JUNE 6-7, 2008
Corvallis, Oregon has been estimated to have more musicians, per capita, than any city in the U.S.A. The city has been home to such varied figures as Howlin’ Wolf and Canned Heat’s Henry Vestine, Rex Jakabosky of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart fame. and fostered three Top Twenties hits (Steve Wilson’s "When Will I Learn Not to Cry", Larry Hall’s "Sandy" and Meredith Brooks’ "Bitch"). The tradition is continually being refreshed and expanded, by myriad young bands today.
FAMILY REUNION
PROGRAM & SCHEDULE for the Corvallis Music History Project
June 6th – 7th
Old World Deli 341 SW 2nd
100 Musicians in Performance
Free Admission
It’s extremely unlikely that June 6-7 will be less than a lifetime event for the citizens of Corvallis and perhaps for any community in the United States. Every resident who is yet alive, and has somehow been involved in the performance, composing of, or teaching of, secular music in the city, or who repaired, or retailed, the instruments, or who simply followed local music scenes, is asked to descend on the Old World Deli to record for an archive their observations and experiences: A City is writing our own story.
Please bring any memorabilia you may think pertinent for scanning into the archive being assembled. Your memories are not insignificant. They are special. This city is special. In fact, it has been said that Corvallis has more musicians, per capita, than any other city in the country.
In conjunction with this experiment, more than one hundred Corvallis musicians will be recreating their own performances. Some of these musicians have returned for this event. Still others have re-formed old bands for it. All have made significant sacrifices to participate in this event.
As some residents approach the end of life, it is not only fitting that we record their memories and contributions to the cultural life of our community. It is also essential to our own story. Large gaps exist in our knowledge of the city’s musical history. The most noteworthy is the Dixieland Jazz Era. We lack even a shadow image of a decade which dramatically re-shaped our culture in matters ranging from music and dance, to fashion, sex and alcohol. It is the sonambulence of a city, an unspoken agreement by 50,000 to endure an Alzheimer's affliction regarding our own story, one from which we are separated from by very few years.
We needn’t, of course, go so far back as the Roaring Twenties to discover gaps in our awareness of one another. Our community is hopelessly fractured in music, perhaps more so than in most arenas of culture. The various streams of music co-exist largely oblivious to one another's experiences. For example, rock musicians find themselves severely hampered by a lack of venues in Corvallis, especially in the present moment, when jazz jams dominate the landscape and the number of venues is about 20% of the number which existed 40 years ago. Yet, the limited spaces available to rock musicians seem like Paradise in the eyes of the gifted trombonist, and of the tuba player on today's schedule.
The event will be broadcast as well as filmed. And the Benton County Museum has loaned a significant collection of historical instruments for display at the neighboring Pegasus Gallery in conjunction with the event The Museum are themselves hosting a display which includes the drums from the city’s first successful professional museums, a trio of Civil War veterans who had learned their art in the fife and drum corps at neighboring Fort Hoskins. We urge you to support such displays as fervently as we ask you to support music in our local schools.
The Story of Music in Corvallis
The Native American Era
Artifacts and language differentiation lead many academics to believe that Kalapuyans were in the era for more than 10,000 years. If today's musical presentation were an accurate one, the first 15 hours and 48 minutes would consist of native American drumming and singing, and the subsequent 175 years represented in today’s program would be compressed into 12 minutes. Led Zeppelin's "How Many Years" would not sound as though it were being performed by Stairway Denied, but by Alvin and the Chipmunks. Two groups tonight will perform Native American music. One, Tito Amaya and Alexander Contreras, specialize in the blend of indigenous American music with traditional and imported instruments. Madera specializes in the Nueva Trova pop music which swept Latin America in the Seventies, but also plays indigenous American music.
The Immigrant Era
Beginning in the latter half the seventeenth century, a wave of immigrants intruded into the area. The first were native Americans fleeing the epidemics of the northeast, all of whom paid nominal rent to their Kalapuyan hosts. Next came the Euros, first those from Iberia and Russia and then from England, Mexico (los Californicos) and the U.S. With the English came Hawaiians- fully half of all beaver trappers in the employ of the Hudson Bay Co. were the original “contract workers” sent under contract with the king of Hawaii, which is how the Owyhee mountains and rivers in Oregon came to have their name. In the eyes of the Kalapuyans, all were illegal, but suggestions to that effect were ignored and the region from Montana and Wyoming to the Pacific Coast was designated the Oregon territory by the U.S., on the basis of 52 American and French Canadian men gathering in Champoeg, Oregon to vote for the idea. Afterwards, there was a major influx from the U.S., which turned into a flood with the discovery of precious metals in the West. Coincidentally, the failure of the 1848 Revolutions in Europe sent a wave of European – primarily German - immigrants to the U.S., and the collapse of the Taipeng Rebellion in China brought thousands of Chinese refuges into Hawaii. After a handful of pineapple growers colluded with an American politician to overthrow the Hawaiian government and seize the islands as an American colony, U.S. law permitted them to emigrate to the U.S. and hundreds of thousands did so. For a time, one third of Corvallis was Chinese, working on the railroad to Toledo, Oregon. The Irish potato famine sent a new wave to American shores and across the country. When the British, under pressure to halt the emigration from U.S. Protestant politicians opposed to Catholic immigration, made fares prohibitively expensive, the Irish simply bought tickets to Canada and then ran across the border to the U.S. Finally, there were Jewish exiles from Czarist Russia. All of these groups, of course, brought their music with them, and a number of musicians in today’s program are specialists in the music and instruments of that era. The contemporary immigrant musicians of the time, those whose names we know, were the Plunkett trio (composed of the Irish James Plunkett, the German J.C. “Lotty” Lottsenheiser, and Charles Francks. Among the American immigrants was Louis Southworth, famed African American violinist.
The Minstrel and Vaudeville Era
Following the cataclysm of the American Civil War, military music and ballads predominated, giving way to minstrel, vaudeville, and variety shows. Several musicians in today’s program specialize in these tunes.
Dixieland Jazz and the Ragtime Era
Local knowledge of this event is almost completely lost. The era was one of local Prohibitionist activity in Corvallis, and contemporary music was not documented by the local newspaper, which was a Prohibitionist mouthpiece at the time. Michael Chambers, who will perform ragtime music in this program.
The Swing, Bebop and Blues Era
Duke Ellington, Billy Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie and other legends found their way to Corvallis as a weekday “waystop” in the San Francisco – Seattle circuit, appearing either at the Lakeside Roller Rink north of town, or at the nearby Cottonwoods club. The major American blues figure, Howlin’ Wolf, was stationed at Camp Adair during WWII. The Hilltop Big Band and the Gypsy Swing Ensemble reprise the swing era in the program and Ramblin Rex is Oregon’s quintessential classic blues musician. A list of the children and grandchildren of bebop in this event would like include Dave Storrs, Walk the Plank and even Minus.
The Rockabilly/ Folk Era
As Afro-American rhythm and blues made its impact on the Euro-American music scene, a large number of local musicians participated. Rockabilly – the Elvis Presley era – dominated, with Jerry Lee Lewis appearing locally. Rockabilly was accompanied by country music as well as by the revival, in a melodic form, of the old blues-influenced folk music of Woody Guthrie (whose time locally resulted his in “Roll On Columbia” classic) and Jimmy Rodgers. Country rock made its appearance in Corvallis. Several of the musicians in today’s program participated in the era, and a few still specialize in it.
The English invasion/ Electric Blues Era
Commencing with the Beatles, a series of English “invasions” resulted in bands like Led Zeppelin, the Who and others. Many local musicians followed suit. Dale Combes will reprise a couple of Beatles tunes, and Stairway Denied – a Led tribute band - will re-unite for this event as well as several adjacent dates. When electric blues arrived in Corvallis, they dominated local clubs for 2 decades. Alongside country rock bands, they provided music most nights of the week, with over a dozen venues participating in a smorgasbord of music and dancing around the city and its fringes. That all ceased when the Corvallis Police Department began enforcing a “no tolerance” policy which eventually became little more than a series of armed kidnappings of citizens for being even in the vicinity of rock and roll clubs. Anyone who doubts the musical discrimination needs only to look at the utter lack of police officers in the downtown area’s “wine tasting” events, and try to imagine the same laxity outside rock and roll clubs. The “wine tasters” aren’t flapping their wings to get home. As a consequence of the police department’s policy, the venues collapsed on one another, and today the city has lost the memory of how to dance. The only regular dance venues featuring live music are those of the contras, where a leader calls out the steps for the ingénues involved: "Step on your right foot and turn a half circle to the right".
The Northwest Garage Band Era
From the cramped little garages and bedrooms of high school kids in the Northwest, there was an explosion of talent in the late Sixties. Surf music was born and pop groups like the Kingsmen, the Wailers, and Paul Revere proliferated. Marshall Adams will reprise the era with one of his tunes, and Jenna Summer Smith in Eclipse, will render one of their father’s songs from Paul Revere and the Raiders.
The Punk/ New Wave Era
In the Seventies, the latest “English invasion” arrived, in the form of punk rock. Sean Utt was Corvallis’ first Punk/New Wave musician and was immediately banned from playing nearly every place in town, setting back the genre for a decade. In the late Eighties and early Nineties, there was an explosion of punk groups. Some of those groups remain and others are re-forming for this event.
Schedule: Friday Night, June 6th, 5 PM
5:30 PM Greeter: Rebecca Lomnicky (National Scottish Fiddling Champion).
6:00-6:15 PM Tito Amaya, Alexander Contreras (Tito Amaya and Alexander Contreras perform indigenous music from the Americas)
6:20-6:25 PM Ron Manbeck (Ron Manbeck is a vocalist featured in many of the city's musicals as well as local vocal groups, and will perform popular Civil War songs)
6:20-6:35 PM The Nettles (the Nettles combine traditional Irish and American music with contemporary influences, often providing the music for the contra dances)
6:50-6:55 Lucy Watts, Meredith Anderson (Lucy Watts is a longtime Corvallis musician and instructor; Meredith Anderson is a vocal student at OSU. The 2 will perform the "Sweet Oregon" theme of the region's most famed musicians ever, the nineteenth century's De Moss Family Traveling Bards)
7:00-7:15 Stairway Denied (Stairway Denied is a popular local Led Zeppelin tribute band which is re-uniting for a couple of events in the next few weeks)
7:20-7:50 "Ramblin'" Rex (Rex Jakaboski is responsible for the introduction and fostering of blues music in Corvallis, a format which came to dominate music venues in Corvallis for many years. Rex will reprise his legendary One-Man-Band)
7:55-8:10 Marshall Adams (Together with a half dozen other young musicians in the area, Marshall Adams can take credit for bringing Rock and Roll to Corvallis. And he subsequently became one of the city's premiere classical guitarists.)
8:15-8:30 Men on Medicine (The city's premiere rockabilly group, Men on Medicine, will perform a few of their standards)
8:35-9:05 Vanilla Syncopators (The Vanilla Syncopators feature David Feinberg, who defined jazz piano for many in Corvallis, with Sid Beam, who like Marshall Adams helped bring rock and roll to Corvallis and like Marshall Adams provided core string instrumentation for many groups, and DeLynn Anderson, central to the Corvallis music scene, whether as a performer or promoter)
9:10- 9:35 Norman (Norman is one of the most polished young bands to arise in Corvallis and will perform some of their standards)
9:40-10:00 Walk the Plank (The most accomplished electric jazz/improv group in the city, in the eyes of many, Walk the Plank will perform in their customary mode).
10:05 Minus (Minus was one of the city's early Noise/improv bands, and will be re-uniting for this event.).
Saturday, June 7th, Old World Deli, 341 SW 2nd
12:30 PM Greeter: Jim Greeninger (winner, National Guitar competition, the only guitarist invited to teach at Julliard School of Music).
1 PM-1:15 Madera (Madera is a band of the Americas, will perform an indigenous tune as well as the Nueva Trova songs which took the hearts of Latin America over many years. The performers are Ina Hecker from Chile, Tito Amaya from El Salvador, El Vikeno and Laurie Childers, Norte Americanos.)
1:20-1:35 Dawning of the Day (Dawning of the Day will play Celtic music)
1:40-1:50 Cassandra Hanus, Ed Propst (Cassandra Hanus and Ed Propst are members of the local orchestra and will perform several songs, opening with a polka)
1:55-2:10 Los Nortenos (Los Nortenos are a local family performing traditional music from both sides of the border with Mexico)
2:15-2:30 The Kindreds -- The Kindreds are a Willamette Valley homegrown band hailing from Philomath, Tangent and Albany, Oregon. www.the-kindreds.com
2:35-2:50 When Picks Fly (When Picks Fly is a group of accomplished musicians who play folk roots music utilizing "mountain" dulcimer and violin, a banjo and mandolin, and will play several of their standards)
2:55 - 3:10 Michael Chambers (Michael Chambers has been a Corvallis mainstay for many years, and will play minstrel and ragtime jazz selections)
3:15 - 3:30 Nancy Spencer (Nancy Spencer plays musical saw, was a founder of the Corvallis Folklore Society, and will be accompanied by Mark Weiss, flat-picker par excellence).
3:40-3:55 Shari Ame (Shari Ame is a local performer and instructor of Irish fiddle who started the Celtic Music Jam)
4:00-4:15 Cliff and Cheri Perreira (The Perreiras are mainstays of the Corvallis Folk Society and perform contemporary folk music in the tradition of Pete Seeger)
4:20- 4:35 Hilltop Big Band (The Hilltop Big Band has performed swing jazz for 2 decades in Corvallis)
4:40 - 5:10 Gypsy Swing Jazz Ensemble (The Ensemble performs western swing jazz in the Corvallis region)
5:15-5:30 Jared Hall, (Jared Hall is a local composer and guitarist who will perform with a gifted local sax player)
5:30-5:45 Night Crew (Night Crew is a young local duet performing electronic jazz/improv/Noise
6:10 - 6:40 Dave Storrs (Dave Storrs has been one of the city's seminal jazz musicians for many years and will be performing with Page Hundemer, Monica Metzler, and Nick Rivard)
6:45 - 6:55 Dale Combes (Dale Combes has been an itinerant guitarist here for many years)
7:00 - 7:15 Jenna Summer Smith in Eclipse (Jenna Summer Smith, and the drummer of the band, Rio Smith, are the daughter and son, respectively, of Mike "Smitty" Smith, drummer for Paul Revere and the Raiders, one of the Northwest Garage Band era stars of the 60's. )
7:20-7:35 Gary Nolde (Gary Nolde played in the country bands which dominated Corvallis music in the early Seventies and helped channel that music into country rock, which in turn made both folk and rock acceptable to Corvallis country fans)
7:35- 7:50 Colin Woekel (Colin Woekel is a local contemporary singer, guitarist and song writer)
7:55 - 8:10 Louder Than (Louder Than consists of former members of the band Soapbox)
8:10 - 8:25 Cassandra Robertson (Cassandra Robertson is a contemporary folksinger appearing often at local establishments and events)
8:30 - 9:00 Tom and Ellen Demarest and Friends (Tom Demarest has played popular and folk music in Corvallis for many years in one format or another, is nationally popular, and will be appearing with his equally popular co-singer Ellen Demarest and friends)
9:05 - 11:15 Contemporary Melee (The Melee consists of a series of contemporary bands of importance in the continuing development of music in Corvallis), as well as a re-union of Tourist for this event
Blood on the Banjo
Muckraker
Angries
Wobblies
Tourist
Arcweld
Cover illustration from J.Bua
Event Sponsored by the Alchemist, the Troubadour Music Shop, the Old World Deli and Corvallis Community Pages
