the east, she has returned to the Pacific Northwest, inspired and ready to resume teaching and performing in her home community.

Leela has performed and taught nationally for over 25 years, first with her family, and now as a solo musician and with her sister Ellie Grace (as Leela and Ellie Grace – check this video of them clogging together). As a teacher of music and dance, Leela has inspired literally thousands of school children, banjo students, percussive dancers, and singers of all ages through the classes, school assemblies, week-long camps, and lessons that she has taught across the U.S. and Canada since she was little more than a child herself. She is a kind, entertaining, experienced teacher who offers clear, understandable instruction to singers, musicians, and dancers of all levels.


Lori Prime and Ken Torke↑↑

Jam Session leaders at the Moon and Sixpence Pub, 2014 NE 42nd Ave. Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, 7:00-10:00 pm.
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Ken and Lori love old time tunes and know a bunch of them. Come join us for some of your favorites and a maybe you’ll even pick up a few gems to add to that list! Bonus: A lot of your friends will be there. A lot of beers to choose from. Great pub food!


Maggie Lind ↑↑

Square Dance Caller, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, 7:00 – 8:00 pm.
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Maggie Lind has been calling for square dances and playing music for them for more than a decade. She has drawn much of her calling repertoire from her mentors Bill Martin and Phil Jamison. Her enthusiasm, skillful teaching, repertoire of traditional square dances, and sung calling style inspires novice and experienced dancers alike. She has performed, called dances, and taught old-time music at Seattle’s Folklife Festival, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, the Berkeley Old-Time Music Convention, Pickathon Roots Music Festival, and the Portland Old-Time Music Gathering, as well as countless weddings, parties, corporate events, hoedowns, street fares, house parties and campgrounds.


Marta King ↑↑

Square Dance Caller, Saturday Night Square Dance, Jan. 18, 2020, The Tiffany Center, 8:00 – 9:00 pm

Marta lives in her hometown of Portland, OR where she serves on the Portland Squares organizing committee. She first began calling in 2013 at Dare To Be Square – West! in LA, and has continued to develop her calling repertoire locally.


Ned Leager↑↑

Square Dance Caller, Wednesday night Square Dance, The Village Ballroom, 704 NE Dekum St., 9 – 10:00 pm
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Ned Leager started calling dances way back in the 20th century during the Carter administration. He claims the North Carolina tradition of running sets as his foundation and has built a rickety and haphazard, but entertaining, edifice of dance calls from there. He ventured into contra dance calling but has reformed and has been clean for quite a while now. His favorite figure is the Georgia Rangtang and he loves to rhyme “big left toe” with “Mexico” when directing dancers where to grab ’em and where they should go once they have ’em.”


Old Barn Preservation Society↑↑

Bar Band, Friday, Jan. 17, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room West, The Tiffany Center, 5:30 – 6:30 pm

Old Barn Preservation Society is a Portland old time string band that plays Appalachian fiddle tunes with some early country and gospel tossed in. They like to hoot, but love to holler. Band members are Dan Leif on guitar and banjo, Dennis on fiddle, Seth Wiggins on Banjo, Jessica Martini on bass, and Chris Mikes on guitar.


Portland Sacred Harp ↑↑

Shape Note Singing – Tiffany Center, Conference Room 3rd Floor – Saturday, January 18, 12-1:50 pm
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Shape note singing is a uniquely American tradition that brings communities together to sing four-part hymns and anthems. It is a proudly inclusive and democratic part of our shared cultural heritage. Participants are not concerned with re-creating or re-enacting historical events. Our tradition is a living, breathing, ongoing practice passed directly to us by generations of singers, many gone on before and many still living.

All participants welcome beginners and newcomers, with no musical experience or religious affiliation required. See their informative video.


Rats Gone to Rest↑↑

Wednesday Square Dance, The Village Ballroom, Jan. 15, 2020, 7:00 – 8:00 pm.
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Arriving at Old Time from the their punk rock roots, Devin Forest-Hines and Joel Brown have developed a raw and driving sound. Joined by Portland’s own Julay Brooks and Maxx Katz, Rats Gone to Rest channels the lawless energy and spirit of late night fiddle festivals, and rogue square dances.


Red Yarn ↑↑

Kids’ Show, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, 2:00 – 2:45 pm.
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Andy Furgeson was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Since committing himself full time to Red Yarn in June 2012, Andy has performed at hundreds of venues and events, taught music and puppetry to thousands of students, and touched the lives of countless families. Red Yarn is a dynamic family performer who weaves folksongs and puppetry into engaging shows for all ages. With his energetic performances and lush folk-rock recordings, this red-bearded bard shares positive values while reinvigorating American folklore for younger generations. In June 2015, Red Yarn released Deep Woods Revival, the follow-up to his debut album. With two albums, a national tour, and a TV pilot under his belt, Red Yarn is taking his creative folklore project to a national scale.


Sami Braman and Friends↑↑

Saturday Night Square Dance, Jan.18, 2020, 4th Floor Emerald Ballroom, The Tiffany Center, 10:00 – 11:00 pm

Sami Braman has been playing the fiddle since she was six years old, growing up in the traditional Old-Time music scene around the Pacific Northwest. Only a couple years after starting the fiddle, she formed a band with two long-time musical buddies, Leo Shannon and Riley Calcagno, called The Onlies, and after high school they joined forces with Vivian Leva to further their traditional Old-Time sound. They have performed up and down the West Coast, at Northwest Folklife Festival, the Berkeley Old-Time Convention, and the Portland Old-Time Gathering, and recorded and released two full-length albums. In August 2017, the group won first place in Clifftop’s Traditional Band contest, and returned to perform there in 2018. They recently recorded an album called “The Ruglifters” in Asheville, NC, with old-time music heroes John Herrmann and Meredith McIntosh that was released summer 2018. That group just won first place in Clifftop’s 2019 Traditional Band Contest. Now a senior at Whitman College, Sami plays and teaches frequently around Walla Walla, as well as occasionally tours with The Onlies on school breaks. Sami plays with energy, a driving bow, and a love for the traditional music community she has grown up in. Joining Sami for the Saturday night square dance will be Sonya Badigian, Patrick Lind, Nokosee Fields and Aaron Tacke.


Sassafras Sisters↑↑

Saturday Night Concert, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 7:20-8:00 pm.
Teen Jam Hosts, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 3rd Floor Conference Room, 5:00 – 6:00 pm.

The Sassafras Sisters are a group of three young/teenage girls from Olympia, WA who play and sing old time, honky tonk, country, and some indie music, often in three part harmonies. Their names are Ruby (15), Annie (14), and Ellie (16) and their usual arrangement is a bass, guitar, and fiddle. Ruby, Annie, and Ellie have been playing together since they were young kids, and love exploring old Appalachian music as well as bringing in new current day music and incorporating both into their repertoire .


Steam Machine↑↑

Friday Night Concert, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, Friday, Jan. 17, 2020, 7:50 – 8:30 pm.

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Steam Machine is a band that bridges the old-time bluegrass divide. These four young Midwesterners have a vast repertoire that pulls from the fiddle traditions of Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. Clean, powerful fiddling, rolling three finger banjo, and classic brother-style duets over a driving, rock-solid rhythm section combine to form a big sound on stage and square dance floor alike. All four band members are actively involved in perpetuating roots music and dance traditions as players, teachers, and organizers in their home communities and on the road.

AJ Srubas has played and taught fiddle for over 20 years. Early in his fiddling years, he met Chirps Smith who introduced AJ to the lesser known old-time repertoire of the Midwest. Banjo player Aaron Tackee is known for his unique style of fingerpicking. In addition to playing and teaching, he works as a luthier at Hoffman Guitars. Rina Rossii first came to old time music as a clogger and then square dance caller, performing across the midwest and Europe with the Wild Goose Chase Cloggers. Always a lover of rhythm, she later took up bass and guitar. Born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, bassist, Nokosee Fields, has taught at the Augusta Heritage Center and has been involved with a community music program to re-inspire fiddle and dance traditions in indigenous communities. In 2018, the band took second in the Clifftop traditional band contest,released their first album, and played for audiences from California to North Carolina with many in between.


Steph Noll↑↑

Square Dance Caller — Friday Night Square Dance, Jan. 17, 2020, 4th Floor Emerald Ballroom, 10:00 – 11:00 pm
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Steph Noll called her first dance around 2007 in the parking lot of Liberty Hall during a workshop given by Bill Martin. Since then she has enjoyed picking up dances from fabulous West Coast callers (and occasionally from a visiting Easterner). She has yet to not feel total delight at the sight of a hall full of grinning, dancing people. Playing music with friends and singing and dancing with her young kids are among her deepest joys, and she’s thrilled that her nine year olds have taken an interest in dancing squares (in between stage diving and running circles around the hall.)


Stickpile↑↑

Saturday Night Square Dance, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 7:00-8:00 pm.

Stickpile consists of Marian Macrae Herrmann on fiddle and Jamie Herrmann on Guitar. Marian is a music educator who grew up in Portland and Jamie is a luthier from North Carolina. They live in Salem, Oregon with their baby.


SunFish Duo↑↑

Hosts: Instrument Petting Zoo, 2nd Floor Foyer, The Tiffany Center, Saturday, January 18, 2020, 12:00-2:00 pm.
Song session, 3rd Floor Conference Room,The Tiffany Center, Saturday, January 18, 2020, 3:45-4:50 pm.
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With Sarah Ells on guitar and Daniel Fish on mandolin, you’ll go back in time to hear traditional harmonies and simple melodies from the roots of Bluegrass, Country, and Old-time music.

Dan and Sarah will host the Instrument Petting Zoo again this year. It’s a favorite with small children as they have a chance to play around with instruments down on their level.

Join Sarah and Dan at the song session. Bring an instrument if you’d like to play along. They’ll have song sheets for you with lots of old time and gospel favorites.


Tatiana Hargreaves and Sonya Badigian↑↑

Saturday Night Concert, Jan. 18, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, 6:30 – 7:10 pm

Tatiana Hargreaves and Sonya Badigian are a long distance sister duo that met on the day they moved in together in 2016. They hail from the spot halfway between their two bedrooms, which used to be the middle of a hallway and is now somewhere over rural Indiana. Tatiana and Sonya have performed as a pair around North Carolina and at the Lexington Gathering in Kentucky, and released an album with friends in 2019 as Hard Drive. Today they can be found, respectively, in Durham, North Carolina and Minneapolis, Minnesota, playing, teaching, and getting really excited about all kinds of music.


The Tallboys↑↑

Square Dance, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center, 8:00 – 9:00 pm

Performing fiddle tunes and songs from the late 1800’s through 1930’s, this original format of The Tallboys features all-acoustic instrumentation and a tight, authentic string band sound. Performing a variety of old time fiddle tunes from Appalachia and the mid-west, country blues, hokum songs, and early country, they’re sound is great for both listening and dancing! Their resident flatfooter & dance caller, Charmaine Slaven, adds a unique dance element to this group, enabling groups of both beginners and experienced dancers to enjoy some time on the dance floor. Charlie Beck on Banjo, Charmaine Slaven on Guitar, John Hurd on Bass and Joe Fulton on Fiddle.


Tony Mates ↑↑

Saturday Night Square Dance Caller — Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room — Saturday, January 18, 10-11:00 pm
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A fine fiddler, bassist, guitarist, singer, teacher and dance caller, Tony has appeared at festivals across the nation and is well known in the Pacific Northwest for his work with Northwest Folklife, The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and Dare to Be Square among many others. Tony says: “I started dancing and calling dances quite by accident, but I was in good company, back in the late 1970s, with Sandy Bradley, the Gypsy Gyppo Sring Band and many other fine trouble-makers to help out. Nearly 40 years later it’s a thrill to see such a vibrant square dance scene all over the country. I like to call dances that aren’t too hard, and let the pleasure of the enterprise come partly from the dancers dancing to the music and the musicians playing to the dancers.”


The Waysiders↑↑

Cajun/Honky Tonk Night – The Spare Room 4830 NE 42nd Ave — Thursday, January 16, 2020, 9:00 — 10:00 pm
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Classic and Original country music from Portland, Oregon, featuring the songwriting of Gabrielle Macrae. Sisters Joanna and Gabrielle Macrae front the band with sibling-tight harmonies while the band brings a distinctively vintage sound to the new and old music they play. Drawing on the traditions of Swing, Rock and Roll, Old Time and Rhythm and Blues, the Waysiders deliver a new brand of classic country all their own. Gabrielle Macrae- acoustic guitar, vocals. Joanna Macrae- vocals. Barry Southern- electric guitar. Jamie Herrmann- Bass. Don Lawry- drums.


Uncle Wiggily↑↑

Wednesday Square Dance,The Village Ballroom, 704 NE Dekum St., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 9:00 – 10:00 pm.
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Uncle Wiggily operates on the “more is more” principle. It’s a big happy sound, with two fiddles (Amy Hofer and Dave Mount), guitar (Martha Thompson), banjo (Maggie Lind), bass (Patrick Link), and the occasional guest ukulele. They all promise to make it “wiggil”!


The Yups↑↑

Family Dance Band, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center, 3:00 – 3:50 pm.

Steph and Kate met Bronwyn when she still lived in Seattle, jamming at a party at The Church of the Acoustic Redemption. Not long thereafter, Bronwyn moved four blocks away from Steph and Kate while they were home with twin baby boys, and said “Hey, you guys want to play some tunes? I can come over!” Then things really got cooking when Bronwyn moved upstairs and The Yups were born. Bronwyn has since moved on to Pittsburgh in search of snowier winters and a cheaper cost of living, but happily, she’s coming back for the 2020 Gathering to play with The Yups: Bronwyn Doyle, fiddle; Steph Noll, banjo; Kate Sheie, guitar.