Andy Casad and Alice Di Micele bring their duo tour to a Corvallis church

The guitarist and the Southern Oregon songwriter play First Congregational United Church of Christ on Friday, Nov. 20.

There's a particular kind of Friday night in the Willamette Valley in late November: early dark, wet streets, and a warm room with good acoustics and somebody playing guitar like they mean it. On Friday, November 20, that room is First Congregational United Church of Christ in Corvallis, where Andy Casad plays with Alice Di Micele. Music starts at 7 p.m., and tickets are through Humanitix. The show was announced October 26.

If you know one of these names, you probably know both. Casad has been Di Micele's guitarist for years. Her own press materials list him alongside drummer Nick Kirby and longtime bassist Rob Kohler as part of her band. A Humanitix listing for one of their shows in Williams calls him a "guitar phenom" and notes his other group, The Fret Drifters. On this run it's the two of them, a stripped-down format where the guitar has to carry the weight a whole band usually would. Casad is the kind of player who makes that sound easy.

This year the pair has been working a long loop of small rooms through Southern Oregon and Northern California. Community calendars at KHSU and Jefferson Public Radio show them in Arcata in January and Mount Shasta in February. Humanitix has listed stops in Garberville, Williams and a barn show at Cedarwood. Several of those listings tie the run to Di Micele's album Reverse the Flow. It's the kind of tour built on grange halls, barns and community spaces instead of clubs, places where the audience comes to listen and the musicians can hear themselves think. Corvallis fits right in.

It's the kind of tour built on grange halls, barns and community spaces instead of clubs.

The venue isn't a club either. First Congregational United Church of Christ sits at 4515 SW West Hills Road, and it's no stranger to music. KLCC's community calendar has listed winter concerts there by Jubilate!, the treble choir of Corvallis, and AllClassical has listed choral concerts at the same address. A sanctuary built for choirs is a good place to hear one guitar and one voice. The sound carries without anyone having to push it, and the quiet between songs is part of the show.

That's what makes this an easy recommendation even if neither name rings a bell. Shows like this live on word of mouth in a college town. They don't come with a big marketing push or a radio campaign, just a date on a calendar and a couple of musicians who have spent the year playing these rooms night after night. By the time they reach Corvallis in late November, the set will be well worn in the best way.

Tickets are on Humanitix. Bring a rain jacket, get there a few minutes early to find a good pew, and leave the phone in your pocket. This is a show for listening.

Sources: Alice Di Micele EPK (alicedimicele.com); Alice Di Micele with Andy Casad in Williams – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); Alice Di Micele in Arcata with Andy Casad – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); Alice Di Micele in Garberville with Andy Casad – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); Alice Di Micele with Andy Casad at Cedarwood Barn – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); Alice DiMicele & Andy Casad – KHSU community calendar (khsu.org); Alice Di Micele in Mount Shasta with Andy Casad – Jefferson Public Radio (ijpr.org); Jubilate! winter concerts – KLCC community calendar (klcc.org); Winter Choral Concerts – AllClassical (allclassical.org); Andy Casad tickets – Humanitix (events.humanitix.com); Andy Casad at First Congregational United Church of Christ – JamBase (jambase.com)