2017 Willamette Valley Old-Time Social
May 4-7th Schedule of Events!
(Check back frequently, as there may be last-minute changes!)
An Old-Time Kick-off Party
Thursday, May 4th at 7:00pm-Free!
The First National Taphouse
51 West Broadway in Eugene, Ore.
Get started early on your weekend of old-time fun! Come and hear some of Eugene’s finest
brews and bands. 1st National will donate all keg proceeds to Mud City Old-Time Society.
(All-ages until 8pm)
 Lake Toba is a lyrical old-timey duo featuring tight harmonies and strong
instrumentation melded into a unique and intimate experience.
 Slippery Slope String Band plays old-time music, red hot fiddle tunes, as well as
classics from the great American song book.
 Chico Schwall & Friends Folksinger, songpoet and multi-instrumentalist Chico Schwall
plays more music on more instruments than anyone ought to do!
 The Eugene City Barnstormers
wander back roads and small rural
communities sawing and picking for
gatherings of joyful dance: connecting
past, present and future in motion. Do
come dance!
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An Old-Time BBQ Social & Jam Fest
Friday, May 5th
doors open at 5:00pm
$10 suggested donation at the door
(or more if you can!)
Bristling Boar (A private event venue in West Eugene)
RSVP online for details and directions!
Enjoy a truly unique Eugene experience in a one-of-a-kind steampunk barn for jamming, socializing
and feasting on delicious food from 100 Mile Bakery and pasture-raised pork from Deck Family
Farm (we will have veggie options available, too!) Suggested donation for dinner will be $10. Drinks
will be available by donation too. There will be snacking, socializing and jamming from 5pm-midnight!
The Old-Time Social!
Saturday, May 6th from 12:00pm to Midnight -$30 at the door
($20 just for the workshops during the day, $10 just for the evening dance)
The Vet’s Club
1626 Willamette Street in Eugene, Ore.
Details
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Workshops—See Full Schedule on next page!
All day from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Jamming—find your own spot!
(Except in the restaurant, stairwells or other marked zones!)
1:00pm - Hosted Slow Jam with Amy Stinnard - Founder’s Room
Performance—Mac’s Restaurant Stage
7:00pm Maris Otter from Portland, Oregon. Rockin’ old-time!
Evening Square Dance—Ballroom
8:00pm - 11:00pm!
Square dancing with Flat Rock String Band, and Maris Otter with Steph Noll calling!
Please visit the info table to learn more about our generous sponsors! Many thanks!
The Old-Time Social!
Saturday, May 6th from 12:00pm to Midnight -$30 at the door
($20 just for the workshops during the day, $10 just for the evening dance)
The Vet’s Club
1626 Willamette Street in Eugene, Ore.
Workshops:
All workshops are only 50 minutes, long so please get to the room on time and have your
instrument tuned and ready to go (ask to borrow a tuner if you don’t have one!)
Recording devices are strongly encouraged!
Start
End
Room
Instrument
Level
Title
Description
Presenter
1:00
1:50
Lounge
Any acoustic
instrument!
Any level!
Hosted Old-Time
Slow Jam
This is a great place to start if you are
new to old-time jamming. We will cover
the differences between old-time,
bluegrass and Irish jams, explain how
the whole thing works and play a few
tunes together! Welcome!
Amy Stinnard
1:00
1:50
Founder's
Room
Voice
Any level!
Old-Time Harmony
Singing
Learn a few techniques for hearing the
harmony parts and learning to sing with
others!
Kyle
McGonegle
and Liat Lis
1:00
1:50
Ballroom
Fiddle
Intermediate
Making Your Shuffle
Swing - the Secret of
a Little Circle
Learn some techniques to improve your
bowing and pulse in old-time music.
Linnea Spitzer
2:00
2:50
Founder's
Room
Fiddle
Beginning/
Intermediate
Cross Tuning the
Learn some of the most common crossFiddle to Get that Old tunings for fiddle, and some tips and
-Time Sound!
encouragement if you are frightened!
Melissa
Takush
2:00
2:50
Ballroom
Guitar
Beginning/
Intermediate
Old-Time Guitar The guitar is the bedrock of any old-time
Technique and Tricks band or jam, get some hands-on ideas
on fun runs and ways to keep that
rhythm perking along!
Brandon
Olszwewski
3:00
3:50
Founder's
Room
Banjo
Beginning/
Intermediate
Clawhammer Banjo
Technique
Learn some basic clawhammer
technique, if you are new to old-time
banjo, or just new to the banjo in general
you will find many useful tips and ideas.
Brooks Mastin
3:00
3:50
Ballroom
Calling/Square
Dancing
Any level!
Anyone Can Call a
Dance!!!
Learn to call a simple reel and a simple
square by calling together as we dance.
You'll leave with a couple of dances you
can call at the next house party as well
some strategies for learning more.
Steph Noll
4:00
4:50
Ballroom
Any acoustic
instrument!
Intermediate
Pick Up the Pace!
(Playing for Dances)
Learn some tips and techniques for
speeding up the tempo so the dancers
can have some fun! Bust down!
Flat Rock
String Band
The Sunday Farewell Brunch
Sunday May 7th from 12:00pm-3:00pm – Donation!
Fish Hawk Farm (A private event venue in West Eugene)
RSVP for details and directions!
Come on by Fish Hawk farm on your way out of town for coffee and delicious brunch items
from 100 Mile Bakery by donation. Catch a few more tunes before you say goodbye and
head home!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Happy Trails!!!
Mud City Old-Time Society
would like to thank:
Bubbaville, 2Towns Ciderhouse, the Zigzag
Old-Time Campout, 100 Mile Bakery, Deck
Family Farm , The Eugene Barnstormers, and
YOU the many volunteers, supporters,
donators and ticket purchasers! We couldn’t
have done it without you ALL!
Mud City Old-Time Society
is dedicated to supporting traditional oldtime music and dance in the Southern
Willamette Valley. We are run entirely by
volunteers to promote and sponsor
concerts, workshops, jams and square
dances in the community. You can join us
and learn more about the Society at;
www.mudcityoldtime.org
DONATE TO MUD CITY OLD-TIME SOCIETY!
Mud City Old-Time Society Loves Donations!
We are a federally registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed
by law and will be dedicated to promoting old-time music and dance in the Southern Willamette Valley
year-round, including the annual Willamette Valley Old-Time Social! Donations can be made in any
amount, either online at www.mudcityoldtime.org, or with cash or check (to save on processing fees!)
Thanks again for supporting old-time music and dance!
Mud City Old-Time Society
For more information, email: [email protected]
Visit us online at mudcityoldtime.org and like our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MudCityOldTime/
Performer/Presenter Bios!
The Eugene City Barnstormers
For over a decade the Eugene City
Barnstormers have rolled out of
Eugene Oregon exploring the
corners, edges and middles of a
broad social fabric that weaves
together family, friends, place,
history, futures, and communities of
interest with threads of tunes, songs
and stories. The band revels in
playing for energetic dancers and
joyful random episodes of
unexpected live music in ordinary
places. Stay in touch, send a
postcard.
Chico Schwall & Friends
The music of William Chico Schwall reflects the
Midwestern landscape and blue collar family in which he
grew up and shares a uniquely rich palette of musical
colors drawn from an extensive musical career.
Self taught on guitar, Chico absorbed blues and folk,
slide guitar and finger picking. He discovered the
mandolin, banjo, fiddle and flute and expanded his
horizons to include Celtic, Klezmer and World music.
"When i was a kid at recess time I'd go over to the place
where the older kids did the high jump and the pole
vault in gym class. There were two hollow metal posts
set in the ground, with holes drilled in them for the pegs
they used to hold the bar at various heights. When the
wind blew those posts were like two giant randomly
tuned flutes, singing as the wind blew across the holes. I
could sit in the sand pit and listen to them until the
teacher called me in off the playground. Always
changing, always beautiful. I'm surprised everybody
wasn't over there listening."
Flat Rock String Band
The Flat Rock Stringband
plays Old-Time American
stringband music.
Originating before the
commercial recording
industry, before
electricity, radio, and mass
media, Old-Time music is
rooted in a time when
people made their own
entertainment. This
tradition has continued
through the ages much in
the same way. It is not so
much a kind of music that
people perform as a kind
of music that people socialize to. It's a way to turn a living room into a dance hall or a way to enliven a gathering of
friends or family.
As much of a tune session between friends as a band, we play the music in the manner that we imagine the oldtimers must have: to renew themselves after a day of work, to ennoble the joys of the day or to sweeten its
troubles, and to just kick back and enjoy the evening. While the sky unleashes on us Portlanders for six months
straight every year, we're rocking out in living rooms, rental halls, and pubs with fiddles and banjos, dancing, playing
tunes, and enjoying each other's company.
Flat Rock Stringband is: Brooks Masten -banjo, Robin Wilcox -bass, Linnea Spitzer -fiddle, Eric Bagdonas -guitar
Lake Toba is an old timey duo with rich harmonies over beautiful
instrumentation on guitar, banjo and mandolin (no, not all three at
the same time), and haunting original songwriting by Kyle
McGonegle and Liat Tova Lis. They unravel a new story in each
song with clear and heartfelt singing that exposes the emotion
hidden in the verse. Their tight instrumentation brings each song to
another level, as the pair breathes together, not just in their
harmonies, but also through their instruments. Don't miss a chance
to see Lake Toba live; the pair invites listeners into their world
with warm conversation like old friends.
Maris Otter doesn’t have a website with very much information on it, but they are a very rockin’
old-time band from Portland, Oregon!!! Maris Otter featured Brian Bagdonas on fiddle and guitar,
Sean Burke on banjo, fiddle, and vocals, Ryan Fitzpatrick on mandolin, fiddle, and vocals, Andy Sheie
on guitar, fiddle, and vocals, and Lucas Jones on bass.
Brooks Masten has been playing clawhammer banjo since 1992,
and he started making banjos in 1999, while he was living in New
Mexico. He learned under the tutorship of Stephen Owsley Smith,
and also met many local artisans who helped him learn the fine arts
of wood and metal working—key components of his banjos. He is
highly influenced by the banjo makers of the 1880's and you can see
this influence throughout all of his banjo models.
“One of the best things about living in Portland, is being surrounded
by a great old time music community. I have made a lot of banjos for
people in the area at this point and it is very beneficial for me to get
to see first hand, how my banjos hold up after being played a bunch
and traveled around with. I can say with confidence that my banjos
hold up through years of heavy playing and travel. They are work
horses!”
https://www.brooksbanjos.com/about/
Steph Noll called her first dance around 2007 in the
parking lot of Liberty Hall during a workshop given by Bill
Martin. Since then she has enjoyed picking up dances
from fabulous West Coast callers (and occasionally from
a visiting Easterner). She has yet to not feel total delight
at the sight of a hall full of grinning, dancing people.
Playing music with friends and singing and dancing with
her young kids are among her deepest joys, and she’s
thrilled that her six year olds have taken an interest in
dancing squares (in between stage diving and running
circles around the hall.)
The Slippery Slope String Band
The Slippery Slope String Band plays old-time music, including red hot fiddle tunes, as well as classics from
the great American song book.
We love playing square dances, weddings, contra dances, and even some less popular parties like those for
divorces and seances.
2017 Willamette Valley Old-Time Social: Maps, Directions and
Lodging!
Getting to Eugene
Eugene, Oregon is easy to find! If you live North of us, take I-5 South. If you live South of us, take I-5 North. If you
live East or West, you’ll just have to figure it out on your own, but Google Maps is a great resource. Visit our map!
Lodging Options
We didn’t really try at all this year, but we could not secure a lodging sponsor for the Social. Where ever you end
up staying, please let the management know that you are here for the Social and perhaps next year we will be able
to offer discounted rates to our Social-goers! A few folks have explored renting a house on AirBnB
(www.airbnb.com). We’d suggest neighborhoods south of the University of Oregon, the Friendly Neighborhood,
or in the Whiteaker neighborhood if you are looking for “funky”. There is also limited camping at Fish Hawk Farm
in West Eugene, or a few locals who might have a spot for you. Send us an email for details on camping/homestay
info [email protected]
Here are a few other options close-in to the in-town Social venues:
Timbers Motel
1015 Pearl St. Eugene, OR, 97401
1-800-643-4167
http://www.timbersmotel.net/
The Eugene Whiteaker International Hostel
970 W 3rd Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97402-4925
(541) 343.3335
http://eugenehostels.com/
[email protected]
(We spoke with the manager, and he said that it’s possible to book an entire dorm room if you have friends that
want to go in on it together. There may be discounts available in this case!)
Hilton Eugene
66 E 6th Ave, Eugene, OR 97401
Phone: (541) 342-2000