Calendar of Events

Ben Larsen has been a fixture on the Portland music scene for nearly a decade. Raised in New England (where his first instrument in grade three was the clarinet) and Jakarta, Indonesia, he moved to Portland in 2006 to attend Lewis and Clark College to study jazz guitar, Larsen's musical journey has not been a direct one. After two years studying jazz, he shifted his focus to the mandolin, concentrating on Bach violin sonatas and the choro music of Brazil's early 20th century. After graduating in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in mandolin performance, Larsen began to embed himself in the local folk and bluegrass scene. Along with a three year stint in Renegade Stringband, developing the Giraffe Dodgers from the ground up, serving as Twisted Whistles' fiddler and mandolin player for a year, Larsen has sat in countless times with Fruition, Left Coast Country, Kory Quinn, the Grant Farm, Allie Kral and Friends, the Wild Wood, the Fire Weeds and several other area folk musicians and bands of all genres. Larsen is currently focusing on a new, well-received band, Crow and the Canyon as well as his solo career. He is available for lessons on guitar, mandolin and fiddle. www.benlarsen.com ...

Jermaine’s charismatic energy and passion for music is a dynamic force to witness on stage.   He's been a professional and full-time entertainer for the majority of his life, in a variety of settings, studio to stage. From smooth and sultry R&B croonings to chill hip-hop flows, Jermaine’s main joy is bringing a smile to your face and a shake to your hips. You can regularly catch him performing all around Portland as a solo loop-artist, as well as a sought-after collaborator in group settings. ...

Wil Kinky is a Portland based singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. With vocals like Joe Cocker, and a guitar style reminiscent of Jimmy Hendrix, he blends blues, rock, soul, and other genres into an unexpected flavor of sound all his own. Wil has dedicated more than half of his life to playing music. Bringing passionate energy to every stage he sets foot on, he never compromises the integrity of the connection between his creation and his audience. He's played with countless musicians up, down, and across the western territory of America, to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. From grand stage venues to bars, lounges, weddings, festivals and recording studios... he is ready to lay it all on the line. ...

Rich Layton & Tough Town are keepers of the flame for American roots music. It's high octane swamp rock, country, rockabilly and the honky tonk blues echoing from an East Texas roadhouse. The band has a signature sound that sits right alongside such eclectic artists as Marty Stuart, Dave Alvin and Lukas Nelson. Each set takes audiences for a ride from Sun Studios to Chess Records, and Muscle Shoals to Bakersfield. Rich's original songs fit seamlessly into the mix, weaving his Gulf Coast roots through tales of rock and roll redemption, harmonica-fueled and swampified. Personnel Rich Layton - vocals & harmonica | Larry McCoy - guitar & back-up vocals Haus (Eric Krabbenhoft) - bass | Charles Pike - drums & back-up vocals Together over a decade now, the band has released three albums and received multiple local awards while performing regularly at major festivals and showcase clubs throughout the Northwest. Each year, Rich joins Lyle Lovett as a special guest when Lyle tours the NW. Rich also has played on Portland tour stops by long-time friends Lucinda Williams, Dale Watson, Buckwheat Zydeco (R.I.P.) and more. ...

Ben Rice's music is deeply rooted in traditional blues, yet at the same time fiercely original. His guitar playing earns labels like "fearless," "inventive" and "powerful," and he routinely brings audiences to their feet with his stunning and emotionally honest vocal delivery. Ben is as much at home fronting his electric band as he is captivating a crowd solo with nothing but his voice and his acoustic resonator guitar. Rice has received two 2019 Blues Blast Music Award nominations, taking home the Sean Costello Rising Star Award at the Blues Blast Awards. He also received three Blues Music Award nods, for Acoustic Blues Album, Acoustic Blues Artist, and Best Emerging Artist Album. Finally, he received six nominations for the Big Muddy Awards, sponsored by the Cascade Blues Association, receiving four awards for Contemporary and also Traditional Blues Act plus the statue for Electric Guitar and the “Curtis Salgado” Male Vocalist Award. ...

The music of Son Cubano is a salsa fusion of different musical rhythms such as Afro-Cuban Rumbas, Latin Jazz, Traditional Yoruba Chants, Son Montuno, Chachachá, Spanish Flamenco, Boogaloo, Boleros, and other Afro-Cuban influenced music styles. This group is made up of key members of the revered group Melao de Cuba, one of Portland's most beloved salsa bands. ...

Known as the French Troubadour, Parisian-born Eric John Kaiser is a singer-songwriter reimagining Americana music through a French lens. Eric was born in the southern outskirts of Paris, in small town called Verrières-le Buisson, and began learning guitar when he was 10 years old. After years of a classical music education, he found a teacher that opened him up to the music of the Beatles and Rolling Stones. He began writing songs in his adolescence, using music as both a diary to channel his experiences and as his personal legacy. His songs resonate with a genuine Americana rhythm, like galloping across the vast plains on horseback, with a western lap steel guitar playing dirty roadhouse blues. ...

The El Kays are a harmony-fueled transatlantic folk-pop duo based in Portland, OR comprised of Londoner Thom Lyons and DC native Rose Kohn. They met by accident in the midst of the Covid pandemic when Thom, fairly certain that due to lockdown boredom he might have consumed all of the internet, clicked on a link to a music website he’d never heard of and stumbled upon a recording Rose had almost forgotten she’d posted. Thom reached out, they met over tea and then decided to try singing a couple songs. The chemistry was instant, but was it a fluke? They decided to jump in the deep end, booking a show and giving themselves a couple of rehearsals to learn an hour of material. Show day arrived, it was a rousing success, and The El Kays were officially born. ...

Led by the duo of Salvatore Manalo and Matt Brewster, Hiroki is a band from Portland, OR focused solely on grooves, vibes, and good times. Every song they release has its own mood, and with differing musical backgrounds, each member of the band brings their own personal flavor to the sweet recipe of soul. The result is something smooth, something tasty, and something undeniably enjoyable. https://solo.to/hirokitheband ...

Presidio is a Portland-based duo featuring Gabriella De La Cruz on drums/vocals and Will Zesiger on guitar/vocals – the two build their sound around their ethereal vocal harmonies and intimate songwriting style. Their first EP, Telepathy, debuted in April 2020 and garnered over 150,000 streams. They are currently recording their first full-length album. ...

Ben Larsen has been a fixture on the Portland music scene for nearly a decade. Raised in New England (where his first instrument in grade three was the clarinet) and Jakarta, Indonesia, he moved to Portland in 2006 to attend Lewis and Clark College to study jazz guitar, Larsen's musical journey has not been a direct one. After two years studying jazz, he shifted his focus to the mandolin, concentrating on Bach violin sonatas and the choro music of Brazil's early 20th century. After graduating in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in mandolin performance, Larsen began to embed himself in the local folk and bluegrass scene. Along with a three year stint in Renegade Stringband, developing the Giraffe Dodgers from the ground up, serving as Twisted Whistles' fiddler and mandolin player for a year, Larsen has sat in countless times with Fruition, Left Coast Country, Kory Quinn, the Grant Farm, Allie Kral and Friends, the Wild Wood, the Fire Weeds and several other area folk musicians and bands of all genres. Larsen is currently focusing on a new, well-received band, Crow and the Canyon as well as his solo career. He is available for lessons on guitar, mandolin and fiddle. www.benlarsen.com ...

The music of Son Cubano is a salsa fusion of different musical rhythms such as Afro-Cuban Rumbas, Latin Jazz, Traditional Yoruba Chants, Son Montuno, Chachachá, Spanish Flamenco, Boogaloo, Boleros, and other Afro-Cuban influenced music styles. This group is made up of key members of the revered group Melao de Cuba, one of Portland's most beloved salsa bands. ...

Vocalist Courtney Freed and guitarist Hamody Hindi deliver smooth vintage jazz interpretations of great American classics including Cole Porter, Harold Arlen and the Beatles, as well as catchy originals and energetic covers. Strong, passionate, vivacious and daring, Courtney Freed is a dynamic vocalist in a class all her own. Her first album, "Happy Little Bluebird: The Music of Harold Arlen" is a tribute to one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Her delightful rendition of "If I Only Had A Brain" has captivated many a nostalgic heart and her soulful handling of timeless classics such as "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Anyplace I Hang My Hat is Home" are a delectable feast for the ears. She has performed in many prestigious venues in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, where she resides. Her sparkling and smooth tribute through the Great American Songbook is not to be missed live. She also sings lead with local swing band, The Courtney Freed Five. www.courtneyfreedmusic.com ...

Led by the duo of Salvatore Manalo and Matt Brewster, Hiroki is a band from Portland, OR focused solely on grooves, vibes, and good times. Every song they release has its own mood, and with differing musical backgrounds, each member of the band brings their own personal flavor to the sweet recipe of soul. The result is something smooth, something tasty, and something undeniably enjoyable. https://solo.to/hirokitheband ...

Dubbed “The Rock & Soul Troubadour,” artist REDRAY FRAZIER announces the debut of his new single “Better Man,” followed by an exciting forthcoming catalogue of live and recorded music. A native New Yorker who was raised in an exceedingly musical family, REDRAY is an established vocalist and musician who creates his own unique fusion of Alternative R&B, Rock, and Indie-Soul. Get ready for captivating new lyrical sounds and smooth, smoky vocals like you’ve never heard. ...

Rich Swanger is an Oregon based songwriter with roots in folk, gospel, and country-blues music. Born amongst the Appalachian hills of Pennsylvania, he was surrounded by song from the very beginning. He discovered harmony in the church choir and found an attraction to twang hearing his father strum country classics around the house. This led to a wild love for timeless melodies and rock-solid songwriting. A move to the Pacific Northwest in 2004 proved to be the catalyst he needed to start releasing some of his own music, and further explore his love of the song. His humble solo project, Seahorse, started in the late 2000’s and grew organically over the next decade to include some of the areas most inspiring musicians. Sensing a need to address that change and growth, he stepped out from behind the moniker in 2018 with a self-titled release, ‘Rich Swanger & The Little Known Band.’ RS & TLKB transformed his quiet, folky originals into glistening country and blues songs, while also emboldening him as a performer. Lo and behold, he began to heed the deeper call of music.  Rich’s songs have been featured on the television show Shameless and his song “Didn’t Make a Sound” recently won Portland’s Folk Festival songwriting contest . He has also played TEDx Portland alongside Rebecca Jordan Smith (Prince, John Legend). Swanger has recorded 4 full length albums and performs regularly around the Pacific Northwest as a solo act and with his group, The Little Known Band. ...

Ben Larsen has been a fixture on the Portland music scene for nearly a decade. Raised in New England (where his first instrument in grade three was the clarinet) and Jakarta, Indonesia, he moved to Portland in 2006 to attend Lewis and Clark College to study jazz guitar, Larsen's musical journey has not been a direct one. After two years studying jazz, he shifted his focus to the mandolin, concentrating on Bach violin sonatas and the choro music of Brazil's early 20th century. After graduating in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in mandolin performance, Larsen began to embed himself in the local folk and bluegrass scene. Along with a three year stint in Renegade Stringband, developing the Giraffe Dodgers from the ground up, serving as Twisted Whistles' fiddler and mandolin player for a year, Larsen has sat in countless times with Fruition, Left Coast Country, Kory Quinn, the Grant Farm, Allie Kral and Friends, the Wild Wood, the Fire Weeds and several other area folk musicians and bands of all genres. Larsen is currently focusing on a new, well-received band, Crow and the Canyon as well as his solo career. He is available for lessons on guitar, mandolin and fiddle. www.benlarsen.com ...

Presidio is a Portland-based duo featuring Gabriella De La Cruz on drums/vocals and Will Zesiger on guitar/vocals – the two build their sound around their ethereal vocal harmonies and intimate songwriting style. Their first EP, Telepathy, debuted in April 2020 and garnered over 150,000 streams. They are currently recording their first full-length album. ...

Wil Kinky is a Portland based singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. With vocals like Joe Cocker, and a guitar style reminiscent of Jimmy Hendrix, he blends blues, rock, soul, and other genres into an unexpected flavor of sound all his own. Wil has dedicated more than half of his life to playing music. Bringing passionate energy to every stage he sets foot on, he never compromises the integrity of the connection between his creation and his audience. He's played with countless musicians up, down, and across the western territory of America, to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. From grand stage venues to bars, lounges, weddings, festivals and recording studios... he is ready to lay it all on the line. ...

The Vegan Carnivores are a Latin Ensemble composed of international artists from all around the world. They bring several decades of combined musical experience to the stage. From Iran, on guitar Mehdi Farjami, former guitarist of Toque Libre and Seda. From Spain, on vocals is Pepe Raphael, former Pink Martini’s vocalist and leader of Pepe & The Bottle Blondes. From Cuba, on guitar and back up vocals is Dashel Ruiz. The Vegan Carnivores' musical arrangements are delivered in an upbeat and tasteful fashion suitable for all type of venues, either in concert form, or for the dance floor enthusiasts. Their repertoire includes classic and contemporary arrangements of Latin music amongst a selection of boleros, cha cha, salsa, Latin rumba, flamenco, tango and Afro-Cuban music. ...