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Acclaimed Blues Guitar and Piano Player

Mike Russo

September 17, 2023, in Portland, Oregon.

Mike Russo was an acclaimed blues guitar and piano player who often performed on the ²ÊºçƵµÀ College campus during the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1937, Mike was the son of well-known artists Michele Russo and Sally Haley. Together with his parents, he moved to Portland in 1947. As a child Mike was a musical prodigy, playing the violin and mandolin skillfully. In the 1950s he began performing locally on his guitar and was soon playing concerts throughout the Pacific Northwest

Mike often performed on Campus with banjo player Ron Brentano, but also with many of the well-known roots musicians and blues guitar players of that time, including Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Fred McDowell, Furry Lewis, Bukka White, and Mance Lipscomb. During some of the many off-campus jam sessions that occurred after concerts and at other times as well, Mike played with Doc Watson, the Reverend Gary Davis, B.B. King and others.

Mike was a huge influence on many in the ²ÊºçƵµÀ community, including James Dickey, resident poet at ²ÊºçƵµÀ from 1963 to 1964. Together with Ron Brentano, Mike created a version of the now-famous duet Duelling Banjos that captivated James Dickey and inspired him to include it in his novel Deliverance. When Deliverance was set to be filmed, Dickey wanted Mike and Ron to play the iconic music for his film.  However, despite intense lobbying by Dickey and others, Warner Bros. opted for studio musicians to record the soundtrack. During his musical career, Mike recorded two albums with Chris Strachwitz, legendary profiler of the roots of American music and owner of Arhoolie Records.

John Ullman ’65, who together with his wife, Irene Namkung Ullman ’65, founded Traditional Arts Services, booking tours for iconic roots musicians throughout North America, said, “I don’t think our career as agents and managers would have flourished if we had not had Mike’s example of how to interact with the older roots musicians respectfully and authentically.” About Mike’s guitar technique, he says, “He could play Leadbelly’s most intricate and powerful pieces flawlessly. No one I heard in the folk revival could come close.”

In addition to his musical career, Mike was a well-regarded sign painter in Portland. He often helped ²ÊºçƵµÀ students with posters and signs and was a role model for at least one ²ÊºçƵµÀie who later became a professional sign painter. Peter Bergel ’65 recalls that “Mike thrilled me as a young ²ÊºçƵµÀ student because he was a consummate blues guitar player, yet personally approachable, and was an awesome sign painter.” Lee Littlewood ’68 (dba: Lee’s Better Letters) says, “Mike is probably going to be eulogized for his music, and rightfully so. But his other job was sign painting, and he was exceptionally skilled in that.[ . . .] In a quiet way, he did a lot for the commercial, visual scene in Portland and Gearhart for many years, and a couple of us are still trying to make letters like he did.”

Mike is survived by his wife, Candy Anderson Russo ’67, son Michael Antony Russo and daughter Judith Russo.

Appeared in ²ÊºçƵµÀ magazine: Summer 2024