Presented by TOC | 7pm Doors | All Ages | Bar w/ID | No Refunds
$12 adv / $15 dos
Dani Vargas was born and raised in Santiago, Chile by artistic and musical parents. Influenced and inspired by the art and music present at home, Dani began playing the guitar at the age of 16. He embraced the guitar with passion and decided to move to the U.S. to further pursue his musical endeavors. After relocating to Houston, TX, Dani began teaching private lessons at several schools and guitar shops. While teaching and refining his tone and technique, he recorded and toured with the progressive metal band ‘Magistral‘. In 2009 Dani began to explore acoustic finger style music that would later result into the acoustic project ‘Aerial Visions‘. In 2011 he embarked upon a solo career with the instrumental trio ‘The Dani Vargas Group‘ and released two EP’s, followed by the full length album ‘Sound On Canvas’. With the desire to expand creatively, Dani began singing and writing riff inspired rock songs for the project ‘Thou Shall Doubt‘. Today Dani lives in Los Angeles, CA where he continues performing, recording as a solo acoustic player as well as an electric instrumentalist.
In January 2018 Dani released his first solo acoustic fingerstyle album entitled ‘Love’, and he is currently getting ready to release by April 2019 a new acoustic record, in collaboration with multi-talented Violinist Jenna Colombet , as well an electric rock Ep with his band in March 2019.
Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
Erisy Watt is a Nashville-raised folk artist based in Portland, Oregon. Consistently referred to as “the next-in-line to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones, her music is an exercise in what contemporary folk today sounds like at its peak.” (No Depression)
Following the release of the first single off her debut record, Watt, alongside guitarist Jeremy Ferrara, wrapped up 2018 with a six-week long tour all across Europe. The full album, produced by Bart Budwig and recorded live at The Ok Theatre in Enterprise, Oregon is set to be released on July 26, 2019.
The independently funded and managed artist has made impressive strides in her career, earning praise most notably from CBS This Morning, Jam in the Van, and No Depression. She has also shared the stage with acclaimed artists Hurray for the Riff Raff, L.A. Salami, Mr. Little Jeans, Shook Twins, Kuinka, Dustbowl Revival, Marty O’Reilly, Royal Jelly Jive, T Sisters and Rainbow Girls.
Inspired by both her time spent studying and working along the central coast of California and on remote islands in Thailand and Indonesia, Watt’s live performance bursts with charm and genuinity as she invites listeners to revel in the joys and freedom of wilder places with every sound, song, and story.
Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All Sales Are Final
Paris Chansons is an exciting French band with a global twist based in Los Angeles! Recently featured on the news in France, they are known for their original renditions of French favorites from Aznavour, Dassin, Piaf, Macias, Adamo, Dalida, all the way to contemporary artists like Zaz. Their exhilarating performances are punctuated with gypsy jazz standards as well as classics in Russian, Italian, and other languages.
In this concert series, concert pianist, David Rothman will perform all of Schubert’s Piano Sonatas, as well as the “Wanderer” Fantasy.
Doors open at 7pm | All Ages Show | Bar with ID
Presented by TOC
Doors at 7pm
The critically acclaimed progressive string band Nefesh Mountain ingeniously blends Bluegrass and Old-Time musical stylings with cultural influences from their own Jewish heritage, reimagining a world of American roots music that is all their own. Leaders and husband and wife team Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff are at the heart of the band, pioneering this new genre alongside band members Alan Grubner, Dave Goldenberg, and Max Johnson.
Their music, called “Highly eclectic” by Rolling Stone, and “Crisp, refined, timeless Bluegrass” by The Bluegrass Situation is complete with the kind of musically adept string virtuosity and through composed arrangements one would hope for from a dynamic newgrass band. Their original songs, whether drawing influence from the Bluegrass, Old-Time, Celtic, Jazz, or folk traditions are all “Songs of the heart” for writers Eric and Doni, and collectively work to spread the beautiful messages of diversity, oneness, and equality for our world today.
Presented by TOC
Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
On Sale Thursday, 4/18 at 10am PST.
“More than young and sweet and fair: the feminine perspective from Eve to present”
is a recital created and performed by Katrina Galka (soprano) and Michael Lewis (pianist) with songs that highlight the feminine experience. Each piece on the program is either composed by women, has text written by women, or uses traditional stories in new contexts to express the untold female perspective.
The program includes On Loving by Sheila Silver, A Northeast Storm by Juliana Hall, Eve-Song by Jake Heggie, and various songs by Maria Grever, Peggy Lee, Bernice Petkere, and Gwenyth Walker.
$20 Suggested Donation at the Door
Doors at 7pm | Show at 8pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
In this concert series, concert pianist, David Rothman will perform all of Schubert’s Piano Sonatas, as well as the “Wanderer” Fantasy.
Doors open at 7pm | All Ages Show | Bar with ID
Presented by TOC | 2:30pm Doors | All Ages | All sales are final.
Kids: $10 adv /$15 dos | Adults: $20 adv / $25 dos
David Blaine calls Mario “the best kids magician in the world!!” Come see why!
As seen on Sesame Street and Sprout, Mario the Maker Magician is making his way to you! More than just a performer, Mario is also an inventor who creates his own props. He is known for his dedication to the Maker Movement and STEAM initiatives and his integration of DIY electronics and robotics into his performance. It’s magic through the lens of the Maker Movement, with a healthy dose of hilarity. Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin for the modern age, with a mad inventor twist!
The show is ideal for ages 3-10 and their families and runs approx. 60 minutes, without intermission.
All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final. | GA: $30 adv / $35 dos | VIP: $60 adv / $65 dos
VIP tickets are available and include a meet & greet with the artist (6:30pm prior to show), and a reserved seat within the first four center rows.
Two-time GRAMMY® Award Winner Bill Champlin is known the world over as the soulful singer/keyboardist of the iconic jazz-pop band Chicago. His featured spots on the hits “Look Away” and “Hard Habit to Break” are among his mainstream highlights. But his Songwriting put him on the map and the band he started in the late 60’s called “The Sons of Champlin.”
In 1979, he won his first Grammy® award for co-writing “After the Love is Gone”, which was later recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire. Then in 1981, he won a second Grammy® for co-writing “Turn Your Love Around” for George Benson.
The Sons of Champlin released their first album, “Loosen Up Naturally” in 1969 and followed with six more albums through 1977.
In 1982, Bill joined Chicago to record Chicago 16 where he remained for 28 years as lead vocalist/keyboards. In 1988, Chicago released its biggest-selling single and their last No. 1 hit, “Look Away”, featuring Bill on lead vocal.
Bill’s latest solo release is “No Place Left To Fall” (CD and DVD). This album is career-defining with an honesty and immediacy reflecting his old-school approach to music.
From 2014 to 2017, he performed several acoustic shows with Tamara in the US, Europe, Japan, South and Central America where they joined the Rock Pack Tour and guested with California Transit Authority (CTA) featuring Danny Seraphine. Since 2018, he has continued touring with Rock Pack, Sons of Champlin, Danny Seraphine/CTA and guested with Ambrosia.
His latest CD with The WunderGround (includes Champlin, Gary Falcone & Tamara Champlin) was released in April 2018.
In the words of sought-after drummer Billy Ward, “I became a Bill Champlin fan in the early 70s when he led, what was to me a ground-breaking band, The Sons of Champlin. He’s written and sung on probably over 400 hit songs, the later ones with the band Chicago. His organ playing has him ranked on most peoples ‘A list’ and he plays the heck out of the guitar as well! He is one of the finest musicians I’ve ever gotten the privilege to play with.”
Presented by TOC | All Ages | Bar w/ID | No Refunds | Doors at 7pm
$12 adv / $15 dos
From her tenure playing with The Claire Lynch Band, Eddie Adcock, Josh Graves, Jim Hurst, Kenny Baker, and Jesse McReynolds to her 7 International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year awards, Missy Raines has proven herself without doubt as an iconic bluegrass instrumentalist. But with her newest release, Royal Traveller, Raines has stepped into the spotlight as a songwriter for the first time. The album digs deep into Raines’ family life and her upbringing in West Virginia. Featuring previous and current members of her live band, as well as cameos from other bluegrass greats such as Stuart Duncan and Tim O’Brien, the album is a gorgeous look into the perspective, history, and musical influences of one of Nashville’s most beloved musicians, Missy Raines.
Presented by TOC | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$15 adv / $18 dos
Join Muzička for a rousing evening of traditional Czech folk music! Hailing from Prague, Muzička performs a wide variety of instrumental and vocal repertoire, from beloved traditional dances such as the polka and the čardáš to farm and pub songs that paint evocative pictures of love, heartache, and life in the wine-drenched South Moravian region of the Czech Republic.
Returning to the US for a third American tour, Muzička has received international acclaim for its totally genuine vitality. Whether at home in the Czech Republic or abroad, Muzička’s performances reflect its core belief in the power of music to bridge boundaries. Their spirited, whole-hearted playing brings Czech culture alive with a fervor that consistently delights audiences around the world.
Doors at 1:45 | All Ages
Don’t miss the magic of Andrew Lloyd Webber songs from his spectacular Broadway Shows.
Excerpts from PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, EVITA, CATS, JESUS CHRIST SUPER STAR, SUNSET BOULEVARD & MORE.
This dazzling concert will be performed by Metropolitan Opera and Broadway Artists ROSE KINGSLEY, THOMAS BOOTH, & Musical Director GRGORY BUCHALATER (current Conductor at The Metropolitan Opera, NYC).
ROSE KINGSLEY- “Opera Great Turned Jazz Great” has transformed from The International Opera Stage to Broadway, Jazz and Blues with a distinct sound like no other singer today. With her 4 octave range she is now wowing audiences from New York to Hollywood. Rose has performed with such greats as Luciano Pavoratti, Placido Domingo, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra to name a few.
THOMAS BOOTH-Tenor Thomas Booth has performed with The Metropolitan Opera as well as singing to critical acclaim in London, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Holland, Japan, Italy, Mexico and South Africa opera houses. His one man show “Remembering Mario Lanza” received rave reviews.
GREGORY BUCHALTER- Maestro Buchalter is currently on the music staff of the Metropolitan Opera as a Conductor, where the position of “Maestro di Banda” was created especially for him. Maestro Buchalter is also the Artistic Director and Conductor of Opera Fairbanks, Opera Camerata of Washington and has conducted opera’s throughout Europe.
Songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway Musicals
In this concert series, concert pianist, David Rothman will perform all of Schubert’s Piano Sonatas, as well as the “Wanderer” Fantasy.
Doors open at 7pm | All Ages Show | Bar with ID
Presented by TOC | All ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$15 adv / $17 dos
Jimmie Herrod is a Pacific Northwest-based artist and performer who currently resides in Portland, Oregon. He holds a Bachelors of Music degree in music composition and performance from Cornish, and a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies from Portland State University. While he currently serves as an adjunct professor of jazz voice, he remains and active performer, both as soloist and collaborator. Jimmie has worked in Seattle’s lauded musical theater scene at ArtsWest and the 5th Avenue Theater. Recent performance highlights include being a featured soloist with the Oregon Symphony’s showcase in the 2018 TedX series, working with international acts such as ODESZA as well as being a regular guest vocalist with Pink Martini, touring throughout the US, Canada and Europe. In 2018 Jimmie recorded “Exodus”, his first single with Pink Martini, as well the solo album of original works, Falling in Love and Learning to Love Myself.
Presented by TOC | Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$15 adv / $18 dos
With chops so hot, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen were named IBMA’s 2016 Instrumental Group of the Year for the second time, with a third nomination in 2017. Their critically acclaimed album Cold Spell earned a 2015 GRAMMY nomination for Best Bluegrass Album of the Year, yet the accolades don’t end there.
Solivan, with banjoist Mike Munford, 2013 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year, award-winning guitarist Chris Luquette and bassist Jeremy Middleton, simmer a progressive bluegrass stew of infinite instrumental, vocal and songwriting skills featured once again on their new album If You Can’t Stand the Heat, released January 25th, 2019.
Since leaving the cold climes of Alaska for the bluegrass hotbed of Washington, D.C., Frank Solivan has built a reputation as a monster mandolinist — and become a major festival attraction with his band, Dirty Kitchen. Their respect and deep understanding of the tradition collides, live on stage, with jazz virtuosity creating an unforgettable, compelling performance.
“They’re the kind of stellar musicians who get crowds on their feet while demonstrating to all the world’s wannabe bluegrass pickers how the true masters get it done.” – Bluegrass Unlimited
Presented by TOC | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$15 adv / $20 dos
The award winning and highly acclaimed band Le Vent du Nord is a leading force in Quebec’s progressive francophone folk movement. The group’s vast repertoire draws from both traditional sources and original compositions, while enhancing it’s hard-driving soulful music (rooted in the Celtic diaspora) with a broad range of global influences.
Featuring button accordion, guitar and fiddle, the band’s sound is defined by the hurdy-gurdy, which adds an earthy, rough-hewn flavor to even the most buoyant dance tunes. — Boston Herald
Since its inception in August 2002, Le Vent du Nord has enjoyed meteoric success, performing well over 1,600 concerts over 5 continents and racking up several prestigious awards, including a Grand Prix du Disque Charles Cros, two Junos (Canada’s Grammys), a Félix at ADISQ, a Canadian Folk Music Award, and “Artist of the Year” at the North American Folk Alliance Annual Gala.
The group exhibits great finesse and flexibility, appearing regularly on Canadian, American, French, and UK television and radio, and participating in a wide variety of special musical projects. They’ve collaborated and performed with a diverse range of artists including: Harry Manx, Väsen, Dervish, The Chieftains, Breton musical pioneer Yann-Fañch Kemener, Québecois roots legend and master storyteller Michel Faubert, the Scottish folk band Breabach, singer Julie Fowlis, and the trans-Mediterranean ensemble Constantinople.
Not content with standard approaches to tradition, Le Vent du Nord has also created a symphonic concert that, according to Voir Montreal, “puts all traditional folk naysayers to shame.”
On stage these 4 friends create intense, joyful and dynamic live performances that expand the bounds of tradition in striking global directions. This is the modern sound of tradition, a music of the here and now.
“A classy & rousing set by Quebec Folk heroes” – 4 STARS – THE GUARDIAN
“Leave a positive feelgood feeling all over the body .” – LIRA MAGAZINE
“Exceptionally skilled, exceptionally experienced, and exceptionally entertaining”. – SING OUT!
“Sur toute la ligne, 53 minutes de pur bonheur. EXCELLENT. ” JOURNAL DE QUÉBEC
“Québec couldn’t hope for better advocates of its folk music . Top of the world selection.” – SONGLINE MAGAZINE
Top Ten Folk Albums of 2009 – BOSTON GLOBE
Top Ten International Albums of 2009 – LOS ANGELES TIMES
Celebrating the full Harvest Moon on Friday, September 13th
All Ages | Bar w/ID | All Sales are Final.
$13 adv / $15 dos
Visuals by Coast Range Lights.
Complimentary readings by Roxy Jones Tarot in Kinsman Hall prior to event. (Tips are encouraged.)
TOC welcomes a night of intention setting, sound healing, and community. Enjoy the healing landscapes of Foa (a.k.a. Kathryn Robison of Seattle).
About Foa:
Foa came into clearer form after a winter recording along the LA river with Adam Rasmussen and Chris Lynch of Gardens and Villa. The sounds that grew from that time are a melodically-saturated collection of neo-lullabies that pulse from the depth of Kathryne Robison’s experience as an empath, somatic seeker, ritualist and multi-disciplinary artist.
Accessing the powers of tenderness, sonic adornment and exploring the realities of lineage and inheritance, Naomi’s Last Dress is a bridge between the Seen and Unseen worlds: Each track builds upon the other, functioning as a ritual in the name of empathy, collective healing and radical self-responsibility. The mysterious & poetic meanderings of this debut album crafts and opens a door to another world–for the heart to walk through.
“When she’s not making music, the artist known as Foa maintains dueling fascinations ranging from the healing arts to poetry to “animal whispering and listening” to “somatic astronautics.” All those paths somehow genuinely converge at her heartfelt songs, which function as lullabies so transporting and soothing, they often feel medicinal. On Naomi’s Last Dress, Foa works with two members of the band Gardens and Villa to craft dreamy excursions that foreground the singer’s tender, powerful vocals.” – Stephen Thompson, NPR
Doors at 1:30pm | Show at 2:00pm | All Ages | All sales are final.
Connections Concerts is proud to welcome a stellar line-up of the Pacific Northwest’s finest female musicians for an afternoon of multi-genre and multi-cultural music.
Expect an inspiring and community-oriented afternoon of songs and stories from Marina Albero (Mediterranean jazz pianist), Stephanie Schneiderman (singer-songwriter), Amenta Abioto (psychedelic soul), and Sophie Lippert (piano and cello).
About Connections Concerts:
2019 marks the inaugural season of Connections Concert Series, Portland’s innovative multi-cultural concert experience featuring the area’s finest classical, jazz, world, folk, and pop musicians. Connections Concerts are dedicated to using music as a conduit for inclusivity, community, and collaboration. Hosted by concert pianist Sophie Lippert, and proudly sponsored by RACC and The Changemakers Hub. For more information, visit connectionsconcerts.com.
Featured Performers (full bios at https://www.
Presented by TOC
Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
No matter the form, when it comes to art, there are a number of different tacks to take. Some artists continually push their work across new horizons. Others stand a bit more still in order to continually refine the capturing of their vision. Singer/songwriter Peter Bradley Adams falls into the latter category of perfectionists chasing their own perfection. With A Face Like Mine, he may well have caught it.
There’s a confidence, a completeness in the song cycle that listeners have gleaned throughout Adams’ illustrious career, but A Face Like Mine, his sixth solo effort, brings it all into sharp focus. Adams’ brand of Americana nestles his often delicate, always heartfelt voice in the warm embrace of gentle guitar, tasteful dobro, subtle banjo, supportive bass, and unhurried percussion. The result is a sonic scape that, in turn, wraps itself around the listener like a soft blanket on a cold day. With A Face Like Mine, Adams further refines the simple musical sophistication that has become his trademark.
Throughout the self-produced set, Adams tells tales of love and loss, homes and hearts. The territory he mines is a deliberate mix of fact and fantasy. “I feel like I’m, firstly, a storyteller,” he offers, “but it’s inevitable that my own stuff gets in there deep. And it’s funny how, sometimes, I don’t realize it until the song is done.”
Regardless of the details, there’s always a philosophical bent that is often more under than on the surface, firmly grounding Adams’ songs even as they stretch outward. By his own admission, Adams is a seeker who spends considerable time wrestling with matters of faith, though he’s the first to admit he doesn’t have any real answers. “I honestly don’t know what the hell I’m doing… nor do I have the language for any of this stuff,” he says with a laugh.
That seeker’s heart is the tie that so often binds these songs together. Whether the search for place and purpose is of a spiritual or geographical nature, few writers capture the journey as thoughtfully as Adams. An Alabama native, Adams says he feels most comfortable in motion and doesn’t have a strong sense of being Southern, even though his music is rooted in that world in so many ways. And though he sets various scenes with his lyrical imagery, Adams always leaves room for the listener to crawl inside his stories and make them their own.
A Face Like Mine’s songs were composed all over the world, from Alabama to India, and they dig into topics are disparate as the desperation of addiction (“Lorraine”), the grappling of self-image (“Who Else Could I Be”), the vitriol of politics (“We Are”), and the genetics of suffering (“A Face Like Mine”). “We Are” and “Who Else Could I Be” were originally written for a dance piece that Gina Patterson choreographed for the San Angelo Civic Ballet. Even so, Adams made sure the songs could stand alone in their own world no matter what else was swirling around them — confidence and completeness in action.
As a work of musical art, A Face Like Mine fulfills the promise of Peter Bradley Adams. And rarely has an artist’s standing still sounded so divine.
Presented by Monqui | Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$17 adv / $20 dos
Presale – Thursday, May 30
On Sale – Friday, May 31
Presented by Monqui | Doors at 7 | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$18 adv / $20 dos
Spend any amount of time with Damien Jurado and he’s going to talk with you about movies. Speaking about the films that influenced his 14th album, the solitary masterwork In the Shape of a Storm, Jurado tosses out a list of favorites—American Graffiti, Paris, Texas, The Last Picture Show—films in which settings serve as silent, omniscient characters. But inquire about the curious way he writes songs, the hazy manner by which he seems to channel them from beyond the beyond, and the cinematic reference point he reaches for is a surprising one. “You ever see that movie Ghost? Whoopi Goldberg’s character, Oda Mae Brown—that’s who I am. These spirits are showing up at her door, jumping into her body. That’s how I feel. I don’t know what’s coming out of me…I just show up and deliver it.”
For more than two decades, Jurado has sung folk songs brimming with prophetic imagination. Whether singing ballads about killers, wounded lovers, UFO cults, or yes, the phantoms of departed friends, he’s populated his work with eerie foretelling, the sense that he’s divining something just on the verge of happening. He wrote his last record, 2018’s The Horizon Just Laughed as a goodbye letter to his home of Seattle, Washington, before he’d even decided to leave there for sunny Los Angeles. And while he recorded the ten songs featured on In the Shape of a Storm months before the passing of his longtime collaborator and close friend Richard Swift, it’s no coincidence that Swift’s death looms over the album. “His absence is very much felt on this record,” Jurado says.
Damien has always worked fast, but In the Shape of a Storm came together with unprecedented speed. Recorded over the course of two hours one California afternoon, it’s Jurado’s sparsest album to date. Gone are the thundering drums and psychedelic arrangements that defined the trilogy of concept albums he made with Swift. Gone even is the atmospheric air that hovered above his early albums for Sub Pop. Here, there’s only Jurado’s voice, acoustic guitar, and occasional accompaniment from Josh Gordon, playing a high-strung guitar tuned Nashville style, rendering its sound spooky and celestial. Though fans have long requested a solo acoustic album, the prospect never made sense to Jurado, until one day it simply did. “It just felt like it was time,” Jurado says. The idea of an unadorned album became its own medium in his mind, like a painter who sets down his brushes and instead opts for charcoal pencils instead.
“There is nothing left to hide,” Jurado sings on “Lincoln,” which opens the record. It’s something of a thesis statement for these songs. Everything here is clear and laid bare, two-tone, like the drawing Jurado crafted for the record’s cover. Originally written for 2000’s The Ghost of David, “Lincoln” was shelved and forgotten about until Damien came across it on an old cassette tape. The discovery inspired him to go about gathering up songs that had never found proper homes. As a result, In the Shape of a Storm is like an archive of previously abandoned songs. And yet, despite their disparate nature, Jurado’s visions hang together in curiously symmetrical ways: the moon shines in both the echo-drenched “Silver Ball” and closer “Hands on the Table”; rain ties the title song to the lilting “Oh Weather.” Jurado repeatedly returns to oceanic poetry—waves, tides, and shores—and to the theme of anchors, the metaphorical ones we use to tether ourselves to the sea floor and to each other. These are songs about the enormity of the unknown — the shape of storms that threaten to swallow us whole— and above all, they are songs about the connections that keep us from drifting away. “We are not meant to be on our own,” Jurado sings on “Throw Me Now Your Arms.”
Damien Jurado’s discography is filled with songs written as miniature movies, cinematic vignettes that capture people, the places they are from, and where they are going. In the Shape of a Storm is his first black and white picture. It’s both a snapshot of two hours in a California recording studio and a document spanning 19 years and a life of music. It is the sound of a singer pouring out possible futures and visions. “I believe songs have their own time and place,” Jurado says. For these ten, that time has finally come.
Presented by Monqui | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$13 adv / $15 dos
Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | No Refunds
$28 adv / $30 dos
Mari Boine is an award winning Norwegian Sami musician known for having added jazz and rock to the traditional singing of her native people. Boine sings in a traditional folk style, using the ‘yoik’ voice, together with a wide range of accompanying instruments and percussion. Almost 30 years have passed since Mari Boine swept music lovers around the globe off their feet with her astonishing solo album “Gula Gula” which was released internationally on Peter Gabriel’s famous RealWorld label. For “Gula Gula” Mari received the first of her three Norwegian Grammy Award. A decade and many releases later, Mari was recognized with the Nordic Council’s Music Prize. This special award acknowledged her artistic achievements, but also her ability to connect with a global audience while still maintaining her integrity as a Sámi. She is also appointed first class in the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, an honorary doctorate at the University of Tromsø, and then finally – she was the recipient of the Norwegian Grammys honorary award in 2018.
With her unique voice infused by the long time oppressed shaman culture of the Norwegian Sami, an indigenous people often compared to Native Americans, she’s created a sound universe of her own with an almost trance-like folk music. She has inspired indigenous artists the world over is today revered as a truly unique artist whose trajectory led her to release more than a dozen highly-acclaimed solo albums and collaborate with stellar Norwegian jazz musicians like Jan Garbarek and Bugge Wesseltoft. For 2018 she was awarded the Norwegian Grammy honorary award.
Presented by TOC | Doors at 7pm | Show at 8pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$10 adv / $15 dos
MARBIN is a progressive jazz-rock band based in Chicago, IL, with a unique story that stands out in today’s music world. With a do-it-yourself approach, Marbin started touring extensively in 2011, bringing their original instrumental music to every part of the United States. Through word of mouth, Marbin has gained hundreds of thousands of devoted fans all over the world and has sold tens of thousands of albums. Marbin has released seven albums: Marbin (2009), Breaking the Cycle (2011), Last Chapter of Dreaming (2013), The Third Set (2014), Aggressive Hippies (2015), Goatman and the House of the Dead (2016), and Israeli Jazz (2018). Marbin regularly plays in clubs all over the US and in jam and jazz festivals around the world.
Doors at 7 | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$20 adv / $25 dos
CHRIS BARRON:
“A full-throttle blast.” ––Billboard Magazine
“Irrepressible…Chris Barron is a showman. ––Rolling Stone
“A visceral, instinctive and accomplished musician.” ––Guitar World
“A frontman with the temperament of a golden retriever.” ––The New York Times
The zeitgeist is a moving target, and Chris Barron has always been a crack shot. The New York songwriter is no longer the debutant who set out on the circuit’s sharp end in 1988 with $100, a battered acoustic and a headful of the alt-rock anthems that would elevate Spin Doctors to global stardom. He’s a veteran, living in a world changed beyond recognition, compelled to write the music that chronicles the here-and-now. As far back as he can remember, he’s had a hunger driving him onward, towards something just out of reach. In 2017, it propelled his new record, Angels and One-Armed Jugglers, the culmination of a lifetime’s craft and a record both contemporary and classic.
Ask Barron for a pivotal moment from his journey and he’ll rewind the reels to a high-school music theory class, where a cherished teacher advised him to “learn the rules so that you can break them.” Almost four decades later, that same irreverent wisdom hangs over Angels and One-Armed Jugglers. In a cynical era of songwriting by committee, these eleven songs rip up the verse/chorus template, eschew the stock lyrical themes and crash thrillingly among genres, as this fascinating songwriter acts entirely on instinct.
“I’ve taken stock of everything I’ve learned about music,” says Barron, “and I’ve got to a point now where I’m just following my nose. These songs range from old jazz standards to funky beer-hall folk tunes. But I’ve never really been that interested in genres. I’m just interested in songs. I think the reason it’s so eclectic is because the songs were chosen more thematically than based on genre.”
You suspect there’s no canvas large enough to capture the endless light bulbs pinging above the head of Chris Barron––but the thrilling Angels and One-Armed Jugglers is the closest we’ll get to a portrait of this visionary songwriter as a mature artist. “I got lucky with this one. It’s better than I could have imagined or hoped for.”
BLAKE MORGAN:
“Serious musical chops.” ––Pollstar
“Disarmingly unselfconscious.” ––The New York Times
“Inspired songwriting and passionate performances.” ––Billboard Magazine
“Music biz innovator Blake Morgan has forged a left-of-center pop career.” —The Charlotte Observer
Blake Morgan’s sold-out four-year run of concerts at New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall has fueled an extraordinary string of recent headlining performances for the artist around the globe: nearly 200 concerts across 110,000 miles of touring on both sides of the Atlantic.
Morgan’s performances have not only become a New York City word-of-mouth sensation––he regularly features Grammy and Tony Award-winning special guests who join him for unique on-stage collaborations––they’ve become a sensation on the road too, where he’s sold out concerts across the United States, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe.
There’s no sign of slowing down for the artist––the new 2019-2020 season of Morgan’s artist-in-residence concert series at Rockwood Music Hall runs from September 19th through May 14th. Simultaneously, Morgan will be back out on the road headlining a string of U.S. and European dates.
The Washington Post writes, “He’s got killer pop-rock instincts, something that leaps out at you…a natural when it comes to fashioning sharp melodies and catchy choruses.” Billboard Magazine adds, “Blake Morgan has a voice that was made to be heard on the radio…inspired songwriting and passionate performances.”
Native New Yorker Blake Morgan is a recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and the founder and President of ECR Music Group (SONY/Orchard), a global music company that operates under an elemental principle unprecedented in the music world: all of its artists and labels own one-hundred percent of their master recordings.
Morgan’s ideas, opinions, and editorials on music have been published regularly, including by The New York Times, CNN, Billboard Magazine, The Huffington Post, and The Guardian. He lectures frequently, including at The Georgetown University Law Center, California State University, Syracuse University, NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, American University, and at his alma mater, Berklee College of Music. His music advocacy has taken him to Capitol Hill numerous times where, as the founder of the #IRespectMusic movement, he continues to fight for music makers’ rights in the digital age.
Presented by Monqui | Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
Danish singer and composer Nanna Øland Fabricius, aka Oh Land, wrote and produced her first album, Fauna, in 2008 following a back injury that destroyed her ballet career. Since then Oh Land has released four studio albums and toured the world many times, both headlining and opening for such acts as Katy Perry and Sia. As a songwriter she has worked with Pharrell, Sia, John Legend and Tricky, to name a few.
Oh Land’s newest album, Family Tree, produced by Thomas Bartlett and slated for a May 2019 release, is her first studio album in 5 years, and is a much more intimate album than anything she’s done before.
“Since the release of my latest album, I’ve experienced the biggest ups and downs of my private life,” notes Nanna, who had a baby, moved back to Denmark after living in NYC for ten years, and got a divorce all in the span of 18 months. “Music has, for me, always been the friend who listens and never judges. And music listens best when you pour your heart out.”
Oh Land also composes music for film, theater and the classical music world. She has performed with Lang Lang and Joshua Bell at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and orchestrated concerts for the Danish Symphony orchestra in her native country of Denmark. She collaborated with the Queen of Denmark to create a ballet for the Danish Theatre (2016); created the music for Watermusic, a multimedia performance for over 15,000 people at Randers Harbor combining architecture, dance and music (2017), as well as creating the musical score for the exhibition “The Ship” at Nikolaj Kunsthal in collaboration with Eske Kath. Most recently she reimagined the Danish National Anthem as a dark, dystopian theme song for the new Netflix sci-fi hit “The Rain”.
Arthur Moon is the moniker of composer/singer Lora Faye Ashuvud, whose unconventional, polymathic approach to composition evokes the idiosyncratic ethos of bands like Radiohead and tUnE yArDs. Ashuvud writes her lyrics using cut up newspaper and magazine articles, and describes the process of composing the music as similarly collage like. “On the best days,” she said in a recent interview with LPR, “it feels kind of like playing a rousing game of Exquisite Corpse except only with myself.”
Presented by TOC | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
General Admission: $25 adv/dos | RSVD Meet & Greet: $75
On New Year’s Day in 2013, Kris Allen and his then-pregnant wife Katy were in a head-on collision that left the singer/songwriter/guitarist with a career-threatening shattered wrist. In the two years that followed, he underwent three surgeries, re-learned how to play guitar (despite regaining just 30 percent movement in the damaged wrist), recorded his third album, and toured relentlessly – including a two-month-long stint that started just one week after his accident. The American Idol season 8 winner ultimately retreated from the whirlwind and immersed himself in a songwriting spell that yielded more than 70 new tracks. Culled from the collection of songs, Allen’s fourth full-length album Letting You In finds the Nashville-based artist delivering his most intimate and dynamic work to date.
The follow-up to 2014’s Horizons, Letting You In builds off the soulful musicality Allen first showcased with his platinum-selling 2009 single “Live Like We’re Dying,” But with its sophisticated songcraft and vulnerable lyrics, Letting You In reaches a new depth of feeling that infuses each track with undeniable emotional power. “Looking back, I think I tired to put off dealing with my feelings around the accident for as long as I could,” says Allen. “But in the past year I’ve realized how much it all affected me, and that definitely came out in the writing of this album.”
Allen recorded in Nashville with producers Konrad Snyder (Mat Kearney, Owl City, Milo Greene), Ian Fitchuk (James Bay, Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors, Griffin House), and Grammy Award-winner Brown Bannister (Amy Grant, Kenny Rogers, Steven Curtis Chapman) and made a point of exploring both the bright and dark elements of everyday life. “There’s almost two different sides to the record,” Allen notes. “On one hand you’ve got these happy love songs, because that’s life – I’m a happily married guy, everything with my family’s really great. But internally I was going through some things and trying to figure out my life, and the rest of the album very much came from that.”
The latter category of songs includes “My Time Will Come,” whose lyrics reflect on Allen’s struggles with self-doubt (“Lately I’ve been making friends with the doubts in my head/Hanging on every word that they’ve said”). But with its lilting guitar melodies and soaring vocals, the song ultimately emerges as anthem of gritty perseverance. On “If We Keep Doing Nothing,” Allen offers a poignant look outward. Written in the wake of the mass shooting at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College, the song’s throwback-soul arrangement of stark guitar tones and stirring organ lines provide a powerful backdrop for a determined meditation on gun violence.
While Letting You In takes on its share of weighty maters, the album radiates a hopeful spirit that’s got everything to do with Allen’s easy warmth and open- heartedness as a songwriter and vocalist. One of Letting You In’s most uplifting tracks, “Way Up High”, blends cascading guitar lines, breezy melodies, and slice-of-life storytelling that came to Allen while flying back home after spending days away from his family. “Usually when I’m writing a song I start with the music, but with ‘Way Up High’ the lyrics all came to me in a poem form,” he says. “I just tried to get down all these thoughts that were rolling through my head at the time, in a very stream-of-consciousness sort of way, and it all felt really natural.” And among the love songs that make up much of Letting You In is “Waves,” whose gospel-inspired harmonies and spirited piano work perfectly capture the tenderness in Allen’s opposites-attract serenade to his wife.
Allen first picked up the guitar at age 13, after spending much of his childhood singing in church in his hometown of Jacksonville, Arkansas. Writing his first song in his late teens, he self-released an album at age 22 and auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol the following year. Several months after his Idol victory Allen put out his self-titled major label debut, with lead single “Live Like We’re Dying” climbing to the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition to releasing his sophomore album Thank You Camellia in 2012, he spent the next several years sharing stages with such artists as Maroon 5 and Keith Urban, as well as landing Billboard, Teen Choice and People’s Choice Awards nominations.
In the aftermath of his accident, Allen devoted himself to relearning guitar, adjusting his technique to adapt to the lack of movement in his wrist. “At first I thought I’d never be able to play again,” he recalls. “But once I got my case off, I spent more time playing than I ever had in my life. Through all that I realized that I shouldn’t take my craft for granted, so I really focused on developing it and becoming even stronger as a guitar player than I ever was before.”
Along with rebuilding his guitar skills, Allen revamped his approach to songwriting and soon saw a resurgence in his creativity. “When I’ve made albums in the past, there’ve always been other artists and songwriters that I was using as reference points,” says Allen, who names Stevie Ray Vaughan and Stevie Wonder among his earliest inspirations. “But this time I shut myself off from all that, and just focused on making music that was completely true to me.”
That process proved both thrilling and daunting, but in the end instilled him with a new sense of purpose as an artist. “When I first started making music, it was very much coming from a place of ‘Are people going to like this?’” he recalls. “But as I was making this album, it really became more about being genuine and writing songs that feel good. My hope is that if those songs mean a lot to me, they’ll mean a lot to the people listening, and that they’ll get some of that hopeful feeling too.”
Since the release of Letting You In, Allen has released an anthemic single about the depth of love outlasting life called When All the Stars Have Died (2018). Kris will also be heading out on a solo tour to celebrate his 10-year long career with fans all over the United States. For more info on dates and tickets, visit krisallenofficial.com.
A solo acoustic tour celebrating the 15th anniversary of One Moment More through stories and song.
Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | No Refunds
$25 adv / $30 dos
“Her voice carves melodies so sharp and fine you can almost see them…” – New York Times
“Smith’s best songs sound like little miracles.” – USA Today
A good rule of thumb when going to a Mindy Smith concert, bring a hanky, a tissue or an extra sleeve. Your tear ducts don’t know the difference between laughing tears and crying tears and you’ll likely be doing both. “Humor is how I compensate for singing so many sad tunes back to back,” says Smith.
Mindy Smith is a Long Island-born, Nashville based singer-songwriter with a clear and honest passion for Americana, jazz, pop, rock, blues, and folk and is a self-proclaimed music genre mutt.
Presented by TOC | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final. | RSVD VIP Tickets available.
GA: $25 ADV / $30 DOS | RSVD VIP: $35
Internationally acclaimed guitar virtuoso Trace Bundy must be seen, not just heard. His music is poetry in motion, using harmonics, looping, multiple capos, and his unique banter and stage presence to deliver an unforgettable live concert experience. Listening to his intricate arrangements is one thing, but seeing the fan dubbed “Acoustic Ninja” play live confounds even the most accomplished music lovers as to how one person can do all that with just two hands and ten fingers.
Bundy’s unique career has brought him across the world, with concerts in 28 countries and counting from high tech performance halls in South Korea and Italy, to remote villages in Zimbabwe and Guatemala. He has independently sold over 125,000 albums on his record label, Honest Ninja Music. His video clips circulate virally at astonishing speed, with over 40 million YouTube views to date.
Jimmy Leslie at Guitar Player Magazine blogs “It was easy to see why Bundy plays bigger venues on each tour. In his hands, the acoustic guitar is an imagination station, and there was no telling where he is going take the audience at any given turn. Thrilling stuff.”
Audiocast Magazine from Austin, TX agrees: “Bundy’s live show is without a doubt an event that needs to be witnessed rather than told about. With such a jaw-dropping performance, Bundy’s live concert is a slap in the face that would leave a palm print on the memory of everyone in the audience.
Presented by Monqui | Doors at 7 | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
$20 adv / $25 dos
Son Little, the singer and songwriter born Aaron Livingston, is the easygoing musical alchemist of our time. He is a conjurer, and much like those of his heroes Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix, his songs are deconstructions of the diaspora of American R & B. Deftly he weaves different eras of the sound — blues, soul, gospel, rock and roll — through his own unique vision, never forced, always smooth, each note a tributary on the flowing river of rhythm and blues. The currents empty into an estuary, and into this well water Son dips his bucket — trusting innately in the magic’s existence. And now, with his second full-length album, New Magic, he has delivered a profound statement, a cohesive creation that captures the diverse spirit of American music in a fresh and modern way.
Doors at 7pm | All Ages | Bar w/ID | All sales are final.
Presented by Show Brazil Productions
Eduardo Mendonça, a native of Brazil throughout his travels in the US,Canada, Nepal and Brazil, the talented musician, composer, arranger, and musical director will bring to you a 360° of Brazilian music exploring from Brazilian traditional tunes to Bossa-Nova.Eduardo performed as a guest artist with the jointly sponsored Seattle Symphony-Carnegie Hall project “Link Up: The Orchestra Moves,” exploring the creative process of this passionate composer through melody and motif.
Doors at 1:30pm | Show at 2:00pm | All Ages | All sales are final.
Connections Concerts is proud to welcome a stellar line-up of Portland’s finest performers for an afternoon of multi-genre and multi-cultural music and poetry.
Expect a warm, inspiring, and community-oriented afternoon of songs and stories from Joe Kye (violinist-looper and composer), Niema Lightseed (spoken-word poet), Sophie Lippert (classical and jazz pianist and cellist).
About Connections Concerts:
2019 marks the inaugural season of Connections Concert Series, Portland’s innovative multi-cultural concert experience featuring the area’s finest classical, jazz, world, folk, and pop musicians. Connections Concerts are dedicated to using music as a conduit for inclusivity, community, and collaboration. Hosted by concert pianist Sophie Lippert, and proudly sponsored by RACC and The Changemakers Hub. For more information, visit connectionsconcerts.com.
Featured Performers (Read full bios at https://www.
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