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Type in Ken Cartwright's name on any Internet search engine and you'll notice that he's a big name in the mandolin and bluegrass community. As owner and luthier of Cartwright's Music Repair Shop in Stayton (previously in Salem), Ken built custom instruments and provided high quality repair services full-time for 30 years. He also trained future craftsmen through Oregon's only luthier-apprenticeship program.
The shop was a hub for Willamette Valley pickers (bluegrass musicians). Emerald Valley Boys band mates and fellow bus drivers Clyde Clevenger, Nikki Clevenger, and Donn Whitten say Cartwright's shop hosted a lot of jam sessions, along with plenty of coffee and pastries.
"He could have called it Cartwright's Music Repair and Croissant Shop," jokes Clyde, and Nikki agrees. "Everyone was always stopping in to say 'hi' to Ken," she says.
Last year, Cartwright "retired." The shop didn't close for good though, and Cartwright still operates by appointment, spending time in the shop on Saturdays and when it suits him.
He has plenty of work, as there's no shortage of folks seeking his expert repair of their beloved and rare instruments.
Today, in fact, as the band answers questions and poses for photos at the Salem-Keizer bus yard, new driver Cory Knowland approaches and introduces himself to Ken. He says he has a 1959 Gibson (guitar) with a stress fracture that he's "dying to get out and play." Ken hands Cory a business card.
Surf through the web a little more and you'll discover that Cartwright's opinion about an instrument's tone and construction, or about a band's style and skill, mean a lot in the bluegrass scene. Ken's instrument reviews were a regular feature in Mandolin Magazine for two and a half years. Quotes from Ken are featured on numerous web sites promoting Northwest bands.
You'll also find Cartwright organizes and produces bluegrass festivals and concerts, including the annual All-Oregon Bluegrass Festival and the annual Sonny Hammond Memorial Gospel Show. Last, but not least, you'll learn he's the president (outgoing) of the Oregon Bluegrass Association.
Between morning and afternoon bus driving shifts, supporting the ongoing development of Oregon's bluegrass community and events, restoring instruments, and performing with the band, Cartwright's retirement is anything but boring. He is a busy man. "I don't dwell on it, but it's true," he says simply, reflecting an easygoing nature.
The pace this chilly March morning at the Salem-Keizer "bus barn" is busy too. The drivers are returning from their morning routes, which ran on a regular schedule despite some snow in areas. Some are having lunch and killing time before the afternoon shift.
The Emerald Valley Boys arrive after finishing their routes, instruments in tow. There's just over an hour to talk and take photos before one of the band members has to be back out on the road to pick up students.
First on the scene is Nikki-bass player. Then come Ken and Donn with guitar and banjo, respectively. Clyde, mandolin player (and Nikki's husband), is last to return from the morning's driving.
They explain how music connections through Ken and his shop brought them together, and then how, one by one, Clyde (known onstage as "the cute one") recruited them to bus driving, helping each one learn the ropes to become a better driver.
Now these four lifelong musicians-all retired from careers as diverse as instrument repair to voice response computer programming to public works management to screen printing-find that bus driving complements their musical life and vice versa.
"It's a great job," says Nikki, who drives special program buses and was named the 2006 Salem-Keizer Driver of the Year by her peers. "You get to know the students and their needs. It helps put your own life into perspective."
"I like the flexibility of the schedule," says Ken, noting that the band can easily devote summers to performing at festivals. "I also like interacting with the kids and watching how they are affected by different music. I play whatever the mood mandates-oldies, country, CDs sometimes, National Public Radio, but no rap." Like Nikki, Ken transports special needs students.
Donn, who drives older students-middle- and high-school aged-plays mostly country, rock and roll, and classical radio stations.
All agree that music helps create a positive environment on the bus as long as they are sensitive to the mood of the day, and to what the students-especially those with special needs-can and can't handle.
After the photos and questions are finished, the band decides it's time for some fun before heading their separate ways for the afternoon. They pick up their instruments and begin to play in the driver's lounge-Clyde sings lead with a "been there, done that" kind of quality that warms up the room quickly, and Ken backs up on harmony vocals.
About 25 drivers and dispatchers start moving to the rhythm of the music. It's a gregarious audience, and when they finish a song, one driver mimics throwing change into a hat on the floor in front of the band. Laughter erupts and after a few jokes the band decides it has time for one more….
If you want to enjoy the Emerald Valley Boys live, catch 'em on stage this summer at the All-Oregon Festival (Winston), July 4th Days (Fossil), Clatskanie Festival, and the Huckleberry Jam Festival (Davenport, WA). If they can work out a schedule that doesn't interfere with driving, you might soon find them playing for students in the Salem-Keizer schools. Or, stop in at the Salem-Keizer bus barn, where "the Boys" will occasionally strike up an impromptu concert for fellow drivers and staff between shifts.
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