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c a l e n d a r
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TONIGHT!
December Mondays Happy Hour with
Steve & Kate
6:30-8:30PM
FREE ADMISSION!
Alberta Street Public House
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MARK THIS DATE!
solstice holiday happy hour monday, 12/22 6:30-8:30
with
special
guest, jonathan nicholas presenting a slice of dylan thomas, "a child's christmas in wales" with seasonal sounds by steve & kate
& fiddler, porter dodge...
* Fri, 12/12 8PM ETHOS BENEFIT!
JOHN PRINE TRIBUTE
at Biddy McGraws 6000 NE Glisan Portland, OR 97213
(503) 233-1178 Singalong Songbooks No-Smoking-That-Night PROCEEDS TO ETHOS * HAYLOFT CONCERT at the HISTORIC GRAND THEATRE in Salem, Oregon! Friday, 1/9/2009 TIX: 503-362-9185
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Tom Paxton with Steve & Kate in Florence, Oregon 1/16 & 1/17 and then two shows on 1/18 at the Downtown First Unitarian Church Portland
Tickets On Sale Now
TicketsWest at 1-800-992-8499 or 503-244-8499 or at ticketswest.com.
* Kate & Steve
SONG CIRCLE CLASS
for the growing musician!
All around coaching class for growing your music in every way in a safe and friendly learning setting in our home! Limited seats!
4 sessions from 6:30-8:30PM on Monday evenings in January, February and March, 2009. Call 503-546-9260 or email folks@qualityfolk.com to register. $50
"Ukulaliens" in The Dalles, Saturday, January 31, 2009. Info contact Dan Ross at Columbia River Music Stay Tuned for Upcoming Concert details TBA in Hood River area at the end of January! * Thursday, Feb. 5 Cycle Oregon Kickoff Event at Nike * Saturday, Feb 7th WINTERFOLK XXI for Sisters of the Road at the Aladdin Theatre. JOIN US! Rosalie Sorrels, Kate Power & Steve
Einhorn, Hanz Araki, Anne Weiss, Tom May & more! * VALENTINES!
Saturday, Feb 14 Seattle Folk Society
Phinney Neighborhood Center 6532 Phinney Avenue NSeattle WA (206) 528-8523
$14 * 8PM
*
Sunday, Feb 15
Victoria Folk Music "Norway House"
1110 Hillside Ave. Victoria, BC
$5.00
Info and Message (250) 413-3213
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 Who is that magnificant lady. I mean the the magnificant one in the middle. Is that that Odetta?? What was the occasion?..Jack
In answer to the question posed by my father about this picture when we sent it around to family a few days ago, yes! It was March 14, 1998. This picture was taken exactly one month after Steve and I got married in our living room almost eleven years ago. It was exactly three days before I would get the phone call from my friend and doctor that included the medical definition of a carotid brain aneurysm found in my head.
It was also the very first season in the history of our newly built Backgate Stage concert room behind Artichoke Music in southeast Portland. Odetta! Dave Cutler, a guitar-loving psychiatrist up on the hill at OHSU was a close friend of Phil Ochs as a youngster in New York and drove Phil all around when they were teenagers (Phil didn't drive). Now here he was, twenty years after Phil had died, the head of psychiatry with a budget for a benefit and a lifelong love for good folk music and the people who made history during the "folk scare" of the 60's. We had long talks with Dave in the shop about these folk heroes and the times that affected us so much. Together, we decided to produce the first and only Phil Ochs 20th Anniversary Memorial Concert to benefit NAMI (National Association for the Mentally Ill). Phil Ochs was bipolar and his condition got the best of him in the end. With Dave in the mix, we would have enough money to bring in somebody special to the Backgate and we would produce a show that would have meaning for a lot of people and make enough from the show to give a significant contribution to a good cause. Perfect! This was right up our alley.
Odetta was in the top ten of our dream list. I kept a dream list of people we dreamed of playing on the Artichoke stage in my desk. Everybody was on that list. Dylan, Arlo, Seeger, Paxton, Collins. I still have it. Steve and I talked about who we should try to bring to our little concert room with legendary appeal. Odetta. Odetta! We both wanted the throaty singing queen of folk music as we both knew it. We had come of age on Odetta. Would she come?
I got out of my Billboard directory and called her agent, Rusty, a smoky sounding guy in Nashville. I could just picture his whitening red hair and the deep lines in his face as I told him who we were and what we were up to. His gruff voice surprised me when he said it might be something she would like to do, Odetta liked meaningful work and she might be interested in this. At the time, she had not been touring much and was very selective about what offers she would accept. One thing led to another and before you know it, there she was, in our concert room in Portland, Oregon and yes, she sang Kumbaya in the key of thunder as she stepped down the aisle between adoring rows of devotees and up to the stage. Odetta had a presence that commanded all within reach. She was The Queen and to be near her was to know her.
A teardrop amethyst amulet nestled in her woven hair rocked gently on her regal forehead as Odetta patted her face with a soft small towel before the mirror in her dressing room. She had two costume changes during her performance breaks. Flowing dresses in rich shades of turquoise and lilac, Odetta defined magnificence. Her rider called for white wine, a mirror with lights, two beds in her hotel room (one for organizing and the other for her). She knew exactly what she needed and it was all in the contract.
When her old friend, local hero bassist, Leroy Vinnegar (1928 - 1999), called us on the phone at the shop to say, "Is my girl there?", we scrambled to get her to the phone. Leroy arrived at Artichoke Music soon after and suggested that they play together for her concert to which she replied, "Absolutely not! I don't perform with anybody without rehearsals first." Leroy laughed and accepted her proclamation as they strolled down Hawthorne for some lunch together. They were beautiful to behold. Leroy was tall enough to dwarf his robust companion with his long brown fingers that played the sweetest jazz bass you ever heard in your life. Steve and I were in the presence of an understated moment in history as these two old friends reunited in our shop.
Odetta was in full voice that night. I can still hear the sound of her freedom-singing voice echo in my memory. Distinctly rich and sure, every note a gift from her heart to our ears. We beamed. Everyone there was anointed by her music and forever blessed by it. We listened. We sang. We raised a few thousand dollars for NAMI and celebrated in every square inch of Artichoke Music that night. Ellen and Ken, Steve's sister and brother came all the way from NYC to celebrate this night with us. A dream came true in the form of Odetta.
When we offered to send one of our staff to her hotel to deliver her to the airport the next morning, Odetta replied quietly and firmly, "No, YOU will pick me up in the morning." Steve and I looked at each other knowing that we would do exactly as she said. Smiling at the memory, Steve recalls the awe he felt when he found Odetta looking back at him in the rearview mirror in our old white Subaru wagon. We talked about the challenges of raising kids and recalled her joking with a serious expression on her face that children should be "frozen when they turn 11
years old and let them thaw out when they turn 18" followed by her big laugh. Unwittingly, we had booked Odetta into a hotel that was smack in the middle of the Shamrock Run the next day with thousands of runners filling the streets in downtown Portland. Our route was roped off and Odetta had a plane to catch! A friendly Portland cop directed us out of the thick of the jogging maze and before long we were on our way to Portland airport. We said goodbye with big smiles, thanks and hugs between friends.
Our gratitude has only grown since then and as we say goodbye for the last time. We will remember Odetta with a warm smile close to our hearts. Thank you, Odetta. You will always be the queen of hearts who sang us into heaven on earth. Long live the Queen. - Kate & Steve
PS If you were there with us that night, or wish you were and would like a beautiful copy of Odetta's smile, simply go to our online gallery where you will find prints and greeting cards for you to remember her by. Peace.
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 Steve's Online Gallery
Whimsical drawings, photo art, prints and cards can be found on our qualityfolk.etsy.com online gallery. If you see a print you like and prefer greeting cards, you can special order a set. We can print and deliver to your mailbox with a simple click! Sign in to Etsy and find wonderful drawings and photo art by Steve. Professional printing on fine art paper with caring handling and delivery direct from here to you anywhere in the world. Thanks for visiting us here! |
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 Good Gifts
Moving Hearts
If you've been wondering how to get the feeling across with gifts to your loved ones, try some music and art from Kate Power & Steve Einhorn. Our music is on sale and available at CDBaby.com and in stores at Music Millenium at 3158 E. Burnside in Portland, Oregon.
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