Oregon Music News

Hi. Tom D’Antoni back in The Artichoke for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation.

Next time our guest will be Yvonne Lerch, director of the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival which is coming up soon.

Also upcoming right here will be bass player Kenny Goldstein, who is also an ace car mechanic.

And you’ll be happy to hear that OMN National Editor Art Levine has completed his mammoth story, not for us…and it turns out his appearance on this podcast is a double- header, half on UFO’s and half on AI.

Today, an old friend from our days and nights at the Waterfront Blues Festival. Amanda Gresham will introduce us to a new EP from United By Music and we’ll get the lowdown on it and the wonderful work that organization does.

So right now, once again, let’s meet Amanda Gresham.

Hi. Tom D’Antoni back in The Artichoke for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation.

Next time our guest will be Yvonne Lerch, director of the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival which is coming up soon.

Also upcoming right here will be bass player Kenny Goldstein, who is also an ace car mechanic.

And you’ll be happy to hear that OMN National Editor Art Levine has completed his mammoth story, not for us…and it turns out his appearance on this podcast is a double- header, half on UFO’s and half on AI.

Today, an old friend from our days and nights at the Waterfront Blues Festival. Amanda Gresham will introduce us to a new EP from United By Music and we’ll get the lowdown on it and the wonderful work that organization does.

So right now, once again, let’s meet Amanda Gresham.

In the coming weeks, Amanda Gresham of United By Music will be here.

Yvonne Lerch will stop by to talk about curating the Cathedral Park Festival.

Art Levine, our National Editor hasn’t finished his 5 thousand word piece yet…and it isn’t even for us.

And you’ll meet Kenny Goldstein a bass player and mobile car mechanic.

Today Tim DuRoche pays us another visit. He’s a great hang and a terribly smart guy, a musician and former Jazz journalist.

There’s a new Battle Hymns and Gardens album with the two sax players from the Blue Cranes. Let’s find out about it and listen to a track at the end.

Springtime at the Artichoke.

Coming up soon on Coffeeshop Conversations…Yvonne Lerch will us about curating my favorite music festival of the summer…Cathedral Park.

Also, an interesting person who combines the life of a Blues musician with a car mechanic.

And I promise our National Editor, Art Levine will finish his five or six thousand word piece on UFO’s in time to make an appearance here.

Today Amy Maxwell, founder of Ticket Tomato who is here to fill us in on the Live Nation situation, how we got here and what’s to come.

Hi, Tom D’Antoni, as always, with another Coffeeshop Conversation from Artichoke Music.

Coming up soon we’ll have OMN’s National Editor Art Levine with a conversation on UFO’s and music, not that they have anything to do with each other.

Also upcoming, Ticket Tomato’s Amy Maxwell on the Live Nation controversy, Yvonne Lerch on booking the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival. A new episode every week.

Today, Adam East is in the building. He’s been at the Alberta Rose Theatre since it opened in 2010 and has helped build their reputation as one of Portland’s best loved venues

He’s their talent buyer. You may also know him as a musician, which he still is.

Six years ago, the last time David Monette was our guest on Coffeeshop Conversations, we called him “Portland’s Stradivari” because the trumpets he designs and builds are the equivalent of a Stradivarius violin…and he makes them for some of the world’s greatest musicians at his shop out near the airport in Portland.

He's back because he has a new book called “Calculus of Life: A Practical Guide to Transcendence.”

What does that have to do with music? According to David, just about everything.

He’ll be giving a talk at Portland’s New Renaissance bookstore on Saturday, May 25.

On Tuesday, May 21st, he’s bringing musicians in from nearly everywhere to perform and to mark the publication of the book. The event is sold out but he’ll be streaming it. Watch it here.

Let’s talk with David Monette.

Back in the Artichoke today with singer/actor Lo Steele, daughter of Portland’s LaRhonda and Mark Steele.

Coming up soon…trumpet genius David Monette with his new book on transcendence, our National Editor Art Levine on UFO’s and (maybe) music, plus Adam East the talent buyer from the Alberta Rose Theater.

But right now Lo Steele is sitting across from me.

We’re so lucky in Oregon to have musician families like this one. After you’ve listened to this one, Follow the link to a video episode with LaRhonda and Mark.

Right now, meet Lo Steele.

I hardly know what to say.

Eddie Martinez, one of the best known session guitarists in history just left the Café at Artichoke Music after nearly an hour of inspired conversation.

Now look. I don’t mean to disparage the over four hundred other guests we’ve had on in ten years of OMN’s Coffeeshop Conversations but this one is at or near the top.

It’s the third time he’s been on the podcast. I asked him to join me because he has a gig at Jack London Revue on Friday May 3rd.

He also has a new EP on the way.

We find out about both but mostly we had a bracing conversation. I hope you enjoy It as much as I did. I think he did too.

Every year at this time, we get together with Peter Dammann, Artistic Director of the Waterfront Blues Festival and ace guitar slinger to find out who’s in the festival lineup.

He's joining me in the Artichoke Music Café. Next week Lo Steele will be here and coming up guitarist Eddie Martinez and also OMN’s National Editor Art Levine will be talking to us from Washington D.C.

But now lets turn our attention to the fourth of July and the shores of the Willamette where tens of thousands of fans gather at the Waterfront Blues Festival.

Here’s Peter Dammann to let you in on who’s playing this time around.

As promised, with me in the Café at Artichoke Music is Jennifer Carrizo, Senior Talent Buyer for the Crystal Ballroom, the Mission Theater and the Spanish Ballroom in Tacoma, all part of McMenamin’s wonderfully funky empire.

It’s hard to believe we haven’t had many from the venue management side of de bizz eh nezz. But here we are.

What does a talent buyer do? Senior or not. I’ll tell you this, the reason you can go out and hear music is because the talent buyer has made a deal which brought that band to you.

Let’s meet Jennifer Carrizo.