Home - Portland Folkmusic Society

Singtime 2025 Registration is Open

Singtime Frolics is PFS's annual in-person music weekend, happening this year Friday through Sunday, March 21-23, 2025, at the Menucha Conference Center in the Columbia Gorge. Our Guest Artists are the duo Shangaied on the Willamette, consisting of Gordy Euler and Jonathan Lay, who specialize in maritime music and songs of the sea. And there will be song circles, workshops, jams, walks in the woods, seeing new and old friends, and generally a fun relaxing restorative time!

Doesn't that sound good now?

Read all about Singtime, and register if you'd like, at PortlandFolkMusic.org/Singtime.

November-December Local Lore!

Lots of good stuff in this issue of Local Lore, because there's lots of good stuff happening at PFS.

First, we are just delighted to announce the launch of “Saturday Mornin’s Music!" - a monthly concert series for children. Under the direction of David Hall, our new Children's Concert Director (photo right), the concerts will be on the third Saturday of every month. David is an educator, song writer and performer, specializing in music for young people. Read about the very first concert in this issue of Local Lore. David led this one, but he has a great line up of performers coming up. Check it out, and bring your grandchildren, children, or siblings (depending on your age). And big thanks and a warm welcome to David!

You'll find a great long article by Casey Casebeer on the Wassail tradition. If you are like a lot of us, you may have sung heard and enjoyed "Here we come a wassailing" without being 100% sure what "wassailing" is. You may even have sung "Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too" - and appreciated the warm inclusive sentiments of the lyrics, but maybe weren't sure what exactly they were on about. Don't worry! Read Casey's lucid article, which even includes a recipe!

T

ake Five! Kevin Nordlie's regular interviews with folk performers this month is a conversation with The Wardens, a group of Canadian Park Rangers, or Wardens, as rangers are called up north. This is a charming interview - three guys with full time jobs who get together and sing and tour. O Canada!

There's lots of news on upcoming concerts - check out the Eastside and Westside Concerts pages of this website for all the details. And, of course, advance notice of Singtime - watch this site for more details of that also.

Finally, an announcement of ELECTIONS! Dear members, and potential members: don't pick up Local Lore and just leaf past the election notice. We invite everyone, including YOU, to take a moment and seriously consider running for the PFS board. Lots of good things are happening now BECAUSE we have a great active board of directors. But we would all love it to be EVEN BETTER. Read the notice and think about it!

Thanks to Kim and the team that make Local Lore possible. And one more thing: Local Lore is available either in paper or digital form. You can always find the digital version on the website under the Resources menu, above, often before the mail version gets to you. If you are a member, you have your choice of paper or digital. It's up to you, but if you would like to get a digital copy sent to you by email instead of paper, just drop a note to Secretary@PortlandFolkMusic.org, and we'll get you set up.

PFS Virtual Song Circle No. CCXLVI

Every Saturday Night, rain or shine, aurora borealis or volcanos, elections, selections, predilections, truth or fictions... a group of folks meets on Zoom for the Virtual Song Circle, or VSC. The virtual doors open at 6:00 PM Pacific Time for schmoozing and tuning, and singing starts at 6:30. There's a group of regulars, and frequent newbies drop in, and sometimes people who have dropped out drop back in. It doesn't make any difference: all people, all songs, are welcome. You can stay for five minutes or five hours. Very relaxed.

If you know all you need to know about the VSCs, just click here to join. Want to know more? There's tons more information here.

Events Calendar

Please check out our events calendar below. Editor Barry Gorden manages to capture almost all the upcoming folk events, but if yours is missing please let us know. The list below shows the next week's events, and is updated continuously.

If you need more, go to the Events menu above and pull down to Folk Calendar. When you go there, you can sort by performances, classes, virtual, radio - whatever you like - and you'll have all the events from now until... well, you'll find everything we know about. If it's not listed here, it's probably not happening.

Since 1976, Portland FolkMusic Society has been active preserving, presenting and promoting folk music and arts in the greater Portland Oregon area. PFS sponsors song circles, concerts, workshops and retreats – in person and virtual – and helps its members and the whole community pass the word around about folk music events, from old time ballads to sea shanties, from 60’s protest folk to contemporary singer-songwriters.

PFS is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Portland FolkMusic Society
P.O. Box 1448
Portland, OR 97207-1448

Ideas or questions for PFS? Here's where to look...

Concerts - Concerts pages (see events menu) or pfs-concerts@portlandfolkmusic.org
Contributions - Donations tab or development@portlandfolkmusic.org
Events Calendar - Events page or eventscalendar@portlandfolkmusic.org
FallSong - Fallsong page (soon) or fallsong@portlandfolkmusic.org
Membership - membership@portlandfolkmusic.org

Newsletter - locallore@portlandfolkmusic.org
Saturday Virtual Song Circle - VSC page, or click here to join
Singtime - singtime@portlandfolkmusic.org
Social Media - socialmedia@portlandfolkmusic.org
Website - Website editor
All other questions - president@portlandfolkmusic.org