August 2004 through November 2004

Folk Troubador Heidi Muller in Concert
Tuesday, November 16, 7:00 PM
Odd Fellows Hall, Enterprise OR

Mountain Dulcimer Workshop
Wednesday, November 17, 4:00PM
Fishtrap's Coffin House, 400 E. Grant St. Enterprise, OR


For immediate release:

WVMA presents:
Folksinger Heidi Muller for Concert and Dulcimer Workshop

Singer-songwriter, guitarist and Appalachian dulcimer player HEIDI MULLER will perform in concert on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 7:00 P.M. at the Odd Fellows hall in Enterprise, Oregon. West Virginia musician Bob Webb will accompany her on guitar, mandolin, dulcimer and electric cello on songs that range from Northwest-flavored originals to old-time, toe-tapping Appalachian Mountain dulcimer tunes. Local songwriter/guitarist Janis Carper will perform a short opening set and also accompany Heidi on some songs. The following afternoon, Wednesday, November 17 at 4:00 P.M. Heidi and Bob will also present a mountain dulcimer workshop “Beginning Dulcimer and Beyond” at Fishtrap’s Coffin House, 400 E. Grant Street, Enterprise.

Heidi Muller is an award-winning singer-songwriter known for her crystalline alto voice, insightful lyrics and spirited dulcimer playing. In 25 years of performing she has played venues from concert halls and festivals to livingrooms throughout America and produced five recordings which have given her a firm and respected place in the national folk community. Muller has headlined at events including the Kerrville Folk Festival, Sweet Pea Arts Festival, Northwest Folklife and Kentucky Music Week. She has shared stages with Nanci Griffith, Tom Paxton, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Jean Ritchie and Bill Staines, among others. Described by Dulcimer Players’ News as “one of the dulcimer community’s best songwriters and performers”, Muller’s music is featured on the new Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer recording. For two decades, Muller was a leading folk performer in the Seattle music scene before moving back to her family home in New Jersey. Her song “Good Road” remains the theme song for Northwest Public Radio’s Inland Folk show, heard since1989 across Washington State, northern Oregon and Idaho. In 1989 she was a finalist in the prestigious Kerrville, TX New Folk Song Contest and in 1998 she won second place honors in the Northwest Songwriter’s Contest. Muller’s latest CD Gypsy Wind has received critical acclaim and airplay throughout the US, Canada, Australia and Europe.

This past year, Heidi received a grant from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation to write songs in the Appalachian coalfields. Working with children and adults on Big Ugly Creek, West Virginia to interview community elders and gather local history, she used their words and stories to create a dozen songs about West Virginia life. She also helped them make two story quilts that depict scenes and symbols of their region. Heidi will perform a few of these new songs at her concert.

Bob Webb is a lifelong musician, having played cello and guitar since childhood and dulcimer and mandolin for over 20 years. As a founding member of the Mountain Stage band heard on West Virginia Public Radio’s syndicated show of the same name, he has performed with musical stars including Odetta, Tom Paxton, Shawn Colvin, and Arlo Guthrie. He has taught over 650 children to make and play his “boximer” cardboard dulcimers in schools, camps and community programs. Webb is a recording engineer and producer who collaborated with Kate Long on the 2002 West Virginia Public Radio series “In Their Own Country” which was nominated for a Peabody Award. He is presently an artist-in-residence at the Big Ugly Learning Center in Lincoln County, WV, and director of the Creative Capers Arts and Science Camp in Charleston. He has recently published a beginners’ dulcimer book and released an instrumental dulcimer CD with WV player Dave Haas.

Tickets for the upcoming concert are available for $5 in advance and $6 at the door, available at the Bookloft in Enterprise and the Joseph Bookshop. Participant fee for Wednesday’s dulcimer workshop is $15. Please contact Wallowa Valley Music Alliance For more information. (541-426-3390 or info@wvmusicalliance.org). For further information about the artists, please visit Heidi Muller’s website at www.heidimuller.com.

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August 30, 2004
Group Launches New Music Non-profit

Wallowa Valley Music Alliance is a new non-profit corporation in Wallowa County, formed by local musicians and educators to serve the county’s music community.

The Wallowa Valley Music Alliance began as a seed in the minds of a few folks who wanted to gather together to enjoy music as a form of lifetime recreation. When Fishtrap's Rich Wandschneider saw the potential and started introducing people to each other, the alliance began to form. Syd Tate, who has a vacation home in Enterprise but lives in Boise, ID was a driving force, and when local musician Janis Carper came on board, the vision became even more focused. Her past involvement with northwest music co-ops like Victory Music and the Seattle Performing Songwriters gives her a background of experience that will prove useful in this new non-profit. Besides Tate, the group's president, members of the board include Gail Swart, Lisa Robertson, Don Chesnut and Heather Tyreman. Carper will serve as executive director.

One of the top priorities for the alliance is Musical Expressions for Youth, an outreach program designed to fill the gaps in the current public school system in regards to music education programs. Details of the program are still being developed, with plans to have things in place sometime during the 2004-2005 school year.

Another project for the organization is to provide a musician’s referral service. A survey will provide a continually expanding database of musicians, instructors and students. With this information, people with similar musical interests can get together. A survey can be picked up at various locations around the county, and can also be found on their website: www.wvmusicalliance.org. So in the future if you are looking for a particular type of musical performer, or teacher or someone to get together to play music with, the WVMA hopes you'll contact them for assistance.

The Wallowa Valley Music Alliance plans to open its "Woodshed" at 705 S. River Street in Enterprise by this October, which will serve as office, meeting place, and music library. It will also have space available for rent to instructors for private music lessons. The group plans to organize and/or facilitate one music workshop every month, based on the needs and desires of the community, and hopes to sponsor a few concerts each year as well.

The WVMA is working closely with a professional grant writer, and will also be seeking financial support from the community in the form of tax-deductible donations. (WVMA is an Oregon non-profit corporation with tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.) For more information contact the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance, PO Box 148, Enterprise, OR 97828, 541-426-3390, info@wvmusicalliance.org.

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