Among many great and longstanding KBOO traditions, Saturday morning bluegrass must rate highly, indeed. For decades listeners have tuned in to "Music from the True Vine" for the very best in traditional and modern bluegrass and Americana. This month we get to know an underwriter that has helped bring this program to air for more than a decade, Oregon Bluegrass Association, and I was fortunate to get to spend a bit of time with Chris Palmer, OBA President.
JM: When was the Oregon Bluegrass Association founded?
CP: The OBA was founded in 1982 during one of Steve Waller’s (Sawtooth Mountain Boys) picking parties. Ian Joel, one of the hosts of KBOO’s bluegrass program, “Music from the True Vine,” is another founding member.
JM: What motivated its creation?
CP: The founding members wanted an organization to let people know about when jams, performances, and festivals were happening. Additionally, they wanted to create a community of people who all love bluegrass music.
JM: Whom does OBA serve?
CP: Anyone who likes bluegrass. We have many members who play an instrument and almost as many who don’t. The commonality is just the love of the sound of a banjo, mandolin, dobro, guitar, and bass playing together. An appreciation for both traditional and progressive bluegrass, of course, but it has to be bluegrass. Age-wise, we’re an older group of people, though that’s changing. We now see many new members who are in their 40s that have picked up an instrument or just enjoy the music. Adult learners are also very present. Because the bluegrass community is probably the nicest bunch of people you’ve ever met, no one is made to feel inferior as a player. Everyone is welcome and we love new people.
The other area we serve are kids ages 7 to 15. Chick Rose began a program that utilized peer instructors to teach kids to play. When Chick passed away suddenly, Stacey Harnew-Swanson picked up where he left off and continues takes “Chick’s Kids,” as it’s now called, on the road to most festivals. She also hosts a monthly instructional session at her ranch in Sherwood, OR.
This last year we began the “Steve Waller Scholarship Fund.” One of the things those funds will be used for is to support musicians who may have a showcase opportunity at IBMA but just can’t afford to get there. There are other ways that the fund can help people who are in this community of bluegrass music.
JM: As a membership organization, how do you recruit new members and officers?
CP: The OBA has a presence at almost every festival throughout the summer. Our booth has hats, shirts, stickers, fun meters, and of course membership forms. It only costs $25 to join for the year and members get discounted tickets to all of the OBA’s functions. We also produce a monthly email that includes all bluegrass events in Oregon and Washington. In addition, we have a very active website at oregonbluegrass.org
JM: What are some of the ways that new members can become involved?
CP: Great question. We have plenty of things that we rely on volunteers for, ranging from watching the booth for a few hours during a festival to open committee positions. Right now, we could use a person to take over the sales of ads for The Express, which is our award winning publication about all things bluegrass. It focuses on local people in the music community and issues and changes in the world of bluegrass.
JM: How have the changes in the last several decades regarding Portland growth, music distribution technology, etc. affected OBA?
CP: The music has become much more accessible but we’re all aware of the fact that the artists and songwriters are not making what they should be if they make use Pandora, Spotify or other digital music sources. I’ve always felt too that I like my music to be curated, which we get with KBOO’s Music From The True Vine. We all love the fact that we’re hearing that particular host’s selection and maybe we haven’t heard that tune before. And since you’ve got such a great library, the host can find just about any artist and it’s there. One of my personal goals is to support Music Millenium and other stores that sell CDs and EPs. If we don’t, those stores are going to disappear and that would be a shame. If we hear an artist play live, we all know that we can buy their CD after the concert. That’s an important source of support for that artist. On the other hand, that CD goes into your iTunes catalog or .mp3 player where you can pull it up so fast. I love that.
JM: What are some of your signature and/or upcoming events?
CP: So glad you asked. Our signature event is the Sonny Hammond Gospel Show, which takes place on the last Saturday in January. Our events have broadened quite a bit during the past 10 years. When Colby Buswell was president, he founded the OBA’s Picker’s Fest, a weekend to camp and just hang out and play. Non-players are welcome to come, listen to the jammers and enjoy the open mic. This year will be its 9th and takes place at the ZigZag Mountain Farm on August 26-29, 2016. During the past two years, the OBA has also begun a concert series with national artists that are on their way through Portland. 90% of the revenue goes to the band.
JM: What made you decide to promote OBA through program underwriting at KBOO?
CP: We support KBOO for kind of obvious reasons – you offer programming that is all bluegrass. I hear from people who don’t know I’m involved in the OBA or even in bluegrass for that matter, who listen faithfully every Saturday. It’s surprising sometimes when you hear that. Bluegrass is a compelling form of music anyway and to get three whole hours of it is a treat. When I was producing the River City Festival (2005-2012), we underwrote both Music from the True Vine and the Grateful Dead show that follows. It provided a tremendous boost to our attendance. Same with the OBA – all of our events are there and it definitely helps spread the word.
JM: If OBA had a magic wand, what would be your wish?
CP: These are just my personal wishes: we have a Southern Oregon chapter but I’d love to see other chapters started to represent other parts of Oregon. So if someone in say, Eugene, is reading this, think about it. The OBA is a social club. We do nothing very serious. The point is to have fun.
JM: What else should we know about the Oregon Bluegrass Association?
CP: Even though most of the board members live in Portland, we are the OREGON Bluegrass Association. We have a southern Oregon chapter headed up by Liz Crain. That chapter is very active and has festivals, jams and meetings. We strive to not be Portland-centric but it takes outreach to other areas. We’re a resource – if you want to take lessons and need the name of an instructor for guitar, banjo, mandolin, etc, we can refer you to one in your area. If you want to hire a band, there’s a list on the website.
Thank you to all our underwriters. Become an underwriter or see a complete list of our business partners by following the links below:
Oregon Bluegrass Association
P.O. Box 1115
Portland, Oregon 97207