Join MBT for the music stylings of duo Martha Scanlan and Jon Neufeld in the Walton Theatre!

Martha Scanlan and Jon Neufeld's unique alchemy on stage started when they first played together at Portland's Indie-roots festival Pickathon ten years ago. It was an immediate musical connection and friendship that has only deepened with time and miles spent touring venues and festivals nationwide. It is that unique alchemy, that sense of adventure and improvisation on stage and in the studio, that characterizes their work together and has earned them a loyal following worldwide.

They have shared the stage and collaborated with artists as diverse as Levon Helm, Jim James, Emmy Lou Harris and Peter Buck, and played festivals from Merlefest to Bonnaroo. When so much began to shift due to the pandemic and live shows ground to a halt, what began as a loose plan to work on a new record became a musical journey of its own - a necessary refuge. The result was a collaborative project in motion, an unfolding story. Their album, Last Stars First Light, debuted last year on Jealous Butcher Records.

Neufeld lives in Portland, Oregon and plays with a variety of musicians including longtime bands Jackstraw and The Kung Pow Chickens. Well-known for his innovative guitar playing, he is also a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and mastering engineer. Neufeld has appeared on The Tonight Show and NPR's Tiny Desk Concert with his former band Black Prairie and toured Europe in an impossibly small rental car with famed Portland Indie band Dolorean. He recently co-produced and engineered Smithsonian Folkways Roll Columbia: Woody Guthrie's 26 Northwest Songs.

Scanlan is an award-winning songwriter based in western Montana. Her writing comes from the deepest roots of Americana, winding between the mountains of East Tennessee and some of Montana's most remote landscapes -- including a 120-year-old cattle ranch where she spent years living and working. Scanlan appeared on TBone Burnette's Cold Mountain soundtrack with former bandmates Reeltime Travelers. Her songs have been covered by Sarah Jarosz, Andrew Marlin, Amy Helm and Solas, and have found their way into books by celebrated American authors Rick Bass and Joyce Carol Oates.