Back to the top

Blog

Waterbound

Waterbound

Waterbound brings together Steve Akerman and Mimi Geibel, and they bring us new twists to fiddle tunes, folk, and Celtic-inspired music, as well as Metis, Canadian, and Swedish tunes with an unusual combination of instruments.  Playing mandolin and autoharp, they will tug at your emotions with that Celtic sense of longing, wonder and joy.  Mimi and Steve layer beautiful melodies in what they call their “vertical medleys.”  Their music travels the high seas of the restless heart; from the British Isles, and round the Horn to San Francisco.  From rollicking sea chanteys to melodies of love and longing, they will carry you on a journey of life, passion and fiddle tunes.

You may learn more about Waterbound and their music at:

Website:  www.waterboundmusic.com/

Website:  www.goodnaturedautoharp.com

YouTube:  Lady Manx Celticzephyr

Trillium

Trillium

Some unions are just destined to be.  Friends of friends connected us back in 1995, and soon, Betsy Wellings, Lisa Marie Kuhlman and Aileen Denton had joined together in a well-blended 3-part harmony folk venture, performing throughout the Puget Sound at local venues, events, festivals, and on the radio.  We chose the beautiful tri-petaled trillium from this lovely region as our theme, and emerged one Spring in the bountiful environs of Olympia’s folk music community, flowering into a well-known vocal group, Trillium, developing a musical and personal friendship that has endured over time, through years of joyful rehearsals and frequent performances, family transformations, careers, children, marriages and divorces — and then years of separation.  Now we’re all in retirement and we’ve dusted off our old music sheets, pulled out new ones, and are back with a loving resolve, ready and excited to share our best with you: songs familiar and original; warm harmonies and musical tales of love, woe, confirmation, and an occasional errant relative or vehicle.

Lisa Marie Kuhlman grew up in a musical family where singing was a part of daily life, from helping make doing the dishes more fun to staving off the inevitable “When are we going to get there?” on road trips.  This translated into performing at weddings, in coffee houses and lounges as a single act in college, and later in various duos and trios throughout the years.  Music was also a wonderful tool during her 30+ years in public education as a way to build community while developing language patterns, performance and audience skills.  Recently reunited with the other two petals of Trillium and currently a member of The Olympia Peace Choir, Lisa Marie continues to thrive on the food for the soul that is playing music with and for family, friends, and the community at large.

Betsy Wellings has been performing in local venues for more than 40 years, in various configurations of duos and trios, and as a solo act.  She has always loved to sing, starting at home with family, later at summer camp, with choirs and in Mexican restaurants, and eventually at open mics, folk venues and even bars.  Betsy has two full-length recordings to her credit and an online presence that includes international radio broadcasts and digital downloads.  Her broad repertoire includes her own originals, children’s music, songs in Spanish, and her favorite selections from a variety of genres.  Newly retired from primary music teaching, she is over the moon at collaborating again with her fellow members of Trillium.

Aileen Denton has been singing always.  Originally from a tiny town in the High Sierras, she’s lived in the Northwest since 1985.  She’s performed at weddings, funerals, in bars and taverns, countless open mikes, at festivals and house concerts, in community choir and on radio, an occasional Karaoke and around the campfire at a cowboy pack station.  She’s sung in folk and country groups, blues bands, jazz ensembles, given solo performances, and teamed up with other vocalists and musicians as a lead and support vocalist, somehow ending up onstage with Masterworks Choral Ensemble, Merilee Rush, the Duffy Bishop Band, Seattle Women in Rhythm & Blues, and Mary Wells.  Charmed and energized by the potential of one voice and the joyful work of developing harmonies and strong musical messages, she’s committed to creative musical teamwork and honoring the role of audiences.  Back now with her “besties” in lovely 3-part harmony folk trio Trillium, she’s delighted to sing favorites and new songs wherever possible.

Thaddeus Spae

Thaddeus Spae

Thaddeus Spae:  A forty-year veteran of the folk wars, award-winning singer/songwriter Thaddeus Spae is an innovative, eclectic entertainer who mixes unreliable narratives with songs ranging from humorous and deftly satiric to inspirational, literate, and allusive.  He accompanies himself with precise exuberance on an improbable assortment of instruments, including 12 string guitar, harmonica, trombone, banjolin, ukulele, guitarron and percussion — sometimes several at once.  Thaddeus is an arranger, a writer, a technician, and a great side man when not leading his own band.  He brings an unusual jazz influence on songs and provides melodic interludes.

You can learn more about Thaddeus and his music at his website, http://tspae.com/.

Skweez the Weezle

Skweez the Weezle

Skweez The Weezle played their first Tumbleweed Music Festival performance in 1999, and have played every live festival since, along with a virtual performance in 2021.  The band salutes the organizers and volunteers for putting on this annual event!  We play Celtic music in traditional and our own styles.  Our gigs have taken us throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

You may learn more about Skweez the Weezle and their music at:  http://www.skweeztheweezle.com.

Sillertides

Sillertides

Many folksongs and ballads are built around a conversation between two or more characters, and the singing may be shared by different people, clearly differentiating the characters and bringing them and their story to life.

The Sillertides are Linn Phipps (of Stornoway, Scotland) and Doug Huggins (of Colorado Springs, Colorado), who offer live zoom shared-singing of these types of songs.  These song partners, while 5,000 miles apart, interact in the song as if they were both in the same place.  Their most recent video concert performance, at Spring Harmony, received “rave reviews.”

You may learn more about Sillertides and their music at their website, https://www.linnphippsfolk.co.uk .

Russell Bartlett

Russell Bartlett

The Famous Lost Words of Russell Bartlett

By Richard Smith, Metroplex Insights

Veteran songwriter-troubadour Russell Bartlett, who grew up in rural Washington state, made his debut at South by Southwest in 1998.  Bartlett says he started writing songs when he was a young child.  “I still remember the very first one,” he laughs.  “We lived on the Tulalip Reservation, and I made up a song about this Native American fellow I used to see when I’d go to the grocery store with my mother.  It was terrible, but I think I was only six or seven years old!”

Bartlett later attended the University of Washington, earning an English degree and singing with a Seattle alternative rock band called Bundle of Hiss.  Little did he know the force by which the “Grunge” explosion was about to burst on Seattle.  Regardless, the style of music he secretly admired was the one his mother had introduced him to as a child.  “She played Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall, Jim Reeves, Waylon Jennings—even a little Dylan.  Guess I was ashamed to admit it as a Seattle Punk, but that stuff just seeped into my consciousness as a kid.  And I really grew to love it later.  That was the kind of songwriting I wanted to do.”

After college, Bartlett worked in journalism and advertising, eventually landing a job at the American Statesman and moving his family to the Austin area.  But songwriting remained the pursuit that most animated him.  In 1996 he landed a small recording deal with the tiny Republic of Texas Records, working a nine-to-five job and raising his family by day, recording and performing the Austin club circuit after hours.  “That was exhausting,” he laments.  “I spread myself way too thin and wasn’t doing anything particularly well.  It was sort of a recipe for failure.  But to paraphrase Tom T. Hall, ‘when you love something enough, you go where your heart wants to go.’”

Bartlett went on to record a handful of records of original material over a span of almost twenty years, backed by some of Austin’s finest musicians and praised by some of its most noteworthy critics.  He toured in the U.S., and Europe, including several folk festivals and opening for the likes of Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Guy Clark, Mickey Newbury, Billy Joe Shaver, Johnny Rodriguez and Townes Van Zandt (In his liner notes for Bartlett’s 1997 album, One Hand on The Plow, Van Zandt wrote “exceptionally good songs, I wish I’d written them”).  Some of these artists were Bartlett’s songwriting heroes, and to have become their acquaintance was a dream come true.

But as many aspiring artists will attest, art is a demanding mistress.  In 2014, Bartlett largely quit performing live to focus on family and other pursuits.  He still writes, records and publishes original material.  “Whether a blessing or a curse, songs just show up at my door like strangers,” he muses.  “Probably always will.  Some refuse to be ignored.  So, you gotta let ‘em in, ya know?  See what they have to say.  I should probably consider moving.”

R B

R B

R B is a multi-instrumentalist who grew up in Florida, went to high school in Maryland and joined the Navy in ’92 & is now a retired Chief.  He has been happily married since 1999.   Several years ago, friends who were on the same ship taught R B the major guitar chords.  While stationed in the UK, R B played gigs, mostly open mic nights, with pals JJ, Matt and Brian.  He was also rhythm guitarist for the band JJ Ryan.

In 2007, R B finished recording the debut CD, “Acoustic Rambling.” Matt Mann, helped R B record three of the songs on the CD.  In late 2007 / early 2008, R B went through some life changing medical problems, which inspired many of the songs on my second CD, The Balance.  His hope is that the music gives whoever listens hope during hard times.  In 2009, a five song EP, “Things Hidden” was released.

2010 was highlighted by several live performances, appearances on Blog Talk Radio and the release of the third full length album “Things Hidden Things Revealed” which has sold copies in the United States, Belgium, France, Czechia, New Zealand and Australia.

2011 saw new album of original songs by R B, “Back to You” was released in March.  The songs were mastered at XSIV Studios by Matthew Mann!

In 2012, R B performed live more often than any other year to date.

The album “From the Basement to the Ceiling” was recorded and released in 2018.  Following promotion of live performances, R B returned to the top spot on Denver’s ReverbNation Christian Rock charts in late February and early March of 2017. “Feel That Way” was released in March 2014 and in September of the same year, R B reached #1 on the Christian Rock ReverbNation charts for Denver.  The instrumental “Basswriter” was also added exclusively to R B’s Soundcloud page in October.

2019 was a busy year with the release of the “Sight” EP and Saint Patrick’s Day Performance at Cervantes The Other Side in Denver.

In 2021, R B joined Westword Award winning band Pilot Haus as the new bass player.

In 2022, R B was excited to perform live again, notably during the Run The Rocks Event at the Historic Red Rocks Amphitheater and the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival in July.

So Far in 2023, R B released the single, “It’s Only Life,” and has continued live performances at The Glendale Folk & Heritage Festival and FACC Denver.

Mike Murray

Mike Murray

Mike Murray has been playing folk, country, and original acoustic music pretty much all his life.  He’s won the Tumbleweed Songwriting Contest twice, performed at nearly every Tumbleweed Festival since the first one, and at other festivals such as Seattle’s Folklife, the Alaska Folk Festival, and others.  He’s played with the Smelter Rats, Smoke Creek, Brownsville Road, Idyll Hands, and solo.  A few years ago, the Kingston Trio  covered his “Grandpa Held the Snakes,” which also was a Tumbleweed Songwriting winner one year.

You can learn more about Mike’s music at his website, http://www.smokecreek.com/.

Megan Cronin

Megan Cronin

Portland based multi-instrumentalist Megan Cronin plays folk music at its most vulnerable, showing the tender underbelly of the human experience. Inspired by artists as varied as Tori Amos, Billie Holiday, Sarah Watkins, Brandi Carlile, and Nick Drake, she focuses on alluring melodies and smooth vocal lines that are powerful even without her poignant and often heart wrenching lyrics. 

Megan’s first musical love was classical violin. In 2008 she moved to Portland, Oregon and started violin playing in various rock and folk groups while studying both violin and viola. After several years of playing in these groups and dabbling in singing and composing, she decided to teach herself guitar as a tool to expand her songwriting. Today she performs regularly as a singer songwriter as well as teaches violin, viola and voice lessons.

In early 2021 Megan was diagnosed with a movement disorder which forced her to stop playing music altogether for much of the year. After ample rehabilitation and patience, Megan is happy to be back playing music for audiences again. Songwriting has become a survival tactic of sorts to process the immense emotions surrounding this life-altering diagnosis, which is reflected in her recent body of work.

You may learn more about Megan and her music at:

http://megancroninmusic.com

https://instagram.com/MeganDawnViola

https://facebook.com/MeganCroninMusic

Jerry Callahan

Jerry Callahan

Jerry Callahan is a singer/songwriter/guitarist from Kennewick.  He grew up in Western Massachusetts and started playing electric guitar in his teens.  He led several rock bands in Holyoke and Amherst MA in the 70s and 80s, playing the college circuit and building a repertoire of original rock and blues tunes.

After relocating to the Pacific Northwest in the late 90s, Callahan started playing acoustic guitar, performing at open mics and farmer’s markets around the area.  His acoustic music reflects his love for acoustic blues, his Irish heritage, and artists such as Neil Young, Jorma Kaukonen, and Nick Drake.

You may learn more about Jerry and his music at https://jerrycallahan.bandcamp.com/

© 2021 Tumbleweed Music Festival - Sponsored by Three Rivers Folklife Society & the City of Richland | Co-sponsored by Northwest Public Broadcasting, OneWorld Telecommunications, Southam Creative, Print Plus, Artmil Design, and Gearhead Grip and Electric.
Skip to content