The Tree People live! Upcoming festivals, residencies, recording sessions and performances! The Tree People in concert in your house?

The Tree People, with our current lineup of Stephen Cohen on acoustic guitar and voice; Jeff Stier on recorders, flute, orchestra bells, hand drums and percussion; and Rich Hinrichsen on double bass, are rehearsing regularly and performing live again! We love playing with our new member, double bass player Rich! We will be performing at the Cafe Impromtu Stage on Friday evening on May 23rd at the Northwest Folklife Festival at Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington. Tree People guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and composer Stephen Cohen will be performing all three days at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in Pennsylvania on August 15th, 16th and 17th with his Talk Talk Band and solo as well. When Stephen returns from Philadelphia, The Tree People will perform on Sunday, August 24 at the Arts in Nature Festival at Camp Long in West Seattle.
In September the Tree People will be doing a creative residency at Centrum at Fort Worden, not far from Port Townsend, Washington from September 19th to September 26th. We will be doing nothing but playing music that week, and will be recording new material at a studio on the Centrum grounds, as well as coming into Port Townsend on Wednesday, September 24th to perform at the Upstage.
We plan to add many more performances and festivals to our schedule in the next few years.
Please let me know if you know of any festivals, anywhere in the world, that you think the Tree People should consider. We are also interested in doing intimate performances at house concerts. If you have a house with a large living room or patio that could seat 20 to 50 people, and you would like to host a Tree People concert, or if you have a friend who might be interested in hosting such a concert in the Pacific Northwest, California, the Eastern United States, or for that matter, anywhere in the world, please let me know and we will make it happen!

Denis Mochary, Tree People drummer on "Human Voices" album

Denis Mochary (center) Tree People drummer on Human Voices (1984)


As we wait for Tiliqua Records of Japan to do the CD reissue of Human Voices and for Guerssen Records of Spain to do the vinyl reissue of Human Voices, our thoughts are with Denis Mochary, a drummer who played with the Tree People for a time, and played beautiful, sensitive drum parts on a set of drums shaped like singing trumpets on the songs Thomas, Rain, Rain and Opus II on Human Voices. He also played a soulful, creative part on Sketches, a piece we recorded at the Human Voices sessions but did not include in the original cassette. We will be including Sketches as the last track in the Human Voices reissues and would like to dedicate that piece to Denis. We are moved and honored that we got to know him during that brief time!

I wondered from time to time where Denis was and what he was doing after he left Eugene to return to the East Coast. Sadly, it turns out he passed away in Japan several years ago from kidney cancer. I found out about his death just a few months back when I got an e-mail from his younger brother, who found out about Denis' stint with The Tree People from his daughter, who was googling her uncle and found our Tree People sites. His brother wrote: "He lived in Japan for several years, married to a Japanese gal. He was happy with his life there……and seemed to have found the spiritual component he was always seeking. At least, I like to think of him that way. Anyway, it is a very small world, and I am excited to see that the music you made together lives on in its own way."

Stephen Cohen's solo guitar piece "No More School" from "The Tree People" on the Numero Group's "Wayfaring Strangers- Guitar Soli" CD

Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli

My solo acoustic guitar piece, "No More School", from "The Tree People" album was included in a wonderful collection of solo acoustic guitar music from the 1960's and 1970's released by the Numero Group of Chicago this year. I am very happy to be included, and I would like this album, which has some beautiful solo guitar pieces by some very good players, even if my piece from the Tree People album wasn't on it. One of the other guitarists on the album, Richard Crandell, who has recently released some very special albums playing mbira (thumb piano) on the Tzadik label, was in Eugene (and still is in Eugene) at the same time we were- we knew Richard and we did a show with Richard Crandell and Bill Bartels in a park in Eugene in the the 1980's- you can see a poster from that show in a previous post on this blog, "The Story of Human Voices, the second Tree People album". But back to the Numero Group album- it contains extensive liner notes on the history of what they call "primitive solo acoustic guitar" along with notes on each artist. If you like solo acoustic guitar, or better yet if you like music, I would recommend "Wayfaring Strangers- Guitar Soli". Here is what the Numero Group had to say about my piece in their extensive liner notes:

Label: Numero Group
Released: January 8, 2008

Stephen Cohen
No More School

“I always have played with my bare hands, and never have used a pick.”

The Newport Folk Festival converted endless hordes to the religion of folk music, and not the least among them was Stephen Cohen, who has spent a lifetime writing songs and living thoughtfully. A native Rhode Islander, he had better access than most to the annual festival, and he drank in every ounce of bent Americana that George Wein and Albert Grossman thought fit for the program.

The acoustic guitar had become the rank and file’s instrument, unrivalled at the time to play and compose with. And although Cohen had basic music training for the trombone, his approach to guitar was idiosyncratic from the beginning, though he sought no formal education for it. His natural inclination was fingerstyle, and because there was no one to lead him in any other direction, he went.

On Cohen’s 1979 debut The Tree People, he played a Gibson B25, acquired as a young man and strapped to his back as he rambled about the country for the lion’s share of the 1970s. The guitar featured one crucial alteration: its factory-standard metal bridge had been expertly replaced with a permanent wooden one. After settling in Eugene, Oregon, Cohen formed an acoustic ensemble also known as The Tree People that focused on instrumental composition and improvisation. They borrowed heavily from the concepts of both American Primitives and British Traditionalists on their two self-produced albums, but “No More School” is clearly an ode to the former, a flurry of fingers and thumb picking and strumming all over the drop D tuning. Issued in a one-time pressing of 1000 copies, the album pierced more than a few ears, allowing the group to become something of a go-to opener for Fahey and Pentangle whenever they rambled through Oregon.

(a note on the notes: we opened for the John Renborn Group, which had many of the original Pentangle members, not the Pentangle in the 1980's in Eugene. Jeff remembers John Renborn exclaming, in a heavy English accent "Tree People!" as we came off the stage after our set.

The Tree People a pick in Toronto

A weekly dig through the creates for the stuff you really need to hear By Tim Perlich

2008/01/16 Now Magazine, Toronto

Tree for all

Whether you call it freak folk, real people psych or new weird American music, the gently trippy self-titled debut from Oregon’s Tree People – recorded in 79 though it sounds like 69 – has risen to the top of the heap of the genre’s collectible artifacts. And once you hear the eerie flute, wistful strumming and entrancing hand percussion on the magnificently packaged reissue from Tiliqua Records, you’ll quickly understand why this fragile masterwork is so revered by connoisseurs of backwoods hippie hijinks. Fans of Espers, MV & EE and Voice of the Seven Woods should investigate.

The Tree People live at the White Eagle in Portland, Dec. 14, 2007 (photos by Chris Leck)

photos by Chris Leck

  There was a wonderful full house listening audience for
the Tree People at the White Eagle in Portland on December
14th, 2007. Several audience members told us after the
show that they had our original vinyl Tree People album.
We started our set with me and Jeff doing Sliding, then
Stranger and Rain, Rain. Our brilliant new double bass
player Rich then joined us on the stage and proved himself,
as he has done in our rehearsals and at our performance the
week before in Seattle, to be a perfect addition to the group.
A new instrumental piece we did that night had no title, so
we asked the audience for their ideas,and they came up with
several good ones during and after the set. We will probably
go with Sunday, the name of an audience member's daughter, for
that piece. We did many songs from the first two Tree People
recordings, and two highlights for me were Pot of Gold (with
its long pauses punctuated each time by a return in unison by
all 3 musicians) from the first, and Grandfather (which is always
a deeply emotional piece for me) from the second. Lyrics which
I wrote so many years ago took on new meanings in performance.
We closed with what I feel is perhaps our best ever performance
of Space Heater, where an extended hold on an open chord in the
middle part (which happily surprised me as much as it did Jeff
and Rich) accentuated the convergence and groove of guitar,
hand drums and percussion, and double bass).
  Northwest rock/roots icon Jon Koonce opened the evening with
an acoustic solo set, and after the Tree People's extended set,
my son Abe's great Americana, alt-rock band Maggie's Choice had
people dancing (some very spirited and creative dancers appeared
on the floor!) late into the night.
  We are looking forward to many more Tree People performances
over the next few years, but I think I will always remember
this one.

Music Editor Amy McCullough's column about The Tree People this week in Willamette Week

Here Comes Your Fan: Out of the Woods

December 12th, 2007 [7:04AM] Posted by: AMY MCCULLOUGH | 3 Comments

About a month ago, I received an email that made me think ’90s punk-grunge outfit the Treepeople (featuring Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch) was reuniting. And, based solely on that band’s dirtied-up, angsty cover of the Smiths’ “Bigmouth Strikes Again”—not to mention my immense BTS fanhood—I was pretty excited. Little did I know I’d learn an underground history lesson in Northwest psych folk instead.

See, Martsch’s Treepeople weren’t the first. Back in 1979, a man named Stephen Cohen went into “a studio in the woods near Eugene” (now-defunct Rockin’ A Ranch) and recorded a self-titled album under the Tree People name—an album one fan laid down 150 bucks for at Portland music store Exiled Records. “It didn’t last for very long,” Exiled owner Scott Simmons recalls. Cohen, who continued to play after the Tree People called it quits in 1985, says of the album’s 2006 Japanese reissue: “It is a nice feeling to do something, have it sit for years, and then be around to see it appreciated.” But to some, that original was already sonic gold: “People into psychedelic folk definitely know about it,” says Simmons.

Here in Portland, plenty of music fans are into psychedelic folk, and—whether those fans know it or not—they could lump the Tree People’s spooky, hypnotic forest folk in with that of legendary faves like Texan duo Charalambides or British psych-folkstress Vashti Bunyan. All share a key aesthetic: a sound that’s one with nature, whether it be evoked by cryptic lyrics, sylvan flute, hand percussion or experimental forays into trancelike string noise.

So why did the Tree People vanish? Cohen’s then-young children made touring a non-option, and original bandmate Jeff Stier (recorders, flute, hand drums) eventually moved to Washington, D.C., for work. When the kind-voiced Cohen started hearing from “collectors [and] music fans who all had somehow discovered our first vinyl album,” he contacted Stier only to find that he was moving back to Oregon. “The enthusiasm for our older recorded output [played] a big part in inspiring us to play again,” says Cohen.

The reincarnated band—which is already working on fresh material with new double-bassist Rich Hinrichsen—played a “small, warm-up performance” this past Saturday at a coffee shop in Seattle. “It was great to get our feet wet again,” says Cohen. Simmons’ response when told the Tree People are playing Portland this week? “Oh, weird.” Yup, and pretty awesome, too.

The Tree People play Friday, Dec. 14, with Jon Koonce and Maggie’s Choice at the White Eagle. 9:30 pm. $6. 21+. Photo: The Tree People (circa 1979): Stephen Cohen (far left), Jeff Stier (center) and guest pianist Soria Meadow.

• 

  Nicole Campbell

  says:

  I heartily agree that Stephen’s success is well deserved. Our family LOVES his music and listen to it all the time. I hear they say that each overnight success takes about 20 years - just a couple of go rounds and BAM! Stephen’s commitment to the craft is key.

• Posted @ December 12th, 2007 at 8:29 pm (1 day, 16 hours ago) | Flag this Comment | permalink
• 

  Oryx Cohen

  says:

  Hey, I guess this is keeping this in the family as one of Stephen’s sons. What a great article! I highly recommend going to the concert on Friday and I’m sorry I can’t make it. It should be noted that the family connection continues, as Maggie’s Choice is playing that night featuring my brother and Stephen’s other son, Abe Cohen. It should be an awesome night. Sing a song for me!!!

  Posted @ December 12th, 2007 at 11:41 am (2 days ago) | Flag this Comment | permalink
• 

  Jeremy Cohen

  says:

  I think it’s great that my brother has become an “overnight success” now that he has been playing music for over forty years.

  He is very deserving of listening to (as he always been) and I wish him continued success.

  Posted @ December 12th, 2007 at 10:51 am (2 days, 1 hour ago) | Flag this Comment | permalink

The Tree People live! (in performance) with a new member on double bass

The Tree People is a live performance group once again! We have added a wonderful double bass player from Seattle, Rich Hinrichsen, to our lineup. He brings new energy to the proceedings, using a palette of deep, melodic, and interesting sounds on his double bass to fit in nicely with our music.
The Tree People performed as a group for the first time in more than 22 years at a small venue, The Hotwire Coffehouse, in Seattle on December 8, 2007. The lineup was myself on guitar and voice, Jeff on recorders, flute, hand drums, orchestra bells and percussion and Rich (who helped set this performance up) on double bass. It was a good way to get our performing feet wet once again. There was a listening audience of about 50 people in attendance. We did songs and pieces from the first two Tree People recordings, as well as some new material that may work its way into a third Tree People recording one day. It was an amazing experience that went even better than expected, and we are excited and ready for a performance this Friday night at the White Eagle here in Portland. I will post photos from the Portland performance soon after it happens.

not one, not two, but three new Tree People reissues scheduled for early 2008!

We are very happy to announce, not one, not two, but three new Tree People reissues scheduled for early 2008!
We are so pleased that Tiliqua Records of Tokyo, Japan, who did such a wonderful job on The Tree People reissue CD, is planning to reissue the second Tree People recording, Human Voices, from 1984, as both a CD and limited edition vinyl record in early 2008. You can read more about the original creation and the recent remixing of Human Voices in some of the posts below.
And two other companies will be releasing Tree People music, The Numero Group of Chicago and Guerssen Records of Spain. The Numero Group, voted best reissue company in the United States, will be including No More School, a solo guitar piece from The Tree People, in Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli, a collection of privately released fingerstyle guitar jams, scheduled for release in January 2008. Guerssen Records of Catalonia, Spain, who specializes in vinyl reissues, will be releasing a limited edition vinyl reissue of The Tree People in early 2008. These deals were possible because I have always kept the rights to the music in any deal I have done. Both deals have Johan from Tiliqua Records' blessing and encouragement because each of these great small companies has its own special market, which can only help in gaining interest in The Tree People in new places.

Years after first album, Tree People rehearsals start anew

Poster of Stephen and Jeff, from early Tree People days, on the inside of Tiliqua Records "The Tree People" reissue CD


Some 30 years after our first rehearsals, Jeff (who now lives down the road in Lake Oswego from my house in Portland) and I have started rehearsing as The Tree People again, and, just as we did then, with plans to bring in Rachel (who now lives 100 miles away in Olympia) and a few guest Tree People in later. We have been starting with some of the original material from the Tree People albums we recorded in 1979 and 1984, and I have some new material for The Tree People which we will take apart and put back together in Tree People fashion soon. All of the original material takes on a life of its own each time we play it. It reminds us that the original albums documented a point in time for each piece, and that if we had recorded the same songs at another point in time those versions would be true, but new, with the improvised parts different on any different day.
The rehearsals, now as then, feature not a lot of talking, but concentrated playing and intense listening. Jeff still has a that great sense of melody and rhythm, that great ear, and that great ability to find just the right instrument or tone for each musical moment, using recorders, flute, hand drums, orchestra bells, cymbals and other percussion. And as we play I realize that there is still no one out there doing anything quite like Jeff is doing, and no one out there doing anything quite like we are doing as The Tree People.
I have so many years of performing, recording, and writing and composing behind me since the first albums. I have a better guitar and so much more experience in playing it. I recorded The Tree People albums with a road-tested, beat up old Gibson B25 acoustic and now I play a concert hall quality Martin acoustic with a deeper, brighter, richer tone. But in the end these Tree People reissues have reminded me it is not what kind of guitar you have, it is the life comes through it, and I am so grateful for the experience of playing music, then, now, and again and again.
I feel some good things coming, some new experiences for The Tree People, some new music, some festivals and concerts down the road. I can't wait to see what happens next!