Dutch folk duo The Lasses
perform two local concerts
Kathryn Claire to share stage April 17
LONG BEACH, Wash. and MANZA-
NITA — Currently on a Pacif-
ic Northwest tour, Nether-
lands-based duo The Lasses
will perform twice in the lo-
cal area this weekend.
First, the folk duo will
perform at 7 p.m. Satur-
day, April 16 at the Penin-
sula Arts Center, located at
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sion is $12 at the door, online
through Brown Paper Tick-
ets, or call 360-901-0962.
Refreshments will be avail-
able for purchase. The con-
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charitable organization.
Then, The Lasses will
team up with folk musician
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a concert at 7 p.m. Sunday,
April 17 at the Hoffman Cen-
ter for the Arts, located at 594
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In 2011, Sophie ter Schure
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Amsterdam during an open
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an Irish pub. They soon dis-
covered their shared love of
harmony singing and telling
stories through music.
They started to perform
the songs they loved best,
drawing from the Scottish
folk tradition as well as
from Irish musical heritage,
which Limburg knew like
the back of her hand after
years of busking with her
harp-playing husband.
The Lasses love to sing
songs with a good story,
regardless of whether the
story began in the Appala-
chian mountains, on Scottish
plains or in Irish hills. Blue-
grass, song or ballad, these
ladies completely immerse
themselves in their music.
Each lass plays guitar as
well as bodhrán, but their
voices are instantly recog-
nizable: Limburg is the hus-
ky alto and Ter Schure the
emotive soprano.
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ryn Claire met The Lasses in
Amsterdam in 2013. Claire
has spent years cultivating
her own style and approach
to music as a violinist,
guitar player, singer, and
songwriter. Strong funda-
mentals from her classical
and traditional music back-
ground combined with an
innate ability to improvise
has made her a favorite at
venues, festivals and institu-
tions around the world.
Together, the three wom-
Submitted photo
Submitted photo by Kathryn Claire
Dutch folk duo The Lasses will perform April 16 at the Peninsula Arts Center in Long Beach,
Washington, and perform April 17 at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.
en soon discovered they
could deliver both heartfelt
ballads and foot-stomping
songs with equal measures
of joy and musicality.
After playing several
concerts together in The
Netherlands and Germany
in 2014, Claire offered to
help bring The Lasses to the
Pacific Northwest for their
first U.S. tour in the spring
of 2015. It was a success,
and the three realized they
had begun not only a strong
musical collaboration, but
also a network of touring
between the U.S. and Eu-
rope. They toured together
extensively in Holland in
the fall of 2015, presenting
intimate acoustic concerts at
Swingcats of Astoria bring
jazz, swing to Long Beach
Submitted photo
Portland singer-songwriter Kathryn Claire
will perform with The Lasses on April 17.
churches and concert halls.
Their shared love of tradi-
tional and original music
along with their varied back-
grounds make for a thrilling
live performance.
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2 | April 14, 2016 | coastweekend.com
Swingcats of Astoria is, from left, Ted Brainard on guitar, Richard Thomasian on guitar,
Dave Ambrose on bass and Larry Aldred on percussion.
LONG BEACH, Wash. — The
Swingcats of Astoria will per-
form from 7 to 10 p.m. Sat-
urday, April 16 at the Cove
Restaurant and Clubhouse at
the Peninsula Golf Course,
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There is a $10 cover charge.
Swingcats of Astoria plays
swing from the ’30s and ’40s,
classic and modern jazz, and
a bit of blues. Audiences are
invited to listen and dance to
toe-tapping rhythms.
The group features Rich-
ard Thomasian, Ted Brainard,
Dave Ambrose and Lawrence
Aldred. Guest violinist Jeffrey
Reynolds will also perform
with the group on April 16.
Thomasian began playing
the guitar at age 13 in Fresno,
California. It was just a hobby
until 1972, when, at 21, he de-
cided to make a career out of
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Dylan, The Rolling Stones,
The Beatles, The Animals, The
Byrds and others of that time.
Thomasian has been playing
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Coast for 42 years. He has fo-
cused on jazz of all eras but
also enjoys blues, rock, funk,
country, folk and reggae.
Brainard started his musical
journey in Southern California
in the early 1970s. He relo-
cated to Oregon in 1980 after
passing through on tour. He
continued his musical career
as a performer and a teacher.
On the North Coast, he enjoys
playing and performing with
many local musicians.
Ambrose started playing
violin in the mid-1990s and
fell in love with a blond stand-
up bass in 2000. Since then
he’s played with a bluegrass
quintet, the original Swing-
cats, and Astoria-based inter-
national music quartet Acusti-
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Aldred’s playing started
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gland. He also grew up in a
home full of big-band sounds,
jazz, a mom who sang stan-
dards, and “a great tolerance
of my tapping on things,”
he says. Coming to Ameri-
ca in 1962, Aldred moved to
Nashville and developed his
drumming in rock, rhythm and
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ern swing before moving to the
Bay Area in ’65. Aldred played
around Northern California for
about 30 years before retiring
from his day job and moving
to Astoria 10 years ago. Since
arriving on the North Coast, he
has enjoyed playing with sev-
eral jazz groups.