THE BEGINNING See Getting Organized – by Don Firth – founding of the Pacific Northwest Folklore Society in 1953. After a rough beginning during the turbulent years of the McCarthy “Red Scare,” the Society became inactive by the early ‘60s.
SECOND ACT Fast forward to 2007. Don Firth and Bob Nelson, two founding members of the Society in 1953, and I decided to revive it. Our first event was a house concert with Jeff Warner, a world-class folklorist and folk singer from New Hampshire. He had trouble finding a venue in Seattle, and we thought it was time to revive the Society in order to present and preserve the more traditional folk music and provide a venue for traditional folk musicians, particularly those from our region.
We began monthly Coffeehouse Concerts in 2008, first in a small coffeehouse near Green Lake, then at a café in Crown Hill, at the Wayward Coffeehouse (now gone) in Greenwood, and finally at the Couth Buzzard since May, 2010. We also began occasional Sunday afternoon concerts at the Everett Public Library in 2009. Over those years we have presented local performers such as the Canote Brothers, Squirrel Butter, Pint & Dale, Tania Opland & Mike Freeman, Morgan & Graves, Reggie Miles, Carolyn Cruso, Sara Comer, Alice Stuart, Kate MacLeod & Kat Eggleston, Dale Russ, and many others. We have also attracted some outstanding nationally-recognized performers such as Claudia Schmidt, Kate Power & Steve Einhorn, Debra Cowan, Curtis & Loretta, Small Potatoes, Eleanor Ellis, Cindy Mangsen & Steve Gillette, in addition to Jeff Warner. We even presented three international artists, Brian Peters from England, and a prize-winning country blues duo, Max DeBernardi & Veronica Sbergia, from Italy. The Couth Buzzard is now a sought-after intimate venue for many outstanding musicians. As I look back, what we began in 2007 has far exceeded my modest expectations. We fill an important niche in the local live music scene. Stewart Hendrickson
WALT ROBERTSON –Seattle Folksinger by Don Firth
HISTORICAL ARCHIVES (Old Posters)
SEATTLE FOLKSINGERS
THOSE WHO LED THE WAY
Inside Everett: Interview with Folksinger Bob Nelson
BALLADS AND BOOKS – FOLKLORE FOLK MUSIC
OF THE NORTHWEST – KCTS-TV Show, Jan. 20, 1959
BALLADS AND BOOKS – HOOTENANNIES
KCTS-TV Show, Jan. 27, 1959
PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOLKLORE – PAUL ASHFORD
ARTICLES REPRINTED FROM THE VICTORY REVIEW:
EARL ROBINSON – SEATTLE-BORN COMPOSER/SONG WRITER/ACTIVIST (January, 2008)
PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOLKLORE SOCIETY– CONCERT REVIEW (December, 2007)
DON FIRTH & BOB NELSON IN CONCERT AGAIN (October, 2007)
THE WALT ROBERTSON I KNEW – Part 1 (June, 2006)
THE WALT ROBERTSON I KNEW – Part 2 (July, 2006)
RIVERS OF WASHINGTON (August, 2005)
JAMES STEVENS – PAUL BUNYAN AND THE FROZEN LOGGER
(November, 2005)
PADDY GRABER – A LIVING TRADITION (March, 2004)
KLEZMER IN SEATTLE (November, 2002)
SONGS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST (August, 2002)
LIVING TRADITIIONS (May, 2002)
WALT ROBERTSON – SEATTLE FOLKSINGER (2002)