User:Aryon1/The Tree People

The Tree People is an American Folk group originally formed in the late 1970's in Eugene, Oregon. They have been referred to as the "Fathers of Freak Folk", as well as "Psych Folk Pioneers".

Early History
Founding members are composer, songwriter, acoustic guitarist and vocalist Stephen Cohen, and Jeff Stier, who plays recorders, flute and percussion. They performed, at times with third and forth band members, at concerts and festivals in the Eugene area for 7 years. They recorded two albums, The Tree People, in 1979, (which was recorded at Rocking A Ranch, a studio in the woods near Eugene), and Human Voices in 1984.

Stephen Cohen's Solo Career
After the Tree People disbanded in the mid 1980’s, Stephen Cohen continued his music career, moving to Portland, Oregon in the mid 1990’s, composing music, writing songs, and performing at concerts and festivals across the United States, including the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Long Island Children's Museum, and the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas (where he was an award winner for songwriting in 2000). He recorded three albums during that period, including his nationally acclaimed 2006 children’s album (suitable for adults), "Here Comes the Band". Meanwhile, the first Tree People album, originally released in vinyl and sold only in Eugene, Oregon, was discovered worldwide by record collectors twenty five years after it was first recorded. Stephen was contacted by several record companies, leading to CD and vinyl reissues of the first two Tree People albums by record companies in Japan, (Tiliqua) and Spain (Guerssen), and Stephen’s solo acoustic guitar piece from the first album, The Tree People, "No More School", was included in an acoustic guitar collection," Wayfaring Strangers, Guitar Soli", by the Chicago record company The Numero Group. The Tree People, whose original music was hard to classify the first time around, were now being called “Fathers of Freak Folk” and “Psych Folk Pioneers”.

Reformation
And then the second life of the Tree People began. Stephen and Jeff, with new Tree People member, Seattle double bass player Rich Hinrichsen, began rehearsing, making new arrangements old material, creating and recording new music, and performing in concerts and festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest, including performances at the Mississippi Studios, the White Eagle and Performance Works Northwest in Portland, the Matrix in Chehalis, Washington, the Upstage in Port Townsend, Washington, and the Arts in Nature Festival and Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle. They have done two Creative Residencies at Centrum, an art organization in Port Townsend, Washington where Stephen and Rich have started work on the Cistern Symphony, a symphony being created deep underground in the Dan Harpole Cistern in Fort Worden, where Centrum is located. The Tree People will be performing in March of 2011 at the Musiques Disperses Festival, in Spain. Guerssen Records of Spain released CD and vinyl editions of a 3rd, new and last Tree People album (with Jeff Stier retiring from performance with the Tree People after collaborating one last album and doing one last Tree People performance at the "It's My Story" release concert at the Old Church in Portland on November of 2010).