Oregon Music News

Sometimes we have fresh new faces on the scene come to the Artichoke Music Café, and sometimes we welcome musicians who have been around the block a time or two. People who have long-time fans but who have never stopped evolving and discovering new music within them. Steve Wilkinson was in Gravelpit and Mission 5 and his current band Wilkinson Blades, but he’s releasing his first solo album Truth...

I think this is the first time we’ve ever run two Coffeeshop Conversations in one week. It’s because of the concerts both Ben Darwish and Jeremy Wilson are doing this week and weekend. Jeremy Wilson is, of course, known for his music. He was a member of the Dharma Bums and others. But he is also known and loved for starting the Jeremy Wilson Foundation which helps fund medical bills for musicians....

Nearly ten years ago we got the news that Ben Darwish, composer, producer and keyboardist was moving from his Portland birthplace to Los Angeles. He had been a part of a flowering of young Jazz musicians, coming out of college in the early two thousands. The other part of the news was that he was going to be playing with a Pop band. He is with me now at the Artichoke Café because he’s going to hav...

There are various signposts by which we mark the beginning of the holiday season. My favorite is John Waters’ return to Portland for his annual “A John Waters Christmas” show at the Aladdin Theater. It always sells out, and has again this year. Nevertheless, it’s a chance to talk with John about the show and all of the exciting things he’s been up to over the past year. We know each other from my...

Arietta Ward: Looking forward to another 400 episodes of Coffeeshop Conversations @ Artichoke Music by Oregon Music News

This is the four hundredth episode of Coffeeshop Conversations. Next week will be four hundred and one. There are times in our lives that call for courage and inspiration. Our guest today, pianist Dave Fleschner is fresh out of rehab. His story is full of both. Our guest next week is Arietta Ward who is known and loved for bringing the light of inspiration even though deep down she’s a shy person....

One of my favorite Coffeeshop Conversations guests is here again. She’s Sarah Tiedemann, Third Angle New Music’s Artistic Director, and also a flutist. Third Angle’s exciting new season is already underway and Sarah will tell us all about it. Our next two episodes are special…this one is too, but we’re marking episodes 400 and 401 with a very personal story from Dave Fleschner about recovery...tha...

It has been three years since composer/pianist/educator Darrell Grant visited the Café at Artichoke Music. He’s so busy and prolific it seems like we could have him on once a month. Of course he is still a tenured professor of Jazz Studies and Associate Director of the School of Music at Portland State University, but I also like to think of him in the true New Orleans use of the word “professor,”...

We’re not in the Artichoke Café this time because although our guest Doug MacLeod will be performing there on Saturday, October 7, he’s not rolling into town until the day of the gig. Such is life on the road. So instead, when we talked, he was in Memphis and I was right here in Portland. Doug is a legendary Blues singer, guitar picker and storyteller. He’s been out there doing all three for sever...

I was doing a bit of rummaging and in one of those boxes were audio cassettes of a show I used to do on the American Radio Network. In the past I have found one show with Max Roach and one with Leon Redbone. Today the tape that somewhat magically appeared in my hand was the time I spent on the air with composer/pianst Carla Bley. It aired live on March 31st 1990 as part of a series I was doing whi...

Regular Coffeeshop Conversations followers know that every once in a while we like to bring in one of the folks who help bring you OMN. Today photographer Anthony Pidgeon is in the Artichoke Café with me. Performance photos are a major part of OMN’s coverage of Oregon’s music makers. We have several excellent photographers who brave photo pits to capture unforgettable moments in music. Not long ag...

There’s a new addition to Coffeeshop Conversations this time. I asked Saxophonist/Tap Dancer Shoehorn aka Michael Conley to sit in my chair and lead the conversation with someone he wanted to talk to. He’s an entertaining guy and I wanted to hear what he did with one of these things. He chose Blues singer/guitarist Tevis Hodge, Jr. who in the past few years has made quite a name for himself in the...

It’s ironic that even though in order to make a living at playing music in Oregon, you have to be able to play in diverse styles, there are many loyal groups of people who are fans of strictly one particular genre or another. There are Metal heads, Blues fans and Tango lovers to name a few. One of those groups is the folks who love Swing Dancing. Therefore, there are musicians who provide them wit...

EXCLUSIVE! At the end of our conversation, listen to a new tune just recorded on July 19! It will release at The Cello Goodbye show on Sunday. Cellist Skip vonKuske is in the Artichoke Music Café, not his first time here but it’s a special occasion. Skip is moving out of Oregon after a long run as one of the founders of the Portland Cello Project, a solo performer and member of many other bands an...

First of all, don’t miss the next Coffeeshop Conversation. It’s with Skip VonKuske Oregon’s beloved cellist who will be moving to Massachusetts in a couple of weeks. But this weekend is the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, under that magnificent bridge in St. Johns. It’s the forty-third annual and it’s presented by the Jazz Society of Oregon. From the Jazz Society is Rita Rega who has been in on the...

If you thought Soul singer Andy Stokes has been missing since the clubs and concerts returned, you’re right. We’re going to find out why. Andy, no stranger to Coffeeshop Conversations is back with us and in the midst of a flurry of concerts. He’ll be singing with Soul Vaccination at the Waterfront Blues Festival on Tuesday July 4 on the South Stage. He will be singing some Tower of Power and a few...

It’s a special edition of OMN’s Coffeeshop Conversations this time. At the other end of the Skype box is Jack Heyrman, an ex-label owner and producer and an old friend of mine. His label was called Clean Cuts and it is most famous for Dr. John’s first solo album called Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, recorded in1981. Jack also produced the follow-up The Brightest Smile In Town which was also solo. T...

It’s not every day that we have a new music venue open up. Especially one like SoundsTruck Northwest, a brand new mobile stage, complete with concerts, begins its inaugural season on Sunday, June 18 at Cathedral Park. Other offerings in their Summer Series include concerts at the Japanese Garden, Mt. Tabor and Lewis and Clark College. More details here. There are many other concerts already schedu...

A couple of weeks ago composer/guitarist Ryan Meagher was here to talk about his latest recording, AftEarth a collaboration with artist Tina Granzo. If you heard it you realize that it had a profound impact on me. It is such a close collaboration that I felt we had to hear from the other half of the creators. So with me in the Café at Artichoke Music is Tina Granzo who’s drawings along with Ryan’s...

Ever wonder what a music publicist does all day? Or even what one is? With me in the Artichoke Music Café is Nicole Lane who has much experience doing that. I know publicists. I get a hundred emails a day from them. I chose Nicole because she’s so good at it, as you will see. She works for Chamber Music Northwest but she’s done work for multiple genres of music. The job stays the same no matter wh...

Ryan Meagher is in the Artichoke Café with me today. He is a very busy man. Besides his career as guitarist and composer, he is also the Artistic Director of the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble where he also runs their PJCE label. He also programs the Montavilla Jazz Festival, does a lot of teaching and I will run out of intro time if I continued to list what else he does. He’s here to talk about...

This is the three hundred and eighty-fifth episode of Coffeeshop Conversations. That’s a lot of talking and not all of it by me. Next week KMHD’s head honcho Matt Fleeger will be here and the following week Nicole Lane, ace publicist will visit the Café. Today writer Larry Colton is sitting across from me. He has authored six books, was the founder of Wordstock, now known as the Portland Book Fest...

This is going to be fun. I’ve been looking forward to this one. Next time writer Larry Colton will be here and the following week Matt Fleeger, the head honcho and my boss at KMHD. But today across from me is ace bassist, all around smart guy, fellow Orioles fan and East-coast compare Dennis Caiazza. He’s generally not the headliner in the band but he is indispensable in any band he plays with. He...

From the Artichoke Music Café….next week bassist Dennis Caiazza will be here, the following week, writer Larry Colton and the week after that, KMHD’s Matt Fleeger, my boss over there. Today, however one of my favorite people, saxophonist, teacher and bee person Mieke Bruggeman. She is one of the founding members of the Quadraphonnes, playing baritone sax in that wonderful saxophone quartet. Also,...

It isn’t quite time for the 2023 Waterfront Blues Festival but it is time for OMN’s annual preview from the lips of festival Artistic Director and ace guitarist Peter Dammann. The festival is back at full strength after weathering covid. The same old beautiful grass-covered park alongside the Willamette July firsr to fourth. There will be some old favorites, others returning from long absences, ne...