BY TOM D'ANTONI // Kate Power and Steve Einhorn have been gone from Oregon for four and a half years. For decades they were the owners of Artichoke Music, a store and teaching center, but more importantly, the hub of stringed instruments and song in Portland.
It was a welcoming place to visit. There was always someone playing an instrument, many times one or both of the proprietors who had a thriving career as a performing/recording duo.
It’ll be worth all the work. In progress, December 2014. / Photo by Kevin Tomanka
They gave up the store in 2006. In 2010, OMN’s Mark Neiman-Ross interviewed them about it.
“We don’t miss the store,” says Einhorn. (Kate immediately contradicts with a resounding “YES we miss the store.”) Einhorn continues, “We miss the people. But they are coming to our shows, and we see them on the road. We’re happy the store is in caring hands.
“It was a blast being there. It was the gateway to a tribe. It was the love of music that we all had. Every day was romantic, and it brought in heritage, culture and kids.”
See them at Winterfolk27, featuring Bryan Bowers, Saturday, January 31 at the Aladdin Theater, $30 advance, $32 door, tickets. As always it is a benefit for Sisters of the Road.
They are moving back to Portland after being away for four and a half years. In early December they sat on a sawhorse in what would be a room in their new home at the foot of Rocky Butte in Northeast Portland. The first OMN video interview to be SWAK: