One of our local musicians, and a member of the Tumbleweed family, Matt Hammer, passed away on August 19.
Matt was a veteran performer at Tumbleweed, Riverfest, and 3RFS Concerts and Coffeehouses. He was a legendary Alaskan musician, capturing the grandeur of Alaska and its history in his songwriting and performances of “Colonel Vaughn” and “Serum Run.” His humor was never more apparent than in his musical imitations of famous performers (e.g., Elvis, Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, others) doing such songs as “I’m a Little Tea Pot.” Matt will be sorely missed in our community, and our hearts go out to his wife, Lona.
It was a long and winding road to artist/poet for Craig Gurney, Motorcycle Poet and Tumbleweed Family Member. Through it all, there was one constant: Craig is a teller of tales. Listeners are treated to storytelling similar to cowboy poetry by a modern-day saddle tramp riding an iron horse . . . a motorcycle.
Craig’s original motorcycle poetry was described as similar to Mark Twain stories, but in rhyme. His poetry isn’t just for motorcycle riders – it tells stories that everyone can relate to. From the hilarious to the serious and everything in between, his poetry described “life.” Craig passed on September 6th, with his wife and partner Kathy Jonas and his son at his side. While each performed separately, Kathy and Craig performed together as “The Angel and the Outlaw.” Our thoughts go out to Kathy and all of Craig’s family.
It is with deepest sadness that we report the passing of Chris Mesford, very long-time Tumbleweed and 3RFS family member, on Tuesday, July 8th. Chris was a very special woman: a mother, a long-time, dedicated teacher, a musical performer, and long-time Tumbleweed stalwart who ran the kitchen for our Hospitality service at every festival since the beginning, starting from a grill under the South Shelter in Howard Amon to running a full kitchen crew for both days in the Richland Community Center kitchen. Not to mention nearly single-handedly soliciting & collecting food donations from all sorts of farms & businesses!
Chris’s passing will leave a massive hole in the festival, and in all of our hearts. Our thoughts go out to her family and friends.
A gathering of friends and family of Chris Mesford Kenoyer will be held on Saturday, August 2, at 1:00pm at Einan’s at Sunset Funeral Home, 915 Bypass Hwy Building H, Richland, Washington. There will be no eulogy, just visiting and eating and remembering the joy and privilege of having known Chris. All who loved her are welcome. If you are a musician, please consider bringing your instrument(s) so that there can be music, which Chris would have loved.
Chris’s husband Tim asks that if you have any pictures of Chris that you’d like to share for a slide show at the memorial, please send them to us at tumbleweedsubmissions@gmail.com, and we’ll see that he receives them in good time.
By Gene Carbaugh, President, 3RFS
The folk music community lost one of its greats with the passing of Dan Maher on May 19, 2025 at age 72. Dan fought a courageous battle against terminal liver cancer since his unexpected diagnosis following a January 3 heart attack. A CAT scan that day revealed a stage 4 liver cancer which explained the extreme lack of energy Dan had been feeling for several months. Throughout the duration of his illness, Dan continued his internet radio show “Dan Maher’s Good Road” on FolkMusicNotebook.com, featuring music and his insightful commentary.
For 38 years, up until his retirement from Washington State University where he was a student activities advisor, Dan’s weekly radio program “Inland Folk” brought the best of folk music to his listeners throughout the Northwest. His insights and frequent exclamations of “AMAZING” and “DYNAMITE” were enthusiastic descriptors of his knowledge and feelings about what he aired. Dan selflessly promoted the Three Rivers Folklife Society’s Tumbleweed Music Festival on Labor Day weekend since its inception 29 years ago, and emceed the festival’s main concert each year.
Dan was at his best in solo performances at which he reveled in presenting Irish, Scots, English, and American traditional and modern folk music. But where he really excelled was his incredible ability to engage his audience through encouragement and exhortation to join him in singing old and new choruses. Pete Seeger could not have done it better. Though Dan has now passed, his music remains with us in the form of five albums, including his final album, St. Patrick’s Day Live 2021, all of which are available through BandCamp for free. The “Dan Maher’s Good Road” internet radio program will continue to grace the internet through 72 archived programs at MixCloud.com. The program will continue as “Good Road” with his producer, Katrina Knight, carrying on in Dan’s spirit.
Dan is survived by his twin sister Nelle Maher-Clark of Spokane and his faithful service dog K.C. who at Dan’s direction has joined the family of Gene and Susan Carbaugh (Richland). Special friends who will particularly miss Dan include Eunjeong Hshin (Rome, GA), Katrina Knight (Kennewick), Micki Perry (Kennewick), and Isaac Wright (Moscow). Dan was a believer in Jesus Christ and walked under his grace as a Christian.
You may read Dan’s obituary here.
Dan’s Memorial Service was held on Saturday, June 21st, at 11:00am at Living Faith Fellowship Church in Pullman, WA.
The recorded service is now available at the church’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/LFFchurch/videos/573303219166848, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K9_WpHtxiA.
Spokane Public Radio had a news item about Dan’s passing:
3RFS member Jim Coleman has made a wonderful video Tribute to Dan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe3PIA03Az4.
And, you can always watch Dan’s Virtual Tumbleweed festival appearances – from the main menu above, select “Past Tumbleweed Festivals,” then “TMF Virtual 2020” or “TMF Virtual 2021.”
(Or go directly to the TMFVirtual2020 performance at : https://vimeo.com/448166292;
or the TMF Virtual 2021 performance at: https://vimeo.com/573949470).
Rest in peace, Dan. You’ve led us down many good roads and we wish you a safe, eternal journey.
It is with great sadness that Three Rivers Folklife Society notes the passing of a very long-time 3RFS member, Alan Gibbs.
Alan and his wife Judi started the 3rfs.org website in 1995. In this time of straight HTML, they figured out how to put sound clips online, and posted some of the earliest ones. Alan subsequently maintained and developed the 3rfs.org website by himself until May 2023, when a serious medical condition suddenly sidelined him.
Alan was born in 1939, and died January 11, 2024. He was a valued and valuable member of our organization, and put in excellent work to promote the organization and our aims. Our thoughts are with his family and friends now. Thank you, Alan, for everything.
