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09/29/2026

Sundown 2026: A Salute to Gordon Lightfoot

By Bob Howard // Tom May's third annual Sundown: A Salute to Gordon Lightfoot returns to the Alberta Rose Theatre on Tuesday, November 17

Gordon Lightfoot will have turned 88 on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, and that night Portland will sing his songs back to him. Tom May's third annual Sundown: A Salute to Gordon Lightfoot comes to the Alberta Rose Theatre at 7 pm, with more than a dozen of the region's finest folk and roots artists on one stage.

Lightfoot, born November 17, 1938, in Orillia, Ontario, died in May 2023 at 84. He left behind a songbook that includes "If You Could Read My Mind," "Sundown," "Carefree Highway," "Early Morning Rain," and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." The concert is hosted and produced by Tom May and the Alberta Rose Theatre and is a benefit for the Jeremy Wilson Foundation's Musician Health & Services Program, which helps musicians in need. River City Folk, Red Hare, and Music Millennium are supporting the show.

For Tom May, this show is personal. In 1971, at 19, he went to a party after a Lightfoot concert in St. Louis and played one of his own songs. Lightfoot encouraged him to look for musical opportunities in Canada, and May soon moved to Toronto. There, Lightfoot introduced him to musicians in his circle, including bassist John Stockfish, at the time Lightfoot was working toward his landmark Sundown album.

May tells more of his story in his memoir, "I Wouldn't Count On It: Confessions of an Unlikely Folksinger." It covers nearly five decades of touring North America and Europe, including opening shows for Lightfoot, Willie Nelson, and Alabama. May went on to record 13 albums and write two books. He has produced the syndicated radio show River City Folk since 1985 and has run Portland's Winterfolk benefit concert for 36 years. The first Sundown was planned for Lightfoot's 85th birthday in 2023 but became a memorial after his death. It sold out two weeks in advance.

The performers:
Tom May with Doug Smith and Donny Wright. Tom leads his own set with two longtime collaborators. Doug Smith is an internationally known fingerstyle guitarist. He won the Winfield, Kansas, guitar championship, shares a Grammy for The Songs of Henry Mancini, and appeared in the film August Rush. Donny Wright is a native Oregonian on bass, guitar, keys, and vocals. He has toured the U.S. as a sideman and singer-songwriter and co-founded Portland's Astro Audio PDX.

Terry Prohaska. A multi-instrumentalist and Sundown regular, Terry brought autoharp to "It's Worth Believing" at the 2023 show.

Dylan May. A Vancouver, Washington, singer-songwriter and bassist, Dylan has played psychedelic funk and neo-soul across the West Coast and as far as Dublin for 20 years (Bandcamp). He anchored much of the 2023 show on electric bass and vocals.

Don Lange. A Dundee, Oregon, songwriter with an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a National Endowment for the Arts songwriting grant. He recorded three albums for Flying Fish Records and four more on his own (Sonicbids).  He also produces very fine wines at his world renowned Lange Winery and Vineyards.

Kate Power and Steve Einhorn. This long-married Portland duo blends guitar, banjo, ukulele, bodhrán, and close harmony. At the 2023 show, Kate recalled that her father drove her to a folk coffeehouse audition 57 years ago, where she played Lightfoot's "The Way I Feel." It got her first gig.

Chance Wooley. Chance played drums on "Summer Side of Life" and the finale in 2023.

Brad Price. A Portland Americana guitarist since 1990, influenced by Leo Kottke, John Fahey, and Mark Knopfler. He played with the Trail Band from 1996 to 2000 and later with the Tabor Mountain Boys and the Fabulous Deck Boys (bio).

Kristen Grainger and Dan Wetzel. Grainger is the award-winning songwriter who fronts the Americana string band True North, with Wetzel on guitar and octave mandolin. She was named among The Bluegrass Situation's "Women Who Wrote Our 2020 Soundtrack," and the band showcased at SXSW in 2022 (Pistol River Concert Association).

Dave Ross. Dave sang lead and played 12-string on "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in 2023.

Michael Henchman. A Pacific Northwest singer-songwriter who mixes folk, Americana, and progressive influences. A youth spent working on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline shaped his songs of wanderlust. His latest album is Near and Far.

Matt Snook. Matt's dobro colored several songs in 2023, including "If You Could Read My Mind."

Meridian Green. The daughter of folk legend Bob Gibson, Green grew up in Greenwich Village and spent 40 years on California's Mendocino Coast before moving to Vancouver, Washington. She recorded with former Byrd Gene Parsons as Parsons Green and co-created the Parsons/Green B-Bender that Fender manufactures.

Adam East. The Alberta Rose's talent buyer since before the theater opened in 2010, and a working musician in his own right (Oregon Music News).

Gary Furlow and the Loafers. A singer-songwriter with roots in Louisiana, Furlow chose "Cotton Jenny" in 2023 because it reminded him of his hometown, New Orleans. He is also a veteran TV technician who records and who built, produced, and directed the audio visual shows at Artichoke Music for over a decade.

Tickets and details

Show Sundown 3: A Salute to Gordon Lightfoot
Date Tuesday, November 17, 2026
Time Doors 6 pm, show 7 pm
Venue Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., Portland
Price $25 in advance, $30 at the door
Ages Minors welcome with a parent or guardian
Benefits The Jeremy Wilson Foundation's Musician Health & Services Program
Tickets: Alberta Rose Theatre

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