2026 Gathering Performers
Judy Hyman & Jeff Claus ★ Jake Blount ★ Clinton Davis ★ Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms ★ Amy Hofer ★ The Waysiders ★ Caroline Oakley ★ Sue Truman ★ Annika Brooks, River Scheuerell and Gus Tritsch ★ Cookhouse ★ Dan Fish & Sarah Ells Fish ★ Brooks Masten ★ Steph Noll ★ Arlo Leach ★ Old Barn Preservation Society ★ Portland Sacred Harp ★ Marta King ★ Maggie Lind ★ Andy Grummon
judy hyman
Friday Concert and Saturday Fiddle Workshop
jake blount
Friday Concert and Saturday Banjo Workshop
From Ithaca, NY, Judy is a co-founding member of the alt-trad band The Horse Flies, which toured extensively throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe (including appearances on eTown, Prairie Home Companion, All Things Considered, World Café, and Mountain Stage), and recorded many albums (including releases on MCA and Rounder Records). The Horse Flies blended Americana roots and fiddle music with indie rock, ethnic percussion, creative songwriting and a percolating groove.
Judy has a deep love of traditional Appalachian fiddle music and has taught at music camps and programs throughout the U.S. over many decades. Featured twice in Fiddler Magazine, she was also included in their 20th and 25th anniversary celebrations, first in 2014 as one of 20 master fiddlers in their “Fiddlers 20” booklet/cd set and again in 2019 when she was commissioned to write an original waltz in honor of their 25th anniversary.
During the Friday night concert, Judy will be joined by her husband, Jeff Claus, plus brothers Gus and Huck Tritsch of The Wild Shoats.
-Concert at Alberta Abbey: Friday Jan. 16 at 8:00 pm
-Fiddle workshop at Alberta Abbey: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1:15 pm
Jake Blount (pronounced: blunt) is an award-winning scholar and performer of Black folk music based in Providence, RI. Initially recognized for his skill as a string band musician, Blount has charted an unprecedented, Afrofuturist course on his pilgrimage through sound archives and song collections.
Balancing his taste for arcane source material with his desire to reach diverse audiences, Blount has shared his music at venues including Carnegie Hall, Newport Folk Festival, the Library of Congress and NPR’s Tiny Desk. His knowledge and skill have deepened over the course of his still-young career, and his vision has grown more ambitious – but his music has only grown in popular appeal. Starting with his full-length debut Spider Tales (2020), each of Blount’s records has appeared on “best of year” lists from outlets including Bandcamp, The New Yorker, NPR, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone.
-Concert at Alberta Abbey: Friday, Jan. 16 at 8:00 pm
-Banjo workshop at Alberta Abbey: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 2:30 pm
Cookhouse
Friday Bar Band
clinton davis
Saturday Afternoon Concert and Guitar Workshop
Cookhouse includes Portland-based musicians Sophie Enloe, Maggie Lind and Patrick Lind.
-Bar band at Alberta Abbey: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 6:00 pm
Clinton Davis is an old-time folk musician based in San Diego. A fifth-generation Kentuckian, Davis grew up in Carroll County. He currently performs on guitar, banjo, fiddle, harmonica, mandolin, and piano. He has performed at folk festivals across the country. Davis’ skills across instruments and genres have earned him acclaim at home in Southern California and across the country. Stefan Grossman, renowned authority of American roots guitar, has called him “a master…carrying on the traditional music torch of Mike Seeger.” No Depression calls his work “a joyous and soulful restoration of one of the lost treasures of American musical tradition.” Davis is an official artist of the Deering Banjo Company.
-Concert at Alberta Abbey: Saturday Jan. 17 at 3:45 pm
-Guitar workshop at Alberta Abbey: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 12:00 pm
caleb klauder & reeb willms
Thursday Kickoff Show and Saturday Vocal Harmony Workshop
caroline oakley
Caller for Saturday Square Dance
One of the great things about Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms is that they immerse you in the sheer joy of classic country music until all other cares of life fade away. These two originally hail from Washington state, Caleb from the coastal islands and Reeb from the high desert plateau of central Washington. They have come together in music and are two of the most compelling musicians making country roots music in America today. They carry the torch of their music around the world touring as a duo or backed by their cosmic honky tonk band, as well as with the Foghorn Stringband.
-Honky Tonk Kickoff Show: Thursday, Jan. 15 at 8:00 pm at the Spare Room Lounge
-Vocal Harmonies Workshop: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 2:30 pm at the Alberta Abbey
Caroline Oakley is a musician and dance calling machine who has been teaching and calling old-time community square dances for over a decade. She enjoys fiddling, playing guitar, singing old country songs, growing vegetables, sewing, fermenting things, dancing and numerous other forms of physical activity. Caroline is a music educator in Corbett, Oregon, teaching music to young families through Music Together and community square dancing in local school.
-Caller for square dance on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 pm at the Alberta Abbey
the waysiders
Thursday Kickoff Show
sue truman
Crankie and Kids' Show / Mini-Crankie Making Workshop
The Waysiders deliver original country music from Portland, Oregon, featuring the songwriting of Gabrielle Macrae. Sisters Joanna and Gabrielle Macrae front the band with close vocal harmonies of the kind that only happen between siblings, while the band bring a distinctively vintage sound to the new and old music they play. Drawing on the traditions of swing, rock and roll, old time, and rhythm and blues, the Waysiders bring you a new brand of classic country all their own.
-Honky Tonk Kickoff Show: Thursday, Jan. 15 at 8:00 pm at the Spare Room Lounge
Sue Truman has been making, performing, and teaching crankie making for the last 13 years. Her website, The Crankie Factory, has over a million views and is the “go to” place for information. She has presented and performed in Europe and both US and Canadian coasts. At the 2025 Gathering Kids’ Show, Sue will be performing with Jerry Gallaher (banjo, vocals and crankist) and Bruce Reid (guitar, vocals and crankist).
-Crankie and Kids’ Show: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 2:00 pm at the Alberta Abbey
-Mini-Crankie Making Workshop: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 4:00 pm at the Alberta Abbey
amy hofer
Caller for Saturday Square Dance and Teacher for Square Dance Calling Workshop
andy grummon
Caller for Saturday Square Dance
Amy is a seasoned square dance caller, musician and organizer. She has helped put on Dare to be Square in multiple cities, taught string band classes in Berkeley and Portland, and has helped organize Portland’s Every Sunday Square Dance, the Portland Old Time Music Gathering, Centrum’s Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention.
-Caller for square dance on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 pm at the Alberta Abbey
-Square dance calling workshop: Saturday, Jan. 17 at 4:15 pm at the Alberta Abbey
Andy is a banjo player and square dance caller living in Portland. The highlight of their square dance career was calling a gender inclusive dance at the Q Center in 2019. Andy’s goal is to create a supportive and fun dance environment in the service of bringing the joys of square dance to those who may have been traumatized by middle school gym class.
-Caller for square dance on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 pm at the Alberta Abbey
arlo leach
Saturday Jug Band Jam
brooks masten
Sunday Cabaret
Arlo Leach heads up the monthly Portland Jug Band Jam and plays in several jug bands. He plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle and won the jug playing contest at the 2012 Jugapalooza. He has taken an interest in researching pre-War blues musicians, especially those that seem underrated relative to their contributions and has organized gravestone benefit projects for Will Shade, Joe and Charlie McCoy and Charlie Burse, and is helping with a similar project for Earl McDonald.
-Host for jug band jam on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1:00 pm at the Alberta Abbey
Brooks Masten makes amazing banjos, and he plays them as well. As he has the past few years, he’ll be serving as the genial host of our big Sunday Cabaret (Jan. 19 at 1:00 pm at the Spare Room Restaurant and Lounge). His ever-changing array of flamboyant costumes should not be missed!
Portland Sacred harp
Saturday Shape-Note Singing Session
steph noll
Caller for Saturday Square Dance
Shape-note singing is a uniquely American tradition that brings communities together to sing four-part hymns and anthems. It is a proudly inclusive and democratic part of our shared cultural heritage. Participants at Portland Sacred Harp singing sessions are not concerned with re-creating or re-enacting historical events. Our tradition is a living, breathing, ongoing practice passed directly to us by generations of singers, many gone on before and many still living. All participants are welcome, including beginners and newcomers, with no musical experience or religious affiliation required.
-Hosts for shape-note singing on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1:00 pm at the Alberta Abbey
Steph Noll called her first dance around 2007 in the parking lot of Liberty Hall during a workshop given by Bill Martin. Since then she has enjoyed picking up dances from fabulous West Coast callers (and occasionally from a visiting Easterner). She has yet to not feel total delight at the sight of a hall full of grinning, dancing people. Playing music with friends and singing and dancing with her young kids are among her deepest joys, and she’s thrilled that her boys have taken an interest in old time music and square dancing.
-Caller for square dance on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 pm at the Alberta Abbey
sarah ells fish and dan fish
Saturday Instrument Petting Zoo
maggie lind
Caller for Saturday Square Dance
Dan and Sarah will host the Instrument Petting Zoo again this year, on Saturday, Jan. 17 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in the back of the basement ballroom at the Alberta Abbey. The Petting Zoo gives young children a chance to play around with instruments down on their level.
Maggie Lind is a square dance caller, old-time musician and music educator who teaches children and adults and is a founding member of the popular Portland Stringband Class.
-Caller for square dance on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 pm at the Alberta Abbey
marta king
Caller Saturday Square Dance
old barn preservation society
Wednesday Night Jam Hosts
Marta has served on the Sunday Squares Square Dance and Dare to be Square – West! organizing committees and is a square dance caller. She first began calling in 2013 at Dare To Be Square – West! in LA. She is very fond of red lipstick, and aspires to turn every party into a dance party.
-Caller for square dance on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 pm at the Alberta Abbey
Portland-based Old Barn Preservation Society plays old time tunes, as well as gospel and country songs. They like to hoot but love to holler.
-Hosts of “pre-Gathering” jam: Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 pm at the Moon and Sixpence
