Join us for an evening of "trains, tramps, and traditions" in honor of the late national treasure of wit and wisdom, Utah Phillips. The loose association of freight hoppers, hobos, and old musical friends of Utah's known as "The Rose Tattoo" converges on our stage from near and far tonight to (in the words of Utah himself) "sing old and new songs, and bring forward in our lives the lore of trains and tramps."

On the lineup are Bob & Diana Suckiel, a blues guitarist and singer also known as Boomer Bob & Mama Pipes; Seattle musician John Weiss; Bruce "Haywire Brack" Brackney from Victoria, B.C.; Denver's JB Freeman; singer and "downhome upright rustic" Kuddie, from Nevada City; yodeler Bodie Wagner (Nevada City); and consummate multi-instrumentalist Mark Ross (Eugene, OR); plus two of Utah's sons, Duncan Phillips (Salt Lake City) and Brendon Phillips (Portland, OR). The Rose Tattoo released a self-titled live CD, complete with humorous commentary on each song by Utah, in 2001.

Long a mainstay of American traditional culture and music, and one of the Freight's most beloved performers, Utah Phillips was many things in his life—soldier, hobo, activist, pacifist, union organizer, and a songwriter dedicated to sharing stories from the lesser-known corners of North America. Utah passed on in May 2008, but his songs and hilarious, often thought-provoking stories, live on in the hearts (and on the lips) of anyone who has heard them, as well as on CDs like The Long Memory, his 1997 album with Rosalie Sorrels, and his Grammy-nominated collaboration with rock diva Ani DiFranco, Fellow Workers (Righteous Babe).