Square Dance Extravaganza

Foghorn Stringband  The self-proclaimed “ass-kickin’ redneck stringband” from Portland, Oregon’s burgeoning old-time scene believes that old-time music, played in a traditional way, is still very much alive in the 21st century. They are purists when it comes to performance. You know how you’ve seen string bands grouping around a solitary microphone in movies? These cats actually do that! They prefer to keep their old-time old, thank you very much. Compared to the old-time revival bands, they’re much more interested in recreating the way the music sounded in the ’30s and the ’40s, when it was done on a creaky porch in an Appalachian mine camp, rather than innovating–and, in the process of that, inadvertently eschewing–the old-time sound. Tonight’s concert features Caleb Klauder (mandolin), Sammy Lind (fiddle), Nadine Landry (bass), Pete Leone (banjo), and Patrick Lind (guitar).

Knuckle Knockers  Hailing from the hayseed neighborhood of Bernal Heights in San Francisco, The Knucs stoke the fires of the Appalachian music tradition to give you a glimpse of the past through the eyes of the present, with voice, fiddles, mandolin, guitar and 5 string banjo. Tunes and songs, like you like ‘em! Not only that…..our debutante recording (in an antique form known as a CD) has been with us for almost 2 months now, and is getting gooood reviews and lots of radio hairspray, er, I mean airplay . . . caller:

Bill Martin Bill is a popular caller in communities around the Pacific Northwest and has called countless wedding, private party and school dances. Over the last twenty years Bill has been the featured square dance caller at music festivals in San Francisco, Berkeley, Seattle, Portland and Chicago. He is also one of the organizers for the nationally known Portland Old-Time Music Gathering, compiles a fantastic newsletter on music and dance in the Portland area, and has published articles in the Old-Time Herald magazine on the Portland square dance and old-time string band movement.