|
Event
River City Folk with Tom May and Brooks Hill
River City Folk returns to Artichoke Music!
River City Folk is an engaging mix of live performance, interview, and recordings. Hosted by veteran singer-songwriter Tom May, each program features a folk artist or group from across North America who performs live in the studio. Through Tom's interviews with the artists, and recordings that have influenced them, the listener is entertained by a unique perspective on the living tradition that is folk music.
This month's featured artists: Brooks Hill features the powerful voice and songwriting talents of Cindy Lou Banks, the acoustic guitar wizardry of Brad Price, and rock solid vocal and bass accompaniment of Donny Wright. The songs are a synthesis of folk and country, evocative but also leavened with humor and thoughtfulness. Each of the band members have a long and illustrious reputation in the Portland Music Scene, and are celebrating a brand new CD. This is an exciting trio sound, reminiscent of those magical long ago days when Don Henley and Glen Frey first joined up with Linda Ronstadt and the sweet harmonies and songs flowed. (No drums in this ensemble, however!)
On July 5th, 1985, a radio program premiered in Omaha, Nebraska that was to become one of the longest running syndicated music programs in history.
The idea for River City Folk came from Tom May's imagination as he toured doing concerts on the east coast of the U.S. in the spring of 1985. It occurred to him that though it seemed as if there were radio programs springing up all over the country playing the music from his albums and featuring folk artists, there was no coverage of this genre on the airwaves in his hometown.
At that time, River City Folk adopted the format it still uses; a blend of live performance, recorded musical influences, and interview. Tom May also frequently joins his guest for a song toward the end of the program.
First syndicated in the spring of 1991, River City Folk almost immediately became a very popular public radio offering across the United States, distributed initially on the National Public Radio satellite system and later on the WFMT Radio Network. Carriage has varied from 40 to as many as 200 public radio stations throughout the years. Many stations have carried River City Folk for more than 20 years now, including WDCB in Chicago and WSKG in Binghamton, New York ( with translators throughout upper New York State)
In 1994, the success of the radio program prompted KVNO's manager Howard Lowe to sign onto a co-operative effort to produce 32 episodes of River City Folk for television, to be seen nationwide on the Americana cable network originating out of Branson, Missouri, and on the University of Nebraska's television station in Omaha. Proving to be a very popular and a perpetual "viewers favorite," reruns of the series are still shown in Omaha on public television.
Tom gives credit for the long time success of the show to the musicians who often travel great distances to perform live on the program; his partner, Clete Baker, who edits and masters each program to be as sonically good as it can be before it reaches the airwaves; his recording underwriters in Portland; Dan Rhiger at Medicine Whistle studios; and Billy Oskay at Big Red Studio and all of his supporters at KVNO, NPRN, and WFMT throughout the years.
River City Folk recorded a series of programs with legendary folk music songwriter/ arranger Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary for the 25th anniversary of the show.. Peter joined a multitude of musicians who have performed on River City Folk, including Tom Paxton, Iris Dement, Anne Hills, Michael Johnson, Bill Staines, David Mallett, Bryan Bowers, and literally hundreds more.
|
|
|
LocationCafé Artichoke (View)
2007 SE Powell Blvd
Portland, OR 97214
United States
Categories
Kid Friendly: Yes! |
Dog Friendly: No |
Non-Smoking: Yes! |
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
|
Contact
|