Événement

Concert for Sandy

We were extrememly saddened to lose Sandy Macdonald on the first of the year. In the words of friend and colleague, Mary Anne Moorman (storyteller Auntmama): "Folk music took an early hit. Sandy Macdonald made it into 2019, but not for long. He felt ill on New Years Eve, asked his wife to take him to the ER. But three blocked arteries couldnt be repaired. Swedish Cherry Hill doctors did their best to fix heart and brain damage. Extensive, they said. Totally unexpected to his family and friends, the gentle folk giant passed away just after 1 AM.
Raised up on music from his Wenatchee, WA home, college radio host in Colorado, a backbone of the Seattle Folklore Society, Happy Campers guitar player/founder, long time anchor for KBCS Sunday Folks, partipant and advocate for the Puget Sound Guitar Camp, retired from King Countys mediators circle, panelist and supporter of FAR-West Conference and Wintergrass Music Festival, Sandy was the essence of folk music, authentic to his core, friend to all, advocate for the best in all of us."

In honor of Sandy, the Seattle Folklore Society concert committee presents a free concert of local performers whose music he enjoyed. There will be four sets, with some stories and reminiscences shared between sets.

Steve James is a blues musician, a notable songwriter, one of the best modern bottleneck slide players, a storyteller and a compendium of interesting facts. In the world of contemporary acoustic and roots music, he's earned his reputation with decades of tireless international touring, a stack of solo recordings, a funny, kinetic stage presence and an unmistakable style of playing and singing.

Heidi Muller is an award-winning songwriter, singer, guitarist and mountain dulcimer player. In over 25 years of performing, she has played in concert halls, festivals, and living rooms throughout America and produced eight CDs that have established her firmly in the national folk community. Heidi has headlined at the Kerrville Folk Festival, Tumbleweed Music Festival, South Florida Folk Festival, Northwest Folklife and Great River Road Festival, among others. Heidi tours both as a solo artist and with her partner, Bob Webb, from their home in Enterprise, Oregon. They have released three CDs together: Dulcimer Moon, Light the Winters Dark, and Seeing Things. Bob is a talented accompanist on guitar, mandolin, dulcimer and cello and was a member of the original Mountain Stage house band. He is also a recording engineer and producer of radio documentaries. Heidi's songs express down-to-earth sentiments in lovely poetry. She sounds like she truly loves singing and wants nothing more than to share that with you. - Rich Warren, Sing Out!

Squirrel Butter, husband and wife duo of Charlie Beck & Charmaine Slaven, started performing together after meeting at the Portland Old Time Music Gathering in 2005. Sharing a deep love of traditional music, they perform American roots music of old-time, bluegrass, blues, and country. They add their unique touch to these traditions, and thread traditional influences into their original compositions. Multi-instrumentalists, they play banjo, guitar, fiddle, steel guitar, step-dance, and sing harmonies. They're both members of the venerable string band, The Tallboys. For over the last dozen years, they have contributed to the of the music and dance communities in the PNW, and their love of the music and people keeps growing.

Orville Johnson is a singer, instrumentalist, record producer, songwriter, session player, teacher, the top dobro player on the West Coast and, above all, an instinctive and sensitive musician. As his entry in the Encyclopedia of Northwest Music (Sasquatch Press 1999) states, he has become a vital figure on the Northwest music scene in the thirty-some years hes lived there.