Fellowship
Listen: The Tamara Stephens Experience
T
amara Stephens has been singing
since she was four-years old. She
started off singing gospel in church,
and at age 8 was discovered by Linda Horn-
buckle.
“She’d bring me along to shows or festi-
vals and let me have the stage,” Stephens
told The Skanner News. “That built my con-
fidence. Linda is a mentor of mine; she’s a
sweetheart. I absolutely love Linda.”
Stephens stopped singing for a while dur-
ing her self-conscious teen years, but started
again about three years ago, she said, this
time with a focus on R&B and soul. And
true to form, she went straight to the top.
“I hit the stage with my ex-husband Errick
of secular music, but they grew up with
those groups and they let us listen to them,”
she says. “So now I really love that music.”
The hip hop revolution didn’t totally pass
Stephens by, however. She says her guilty
pleasure is “hard-core rap,” so she has to
turn down the volume on the x-rated lyrics
when her kids are around. And she’s excited
about an upcoming visit to Seattle to see Jay
Z and Beyonce in concert.
A student at Warner Pacific University,
where she is studying Human Development,
Stephens says she has considered becoming
a therapist because she is fascinated with
how people think and why we do the things
we do. But her current day job is as a con-
tract specialist with an insurance company.
And as the mother of a four-year-old she has
her hands full.
‘I’m very critical of my own work. I have to play
stuff over and over and make sure it’s right
before I can let the world hear it’
Lewis at Jimmy Mak’s,” she says. “We did
a song called “There” that we wrote togeth-
er. And since then I’ve never stopped
performing. I’ve even been on stage in LA.”
As well as beloved local musicians such
as Hornbuckle and piano genius Janice
Scroggins, who recently passed away,
Stephens has been influenced by the likes of
LaRhonda Steele— “a huge influence,” —
Lalah Hathaway, Brandi and Roberta Flack.
And of course Liv Warfield.
“Everyone is looking up to her now,”
Stephens says. “She has really put Portland
on the map.”
Stephens also loves older groups like The
Temptations, Al Green and Luther Van-
dross.
“My parents wouldn’t let us listen to a lot
But now she’s found her way back on
stage, she says she’s ready for whatever
success comes her way —even if that some-
day means moving to a bigger city.
Meanwhile she’s recording an album with
her band, The Tamara Stephens Experience,
scheduled to be released next Spring.
“I’m very critical of my own work. I have
to play stuff over and over and make sure
it’s right before I can let the world hear it.”
Hear Tamara Stephens perform in person:
• August 9 with Eldon T. Jones: 7 p.m. at
The Star Theater 12 NW 6th Ave., Port-
land
• August 30 with Saeeda Wright, Ronnie
Wright and Kimberly Monique: 8 pm at
Jimmy Maks 221 NW 10th Ave., Port-
land.
Page 10 The Portland and Seattle Skanner July 16, 2014
PHOTOS BY MIKE NORRIS
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
Stephens loves older groups like The Temptations, Al Green and Luther
Vandross. ‘My parents wouldn’t let us listen to a lot of secular music, but they
grew up with those’groups and they let us listen to them,’ she says. ‘So now I
really love that music.’
Obituary
Phillippe’ Siraubron Cration
June 30, 1940 - July 6, 2014
A celebration of life
for Phillippe’ Sir-
aubron Cration, 73,
of Shreveport LA,
Anchorage AK and
most recently Portland
OR, will be held at
3pm Saturday, July
19th. Apostle E.D.
Mondaine’ officiating
at Celebration Taber-
nacle, 8131 N Denver
Ave at Kilpatrick St, in
North Portland.
Mr. Cration owned a
photography studio, two local second
hand stores, a mom & pop convenience
store, a limousine service, and over the
years, a host of exotic pets.
Local survivors: Angela Cration-
Mason, Ella Mason,
grandchild
Corey
Mason, nieces and
nephews: Tamara Tolbert
(John), William Penson
(Tonya), Deborah Samp-
son, and Gregory Penson
(Stephanie),
devoted
caregiver Crystal Odum
and many extended fam-
ily members. Jyakima
Cration (Jefferson Demo
C/O 1993) and 3 other
children and 11 grand-
children (Minneapolis
MN).
Local predeceased are parents Johnnie
and Velma Cration, sister Carolyn Joyce
Cration-Penson.