The daily Astorian., April 18, 2020, Image 9

B1
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2020
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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2020 • B1
Life on the road
Folk artist shares stories from
50-year career in new book
WHERE
TO FIND IT
‘I Wouldn’t Count
On It: Confessions
Of An Unlikely
Folksinger’ can
be purchased at
tommayfolk.com.
Tom May
performs
at the 32nd
annual
Winterfolk
concert in
February.
By BRIANA ALZOLA
T
om May didn’t have what he calls a “natu-
ral path” to his career as a musician.
The
La
Center,
Washington,
based folk artist, who has recorded 14
albums of original music and toured the
world, recently released his book “I Wouldn’t
Count On It: Confessions of an Unlikely
Folksinger.”
May has lived in the area for 26 years, and
was brought to it the way he was brought to
most things, through his music.
“I am totally enamored of the Pacifi c North-
west, of the landscape, of the people, of the his-
tory,” May said.
In 1987, he founded the Portland-based
event Winterfolk. He hosted the 32nd annual
Winterfolk benefi t concert earlier this year.
The event, which serves as a fundraiser to
help battle homelessness, started as a birthday
party. A woman who had heard May perform
fl ew him in to play her 40th birthday party at
the Horse Brass Pub in Portland. At the con-
cert, the performers raised money for those fac-
ing housing insecurity.
May decided to host another fundraiser with
the same goal the next year. And then the next.
Not only has it raised thousands of dollars
to help those in need in Portland, it has inspired
other area festivals, like the annual Riverfolk
concert in Astoria.
May was scheduled to return to the coast on
April 11 for a concert and book reading at the
Peninsula Senior Activity Center. The event
is postponed until the fall, as the center was
forced to close under Washington state’s stay-
at-home order.
See May, Page B2
The cover of May’s book.