The 16th annual Shaniko Ragtime and Vintage Music Festival will take place on Octpber 5-7.
The music event begins Friday, October 5 at 1pm with Keith Taylor, event founder, at the
Historic Shaniko Schoolhouse. From 1-6pm musicians Keith Taylor, Vicki Cox, Meg Graf, Clare
Kennedy and Lance Maclean will perform. The end set at 4:30pm is an old silent movie to live
music accompaniment with Keith Taylor at the piano; a rare historic recreation. Activities will
then move to the Sage Saloon for a jam session from 7-10pm. Food is available in the interim.
These musicians from Oregon, Washington, California and New Hampshire welcome all
musicians who sing or play acoustic instruments to join the jam sessions.
Saturday events will be held at the Erickson Aircraft Museum at the Madras Airport. Ragtime
event and Airport Museum supporter, Kenny Bicart and friends has established a weekend music
event in Madras and invited the Shaniko Ragtime musicians. In addition to other music, the
Ragtime & Vintage Music Artists performance from 1-5pm and they return to the museum for a
jam session from 7-10pm.
Back in Shaniko on Sunday at the school is the new addition of Gospel Music and a potluck
picnic from 11am to 1pm and the traditional all-performer concert rounds out the festival from 2-
4pm for a suggested donation of $10 per person.
Keith Taylor, of Haines, Oregon, began playing ragtime in 1972. With a background in classical
music, he has degrees in composition and piano, and studied in Paris with Rene Leibowitz. The
native Oregonian, returned to Azalea in 1978, then moved to Haines in 2005, where he works as a
freelance pianist, composer and teacher.
Vicki Cox, of Eugene, leads the Calamity Jazz Band, plays lead trumpet for the Lincoln Pops Big
Band and performs with Bill Borcher’s Oregon Jazz Band. She majored in musical performance
at the University of Oregon.
Meg Graf is a remarkable and versatile musician playing a variety of instruments. From Eugene,
she also performs with Calamity Jazz and other music ensembles. Meg spends most first
weekends in Shaniko through the summer, performing requests, to promote the Ragtime event.
Clare Kennedy, from Vancouver, Washington, is a popular and sought-after pianist. She also
plays organ and sings. She holds a bachelor of arts in music from Linfield College.
New last year is Lance Maclean, a piano tuner and computer specialist by trade from New
Hampshire, returns to Oregon where, for years played on the Dixieland Festival Circuit in the The
Hot Frogs Jumping Jazz Band for 10 years. Then he was with, Night Blooming Jazzmen, for
several years. Lance since the age of 14 has mastered the 5-string banjo, bass, tuba, guitar,
mandolin and piano.
The Ragtime Festival is sponsored by the Shaniko Preservation Guild. For more information, call
the event line 541-489-3434 or visit www.ShanikoOregon.com.