Rebecca Lomnicky

July 12, 2011

It took Rebecca a whole year to convince her parents that she was ready for violin lessons, but her persistence paid off when she started classical violin training at age 5.  In 2000, she discovered Scottish fiddling at a Suzuki Violin Camp.

In 2005, she won the Junior Division of the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Competition, which was judged by three judges including Bonnie Rideout.  In 2006 Rebecca recorded her first CD, The Call, praised by "Dirty Linen" magazine. She received a State level piano ensemble medal (2007, 2008),  the Corvallis Folklore Society Music Award  (2007, 2008, 2010) given to the high school student who best exemplifies the performance of music in the folk tradition, and the Goldie Rogers Award (2007, 2008. 2009) for original music composition. In 2008, Rebecca was selected to play in the Oregon All-State Honors Orchestra and travelled to Italy with the Camerata Strings Orchestra. 
In 2009, Rebecca won the 20th Annual Glenfiddich International Scottish Fiddle Championship held November 1st at Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Scotland.  The invitation only championship - seen as the Grammys of the fiddling world-  is widely regarded as the most prestigious in Scottish fiddle.  She was also selected for the Oregon All-State Honors Orchestra, the MENC All NW High School Honors Orchestra, and the Fiddler's Showcase at the NW Folklife Festival. 

 In 2010 , Rebecca was honored to be selected again to the Oregon All-State Honors Orchestra and by the Corvallis Folklore Society for their Music Award.  She received the AXA/ US News and World Report Achievement Award for academics and music and was one of four students selected by the Oregon Music Hall of Fame for a special scholarship.

Chibuku

July 19, 2011

Chibuku,acoustic World Beat dance band, plays a unique blend of Zimbabwean, Senegalese, and Congolese dance music, including many dynamic and melodic originals in these styles. This is a high energy feet hot guitar driven band bringing innovative arrangements and harmonized guitar sounds to the sweet Soukous music from the Congo, a style rarely hear outside of Africa.

Halie Loren

July 26, 2011

The first thing you notice is that voice: deep and rich and warm, gorgeous, graceful, and somehow earthy and ethereal at once. It is an instrument perfectly pitched and primed to each line, with each audible breath.  Authentic is an adjective that rushes to mind—emotionally authentic, which, really, is the key to great jazz and great art in general. Not the play-it-safe jazz of mall-bound Musak, but the real deal. Think Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday and Joni Mitchell, or, more recently, Diana Krall, Norah Jones.  In a relatively brief span of time, Loren appears to have achieved enough success and received enough kudos to define an entire career. Since her stage debut at the age of ten at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Alaska, Loren has continued to wow and woo audiences. And she has garnered more than her share of in-the-know acknowledgment, both critical and professional: from the Female Rising Star and Alternative Entertainer awards she won before she was 16, to later awards from such worthies as Billboard International and the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, up to her most recent award for "Best Vocal Jazz Album" at the 2009 Just Plain Folks Music Awards. Loren’s debut release, Full Circle (2006), was hailed for exhibiting “a power and grace that are nearly unheard of in popular music.” Still, for all she has already accomplished, it is what lies ahead that should truly thrill any fan of Loren’s music.  Her music was taken on-board for national distribution with Burnside Distribution, and has also caught fire in the Japanese music market in the past few months. Her star continues to be on the rise in Japan and around the world, with her recent signing to JVC/Victor Entertainment (Japan) signifying the start of a new phase for her international career. She just released a new album "Stages" (a live CD, released internationally on 3/16/10), and on 5/19/10, in conjunction with JVC/Victor, re-released a deluxe version of ‘They Oughta Write Song’ in Japan, which has remained in the Top 10 on Amazon Japan and HMV for the past year, and was deemed the #4 jazz CD for the entire year of 2010 on the Amazon Japan jazz charts.

Allison Scull & Victor Martin

August 9, 2011

ALLISON SCULL and VICTOR MARTIN are one of the most 'dynamic duos' to ever hit the music scene. They sound like no one else, and bring us a refreshing new flavor all their own. Blending the sounds of jazz, folk, Latin, blues and R&B in original material and classic standards, they put an entirely new twist on contemporary music. As a duo, Scull and Martin have shared the stage with Tuck and Patti, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Craig Chaquico, Shana Morrison, Archie Lee Hooker, Kelly Joe Phelps, blues legend John Hammond, and most recently, Acoustic Alchemy. The duo were also selected to perform at the famed Derby in Hollywood at The International Music World Series music awards. They have garnered wonderful reviews where ever they go.

Conjugal Visitors

August 16, 2011

Conjugal Visitors shows are always a hoot. With their unique mix of mountain dance music, bluegrass, jazz, jug band, and good old rock 'n' roll, The Conjugal Visitors always rage. And judging from the massive crowds that keep showing up to their gigs all over the Northwest, and the fact that they were voted Best Acoustic Band in the Eugene Weekly's "Best of Eugene" reader's poll, it seems like there is an ever growing crew of people who know that there's always a good time to be had with The Conjugal Visitors! These boys are hot musicians and great singers, and they aren't shy about putting it on display during explosive marathon sets of tightly woven arrangements and jazzy improvisation. Watching them perform makes you feel like you've stumbled into a free-wheeling living room jam session party, but the talent and polish soon shine through the laid back attitude. 2010 was another fine year for the Visitors. Highlights included playing opening sets for Maria Muldaur and the Asylum Street Spankers.  Genres from old time country to swing to tango to rollicking Russian folk music. Mainly it's good clean fun. Here's to lots more singin', dancin', pickin', and grinnin' yet to come!

John Shipe

August 23, 2011

In John's own words -
My last album, Yellow House got praise and airplay two years running—charting in the States, Europe, Australia and NewZealand. My follow-up, Villain is better; a multi-genred Freeform Americana album, enriched with mandolin, fiddle, trumpet, piano, and lap steel slide. Not to mention glockenspiel and ukulele. (“Only he could make an album so diverse without appearing schizophrenic.” –Eugene Register Guard). I alternate between acoustic and electric albums.  At 100 gigs a year for over a decade, I have been on bills with Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Cake, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Jerry Joseph, Jimmy Cliff, Derek Trucks, Los Lobos, Hootie & The Blowfish, Patty Larkin, John Fahey, Rusted Root, and more. My music has been used in feature films, including Drinking Games and Pizza Girl. Two songs appear in the 2009 AOF award-winning Vicktory to the Underdog, nominated for Best Soundtrack. One of which (“Pit Bull Blues”) has received over a million hits from listeners online. I’ve written 250 songs and released 10 albums. Thirty Shipe tunes have rotated on 100 independent and commercial radio stations.

Blackbird

August 30, 2011

Blackbird was formed in early 2009 when Steve Redig and son, Gabriel, joined with bassist Ole Bentz and drummer Steve Vallee with the common goal of playing some of rock's best classics. Knowing that the band's appreciation for the Beatles' catalog of songs was shared by so many, they focused on a Beatles heavy song list that would allow the band to play a full 3 hours of live Beatles if requested. Over time, the song list expanded to include many non-Beatles songs that reflected the tastes of the band members as well as the requests of clients who hired them. In 2010, the band expanded to include a dedicated sound engineer named Jason Raabe. This addition allowed the band to focus on performing, while feeling confident that the sound they were projecting was in good hands. After playing together for so long, all members of Blackbird enjoy sharing a stage with each other and it shows.