Sisters/Bend in Focus: December Carson

SFF Presents Welcomes New Executive Director

Sisters Folk Festival Presents welcomed a new executive director this year, and she just steered her first festival through the finish line. December Carson took the helm at SFF Presents in June, arriving in Sisters just in time to be evacuated for the Akawa Butte fire — a genuine Central Oregon welcome. She didn't let that slow her down, and this past weekend she closed out the 29th annual Sisters Folk Festival.

Carson steps into the role with deep Oregon music and arts roots. Most recently she was Director of Marketing, Box Office and Audience Services at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton. Before that, she led External Affairs at PAM CUT (Center for an Untold Tomorrow), and for fifteen years she has been co-founder and Artistic Director of Siren Nation — yes, that Siren Nation, still going strong here in Portland. Her resume also includes stints with the Waterfront Blues Festival, Wildwood Music Festival, and the Portland Old Time Music Gathering, plus a run as social media manager at Mercy Corps. She holds a B.S. from Oregon State University.

And here's a fun bit of Portland music lore: December has real ties to The Decemberists. As Portland concert promoter Mark Weiss recounts, December — then running the Siren Music Company (an Americana, folk and roots music booking agency) — introduced Colin Meloy around town and helped him find the musicians (including Calobo's Jenny and Nate, and future Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk, who worked for December at the Siren Music Company) who became his first bandmates.