Attendees at a previous Tenor Guitar Gathering pose with instruments before a ride on the Astoria Riverfront Trolley.

Gathering together musicians and music fans with jam sessions, performances and daily workshops, the Tenor Guitar Gathering is set to return to Astoria for a 12th year this weekend with great excitement.

The festival, which is presented by the Tenor Guitar Foundation, will once again bring musicians together after a two-year hiatus. Events will span both Friday and Saturday, from morning lessons to evening concerts, all primarily hosted at the Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts.

The weekend begins at 9 a.m. on Friday with a series of open jam sessions on the performing arts center’s main stage, followed by a trolley ride at 10 a.m. along the Astoria Riverwalk. Participants are encouraged to bring an instrument to play as the trolley travels the riverfront.

At noon, Bridgewater Bistro will host a luncheon accompanied by live music. Finally, both nights of the event will close with a 7 p.m. concert, followed by a late night jam at Astoria Riverwalk Inn.

Workshops, featuring topics like tuning, timing and alternative chords, among others, will be led by seasoned musicians throughout each morning and afternoon. Musicians who will lead workshops and play at the gathering include Myshkin Warbler, Jean Mann, Tyler Jackson, Matt Weiner, John Lawlor and Alison Helzer.

Each night’s performance will feature a different set of musicians, according to Tenor Guitar Foundation board member Mary Ann Ylipelto. “If you want to hear everybody, you’ve got to come both nights,” she said.

The gathering’s primary focus is on the tenor guitar, though other stringed instruments, such as banjos and ukuleles, are welcome at the jam. Additionally, some workshops will focus specifically on the ukulele and harmonica, along with other topics in songwriting and improvisation. “We’ve got these amazing people who are so talented, you just can’t believe it,” Ylipelto said.

This unique North Coast gathering is the work of Mark Josephs, founder of both the Tenor Guitar Foundation and the event. The first Tenor Guitar Gathering, small and spread between various venues, was held in 2009. Organizers later moved the festival to the performing arts center in 2019, aiming to hold most activities and programs in a single location.

Josephs passed away in 2016, but his sister Donna continues to serve as a board member. Ylipelto, who joined the board in 2019, was a longtime attendee. Originally, it was the jam sessions that drew her in. “I enjoy that kind of camaraderie more than anything on Earth,” she said. “I’d rather sit and sing and play with people than anything else I can think of.”

The sessions are an open space, with no formalities or featured musicians to be seen. Everyone is welcome to call out a tune and participate. Even when professional guitarists join the jams in between their workshops, they are happy to play along with the group.

Ylipelto believes that sense of musical collaboration makes these true jam sessions. “To me,” she said, singing, playing and making music “is the bringing together of the best of the best qualities of the human spirit.”

Like the jam sessions, the event’s trolley ride welcomes all to join in.

“If you play ukulele or banjo or whatever, you should come and jam with us,” Ylipelto said, excited to drum up local participation. “I want to see everybody singing and everybody playing because music is about the last thing we’ve got that’s going to keep us sane in this world.”

Tenor Guitar Gathering

Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts, 588 16th St., Astoria

Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Jam sessions are free and open to the public. Admission for each workshop and/or concert is $20 for adults and $10 for students. Tickets for the Bridgewater Bistro luncheon are $30 each.

www.tenorguitargathering.info

‘I enjoy that kind of camaraderie more than anything on Earth. I’d rather sit and sing and play with people than anything else I can think of.’