A la Carts

One member of Free Range has a confession. She has long wanted to play music at a food cart pod.

And she got to fulfill her desire yesterday at the great Rose City Food Park at 52nd and Sandy.

In…Read more

There's no place like home


OK, we're Portland-centric, but it seems to me that there's no place better to be during the summer than Oregon.

And if you happen to be in the city, the best place to be is at a farmers market. And…Read more

Little girls in pink tutus

The first time we played at Fire & Stone was on Easter Sunday.   Just a few families were there at 6, when we started playing.

One of the listeners was a little girl in a pink tutu, who wasted no…Read more

The End of the Oregon Trail

In about a 20-year period in the mid-1800s, half a million people crossed plains and mountains to reach the Oregon Territory.  Many came over the Barlow Road in what's now Clackamas County, roping up their oxen to keep them from…Read more

We sprang ahead

We have made it through another time change, which becomes a greater accomplishment each year.

This is a favorite time of year, when cloudy skies make the blooming plants seem even more vibrant than they appear when it's sunny.  And…Read more
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February contemplations

It's February, and we're having one of those precious days that sometimes happens at this time of year when the air smells like spring and the camellia buds tantalize us with the promise of summer flowers.

We Free Rangers are…Read more
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Summer thoughts

Matt's quite busy playing with Slipshod  this summer, so Free Range has been, well,  in the corral more than meandering about.  But we're looking forward to some more performances this summer and fall and have some new tunes to pull…Read more
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April in Portland

April in Paris may be one of the greatest songs ever written, but for sheer knock-your-socks off beauty, it's hard to beat April in Portland. With this early spring, we are overwhelmed by the amazing colors of tulips, irises, azaleas…Read more
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Back from Baja

Free Range just came back from Baja, where we, once again, played for food.  We performed at Nancy's, the best restaurant in Cabo Pulmo and maybe in all of southern Baja.  The compensation was seafood enchiladas and amazing guacamole.  We…Read more
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Home grown tomatoes

Only two things that money can't buy -- that's true love & homegrown tomatoes.

But Guy Clark wrote that before the days of farmers markets and the renaissance of heirloom veggies.  So during the Labor Day weekend, we will be…Read more
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A rainy day in Portland town.

OK, so we probably made a mistake by questioning why the sun was shining during Rose Festival.

We were paid back with buckets of rain during the Pride Parade, followed by intense hail the next day.

Well, we're doing sun…Read more
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Is this June in Portland?

OK, we're confused -- but not complaining.

If it's Rose Festival time, isn't is supposed to be raining?

But what an amazingly beautiful season here in Portland.  And the strawberries . . .oh, my goodness.

Next weekend, Matt's off to…Read more