Kevin Burke & Cal Scott in Concert

Press Release

Tolovana Arts Colony Contact: Billy Hults: 503.436.2915
2 September 2007 billy [at] upperleftedge.com


Kevin Burke and Cal Scott in Concert

The Village Voice calls him “probably the greatest Irish fiddler living.” On Saturday, September 15th, the North Oregon Coast will find out why. Tolovana Arts Colony presents Kevin Burke and long time friend Cal Scott, Portland guitarist and composer, performing in concert in Cannon Beach. Yes, this is big doings.

Burke, who now lives in Portland, has been a major figure in Irish music for 30 years, having performed as a soloist and member of the Bothy Band, Patrick Street and The Celtic Fiddle Festival. In 2002, he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in acknowledgment of his contributions to traditional music. How this influential world musician came to Portland is a story worth the telling.

Sometime in the 70s, Burke walked into a pub in County Clare and heard a group of Americans playing music. Arlo Guthrie and friends had played some gigs in England and were poking around Ireland looking for music. Noticing Burke’s fiddle case, they asked him to join them and wound up sitting all day on a clifftop in Quilty, enjoying the sunshine, the sea air and each other’s music. Arlo invited Burke to come to Massachusetts. Burke accepted and wound up playing with Guthrie’s friend, Ry Cooder and contributing a couple of tracks on Guthrie’s album, “The Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys”. Burke also met Hoyt Axton who told him over and over he should take a look at Oregon. On a subsequent tour to the US, he did. “Twenty years after first setting foot in Oregon, I am still living here and often think how right Hoyt had been.”

Cal Scott is a native Oregonian who has played folk, rock and jazz for three decades, recorded and produced more than 20 CDs (including 9 with The Trail Band). A respected film composer, he has provided the scores for more than 30 documentaries for PBS. In 2006, his soundtrack CD from “Scotland’s Lighthouses” took fourth in the Celtic Instrumental Album of the Year Awards.

Burke met Cal Scott while working on a documentary about “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland. Scott had been commissioned to compose the score and brought Burke on as a consultant. It was just the beginning of a musical relationship whose most recent result is “Across the Black River”, a CD produced in Oregon. A melding of reels, jigs and hornpipes, a couple of waltzes Scott penned, a reworking of a Bill Monroe bluegrass standard and an air Phil Cunningham wrote in remembrance of his brother.
The Irish Times has this to say: “This latest venture, where (Burke’s) precision Sligo fiddle style is embroidered by guitarist Cal Scott, is a masterclass in finesse: a gorgeous, swinging collection, reeking of live performance.” The New York Times calls it “one of the top twelve notable world music releases of the year...(Burke is) one of the great living Celtic fiddlers.”

Saturday, September 15th, 7pm in the Cannon Beach Elementary School Gym. Tickets $15 advance, $17.50 at the door. Tickets available at:

Thiel’s Music, Astoria

Goose Hollow at the Cove, Seaside

Driftwood Inn, Cannon Beach

Warren House Pub, Tolovana

Ekahni Books, Manzanita

Artichoke Music, Portland
A rare opportunity for local musicians: there will be a workshop on Saturday from noon to 2pm at Tolovana Hall: 8779 S. Hemlock, Tolovana Park. $35 per student. Contact Billy Hults: billy [at] upperleftedge.com or 503.436.2915.


Tolovana Arts Colony is a community based, nonprofit arts association dedicated to providing affordable, year round arts education on the North Oregon Coast. Website: tolovanaartscolony.org