Turning Tides Music: House Concerts
Ken Waldman: The Alaskan Fiddle Poet, April 28, 2026
70 E Howard Ave, Eugene
Ken Waldman has drawn on his 30 years in Alaska to produce poems, stories, and fiddle tunes that combine into a performance uniquely his.
A former college professor, Waldman has had published six full-length poetry collections, a memoir, a children’s book, and has released nine CDs that mix old-time Appalachian-style string-band music with original poetry. Since 1995 he’s toured full-time, performing at some of the nation’s leading universities, festivals, arts centers, and clubs.
His most recent books are the memoir, Are You Famous? which chronicles Waldman’s adventures on tour throughout the United States, and D is for Dog Team (Nomadic Press, 2009), a sequence of Alaska-set acrostic poems for young readers. Nashville Scene has called the memoir, “a travel guide for aspiring free spirits.” The University of Alaska Press, which distributes the children’s book, says D is for Dog Team is destined to “be a fireside treasure for the whole family.”
Shanna in a Dress, May 14, 2026
70 E Howard Ave, Eugene
Shanna in a Dress was pronounced the winner of the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Songwriting Contest and will be performing with a full band at the 2023 Rocky Mountain Folks Fest. In 2020 alone, Shanna was a winner in the Kerrville New Folk competition, winner of the Great River Folk Fest Song Competition, a finalist at Songwriter Serenade, and a Grassy Hill Emerging Artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.
During the summer of 2021, Shanna bicycled from Seattle to Boston while music-touring on her epic “Tour de Dress,” playing over 60 shows from coast to coast and partnering up with the global non-profit Pangaea World Foundation.
In May 2022, her debut record “Robot” was released after a wildly successful crowdfunded campaign years earlier. She was the winner She has most recently been seen gracing the stages of Kerrville Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Black Bear Americana Fest, Great River Folk Fest, and the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Tom Prasada-Rao called her “Kerrville’s fastest rising star” and she’s certainly delightfully unique and is one to watch in the future.
Simon Crisman and Tristan Clarridge, May 29, 2026
Maple Landing, 246 Ivanhoe Ave, Eugene
Multi-instrumentalist Tristan Clarridge is a 5-time Grand National Fiddle Champion and a pioneering cellist, synthesizing traditional folk influences with rhythmic vocabulary from jazz, rock and pop music, and leading a revolution among adventurous young cellists throughout the country. He has toured the world with bluegrass/nu-folk sensation Crooked Still and Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, as well as Mike Marshall, Bruce Molsky and Cape Breton fiddle phenomenon Natalie MacMaster. Hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman brings a whole new approach to an instrument that has previously been thought to have limited range and technique. His inventive virtuosic touch and sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities are redefining the instrument and earning the attention of musicians from all over the world. Together, they weave a tapestry of sound all their own, drawing on roots in bluegrass, Celtic, jazz and old-time traditions. While today’s new breed often produces an amalgamation of sounds and styles based on a distant view. They were raised embedded in these traditions… raised to mold, meld, shape them and carry them forward, leaving their own indelible marks in the process. With Tristan’s grounding cello wrapped around Simon’s ethereal dulcimer, they have created a never-before-heard sound in American music. No tricks. No pyrotechnics. Instrumental voices, united in their musical exploration.
Playdate Trio, June 4, 2026
70 E Howard Ave, Eugene
The Playdate Trio: Marla Fibish, Rebecca Richman, and Lewis Santer
The Playdate Trio weaves together mandolin, fiddle, and bouzouki into something greater than the sum of its parts—locked-in, interwoven, and full of joyful mischief. Marla’s mandolin and mandola, Rebecca’s fiddle and concertina, and Lewis’s artful bouzouki and guitar, create a sound built on deep listening and shared musical intuition. Rooted in Irish traditional music, they also bring life to original tunes from Marla and their tunesmith friends, along with threads from other traditional styles.
All three are accomplished musicians in their own right. Marla has cultivated a thriving community of mandolin students. Rebecca draws on her music studies at Mills College and years of teaching experience. Lewis is a master luthier who has been building and repairing acoustic instruments since 1986, and has played in traditional Irish bands for decades.
The trio grew out of Marla and Rebecca’s 2025 duo album, Playdate, which featured Lewis’s bouzouki. What began as a guest appearance revealed a musical chemistry too good to leave in the studio—and the Playdate Trio was born.
“…absorbing and rewarding…played with a lightness of touch and a togetherness which is a joy to hear.” — Alex Monaghan, Irish Music Magazine