Guitarist and songwriter Mary Flower returns to the Artichoke stage in person for a livestream blues hour presented by the Cascade Blues Association, Wednesday, February 3. The show starts at 7 pm on Facebook.com/artichokemusic/live and is open to everyone. Donations to the artist are welcome.
Flower has been called “a national treasure in your own backyard,” by another legendary guitarist, Jorma Kaukonen. She is fluent and masterful in the Piedmont style of acoustic guitar, and her deft touch, intricate picking and innate sense of subtle harmonics is wrapped in a rousing good time.Â
Originally hailing from Indiana, Flower first migrated to Denver and was a founding member of The Mother Folkers. She was the only woman finalist at the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship in 2000 and 2002 and relocated from Denver to Portland in 2004. Flower’s playing is rooted, schooled and dynamic within the Mississippi blues, especially when she breaks out her lap-slide. She has a love of swing, ragtime, folk and hot jazz, and her original songcraft has a soulful voice, clear as a winter night. A modern artist with a deep respect for the traditional, she brings an immediate vibrancy and dynamism to her vast catalogue of tunes.Â
For Flower, it’s about making music come alive onstage, in her recordings, and with her teaching.  More at MaryFlower.com.
