Saturday Winterfolk Surprise

Winterfolk 23, Portland, OR

As I left the office Friday, I mentioned I had no plans for the weekend other than do some cooking, reading, and relaxing. If it was dry at all, I'd get some work done out in the garden.  I received an email Friday afternoon informing me I had won a couple tickets to Winterfolk in Portland from KBOO Friday evening. That was a very nice surprise.  I entered a comment on their Facebook page for a drawing early Friday morning.  I didn't even remember doing it as I have done that so many times before without expecting to win. Now we had some plans. We headed to Portland in the afternoon Saturday. I got a chance to hit the Peoples Co-op and stock up on some needed items like vanilla beans, fresh tempeh, pure maple syrup, and some bulk grains and nuts. There are so many nice items in People's that I can buy in bulk that I either can't get in town or they are much more expensive.

We arrived at the theater about an hour before the show. There's a little bar and cafe next door with an entrance to the theater. We had a nice meal for about $25 and headed into the show. For people who had no plans, it turned out to be a lovely evening for the both of us. We bought a raffle ticket for the cause, and a chance to win a nice guitar.  The whole date was $35. 

I love folk music and I really like the Aladdin theater. It's small and accessible, never a problem parking, and it's a good place to go hear live music. We've seen a lot of musicians there. We've seen some famous people who've been writing music and singing their songs some as far back as the 50's. Many have been performing for 30-40 years. It's nice to hear them now and to hear the stories they tell about how the songs came to be written and what the motivations were at the time. It's a reminder to me that even with so much change, so many things remain the same. This night the performers were young and old, I believe Joe Hickerson may have been in his late seventies. He, we all, sang "Where have all the flowers Gone" and he's been singing his own version with three added verses since it was originally written. Many of the musicians Saturday night played songs written or performed by artists we've seen at the Aladdin, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Cassidy, and Joan Baez. Winterfolk is an annual benefit for the Sisters of The Road Cafe. 

There were lots of wonderful musicians, three sessions with two different sets of performers each session.  The MC even got in a few songs. We heard: Tracy Grammer, Beth Wood, Dncan Phiilips with Kate MacLeod, Doug Wintch & Gigi Love, Tom May, Joe Hickerson, Chris Kokesh & Lincoln Crockett, and one of my favorites, Doug Smith.  His guitar sent me off to wonderful places.