Join us for the 38th Annual Winterfolk – A Benefit for Transition Projects on Saturday, February 20 at the Alberta Rose Theatre.
Winterfolk is one of those rare expressions of giving and brings our community together in the common celebration of music and caring – with the knowledge that every dollar raised at the door goes to the people it is intended to help.
For over 57 years, Transition Projects has delivered life-saving and life changing support to some of Portland’s most vulnerable residents. Winterfolk is proud to partner with this longtime organization, working towards one of the most basic of human rights, because everyone deserves a roof over their head.
Meet the Lineup
Headliner | CRAIG CAROTHERS lived in Portland before it was hip and moved to Nashville before it was ready for prime time. He’s always been a little ahead of the curve and an old school kind of cool. His music is heartbreakingly beautiful and scathingly funny, delivered with a lively deadpan smile and a voice that’s downright swoony. Too folk for rock, too pop for folk, too jazz for country, too tall to be a jockey. It's difficult to easily categorize his music without the use of hyphens. But the wide-ranging influences of Craig’s music-teacher parents can be heard in each of his more than 20 albums.
He’s a songwriter’s songwriter, sharing co-writes with Bruce Hornsby, Marty Stewart, Don Henry, Maia Sharp, and Don Schlitz, to name a few. He’s had songs recorded by Trisha Yearwood, Kathy Mattea, Lorrie Morgan, Russell Hitchcock, and Peter, Paul and Mary, as well as numerous international artists whose names are unspellable. As a touring musician and a regular at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Craig has shared a stage with the likes of Richard Thompson, Janis Ian, Donovan, David Wilcox, John Gorka, Patty Larkin, Gretchen Peters, Catie Curtis, Greg Brown, Shawn Mullins, Patty Larkin, Michael McDonald, and Kim Richey. When not traveling to hundreds of shows each year, Craig shares his songwriting expertise as a professor at University of Miami, and through online and in-person songwriting workshops across the U.S. and Europe. A true Renaissance man, Craig is also a producer, recording engineer, background singer, booking agent, graphic designer, photographer, Tex-Mex connoisseur, left-wing inactivist, and a collector of exquisitely obsolete gadgets. His recordings are available tonight, through his website, on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, CDbaby, and all streaming providers.
TRUE NORTH | Fronted by singer-songwriter Kristen Grainger, this duo includes multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Dan Wetzel. They are a bluegrass-leaning Americana powerhouse duo of terrific songwriting, lush vocals and crazy-good instrumentalists. Kristen is a crafter of great songs, taking first place in the 2020 USA Songwriting Competition (folk), and landing a 2022 songwriter showcase at SXSW. She was named, along with Brandi Carlile and Dolly Parton, one of the “Women Who Wrote Our 2020 Soundtrack” by The Bluegrass Situation. Kristen has collected accolades and awards at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Wildflower Arts & Music Festival, Merlefest, Kerrville and, together with Dan Wetzel, at Wintergrass . She also won Common Ground‘s 2022 Acoustic Roots Songwriting Contest, and 2019 Roots Northwest songwriting competition. The duo’s most recent album Time And Materials, created an international buzz as it raced up the Folk Alliance and College radio charts. The album received numerous album of the year nominations and great reviews. The band’s 2023 project, Fear Of Falling Stars climbed the charts steadily since its release in November of 2023 and is critically acclaimed. Ghost Tattoo (2020), was the band’s third album to go to #1 on folk radio, and made Folk Alley’s Listener’s Choice: Top Albums of 2020 and earned excellent reviews. The album also featured a #1 single “Keep The River On Your Right” with which Kristen won the USA Songwriting Contest. Their 2018 release, Open Road, Broken Heart, debuted at #1 on the folk DJ charts for national radio airplay and stayed in the Roots Music Report’s top 25 all year. Their 2014 release, Elsebound, spent 25 weeks in the top 10 and was the 7th most-aired folk album of 2015.
Clara Baker | Celebrated producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and audio engineer from Portland, Oregon. Raised in a musical household, Clara started taking music lessons and writing songs at a young age. She’s recorded her original music solo and with bands and toured all over the US and abroad. Her 2019 release, Things To Burn, was recorded live to tape in a Wisconsin living room with GRAMMY-winning engineer Brian Joseph (Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver) and avant-folk experimentalist Shane Leonard (Anna Tivel, Josh Ritter). Atwood Magazine called it “soul-stirring”, and East Portland Blog called it a “must-hear… one of the best albums of 2019.” The process of recording Things To Burn inspired Clara to go back to school and become an audio engineer – learning that less than 5% of producers and engineers are women. Determined to change this, she has been working in studios as a producer, audio engineer, and mixer ever since. Her swift accomplishments in this field earned her an invitation to become a voting member of the Recording Academy. Clara also composes music for film and TV and has had placements on ABC, Netflix, The CW, Tubi and more. In 2025 she was contracted to create an original sample pack for Splice at the iconic Sound Factory studio in LA. In 2026 she received a scholarship to study with mixing legend Tchad Blake at Mix With The Masters in Paris, France. While music has lead Clara down many paths (including teaching as Adjunct Faculty of Songwriting at Lewis and Clark College, and touring as a fiddle player with Margo Cilker and others), Clara’s true passion lies in producing/mixing for songwriters. Her two favorite places to be are in the studio and in her garden.
The Horsenecks | Gabrielle Macrae and Barry Southern, based in Astoria, Oregon, are two multi-instrumentalists who have come together from traditional music backgrounds and found a sound that weaves through layers of influence that include early Appalachian string band music, classic country, bluegrass and original folk. Gabrielle's fiery fiddle style is the result of being raised in the Old-Time music hotbed of Portland, OR and being exposed to the fiddle traditions of the Southeast US through years of traveling to festivals and learning from some of the greatest players in the genre. She gained notoriety as a clawhammer banjo player through her work with the Macrae Sisters and formed The Horsenecks with Barry after the two met at a music festival in 2012. Barry’s banjo and guitar playing range from thrilling and high-octane to moody and captivating, and his versatility shines whether flatpicking, playing clawhammer, or driving three-finger banjo. Barry has been a luminary in his hometown of Liverpool’s music scene for over 20 years, playing lead guitar with cult heroes Tramp Attack, banjo with Liverpool's popular bluegrass party band The Loose Moose Stringband, and many more groups in the UK’s bluegrass and old time scene. Both songwriters bring together their background in traditional music and modern influences across many genres to create a catalog of songs that speak to their place in the evolving story of traditional music. Their deft musicianship, powerful harmony singing, and creative instincts with old and new material have earned them a place among the leading interpreters of Old Time music today.
Tom May | For 37 years Tom has been hosting and performing as the founder and director of Winterfolk! He has brought some of the finest folk music to this iconic fundraising event. He is founder and producer of the syndicated radio broadcast River City Folk which retired in 2025 after 40 years. Tom has recorded 17 albums and has been a major presence in American Folk Music for 52 years.
Oregon Poet Laureate Emeritus Kim Stafford | Emeritus Professor at Lewis & Clark College, Kim writes, teaches, and travels to raise the human spirit through poetry. In 1986, he founded the Northwest Writing Institute. He has published a dozen books of poetry and prose, including The Muses Among Us: Eloquent Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft and 100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do: How My Brother Disappeared. His most recent book is the poetry collection As the Sky Begins to Change (Red Hen Press, 2024). He has taught writing in many schools, community centers, in Scotland, Italy, Mexico, and Bhutan. In 2018 he was named Oregon’s 9th Poet Laureate.
Tickets:
When you buy a ticket consider making an additional donation to Transition Projects at the same time! Your donation is tax-deductible. Thank you!
All seating is General Admission (GA). Minors ok when accompanied by a parent or guardian